DiscussMormonism.com

On another thread, a poster mentioned that he had some negative experiences while participating in some sort of occult behavior. That poster is free to share his experiences here, if he wishes (seriously, no pressure dude). It made me think of a time in high school when my friends and I played with a Ouija board. I was a complete TBM and had been told about the evils of tampering with the "dark arts". My sister often recounted an experience she had while in college that dealt with a weird experience regarding a Ouija board and voodoo. Needless to say, when my friends broke out the board for the first time, I was a little frightened. They had crafted their board out of a piece of cardboard. The numbers and letters where written in Sharpie marker. The planchette was another piece of cardboard, triangular-shaped, with a hole cut in the middle. I guess they were too cheap to go down to K-Mart and buy a real board. One of my friends cut his finger and smeared some of his blood on the planchette before we started our attempt at communion. The room was dark, except for the light from a couple of candles. We went through the motions, trying to attain some sort of spiritual contact. Nothing happened. Nothing ever happened. It must have been my priesthood keeping the evil spirits away (what I actually believed at the time).

A few weeks later, we decided to play a practical joke on one of our other friends who had never tried a Ouija board. In preparation for his first night, we went down to the basement and rigged a bunch of stuff with fishing line, so at opportune moments we could make things appear to move or make loud noises. We set up the board in the basement, with a blanket covering the ends of the fishing line that we were going to manipulate. The new kid and my friend both had their hands on the planchette and my friend guided the planchette to make it seem as if there was an evil spirit among us. My other friends and I tugged on the fishing lines to make noises. The new guy was pretty unsettled. Finally, my friend on the planchette started making figure 8 shapes. We told the new guy to move away because this was a sign that a possession was occurring. My friend started to act like he was possessed and reached out to grab the new kid, who screamed and ran up the stairs. We quickly turned on all the lights, chased him down, and told him it was all a joke. A mean, practical joke. He eventually forgave us (bastards that we were) and we played video games for the rest of the night.

The End.

Share your experiences below.

I remember when I was a teenager, some buddies of mine wanted to have a séance, so we did. We sat in a dark, candle-lit room, held hands, and one of them started doing some chanting. Another of my friends started quivering like he was having an epileptic fit, and after told us that someone was trying to enter his body. It really scared the crap out of another friend of ours, but I knew he was BSing us.

It was all pretty stupid.

I also briefly dated this girl back then (man, she was smokin’ hot... and I always wondered how she could be single) who had this brother who claimed he was into "the dark arts." I remember at this party we all went to (lots of booze and drugs) he kind of freaked out in a bedroom by himself, and when he came out, his forearms were all slashed up (shallow wounds). He'd gone to town on them with a razor blade. It turned out the guys was simply nuts. No wonder his sister was single (poor... hot... poor girl).

I remember many many warnings about the Ouija Board at church. Obviously, we were to avoid all contact with "dark spirits," but Ouija divination was the only practice consistantly singled out by name.

I do remember that every so often there would be an article in the Era about astrology---this was the late 60's and zodiac signs were a visible part of popular culture. In those articles, there would also be mention of Satan worship and fortune telling, but those things seemed pretty archaic to most of us.

I've had a few experiences that fall under the rubric of this thread---none that make be a believer in anything, necessarily, but were interesting nonetheless.

I'll try to recall a few and post later. Basically, it involves Ouija boards, ghosts and water witching (not all in one hyper metaphysical experience!)

Look, unless you are able to wield a great many magical spells, including incantations to cast illusions and hurl mystical bolts, you may be at a disadvantage. However, if you wear a cloak of levitation granting you the power of flight and you wield the Sacred Eye of Agamotto, which allows you to see through illusions and read minds you might just be able to save the posteriors of everyone on the Mormon Discussions board, when the Hoary Hosts of Horgoth come calling. Nuff said in the name of Dr. Shades, Amen.

So I take it that you are thus armed, Mok?

Do you think Mormon culture included more belief in "the occult" (not the greatest term, I know) than mainstream america?

I ask because it sure seemed that way when I was a kid. I had several Sunday school teachers whose bag was dispensing very freaky stories about the Ouija board.

Where's Tsuzuki? This thread was made for him.

I know. Can you get him here?

Blixa wrote:So I take it that you are thus armed, Mok?

Do you think Mormon culture included more belief in "the occult" (not the greatest term, I know) than mainstream America?

I ask because it sure seemed that way when I was a kid. I had several Sunday school teachers whose bag was dispensing very freaky stories about the Ouija board.

Actually, I think they are less disposed to believe in the occult. That said, I had a tarot card reading one time that was terribly accurate in detail and seemed impossible to be just merely a good read of my life. Many of us who believe in spiritual possibilities, must accept that there is more to life than meets the eye even with the aid of computerized full spectral analysis.

Blixa wrote:I know. Can you get him here?

I feel certain that Bond can help conjure Tsuzuki, if furnished a quart of paradigm piracy and an eye of newt.

moksha wrote:

Blixa wrote:So I take it that you are thus armed, Mok?

Do you think Mormon culture included more belief in "the occult" (not the greatest term, I know) than mainstream America?

I ask because it sure seemed that way when I was a kid. I had several Sunday school teachers whose bag was dispensing very freaky stories about the Ouija board.

Actually, I think they are less disposed to believe in the occult. That said, I had a tarot card reading one time that was terribly accurate in detail and seemed impossible to be just merely a good read of my life. Many of us who believe in spiritual possibilities, must accept that there is more to life than meets the eye even with the aid of computerized full spectral analysis.

So then the question becomes "why believe in spiritual possibilities?"