Dam Ouija Board - THE GRUMPY SKEPTIC - thegrumpyskeptic's Blog - Bakersfield.com

Apr 7, 2008 at 10:04 AM : My doctoral...

My doctoral studies included examination of much that is called "paranormal" or "Psi." The biggest obstacle has always been replication under laboratory conditions. The "spirits" seem most unwilling to accommodate themselves to clinical observation, but the anecdotes seem endless.

Apr 7, 2008 at 11:04 AM : exactly, so...

exactly, so based on what little evidence is there, i can say with a certain degree of comfort that there are no spirits

Apr 7, 2008 at 11:04 AM : Or that many of the...

Or that many of the anecdotes result from overindulging in spirits.

Spam code SHEZE.

Apr 7, 2008 at 11:04 AM : Well the universe is...

Well the universe is made up of ether and who knows?Besides the 100th monkey,of course.

Apr 7, 2008 at 12:04 PM : The only thing...

The only thing useful I found for my OUIJA board was slidding down the carpeted stairs of my house when I was a kid.

Apr 7, 2008 at 01:04 PM : Way back...

Way back when my sister dragged out a Ouija board (never could understand the phonetics of the spelling--French can't spell?). It was simply a parlor game, nothing else. The spirits never seem to want to give out lottery numbers, long shot horses, or which stocks to buy so, I don't have a whole lot of use for them.

For all the skepticism, including mine, there are some mysterious things that defy explanation. Doesn't mean there isn't one, just means I don't have one.

Apr 7, 2008 at 03:04 PM : In the 1940"s...

In the 1940"s in lived in Johnsondale, CA. There wasn't much to do for intertainment. Board games were very popular. One of the kids had a OUIJA BOARD. We played with it and discovered it responded in English, German and French. The language used, depended on one the kids with multiple language ability using it.

My grandmother's first language was German and she also spoke French. My father was French, so I had some knowledge of both. Most of the kids anly spoke English. There was a family fron Switzerland and they spoke German. Needless to say, if one of us using the planchete spoke a foreign language, the answer wasn't English. Some outrageous answers appeared while playing the game.

I shared with ny grandmother what happened. She disproved of the Ouija board. She said it was a tool of the Devil. As far as the name OUIJA. She said it was the first time a German and a French man agreed. Oui in French = YES. Ja in German = YES. Kennard was French. Bond was German. Together they patented the name OUIJA. She was right about the name being French and German. However I doubt she was really aware of it. Only emphasizing the hostility between the French and germans.

Apr 7, 2008 at 05:04 PM : Thanks for...

Thanks for the info. I'll file that tidbit away. Still, OUI does not look like WEE. French can't spell.

Apr 7, 2008 at 09:04 PM : Bill Wilson of...

Bill Wilson of Alcoholics Anonymous fame believed in Ouija boards, using one on a regular basis. He also left ten percent of his very healthy book royalties to his mistress.

Apr 7, 2008 at 09:04 PM : Still, OUI does not...

Still, OUI does not look like WEE. French can't spell.

Julio Rojas doesn't look like Hoo-lee-oh Row-hoss, either. Blame the guy who invented Latin. I think his name was Ernie.

Apr 7, 2008 at 09:04 PM : LOL,...

LOL, johnburns. They use ou instead of uu (w). Doesn't seem like that big a deal to me.

Apr 7, 2008 at 09:04 PM : jbs where...

jbs where did you get your info that Bill Wilson left 10% of the book royalties to a mistress? I have never heard that before.

Apr 7, 2008 at 10:04 PM : It doesn't mean,...

It doesn't mean, of course, that the program is a fraud, Gube, but Bill's life wasn't anything like movies such as "My Name is Bill W." or books like "Pass It On!" portray it as being. I've known this for many years.

"Bill Wilson cheated on his wife Lois with many different women, both before and after sobriety. He even cheated on her while she worked in Loesser's department store to support him. 'I'm going to a meeting' was often a double-entendre when Bill Wilson said it. Bill actually invented the old A.A. tradition of Thirteenth Stepping the pretty women who come to A.A. meetings seeking help for alcoholism. (First you teach them the Twelve Steps, and then you take them to the bedroom and teach them the Thirteenth Step....)"

Tom Powers wrote about Bill's sexual obsession. When he would confront Bill about his infidelities, Bill would act remorseful, then would say, "But I can't give it up. When I would press him as to why the hell not, he would start rationalizing. What would really kill me is when he'd say, 'Well, you know, Lois has always been more like a mother to me.' Which somehow was supposed to make it all right for him to cheat on her." http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-otherwomen.html

Bill also took part in LSD-25 sessions with Aldous Huxley under a doctor's supervision: "The drug rocked Wilson’s world. He thought of it as something of a miracle substance and continued taking it well into the ‘60s. As he approached his 70th birthday, he developed a plan to have LSD distributed at all AA meetings nationwide. The plan was eventually quashed by more rational voices, and a few years later the Federal government made the point moot by making the drug illegal. (That Wilson’s plan was shot down is probably fortunate. LSD is a beautiful thing, but nothing sounds more horrifying to me than a roomful of chain-smoking, frightened, needy drunks tripping their heads off in the basement of the local Y.)"
http://www.moderndrunkardmagazine.com/issues/01-05/0105-dry-piper.htm

Wilson was serially unfaithful to his wife Lois. Wilson's affairs with women caused controversy and concern within AA and it was common knowledge in New York AA circles. His interest in younger women increased with his age, and caused Barry Leach and other friends of Wilson to form a "Founders Watch". People were assigned to keep an eye on Wilson during the socializing that followed AA functions and to separate and steer away those young women who caught Wilson's interest. Wilson, like many in his generation, could be sexist, but he was also "capable of treating the women who worked with him with dignity and respect". In the mid 1950s he began an affair with Helen Wyn, a woman 22 years his junior, "in duration, intensity and scope" this was different from his other affairs. Wilson at one point discussed divorcing Lois to marry Helen. Wilson with determined perseverance was able to overcome the AA trustees objections, and renegotiated his royalty agreements with them in 1963, which allowed him to include Helen Wynn in his estate. He left 10% of his book royalties to Helen and the other 90% to his wife Lois. In 1968 with Wilson's illness making it harder for them to spend time together, Helen bought a house in Ireland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_W.

Apr 7, 2008 at 10:04 PM : jbs yes I...

jbs yes I have seen these sites and must say someone has a big resentment towards Bill and AA. I do know he wasn't no angel and though imperfect, after all he was a alcoholic and pretty much a con man he did help alot of people. I look for the good and there's alot of good in AA and the people of AA.

Apr 8, 2008 at 12:04 PM : you should look up...

you should look up the story of the new Mars Volta record "The Bedlam in Goliath".