The Real Danger of Ouija Boards

Photo by Josh Olalde on Unsplash

As Catholics, it is of grave importance that we recognize the danger involved when we take part in occult practices, such as playing with a Ouija Board. In more recent years, the Ouija Board has become more popular, especially among young people, now that it is even readily available  virtually in the App Store as the “Spirit Board” or “Ghost Board Game.” The target audience seems to be teens and young adults and this becomes very apparent in the various kinds being sold on Amazon, such as a cat themed or “Stranger Things” themed spirit board, or even a pink colored or glow in the dark one. Also, the fact that the prices are kept affordable, many costing under twenty dollars. 

Ouija boards are used most often in the attempt to contact spirits, especially by those who have lost loved ones, and who believe that they can communicate with the deceased through what they believe to be a harmless game. There is even a Ouija board called the “Holy Spirit Board” on Amazon marketing to Christians who want to communicate directly with Jesus Christ. As Catholics we need to understand that the spirit board is not a harmless game, and can create a real danger or even death for those who are in reality giving permission to demons to enter through the portal that has now been opened to them. Those who play with the Ouija board are not communicating with deceased loved ones or Jesus, but demons who pretend to be them, and the truth does come out eventually because demons cannot perpetually hide their true colors.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: 

All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone. [1]

The Church holds such a position on the matter of the occult because demons are not to be taken lightly with a grain of salt. They threaten our relationship with God and steer us off the road that leads to our eternal salvation. When we allow demons to wreak havoc in our lives we can be confronted by spiritual oppression, or in rare circumstances, even demonic possession. 

Mark 4:1-9 speaks of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower when there is the sowing of the Word of God. Some of it falls on the path, but is quickly taken away by the birds. Later we read in Verse 15 Jesus explaining to the disciples that Satan comes at once to snatch away the word that was sown in them. Satan acts immediately because he loathes and detests the faith that is produced by the word of God, as stated in Romans 10:17.

In 2003, the Vatican released a document on the New Age, called “Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the ‘New Age’” The document criticizes the New Age movement, and specifically warns against occult practices, which are incompatible with Christianity. It speaks of the Age of Aquarius taking the place of the Christian Age, and refers to the biblical verse Luke 16:13, “No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn.” [2] One cannot remain a Christian while at the same time follow the New Age movement because the New Age almost always calls for the reliance on alternatives, such as magic, and diverts one away from placing one’s trust and confidence in Christ. How can one be a follower of Christ while at the same time participate in behaviors that are anti-Christian in their very nature?

When teenagers and young adults turn to the Ouija Board to utilize its “magic” for answers they are jeopardizing their faith in God. Instead of turning to Him in prayer, they are seeking guidance from spirits, placing all of their trust in them to provide answers to questions rather than God. Christ is no longer their central focus, and this can lead to a weakening and eventually loss of faith in the One, True, God.

The temptation to continue seeking answers over and over again from the spirit board can eventually cause addictive behavior, where the individual loses control. They may become obsessed with contacting spirits and will not be able to bring themselves to stop, which can lead to broken relationships with friends and family.

Ouija boards should not be viewed in the same way as a typical board game because the fact is that although it is advertised as a game it is far from it. Rather it is a form of divination. Some may believe it to be safe and dismiss the possible dangers because one of the companies that sells Ouija boards, Hasbro, also markets Marvel superhero action figures and Baby Alive dolls for children. 

The reality though is that using the Ouija Board can result in detrimental physical and psychological consequences. There have been reports of nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches by those who sought to communicate with spirits. The author of the novel, The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty, was interviewed by Ray Connelly in 1972, and reported supernatural occurrences as he was writing the last chapter of his book after using the Ouija board. He states:

Well, I don’t want to sound like a nut but as I was writing the last chapter and the epilogue I did have a series of bizarre experiences. For the first time in my life I got hung up on a Ouija board for 10 days.

I’d never done it before but I found I couldn’t leave it alone. And I had the most definite feeling that I was communicating with the dead. Yes, I agree an awful lot of it could be auto-suggestion, and I knew all about how Ouija boards worked because I’d researched it so much for the book, but there were certain things which are not susceptible to explanation by the subconscious mind.

