Whilst I am sure I have probably written about both Ouija boards and Table tipping at various times on this website; I wanted to post something to potentially begin a sensible discussion on the topic. Hopefully most reading this part are aware of the simple factors that make those two methods very subjective and add little to an investigation in reality. 

Ouija boards alone are known to often be ruled out by serious investigators and academics, mainly due to the ideomotor effect. This is where the actions or movements are unconscious. It is said to occur due to prior expectations, suggestion or preconceptions. Hence on an Ouija board those using it may unconsciously spell out names and dates that leave people convinced they are communicating with spirits. It is a well known and widely accepted explanation for what occurs during the use of Ouija boards. 

Of course the other explanation is simple fraud, either an individual or individuals, are purposely guiding the supposed communication. I have never really understood why someone may do this, but as I have witnessed it personally, I know it does happen. 

So, does this mean that Ouija boards are a complete waste of time and probably belong on a film set as a prop, rather than a tool at an investigation? Whilst I do own an Ouija board, it generally sits on the top of my bookcase gathering dust and would not be something I would use on a proper investigation. However, they are good fun on a less formal ghost hunt. That said, they are an object that can really divide a paranormal group sometimes. 

Table tipping is an odd one, as its something that I discovered during a couple of ghost hunts, but most of my research seemed to indicate is was more associated with fraudulent activity. Again like the Ouija board this could be down to unconscious movements that result in the table moving or tipping. This is often associated with communication with spirits. 

Now, for me personally Table tipping is really an odd one; I have witnessed individuals pretend the table was tipping and not too well, but I have also had first hand experience of a table tipping. This was as a part of a group, but also on my own. Interestingly in both cases I also experienced something a little more than the table simply tipping; I felt as if it lost its mass and gravity no longer applied to it. This was because it felt under my hands, as if it was trying to lift up off of the floor. It was a strange feeling. 

Table tipping or Table movement, perhaps even levitation, feature in both the Philip Experiment and the Scole Experiment. So, if they did not fraudulently create this and my own experiences are genuine and not misunderstood, then this could be some interesting psychokinesis at work. 

So, we have two approaches here that are often attributed to fraud or the ideomotor effect; but does that mean we should completely disregard them in relation to paranormal evidence? Especially if we equally have many people that believe they’ve had actual experience with these. 

I often find myself in this scenario with the paranormal, where there is a reasonable explanation available, but it does not quite fit all the scenarios that I know of in regards to the phenomena. Which leaves us in a paradox, do we disregard the explanation available based on additional experiences which do not fit; or do we disregard those experiences based on the accepted explanation from serious investigators and academics? It’s a tough one, but not one we are unfamiliar to in the paranormal community. 

Ouija boards and Table tipping are obviously both completely subjective, if not dramatic and also theatre like approaches; that in my opinion do not belong in a serious investigation at all. They are equally something which I would consider to be approaches left over from the heyday of spiritualism. Have I used them previously? Yes, of course in order to experiment with them and understand them personally myself. I have even had interesting things occur, but I could not quantify or qualify the events as true evidence. As such the approach brings no true value to an investigation. 

Now some may completely disagree with my statements here and that is fine, as that is kind of the point of this blog series; to stimulate discussion within the community we are all passionate about. I know some people may have experiences using Ouija boards or whilst Table tipping, that has left them with quite remarkable experiences and I invite them to share them in the comments or contact me privately. If some people think that these approaches are actually essential to ghost hunting, then I would like to understand why they believe this to be true. Perhaps I have missed something or there is a way to better understand how to use these two methods better. 

Now, there is one more possibility to all this, that may have been missed. That is that both approaches allow us to suspend our belief a little and not question things, perpetuating the production of psi. So, whilst both scenarios may seem very spiritual and support the source of any activity being a communicating spirit, the reality may be different. Interestingly this is where various possibilities leak into the situation, from gaining knowledge telepathically and passing it on through the ideomotor effect; to already knowing information and communicating it via these methods. 

In the paranormal we often find many that may misinterpret information or situations as spirit communication. This can be associated with the desire for communication to occur overwhelming our reasoning, as such we accept something that may not be anything more than coincidence. I have personally witnessed this on many occasions during ghost hunts; a fire alarm pulsing every ninety seconds becomes answers to questions on an EMF meter. It is easily done. However, if we are to advance the field we need to get past this kind of thing and look deeper, seek better evidence, more data to prove our theories. 

Whilst Ouija boards and Table tipping can be fun, lets keep them for those social ghost hunts where proof does not really matter and its more about the personal experience. I personally do not see a place for either of them in modern investigations of spontaneous cases. As in reality we should really be aiming to capture good data that we can analyse or many experience statements that we equally analyse alongside the data. More information relating to the case the better, rather than the heavy use of reactive techniques that produce that theatrical drama so many TV shows have promoted. 

What do you think about Ouija boards and Table tipping? Do you disagree and believe they are still important to paranormal investigations? Perhaps you believe that spirits are genuinely communicating through these methods, if so share your experiences, please?