Ouija boards are only as good as the person using them and their intent. In this post, I’ll tell how Ouija boards work and how to get a ghost or spirit to talk to you with it.

How Ouija Boards Work

There are a few theories out there. The most common ones say something like this:

The planchette moves by involuntary muscle movements in your hands (The Automatism Theory)

A spirit gently nudges your hands to move the planchette and answer your questions (The Spiritualist Theory)

I do think there may be another explanation. A spirit may psychically imprint the answers in your subconscious, and then your mind tells your hands where to go. This is just my opinion and I don’t think anyone has researched it. I tend to get psychic impressions from ghosts and many times I get a claircognizant response.

Preparing to Use Ouija Boards

Remember to do your research. When you use the Ouija board to speak to a ghost, you’re really identifying the ghost. It’s not an exploratory session.

I always recommend you write down your questions. This helps you get to the point of your investigation. Also, you don’t know how long the spirit or ghost will manifest. It could only be a few minutes, or it could be an hour. In my experience, a ghost usually spends about 15 minutes to 30 minutes answering questions. It runs out of energy and goes away after that.

Warnings about Spirits You Contact

You don’t know if the spirit you contact is really the spirit you seek – It could be lying to you. Not every spirit is human and lying may be its nature.

If the ghost or spirit tells you how it died, don’t believe it. This is a major red flag. Ghosts don’t remember how they died. Now, a revenger spirit will know this because it wants to punish the person who did it harm in life. This isn’t a spirit you want to deal with as a novice.

If you get a threatening answer, break off the session immediately.

Never try to channel the spirit like a medium. You could open yourself up to possession or a short-term mental disorder. If it asks you to channel, say no and end the session immediately.

Spirits and ghosts can’t predict the future. If it says it can make a prediction, it’s lying. End the session immediately.

If you get information that the spirit is your guide, it isn’t. Angels and other celestial beings don’t respond to Ouija boards. End the session immediately.

Protection Techniques

I think the white light protection technique is all you need. Spirits also need you to tell them yes or no in order to use your body. You can always start a session by making ground rules with it.

A salt circle is also good protection. When you set up the area, sprinkle salt around it and say a little prayer. The salt and prayer cleanse the area and keep out evil spirits. Most ghosts can get through the salt as long as their intentions are good.

Using a Ouija Board to Speak to Ghosts

Okay, you’re ready to start using the board. It doesn’t matter what brand you use. They all work the same.

I think one overlooked part of using the board is your intent. If you keep it positive, you get positive responses and experiences. If you’re negative, well, you could get the wrong kind of spirit. Don’t be too serious. Don’t be too funny. Ouija boards work best if you’re relaxed and open-minded.

I also like to set the mood for the session. That means I put out some candles or turn down the lights. Most of the time, I use the board at night, but you can use it at any time. Remember, never use 3 candles in a room. 3 candles can have some unintended consequences during a ghostly investigation.

Ideally, you only want 2 people to use the board. Sit down on the floor and face each other. If you have a third person, ask them to write the questions down and try to gather video/image evidence.

Start moving the planchette around so you get a feel for it. At this point, ask the spirit or ghost to come forward.

Once you make contact, your hands should feel a bit heavier. The spirit is pressing on your hands at this point. I usually say some ground rules for it to follow, like it cannot take possession of my mind or body. It can only move the planchette.

I keep my questions to simple yes or no answers. Sometimes, I ask it to spell its name for us. Complicated questions could cause the ghost to use up its ghostly energy and fade away.

As you get answers, have your partner write down the answers, but if the activity is really strong, you may want to use a digital voice recorder. The Ouija board session can double as an EVP session.

Ending a Ouija Board Session

There are a few ways to end the session. You can:

1. Move the planchette to Goodbye at the bottom of the board
2. Flip the planchette over and say the session has ended
3. Flip the Ouija board and planchette over and say the session has ended
4. Flip the board and planchette over, say the session is over, and sprinkle salt on the board (This is for a really powerful spirit connections)

I always thank the spirits or ghosts for speaking to me. Then, I perform a cleansing prayer and use the white light protection technique. Sometimes, you want to go home and take a salt bath to break any connections. You can also eat something to help ground your body.

Analyzing the Ghost’s Communication

When you get home, you want to look at the answers to your questions and play back the digital recording. If you did any other ghostly data collection, pull it up, too. You want to compare your research and eyewitness reports with your data collection. Your goal is to confirm the identity of the ghost or spirit. Hopefully, that will happen. In my experience, it raises more questions. You can always go back for another investigation or Ouija board session.

In the next post, Jake will cover spirit photography techniques.