[Ed note-- While this file seems useful in some of its concepts, I
would highly recommend the excercise of both caution and prudence as
well as some form of 'magical' protection before attempting to use
Ouija boards for divination. --Amythyst]

General Topic : Channeling
Specifically : Divination Devices.

Picture a scene...

        Six young students; four women and two men.  Ages ranging from
seventeen to twenty-three.  All are sitting in a small dormatory room.
One male sits on a bed near the door nervously watching the group.
Two of the women sit on another bed; nearer to the action.  One of
these women wields a pen, busily writing down the letters that the
members of the group call out.  Within arms- length two females and
one male sit around a small table. Thier eyes transfixxed on a small
glass cup which upon each one has a single finger resting.  The table
is divided into many sections; The alphabet lay scattered about in
organized chaos surrounding and crossing through words such as Yes,
No, What, and Why, among others.  The room's lights are slightly
dimmed.  Even though no one says it out loud, there is a great feeling
of expectancy.  Each of the six has a hidden reason for attending, yet
all are curious to play with toys that they were never encouraged to
play with as childred.

        Channeling a neither something new nor something old, it is
something that has always been.  The above scene is a picture from
memory.  Many times I have seen postings on this group and others
describing channeling as being demonic.  Now I'd like to take a moment
and describe my knowledge of channeling.  Hopefully, this knowledge
may open a few minds and give a new perspective to an unaccepted
social practice.


Basics:

        The diversity of channeling devices is astounding.  Almost
anything can be used to channel.  A channeling device is anything that
is used in conjunction with oneself in order to better understand the
messages one recieves.  Some of the more known devices are tarot
cards, Ouija boards, divination rods (the common name escapes me for
the moment), and autowriting.  There are thousands of other devices
used in conjunction with channeling. No device has been proven to be
effective in the interpretation or amplification of channeled
messages. (Professor Reich's device excluded - as I've never read a
proper report on it yet.)

        To narrow down a bit, I'll stick with the device commercially
called a Ouija Board.  The history of the board can be found either on
a boxxed set of the game or within the backlogs of the forum.  I'll
stick to the name Ouija Board hereafter, even though many channeling
boards are nothing like the game set.

        A ouija board can be of any size or dimension.  It can contain
words, numbers, letters, symbols, or anything else for that matter.
The commercial set uses a plastic pointer with felted bottoms to ease
it's abilty to slide on it's board.  Some people refer to the pointer
as a planchette.  The pointer can be almost anything that will easily
slide on it's board's surface. Glass vessels are often used.  Most-
likely this is due two one of two reasons: 1) the crystaline
properties inherant to it's structure or 2) it's a handy item that
most people have around. As to the board design; there are many.  Some
people tend to stick to the commercial set, while others design hand-
carved wooden tables with polished glass tops.  Blood is also used by
some who believe that once one becomes part of the board then they can
master it's power more easily and control it's forces better.


Preliminary Ceremonies:

        Sometimes a cloth is kept with the board to wipe it clean of
spiritual residue before and after the board has been used. Mostly,
it's a good idea to keep one's board free of dust so the pointer can
move freely.  Another practice is to dim the lights and light a
candle(s).  A prayer of protection is also used often to protect the
channeler from evil forces.  Many practices are used, as there are too
many theories and too few facts to give people.  Most people are
afraid and will do anything that they think will aid and protect them.


The Act Itself:

        Initially a session begins with a number of people grouped
around a board.  The number commonly varies between two and four
members.  A common belief is that a person will be open to a spirit's
will if the person maniplulates the board alone.  The initial
cerimonies are preformed and each member of the group places a finger
or two on the pointer.  If there is no table then the board is placed
so that it touches the knees of each of the members.  Usually a caller
is determined, a person who is either experienced with channeling or
one who has a strong will. Hereafter the session can go in a multitude
of directions.  Common practic is for the caller to ask if there are
any spirits in the room.  If there is no caller, then the channelers
take turns asking questions of the spirit; either verbally or
mentally.


