Ouija, also known as a Talking Board, Witch Board, Soul Board, and the all too popular "WeeJee Board"
Ouija is one of those spooky additions to most sleepovers and Halloween parties a lot of people have come in contact with at an early age. Children love to spook eachother out, especially to test their bravery and belief. Many culture have had such tests of spiritual courage, many people have created their own tests, many a heart tested. I won't get into the history of Ouija, as if you wanted to know the history you'd probably just Google it - I will tell you my experiences as a Medium with Ouija.
If you want to learn more about Ouija's Origins, here is a link to the Wikipedia, and here is a link to the Museum of Talking Boards (very nicely done!).
Ouija is an interesting concept: write all letters, numbers, yes/no, day/night and the spooky "goodbye" on a paper, board, etc - add a Planchette - a pointer with ample space for at least two hands to use - and let spirits move your hands to spell out what they want to say.
It's also interesting that spirits want to do this at all. Firstly, it takes a long time to spell something out, and most of the time people move it themselves - thus nullifying the ghost requirement. Secondly, most ghosts tend to not have messages for people having a laugh and sometimes even mocking the spirit world. Although sometimes people seriously use this tool, it is often that test of wills. Who will spell "Die" and who will spell "Kiss" and who will spell "Elvis" or "Devil"? Lastly, spirits don't always pay attention to people calling them. Proper names and focusing on their essential character/behavior/nature can summon/call/entreat them to come, but just asking for any old spirit.. well that can be difficult.
Most times when the Ouija actually works, there is a spirit in the area. Now the spiritual plane of existence doesn't seem to have x-y-z axis. They can be in several place on Earth at any given time, and I have know some to be "exterior explorers" as they call themselves - spirits that travel extra-terrestrially - away from Earth. I find that those explorers are less attentive to what's going on here, however, but if something takes their attention they return focus.
An example is this:
A spirit who is bonded to a house, fairly dormant, minding its own business, listens casually and just goes about its regular activities. Spirit day to day life is a world apart from ours. Playing Ouija, a couple catches the attention of the spirit fully, wholly, and engages in communication. The spirit could go a bunch of ways:
1) The spirit could get annoyed if the message is not being clearly understood. It tries harder and harder - finally giving up and going back to the status quo. A good thing.
2) The spirit gets annoyed and frustrated - again, not being clearly understood. It tries hard and harder and harder - until it gets it's point across, sometimes taking years. A haunting.
3) The spirit gets angry when the people insult it through laughter. It ignores them. Neutral Outcome.
4) The spirit gets angry "" but doesn't ignore them and persists in scaring them. A bad haunting.
5) The spirit gets angry "" doesn't ignore, but instead of scaring them, goes very far for revenge - not fear - but injury. Extreme haunting.
6) The spirit's message is heard but people are in disbelief. Pass it off as coincidence etc. The spirit is okay with that and goes about it's normal life. Good.
7) The spirit's message is heard but mocked. Ignores people- Neutral.
8) The spirit's message is heard, mocked. Anger/Revenge - bad to extreme haunting again.
9) The spirit's message is heard and respected. Good? Maybe. More things can occur:
a) The spirit craves more attention and goes on for months trying to speak again but in a kind way. Ok. Not a bad thing but this can be rather terrifying for some.
b) The spirit is done. Good.
c) The spirit want help. Good - but can be hard tasks ahead.
d) The spirit feels powerful and tries to form advantage over the people, dominating. Bad.
e) The Spirit tells its friends, and some of them are not nice people. Bad.
f) The Spirit is lonely and needs company, starts a lifelong bond. Can be good, can be bad. Just like with humans - some friends are good and some are bad. Except with spirits, they live next to you - watch you, and can manipulate you.
I could go on, but I think my point is made: with all the things that can go wrong - make a choice. Are you willing to take a risk? Are you confident everyone in the room will be civil? Are you sure your mind is clear enough and won't jumble the communication?
The good scenarios are not as important as the bad scenarios, and so I will focus on them.
(In Progress - This msg will be deleted upon completion of the article)