Group Psychokinesis

[TheLawOfOne]

Hey. I had a question. Has anyone ever tried moving objects with another person or more? My theory is that it would be easier because of multiple focused thoughts. If you ever played the Ouija board, you know that the more people that are touching the locator, the better it moves. Maybe the same theory would apply in this case.

[ThePoliteSkeptic]

Now, I was under the understanding that the Ouija board was supposed to be moved directly by spirits. Was I mistaken?

[CFTraveler]

The current metaphysical paradigm (at least last I heard, this can change depending on what group you talk to) posits that most methods of 'divination' rely on subconscious/superconscious knowledge, and the trick is to let go of conscious control of the object and let your subconscious direct it. That's why pendulums are so good at finding lost objects, etc.

The problem with the Ouija board is that (depending on what your paradigm may be) because of the way it's put together (with occult-looking symbols) and marketed, the potential for 'unconscious acceptance of possession' can be a problem, and you can either actually channel an evil entity (put in whatever you believe in here) instead of the desired spirit.

Some more fundamentalist religious believers don't believe in spirits of the deceased, but believe that all entities that may exist are by definition 'demons' or 'nonphysical entities that are not human', so this kind of thing is a no-no to them- and other metaphysicists believe that the person who is doing the 'divining' is either channeling shadow aspects of themselves or just accessing their subconscious.

Whatever the reason, many people who report negative experiences (such as overshadowing, obsession and possession) can trace their origins to messing with the Ouija board.
So we just don't encourage it.

[ThePoliteSkeptic]

Traveler,

My father is religious, and believes like you said, that there are no ghosts, only angels and demons. I have a friend who reported an experience of using the Ouija board in a so-called haunted house, and that doors were slamming, causing him to run out. I've heard a lot of this friend's stories, and while they're entertaining, I wouldn't vouch for their utter factualness. One comment I do have on the experience, though, the next kids that visited this house (which was abandoned) were doubtless creeped out to find a Ouija board already present!

[TheLawOfOne]

Now, I was under the understanding that the Ouija board was supposed to be moved directly by spirits. Was I mistaken?

It might move by the spirits or slight subconscious movements, but the point is the more people that have their hands on the locator, the more energy and it seems to work better that way.

I have played with it before as a kid and never had problems with it. But I do believe that if you invite spirits to mess around with you by asking them to move things and make themselves known then you are inviting them in and it may be problematic. You might accidentally contact negative entities. It also might be best to say something in the beginning like "I wish to speak only to Masters, Guides and Loved Ones" or "I wish to speak to only those who mean me well." This might help, but a lot of kids don't know this and start messing with the thing.

[CFTraveler]

Which points back to the subconscious/self aspects theory as the most likely- at least some of the time.

[Beekeeper]

Hey. I had a question. Has anyone ever tried moving objects with another person or more?

When my son was little, after I'd read him a story, we'd sometimes play "moving the mobile" which hung above the foot of his bed and changing its direction. You could do this with breath, which one of us would often do in fun, but most the time it did seem to respond with neither of us being silly.