Some Facts About the Spirits:

        [Ed. note-- refer to my comment at the beginning of this
        document.  Most deleterious effects can be avoided by
        working withing a 'protected' area.  --Amythyst]

    1.  Spirits do not know everything.

    2.  Spirits are mostly common folk.

    3.  Spirits cannot predict the future, although some would
        like to.

    4.  Spirits do lie.  They welcome the chance to chat and will
        tell a person anything to keep them on the 'line'.

    5.  People who channel often will have a greater following of
        spirits.  The reason being that spirits hang around hoping
        to chat; to somehow get a piece of what they miss while in
        thier non-corpral state.  This also extends to thier
        efforts to steal one's strength.  This can work for or
        against thepractitioner.

    6.  Each living person has a soul mate.  The purpose of this
        soul mate is unknown.  Maybe it is the guide that leads
        one's soul from thier body when one dies.

    7.  Most spirits are weak powerless entities.  Most 'evil'
        ones are good at scaring the channelers, somehow deriving
        pleasure from thier fear.  Very few of these have the
        strength to do anything more than talk.

    8.  Spirits are just like people; good, evil, neutral.  Most
        border on neutral with good tendancies.  Like others have
        expressed in this forum; people are not good or evil, only
        shades of grey.  Most spirits one meets while channeling
        meet this criteria.

    9.  Any spirit that must go through a channeler in order to
        come in contact with the living will be virtually without
        any strength.  This doesn't mean they will be powerless,
        it does imply that a spirit's strength in the living world
        is proportional to the strength (will) of the caller.

   10.  Most spirits talk of a corridor and that they cannot
        truely see or feel, but they can tell whether another
        entity is around and if the other entity has malicious
        tendancies.

   11.  Entities if asked about god, heaven, or hell will often
        either make no response or give a response of unsuredness.

   12.  Most entities can't spell very well.

   13.  Entities who have been "out of touch" for a long period of
        time will have problems relating to the living.  They tend
        to forget who they are, what it feels like to be alive,
        even what it means to be alive.  In essence they tend to
        forget that which they have little or no use for.


Observations:

        Devices such as Ouija boards are no better or worse than any
other such device that a practitioner uses as a focus.  For once
someone has mastered the ability to focus thier attention, such
devices will not be needed again.  Granted, no one likes to abandon
the one tool that most aided them on thier path of learning.
Initially a person begins as a student, learning the basics; like how
to feel and how to tell the difference between feeling true forces and
non-true forces.  A true force is one that is physical and can be
measured (assuming one had the equipment or resources).  Non-true
forces are those that come from one's imagination.

        The second level is when one can not only feel, but also hear.
Usually one has to teach oneself to hear.  To hear one must open thier
mind to the speaking voices.  When one begins channeling they cannot
feel nor hear so thier limbs must be forced to move a pointer on a
board.  Breaking words down to thier components (letters) is not
always an easy task.  It is much easier to hear a whole word then wait
for the board to spell it out for you.  Mostly what one needs to do is
listen for the words and guess at thier meanings, but never force the
pointer to letters.  If you're guess is correct then good, if not just
keep at it.  If your ability good enough or the spirit strong enough,
you will hear it's words of frustration when your guess is wrong. Once
you can hear words, sentences will not be far behind.

        The last level (surely not the last) is when the channeler
puts down thier device and no longer needs it.  When this happens, the
channeler can now see.  Like the other levels, seeing is an
enhancement of one's existing abilities.  To see one needs to have
found thier focal point.  To say it is a point of great power is to
under estimate it.  For each person the exact point is different.
Once one can see, this ability will stay with them, even if they give
up the pratice of channeling.  Seeing covers many areas; it is the
visualization of auras, second sight, travel, among many other things.
This level is a spring- board point from which the channeler can
easily move on to other psi-related areas.


Expectations:

        Why does a ouija board directly/indirectly contact spirits
whereas tarrot cards only seem to flirt with spirits who know the
future and past?  The reason is that our expectations of these devices
are different.  When one uses a ouija board they expect to contact a
spirit (or non-tangable force).  If one thinks they will come in
contact with the devil, then maybe they will.  It's an internal force
that one deals with when channeling.  For this reason, a novice can
easily interpret a subconcious effort for a true spiritual
confrontation.  One's fears of meeting the ultimate evil or one of his
dominions can easily force one to perceive fantasy for reality.
Likewise, if one expects that they will be possessed by a spirit, then
it may just happen, but it will be a force of the mind rather than an
exterior force.  These possessions can be easily fixxed by giving the
subject something positive to focus on.  Many times self-induced
possessions are the result of depression.  Once the person has
announced that they have been possessed they will recieve
companionship and the attention of thier peers.  Given this attention
most cases will disapear.


