The following is a true story about a Ouija board, and if you didn't believe they were some real weird stuff before, you will after reading this.
About a month after my dad passed away, some family friends got the brilliant idea to bring over a Ouija board. I know, right? Now, I'd never touched one, and I already was super squeamish about anything like this. While I ended up with a fascination of the paranormal, and write a lot of stories with creepiness and ghosts, I'm not much for horror (at least, not the gory side of it). I prefer to explore the emotional aspects of ghosts, and the grieving process following death. I also happen to believe in ghosts. After the rest of this story, you'll understand why.
When they brought in the Oujia board, I was pretty paranoid right away. That's because, when I was thirteen, I marathoned too many scary movies and turned myself into a wimp who was afraid of the dark. It also didn't help my case any shortly after that when I ended up in a toxic relationship with a person who forced me into theaters to see scary movies. So, when these family friends brought the Oujia board, I would not touch it. I decided to only observe the session.
If you haven't ever done a Oujia board session, there is a very basic precaution you should take. First, the person heading up the session repeated the phrase "Let no evil come from this board" or something to that effect. If you don't do this you're pretty much inviting malicious spirits into your house.
Next, there are some basics you should follow. The Oujia board, if you aren’t familiar with it, has the letters of the alphabet, numbers 0-9, Yes, No, and Goodbye on it. The participants should ask clear and direct questions, never double questions. After all, the spirit only has the options just mentioned to answer with. When the planchette moves over Goodbye, it means the spirit has left, and a new one can join you.
Now that you know the basics, I’ll let you know what happened during the session I witnessed. The spirit spelled out the name of my middle school. That in itself wasn’t very strange, because it was a nearby school which everyone in the room would have known. Things took a very weird turn when the spirit spelled out a full first and last name. That only I knew.
I was not touching the planchette, yet it spelled out a name there is no way any of the other people in the room could have known. All of the people touching it were either much older, or wouldn’t have gone to the same school at the same time as me and the person whose name was spelled out. No one else knew who it was.
This whole thing had moved from amusing to downright freaky. Shortly after, the spirit either started getting mad or was replaced with a malicious one, and started spelling out things like “kill” and “murder” and the session had to be ended. Whole lotta good that chant at the beginning did!
As if I didn’t already have enough nightmare fuel, the lady who brought the board was talking more about spirits after the session, and mentioned that you should never have a mirror facing a door or window, because it gives spirits free reign of your home. I know this seems like a load of crap, but I took it completely seriously for one reason.
Remember how I said I was afraid of the dark? Well, as it turns out, there was a particular room in the house which I would never enter in the dark. It always gave me the heebee jeebies. Fortunately, the downstairs lights could be turned on from upstairs, and vice versa. So, guess what I immediately realized about that particular room when I heard the thing about the mirror? If you guessed there was a mirror in it, you’re correct! Over the mantle, facing a window, was a mirror. Suddenly, my creepy feeling made perfect sense.
And so, ever since that very creepy and eventful day, I’ve believed in ghosts/spirits. Because of that, little moments like this have made their way into my writing over the years! Most recently, through my series of shorts, Yverwood Witches. Check out the third story, Amgine, which is about grieving and moving on, and has its very own Ouija board session! The next story I’ll be releasing is about a strange case of ghost possession!
The Yverwood series can be read in any order after the first short, Toil and Trouble, serves as an intro to the series. Best of all, short one is only 99 cents, or free if you sign up for my newsletter!
Thanks for having me on the blog today!
You can find out more about Amara and their books at www.amarajlynn.com/books
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Amara Lynn - Author
Pronouns - They/Them
AmaraJLynn@gmail.com
Website: https://amarajlynn.com/
Twitter - @AmaraJLynn
