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I AM @theessential

This is my story. Sometimes the demon doesn’t leave...

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Ouija- A Game That Never Sleeps

Preface

Let me just preface this story by saying that I do not wish to promote the use of a Ouija Board. I grew up always being curious about them... I always thought that it would be a fun experience- and they can be. I think for most, the Ouija Board (or any other “witch board” for that matter) is/are a unique extension of your own subconscious mind. They tell you what you want to hear, usually...

I now believe something else in addition to the statement above. I think that in some VERY rare cases, these simple games become an extension of something beyond reality.

To be honest, I think it has very little to do with the board and more to do with the contract you enter into when you start putting your fingers on the planchette.

for those of you who aren’t familiar, the planchette is the triangular shaped object that everyone places their hands on

See, when you start playing with a Ouija Board, you open yourself. You ask the supernatural to speak through you. In doing this, you open yourself up for becoming inhabited by —well...something.
Use your discretion while reading this. If your sitting alone and you’re reading this- letting my words creep into your mind, don’t give into the fear. That feeling that something just beyond your field of vision is waiting in the darkness..is just a feeling- isn’t it?

Part 1

Several years back, before I had even met my wife, I had procured a Ouija Board from an online retailer. It was nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary- at least not to my knowledge. It arrived to my house one afternoon a week or so after I ordered it. I had forgotten by this point, that I had even ordered it.

Anyways, I opened the box with my name on it and found a brand new Ouija Board wrapped in thin plastic. Like I said earlier, I stand by the idea that the Ouija Board itself poses no danger- it’s the covenant that you make whilst using it. With that being said, the second the board hit my hands, I went from feeling excited to wanting nothing more than to get rid of it. This feeling was quite profound. What was even more strange was the fact that I had no fear about even using let them- let alone holding it...

I quickly just put it away somewhere and forgot about it. I mean, really... it was a few months before it surfaced again. To this day, I’m not even sure what possessed me to want to get it out..no pun intended.

So, I was with a friend named Valerie. This is where it started. I’m gonna try not to drag the story out too far because in reality- this story happened over a long period of time.

What’s odd to me, right off the bat about this story, is the fact that Valerie and I weren’t really close. Honestly we weren’t much more than acquaintances. I think maybe she wanted us to be a little more than that- but this story isn’t one of love, unfortunately.

Anyways, Valerie and I were out having lunch- A pretty normal day for the most part...

Until I asked her if she’d ever used a Ouija Board. Yeah, I’m aware that this is not the kind of thing that a guy should bring up on a “date”, but honestly, I like to break the cusp once in a while.

She replied that she hadn’t but she would if she had the chance. I said, “well perfect; I have one it the back of my car”.

Yeah it was in my car. It had been there for a while for some reason. I guess I just didn’t want to keep in the house but I didn’t know where else to put it. Naturally, my trunk was the ideal place—I guess.

Let’s fast forward a bit—

Night fell and Valerie and I both looked at each other, wondering when it was time to get out the Ouija Board.

Several house had gone by since our discussion about it. It was now Midnight. We were at her house, sitting at a table in her back yard. I ran to my car and grabbed the board.

Valerie and I both looked down at the box hesitantly... this was something that neither of us were certain about. It seemed that The Ouija Board always provoked some kind of fear upon its arrival. I would guess that this is mostly because of the anecdotal stories we all have heard about people being possessed from using it. I personally didn’t really believe in all of that, but the fact that people associate Ouija boards with possession is enough to make anyone shudder.

We placed the board between us- one of us sitting at either side of a table.

Then we placed our hands upon the planchette and spoke something like “We welcome...Blah Blah Blah, to speak through us....”

I wish I remembered the exact words we spoke but I don’t.

Now we waited...and waited

And waited...

And waited...

And repeated the phrase...and waited.

I think an hour must have went by. I mean truly, we both just sat there patiently for an hour trying to summon some kind of entity to speak with us.

We actually started to discuss putting it away- when it happened...

The planchette moved...

H E L L O

Hello?

“Oh, hello” we spoke simultaneously. We both smiled across the table at each other. Was it finally working?

The next few phrases were friendly in nature. We started to feel like we were talking to some kind of non-malicious spirit.

I’ll be honest, ten minutes went by and I felt like the life was literally being sucked out of me. I don’t quite know how to describe the feeling but I felt myself growing tired and weak the more and more we talked to this “friendly Spirit”.

I actually was thinking about telling Valerie I was done when It spelled out a word that I hadn’t heard before.

A N I M A

Anima? What does that mean?

I actually pulled out my phone and googled it.

Valerie sat across me still with her hands on the planchette- with a confused look on her face.

“Anima: the feminine part of a man’s personallity”

I read on...

“They can bring life-giving development and creativeness to the personality, or they can cause petrification and physical death”

I was very confused about the meaning of this word at the time. I now understand that Anima and Animus are archetypes of the subconscious that we’re terms coined by psychologist Carl Jung. It hard to explain what these terms mean, especially in today’s society. It’s not so cut and dry as it pertains to certain gender specific traits that a man or woman has that are opposite of the typical gender roles. Feel free to google and read about what Anima means...

I never quite figured out why the board spelled this out but I think there were some ominous implications at the least. The petrification and death bit definitely stopped me in my tracks- even if it wasn’t literal.

Now despite the weirdness above—

What happened next was by far, more odd than “anima”.

Valerie looks down at the board- I’m still on my phone googling this word, and she’s got her hands resting on the planchette.

Then she screams...

(if you didn’t know, my name is Zach)

“ZACH!!!!”

“PLEASE PUT YOUR HAND BACK, ITS MOVING!”

I guess that she felt as if she could justify its movement if there were a possibility that it was me...
But with me clearly out of range and it still moving around— she was quite terrified.

