It’s the game 12-year-old Regan was playing in the beginning of the 1973 film "The Exorcist." And it’s a pastime that Catholic experts in the occult have warned about being a conduit for possible demonic possession.
But a game company called Winning Moves celebrated the board game in Salem, Mass., (a place known for the famous "witch trials" of the 17th Century). The Wednesday event took place two days before the opening of the film "Ouija," about a group of friends who must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.
The Wednesday night event, "Ouija: The Mystery Behind the Game" at the Salem Waterfront Hotel, featured Ouija historian Robert Murch of Boston and paranormal researcher Jeff Belanger of Massachusetts.
They may not have cited this 2010 article from the blog SanctePater, which noted that Toys "R" Us was selling Ouija boards at the time.
"It is just troubling that these things are treated as casually as any other game, like Monopoly or anything else on this Toys "R" Us site—and I think it’s something Christians should be aware of and really not support," said Stephen Phelan, communications manager of Human Life International.
Phelan said Christians have an obligation to resist “games” like the Ouija Board.
"If you go to the comments section on the Toys "R" Us site, you’ll read comments from people who talk about being obsessed with it, talk about missing school for it, talk about the spirits they spoke to on the other side and how creepy it was," Phelan wrote.
He added that the primary groups that deny the evils of the Ouija board are the ones who deny the spirit world entirely. Christians, though, are "supposed to have nothing to do with dark spirits. We’re not supposed to dabble in anything that would compromise our souls, and that’s exactly what this does."
And today we celebrate...