Misconceptions:

        If you channel, you can easily be contacted by one [evil
entity] and not know it. [...]  Ouija boards are gateways for
entities, they especially are contacted by nasties because it's an
easy gateway for them to get through.  Remember, evil entities will
not seem evil all of the time - thier goals are to get to our world
and manifest.

        This is a clear case of the misconceptions that,
unfortunately, are taken as truth.  There are indeed such things as
evil entities, but channeled spirits are not always evil.  It is just
the evil ones that people find most worth noting.  One thing that
should be remembered is that a Ouija board is nothing more than a
device, you are the medium through which the entities converse; the
gateway is you.


Invitations:

        The invitation of entities may not be wise, for it releases
many forces.  A free entity, unless controlled, will most often
express it's presence in unexpected ways.  It's not that freed
entities are neccessarily evil, it just means that they have been
cooped up with no way to express themselves and thus tend to be bit
over-zellous. This in no way confirms the existance of entities, it
just means that there are forces at work that we do not fully
understand.  As stated before, one's expectations can be an extremely
powerful force.  When one expects an entity and truely believes in
it's existance, they may indeed fabricate one from thier own will.
Whether this is a concious or subconcious force is not clear, but it
is believed that a person can induce telekenetic forces from thier own
will.


Poltergiests and Entities:

        One of the more famous encounters with forceful entities is
detailed in the Warren's book, The Demonologist.  The case tells of a
teenaged girl who took up playing with an Ouija Board. The girl
encountered an entity that claimed to be a sixteen year old boy who
had once lived near her prior to his death.  The girl, being lonely,
made contact with this spirit on a nightly basis, trying to find out
more about him.  She became romantically attached to the spirit.  She
told the entity that she wanted to meet him and in doing so invited
him to her world.  After this calling her life and her family's was in
constant termoil.  In essence she had called forth a poltergiest; an
entity of mischief. The Warrens were called in and after a couple of
weeks they persuaded the entity to leave the family alone.

        In this case there are a few factors that stick out and may
have enhanced the encounter: a) The girl's loneliness and possible
depression, b) The age of the girl.  Emotions such as loneliness and
depression express themselves as darkened areas (voids) in a person's
aura (or bio-magnetic/electric field).  When a person channels, they
open themselves to the entities.  If a void exists in one's aura it is
not difficult for an entity to merge it's energies with those of the
channeler's.  The more a person uses such a channeling device while in
this state of mind, the more chances the entity has to work itself
into one's own field; in essence it anchors itself and burrows in.
Once an entity is "attached", it can do several things: a) Possession,
b) Gateway through, c) Bind.

        A possession occurs when an entity is able to burrow down far
enough to attempt to gain control of a person's internal electrical
relays.  Possessions have to be allowed, even asked for in order that
they may occur.  Living beings have what one would term as "shields".
These shields protect one from being attacked by low energy bursts
(psi) or continuous low intensity fields (entities).  When a person
becomes depressed they begin to internally weaken thier shields, thus
inviting attacks by entities.  One thing to note is that while one
lives they cannot fully drop all thier shields (unless trained).  Like
any well constructed machine, the human body has many redundant fail-
safe guard systems.

        The second possibility is gating.  A spirit, if given enough
oppertunities, can gate itself.  Gating of this manner relate to the
entity's ability to passthru the channeler's energy field(s) and roam
about the living world as they please. There's one major flaw to a
spirit gating itself; the entity's energies are linked with the
channeler's.  If the channeler works hard enough to rebuild and
strengthen thier aura, they can in effect banish the spirit.  While
linked to the channeler the entity cannot roam far, and it's roaming
range is severly limited.  Since the entity would rather stay in the
world of the living it may try to prevent it's host (the channeler)
from rebuilding his/her aura. If an entity is desperate enough it will
try almost anything to keep it's host distracted and if possible try
to drive the person into greater depression so that it may establish a
greater link. Gatings of this nature are usually the result of
incompatible host/entity relations.  When an entity and it's host are
compatible they establish what is termed as a "link".