Connelly notes that Blatty paused for a long moment and then continued with the following:

I thought it was my father communicating with me, and I got someone in to help validate the experience. She was a girl who could put herself into a self-imposed hypnotic trance and who would operate the planchette on the Ouija board. I didn’t touch it at all, and asked the questions in Arabic, which she didn’t understand a word of, and I got precisely the right answers.

But then I thought well maybe subconsciously I was formulating the answers in English and she was picking them up from me telepathically.

But then there were poltergeist experiences. Doing revision of the book at a friend’s house, the telephone rang and suddenly the receiver leapt off the hook. It happened to him first and then to me. So I asked a friend who did the acoustics for the Kennedy Centre what the possibilities were electrically and he said it was impossible. Then telephone engineers in two states confirmed that it was impossible. But we both saw it happen. That was the culmination of several incidents, but it was the one that in no way could be explained. [3]

Blatty’s novel and eventually the movie, The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, was based on the real-life exorcism of the 14-year old, Ronald Edwin Hunkeler, now an engineer for NASA. Isabel Vincent and Jack Morphet in their New York Post article, “What Really Happened to Ronald Hunkeler, who inspired ‘The Exorcist’” report that according to his mother Hunkeler appears to have become demonically possessed as a result of using the Spirit Board, which was first introduced to him by his recently deceased aunt who had been a spiritualist. There were more than twenty exorcisms performed on the teenager over the course of several months, as reported by the Jesuit priest, Father William Bowden, in “Case Study by Jesuit Priests.” [4]

According to the 1949 Diary, published online by Sensus Fidelium, Bowdern was involved in the demonic possession case study of Hunkeler, who had previously been only referred to as “R,” there were numerous supernatural occurrences involving the teenager. Bowdern writes:

The mother, grandmother and boy while lying on the bed on this night heard something coming toward them similar to the rhythm of marching feat and the beat of drums. The sound would travel the length of the mattress and then back again and repeat this action until the mother asked, “Is this you, Aunt XXXXXXXX (who died in St.). [5]

There were fourteen witnesses who experienced the supernatural phenomena during the various incidents. Bowdern states:

A second class relic of St. Margaret Mary was safety-pinned to the extreme corner of R’s pillow. Shortly after R. retired the mattress on his bed began to move back and forth in the direction of the bed uprights. The boy lay perfectly still, and did not exert any physical effort. The movement in one direction did not exceed more than three inches, the action was intermittent and completely subsided after a period of approximately fifteen minutes. When Father Bishop sprinkled St, Ignatius Holy Water on the bed in the form of a Cross, the movement ceased quite abruptly, but began again when Father stepped out of the room. During the course of the fifteen minutes of activity a sharp pain seemed to have struck R. on his stomach and he cried out. The mother quickly pulled back the bed covers and lifted the boy’s pajama top enough to show zig-zag scratches in bold red lines on the boy’s abdomen. It should be remarked that during the fifteen minutes the boy was not out of view of six observers. When the mattress shaking subsided, there was peace for the remainder of the night, ie. after 11:15 PM. [6]

Attempts to administer the Sacrament of Holy Communion caused much agitation to Satan, especially one particular evening. Bowdern writes:

At midnight, the Fathers planned to give R Holy Communion, but Satan would have no part of it. Even while the institution of the Blessed Sacrament was explained to R his body was badly scratched and branded. The word “HELL” was printed on his chest and thigh. Upon the explanation of the Apostles becoming Priests and receiving Our Lord at the Last Supper, scratches appeared from R’s hips to his ankles in heavy lines, seemingly as a protest to Holy Communion.

When Father Bowdern attempted to give R a small particle of the Sacred Host, the boy was taken off by a quick seizure and the devil said that he would not allow R to receive. After four or five attempts it was thought that a spiritual Communion would have to suffice. But even the expression of the words “I want to receive You in Holy Communion” was cut off by a seizure at the word “Communion.” [7]

Although demonic possession is not an everyday and frequent occurrence it is real, and the possible consequences are severe. It is not worth the risk of enduring such torment and violence by the Prince of Darkness, all for the sake of simply “playing a game,” even if it is only out of curiosity and interest. Demonic possession is not a circumstance of the past, and it still happens today. In recent years the Vatican has been training more exorcists due to a greater need in the various dioceses throughout the world, and according to the BBC in 2018 there were approximately 250 priests from 50 different countries who met for the annual exorcism course. [8]

