Chapter Six. Reflections Part V.

Chapter Six.

Reflections Part V.

The illusionists and entertainers, Penn and Teller, actually presented an entire show dedicated to dispelling any myth the viewer might hold about both the Ouija Board and NDEs (near death experiences). The very first words spoken by Penn Fraser Jillette are, “I’m gonna prove that the Ouija, or the Spirit Board is bullshit”. 

This was just one show in a series called ‘Bullshit’, all designed to illustrate the folly of thinking that there might be anything more to anything outside of what scientific and mechanistic principles can explain - even when they can’t specifically explain it. 

Here’s a link to part one on YouTube: Penn & Teller

At 2:00 minutes, you’ll see they picked the most stereotypical, gothic-looking threesome to present a little ‘authenticity’ into the proceedings! I do admit though, it’s a good piece of theatre. 

With their hands on the board, one of them begins, “We, the Elders of Salem Witchcraft, do conjure and summon the principalities and powers that rule over Salem, that they may open a doorway to the spirit world”. 

Hmm, I guess if you’re starting out to make something look ridiculous, that is a very effective way to do it. 

Predictably, they move on to the Ideomotor theory, as illustrated in the show by Psychologist, Lauren Pankratz.  

He explains, “Ordinarily, when you move a hand you’re consciously aware that those hands are moving, but with the Ouija board you’re not, and that’s called an Ideomotor response. In an Ideomotor response the awareness is bypassed and the response goes directly to the muscles - you just are convinced you are not doing anything to make that thing move. So it is very deceptive. When people get together it’s a very powerful situation of expectation, then you say ‘well’ there’s some outside force, there’s some outside spirit”. 

This is immediately followed by a few flippant words from Jillette - well, it is a TV show after all. 

Then comes the blindfold test I wrote about earlier. Three volunteers who had looked to be getting plenty of movement from the planchette are blindfolded, and the board is then sneakily turned 180˚. Nothing makes sense now - the planchette attempts to spell out words, and to answer ‘yes’ and ‘no’ as if the board was in its original position. This is seen as proof of its disproof - proof of bullshit!

If we think of the actions of the Ouija purely as a series of simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers to leading questions, much in the same way the “Elders of Salem Witchcraft” asked things like, “Are you the spirit of Bridgette Bishop?” … “Bridgette, were you hanged on Gallows Hill for witchcraft?”, one is far more likely to be left unconvinced of the board’s authenticity. 

However, when the board starts to ask you the questions, then maybe you’re nudged a step or two closer to suspending disbelief. This started to take place quite early on in our sessions (03/03/1994) when Uri asked, “Tell me, what makes you do this?”. 

Tanina earlier asked, “Do you believe a little more now?”, and most notably in the session dated 29/03/1993 she suddenly enquired, “What is your idea on time travel?”. 

There were many of what I would describe as seminal moments; one example that pre-empts a session I’ve yet to document, occurred on the 28th August 1994. 

I remember the evening well. Feeling quite miserable and tired of the persistent rain and all round bad weather we’d been having, I sat across from Carol at the kitchen table, the board between the two of us. 

It was all very casual; during these sessions we’d often have breaks, sometimes to discuss the evening’s events, sometimes just to pour a glass of wine and talk about each other’s events of the day.  

On this particular occasion I expressed my deep displeasure with the weather. It was just a conversation, not something related to a topic previously discussed, or one that I intended to discuss with whomever came through on the board.

When the meteorological discourse came to an end and we placed our fingers back upon the glass, in the midst of what came next were these following words: 

"The river needs the rain to give it direction, the wind gives the seeds of new life a place to land, the cold enables all to rest before the heat from your sun springs them into life. Enjoy your seasons for the work they do."

Now, this example is not my way of stating that the Ideomotor idea is groundless, but I would have to raise the question as to what it was in ourselves that we are unaware of that covertly guided our muscles (at speed) to produce something I found so inspirational, poetic and full of truth - especially as my state of mind at the time was anything but inspired. 

Let’s take a look at three obvious possibilities:

1. One or the other of us was deliberately 
    orchestrating events, and pushing the 
    glass?

2. One of us was, or both of us were,            

        pushing the glass unknowingly - as in the 

    Ideomotor theory? - though this doesn’t 

    go any way towards identifying where     

    the sentiment of the message originates 

    from.

3. We were conversing with spirit, in this 
    case Tanina, and we were being helped  

    to realise an alternative, more positive 
    view of the weather and of life - just as 
    real, or maybe more real than the bleak 
    view I’d held?     

Option three will make sense to some and seem ridiculous to many, and the first two options are far easier to digest in the minds of the ‘modern’ man and woman.   
                         

It would be just great to be able to put one’s finger on the exact source of these words, but whatever clear explanations are presented, all seem too easy to state with certainty, and all seem to be satisfying a selected agenda in those who state them.            

So with that said, it’s back to the Penn and Teller show, and to conclude their Ouija feature, I’d like to quote the man they mockingly describe as the “Guru of near-death experiences” Raymond Moody. 

Accused by Jillette of “Wriggling out” of the argument, in a highly reasoning tone  Moody expresses his view, “In a field like the Paranormal, where the problems are conceptual and not yet scientific, you make a tremendous mistake in deciding you’re going to be either a believer or disbeliever. And really, the believers and the disbelievers, in my opinion, are the same group”.