Hi Dark, Well, I think some history is in order here. When the Ouija Board was created in the late 1800's it was created and sold strictly as a kids toy. In other words a harmless game. However, mediums and other spiritualists began buying them, using them in spiritual ceremonies, etc and proclaimed the Ouija Board to be a way to communicate with the dead. Non-believers tend to still think of the Ouija Board still as a harmless kids toy, and of course spiritualists and religious people say its something other. The bottom line is that Hasbro treats it as a harmless kids toy, the stores generally treat it that way too, and it gets shelved along side other toys and games. I'd say it is up to parents to make an informed decision as to weather they want their children playing with a Ouija Board or not and not put the responcability on Hasbro or their local toy store to make that decision. Just my opinion of course.
That said, you are absolutely right in saying that many people who claim to be mediums etc are fakes. Such people often play upon peoples gullibility, their beliefs, their naive acceptance of something spiritual without any solid proof. One absolutely must be a bit sceptical when getting involved in the spiritual movements because there are plenty of people who will take you for every cent you have if you let them. For example, there is or was a popular show here in the states called Crossing Over with John Edwards. I can't say weather he is or is not legit, but to be honest the few times I watched the program I always felt like his method of contacting the dead was a fishing expodition. He'd have someone on a stage with him and say something like, "I see an older man." He'd watch the face of the person to see if he or she made a reaction, and then add some other detail like he is tall, over weight, skinny, etc and eventually the person onstage will blurt out that it is their dad, uncle, whatever. What makes this fishy is that anyone can fake this simply by giving out a few details like gender, height, weight, age, and someone who believes the person is a medium will fill in the rest on their own. Its not difficult to run a scam like that. Cheers! On 7/13/12, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > As I said, I'm pretty agnostic on the hole spirits issue. I have no knolidge > > either way, and I'm already far too familiar with the fact that scientific > theory is pretty much based on a set of opinions like anything else humans > create. So while I wouldn't discount people's experiences of spirits, I'm > not completely certain as to their truth either, indeed I feel the same way > > about the possibility of life after death generally, I'll find out when I > get there, ---- or not! > > however, I do find it a little worrying that ouija boards are markited > fairly lightly, sinse it does strike me as a serious issue, and whatever you > > believe about the actual existance of spirits, it is true that throughout > history it's an area where a lot of people have made money out of fooling > others, ---- indeed Harry hooduni and Arthur conan doyle were quite > instrumental in exposing a few extremely wealthy mediums who were using > magnets, string and various other measures to simulate contact with > spirits. > > That's why I'd always advise someone to be pretty carefull with this, and > I'm not exactly sure of ouiji boards being simply markited like any other > harmless board game. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
