According to a Dominican Father, Basil Cole, professor emeritus of spiritual, moral, and theology in Washington, DC, Ouija boards, offered as innocuous board games in the United States, are a weapon for Satan.
The board, which was initially produced in the United States in 1890, claims to facilitate communication with the “other side” via the use of a sliding pointer to type out messages. According to Father Dan Reehil, an exorcist priest of the Nashville Diocese, demons utilize the Ouija board to trick people into thinking they are hearing from the dead. Possession may result in severe instances.
Industry revenue for psychic services is projected to rise 1.5% during 2018-2023, reaching $2.3 billion. Due to magic’s growing popularity, institutions like Exeter University now provide an MA in magic and occult science. Superstition abounds in the process of consulting an Ouija board, and the board itself is “in fact a conduit, an openness to getting diabolical distortions — erroneous conceptions that somehow this board will tell you what the future is or anything about yourself,” according to Reehil.
Using a Ouija board was the first step in the real-life possession case that inspired “The Exorcist” by William Peter Blatty (and the film adaptation in 1973). He continued, saying that when “the devil exposes his true face,” such objects can send a person’s life “spiraling out of control.”
The Catholic Church teaches that “all types of divination,” or using extra-natural ways to predict the future, are to be eschewed. Every one of these methods “conceals a yearning for dominance over time, history, and, ultimately, other humans, and a wish to conciliate secret powers,” it says. “While it’s logical that people would want to know what the future holds, divination tools are the incorrect technique,” Father Cole stated.
Those who have experimented with the paranormal shouldn’t give up hope. When we turn to God in confession, we remove any leverage the devil may have had on us. Anyone who has ever used a Ouija board should admit it, go to confession, hand it up to God, and then be free to live as God intends.