There was an alleged case of demonic possession reported in 2015 after a Peruvian teenager, Patricia Quispe, used a smartphone app version of the Ouija Board. She appeared to be demonically possessed according to family members who witnessed her foaming and convulsing at the mouth, and had her rushed to the hospital. In the video footage, shown by WDRB News we can hear the 18-year old yell “666,” and “Let me go, let me go.” It was also stated by eyewitnesses that Quispe experienced a deepening of her voice, and the medics had a difficult time restraining her due to her abnormal strength. [9]

Several months ago according to the New York Post article, “28 Girls Hospitalized with ‘anxiety’ after playing with Ouija Board”, by Ben Cost there was another alleged case of negative consequences from school aged children using the Ouija Board, this time in Colombia. There were reported symptoms of anxiety and fainting affecting the girls leading them to be hospitalized, and the parents blamed the school for its use of Ouija Boards. [10]

As Catholics it is of the utmost importance for us to remember that attempting to receive knowledge and power by relying on self, and refusing to turn to God for divine assistance, we are committing a grave sin against the First Commandment, which reads “You shall not have other gods beside me,” (Exodus 20:3) and allowing one of the seven deadliest sins, pride, to become between us and the Lord. When individuals use the Ouija Board on their own authority to find answers to questions from the spirit world, they are making the same serious fault as our First Parents who wanted to be like God without having God involved in their lives. 

Divinity should never be used to find the answers to questions because as Catholics we are called to always seek God first and foremost, and in the quiet of our hearts, if we listen to Him in His timing not our own God does answer our prayers. We may not always receive the answer that we expect from Him, but our will is not always aligned with the Will of God because of the consequences of Original Sin where our reason becomes clouded. However, it is our faith that helps to uplift our intellect and better understand that which God reveals to us. 

There will not be demonic oppression or possession every time someone uses the Ouija Board, but why open the portal to give demons permission to harass and torment us? Is it worth the possibility of losing our salvation, that which Christ already won for us on the Cross? Satan, demons, and hell are very real, and it does not take much effort to look to the world around us to take note of the truth in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour.”

Catholics should not dabble in occult practices, such as the use of Ouija Boards. One cannot be a practicing Catholic and take part in that which is a part of the New Age Movement because the “god” of the movement is not YHWH. New Age occultists believe in an impersonal concept of the divine, which involves energy or consciousness that permeates throughout the cosmos. Despite divination being clearly forbidden by God and His Church, activities such as using the Ouija Board are alluring to humanity because of our fallen human nature, and our tendency towards sin or concupiscence. 

We can win the spiritual battle by remembering the power that we have within us, that which we received at our Baptism when we became members of the Mystical Body of Christ. We recall the words of St. Paul in Galatians 3:26-27, “For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Despite our weaknesses, the devil is no match for us when we remember that we belong to Christ, and Satan has no hold on us unless we open the door and extend an invitation to him. 

1. CCC, 2168.

2. Pontifical Council for Culture and Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the “New Age” (2003), accessed April 25, 2023, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html.

3. Blatty, William Peter. “William Peter Blatty.” Interview by Ray Connolly. Evening Standard, January, 1972. 

   https://www.rayconnolly.co.uk/william-peter-blatty/.

4. Vincent, Isabel and Morphet, Jack. “What really happened to Ronald Hunkeler, who inspired ‘The Exorcist.’” New York Post. December 20, 2021. https://nypost.com/2021/12/20/is-the-exorcist-a-true-story-what-happened-to-ronald-hunkeler/.

5. Bowdern, William, Diary, 1949. From Sensus Fidelium, accessed April 27, 2023, https://sensusfidelium.com/2019/10/19/the-actual-1949-diary-of-the-priest-who-inspired-the-1973-film-the-exorcist/.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. BBC. “Exorcism: Vatican opens doors to 250 priests,” April 17, 2018.

   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43697573.

9. WDRB News - Official. “Girls Hospitalized after Playing with a Ouija Board,” March 10, 2023.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp4NKduem7o.

10. Cost, Ben. “28 Girls Hospitalized with ‘anxiety’ after Playing with Ouija Board.” New York Post, March 8, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/03/07/28-girls-hospitalized-for-anxiety-after-ouija-board-game/.