        A link is more complex than a gating because it involves a
willful merging of both the entity's and the channeler's auras.  A
link involves the sharing of energies as well as knowledge.
Compatibility of entity and host is essential because a link boarders
on gating and possession, but it requires cooperation whereas the
other two require force.  Links can lead to greater understandings and
manipulations of one's own psi-related abilities.  [ Actually, when
one channels, they are in essence establishing a link.  Although a
channel link differs in that the link is less successible to
coruption. ]

        The age of a channeler plays a strong factor in the stability
of one's connection.  Teenagers who dabble in channeling usually do it
based on an ulterior motive.  This most often being due to the need
for speaking to someone who understands what they are feeling or
experiencing.  It's also a time in one's life that they seek to
experiment and defy authority.  In essence it's a time of great
change, and with change comes much burden of thought.  For some
teenagers, channeling is a way to find a friend.  For others it's a
means of expressing thier inner feeling, even some that they are not
aware of.


Observations:

  1.  There are many perconcieved ideas reguarding Ouija boards.
      Some hold truth, while others are merely superstitious bull.

  2.  Women tend to participate in psi-related activities more
      than men.

  3.  The longer one practices channeling, the greater one feels
      they understand.

  4.  The after effects of channeling are sometimes more vivid
      upon reflection than when the event occurred.

  5.  "Seeing" does not necessarily mean vision, it implies
      understanding as well.

  6.  Insanity is a broad term that society lables paranormal
      activists; he who strays from the norm and delves in
      unexplained activities must have a few loose screws.

  7.  Generally, people enter into paranormal activities in hopes
      of finding out what it is exactly that makes them special.
      Everyone has a feeling that they have a special inner
      talent, something that is utterly astounding.  But, life
      comes with no manuals, no guide books to tell you what is
      life and why you are here.  You are intelligent and must
      figure that out on your own; no one will tell you or give
      you the slightest hint.


Conclusion:

        If one approaches channeling with an open mind they will have
little trouble understanding it.  Yet, one who has an open mind is not
one who is easily persuaded, it is just a person who can look at all
things as though they are new.  Looking at thing without preconcieved
ideas is not an easy task, but it can be learned and once mastered one
can see beyond most learned hatreds and fears.

        Channeling is an art.  It is an ability that one must strive
towards.  It can be reached many ways including meditation; which I
haven't discussed.  And like most other psi-related abilities,
channeling is something anyone can do.  There are many factors that
can inhibit a person, the foremost being that of thier programming.
From the point of conception, a child is burdened with programming
from it's parents, from society, and from many other sources.  One
theory is that children shy away from thier inate psi abilities in
favor of the positive reinforcements from thier parents.  As people
grow older and begin making decisions for themselves, they tend to
experiment to see if they can gain back the abilities that they loss.
The bond between mother and child may be a good example of this; the
way a mother can sense when her child is in danger.


Afternote:

        When I mention auras I am referring to a general term.  A
living person is nothing more than a glorified machine that changes
matter into energy.  Basic laws of physics say that energy can never
be loss, only transfered.  The human body is constantly changing
matter into energy and although a good bit of that is used for the
body, there is an amount of it that escapes the body in the form of
radiated energy.  Some of this energy stays near the body in a
concentrated form while other bits extend out into fields.  There are
several fields, some very distinct, while others are widely dispursed
and somewhat amorphus.  Based upon dispersion, the layers differ in
color and magnitude.  To say a person's aura is a certain color is
incorrect.  It is more to correct that one's field is comprised of a
greater amount of one color than the other.  Either that, or people
are referring to the outer field.  The inner field is a great display
of a multitude of colors and shades.  It's this field that I'd guess
healers look at to see illnesses.  By way of comparrison one could
look at the reflection a gasoline gives, but an aura's colors are
better organized and filled with less darkness.  I'm sure many will
disagree, even say I'm completely wrong, but in my defense I can only
say that this is what I see.