Tears were brimming in her eyes. We’re all the anecdotes about Ouija Boards true? If they could move by themselves— what else could it do? Who’s doing it?

Certainly she was thinking of these questions as her heart pounded out of her chest.

I lay my hands upon the planchette right as it spelled out it’s next phrase.

I hate this one. Alone it seems pretty harmless, but the way it made me feel, spoken by something potentially malicious- makes me have cold chills just thinking about it.

GOD LOVES ZACHS SOUL

“God loves zach’s soul?” What does that mean, I pondered.

I sensed a strong presence now. I could almost feel something wrapped around me as I continued to allow this entity to speak through me.

I’ll tell you exactly as I picture it... (I really hate telling this story- it feels like I’m bringing it back)

Picture me (or any person) sitting there with their hands on a Ouija Board.

Now picture something terrible... standing behind me, breathing me in..picture its hands (claws) wrapped around me. When the planchette moves- picture it’s hands laying on top of mine, making me do its bidding.

I’m just sitting there letting it happen as I’m being consumed by whatever it is that’s standing over me.

And I know it was me it was standing over.

Now here’s the part where I start loosing memory of what happened next. For whatever reason, my mind skips ahead a couple hours after this point. Maybe it was my way of coping with what was happening but either way a lot of it becomes unclear.

I do remember a little more though. Let me just kind of list off a few of the other phrases I remember.

I will be paraphrasing ...

We asked why it was talking to us-

Spelled out my name.

We asked How...

Again, spelled out my name.

Something else was spelled out but I couldn’t quite make it out because it was fast and complicated. If it’s more than a few words quickly, it’s hard to translate what is being spelled out.

Anyways, it was something like

“We exist in a realm much more diverse than your 3 dimensional prison”

I also remember it saying that basically it was going to use the people around me to get to me.

The thing is— it wasn’t strait forward like this. It wasn’t like “I’m going to get you!!!”. This was a sentient, intelligent being with a plan. I didn’t matter what it said to me because it knew it was superior and capable of doing much more than I was.

I personally believe that it couldn’t hurt me physically- almost as if I had some kind of desirable trait that made it attracted to me..yet, I was somehow out of its reach.

Unlike Valerie, who was vulnerable and exposed.

I strongly believe that mental fortitude is the defense against these kind of entities. You must keep your mind like castle walls. Impenetrable.

This night did not end well either.

There were clearly things happening around us that weren’t explainable by everyday physics...

The shadows on the side of her house did not match the objects of which light had shone through.

They were almost crawling up the siding, consuming the light around them.

We could clearly hear whispering in the darkness of ever corner but we couldn’t make out a single word.

We both had been drained of some kind of spiritual essence. Our Chi if you will...

Valerie was a broken mess. She didn’t want me to leave her side— yet for some reason, I did.

She walked me to my car and kissed me goodbye.

Why did she kiss me?

We weren’t dating, she wasn’t my girlfriend- but she kissed me..

I was caught off guard but she was a pretty girl and no guy is going to deny a girl a kiss.

Then...

I left...

I remember glancing into my mirror as I drove home. Wondering when I was going to see something in my periphery. From what I can recall, the drive home was fairly ordinary compared to the extraordinary night we’d had.

That’s night, my dreams were filled with odd distorted images and colors.

Not nightmares per-say but rather, series of attempts at dreams that my brains was having a hard time conjuring. It was almost as if I had nothing left to spare- no emotional energy to power my dreams.

I’m sure by now, a lot of you are reading this and thinking —“yeah whatever”. Reading is disbelief. If you’d ever met me, you’d know that I’m a not someone who just decides to believe in something that I cannot prove or verify. I’m also not someone who exaggerate or fabricates a story for entertainment. I know that I’ve had rather unique experiences. Is it me or do I just end up in these scenarios. Before this, I would have said it was coincidence. I now believed that maybe I was a magnet for the supernatural. To be honest- supernatural doesn’t feel like the right word...but for the sake of ease of explanation- we won’t make it an issue.

Time to fast forward a bit

To summarize the next few months. I felt like I couldn’t escape the feeling of being hunted and desired by this entity. It’s usually easy to feel safe in the middle of the day, surrounded by sunshine. I unfortunately, couldn’t shake the feeling in any circumstance. I could be fine one min and then terrified the next. I hate to say that it really affected me but whether or not I was being stalked by this “thing” I was perpetually uncomfortable.

Like I said let’s fast forward a few months. I can give you the exact amount of time. With my luck, it was probably 6 weeks, 6 days and 6 hours later...

To be honest, it was more like 3-6 months later

I got a call from Valerie. Mind you, her and I had not spoken a single time since the incident. No lies, we hadn’t even sent a single text message to each other since we had used the Ouija Board.

Let me just reiterate that her and I barely knew each other- and now we had both experienced something that really bonded us together. So why didn’t we talk to each other— I didn’t know. Why did we even get together the first time? It was all strange to me. More so, later, after thinking about it, it became strange.

The phone went something like this.

Valerie: “Uh...hey Zach”

Me: “Hey, how you been?”

Valerie: “um..would you mind coming over for a min?”

Me: “Sure, is everything alright Valerie?”

Valerie: “I’ll be home in a min, could you just meet me there...could you just leave now actually?”

Hang up

Umm, okay? I thought to myself. I knew it had to be about the Ouija Board incident.

I got into my car and headed over to her house. She was siting in her car, waiting for me to get there. She had been at Kent State University for the last few months. This was where she went to school. Oddly enough, I had actually spent a year studying pre-medicine at Kent but I digress..

She got out of the car and started walking inside. She didn’t even really look at me. She just went in and headed down to the basement. Naturally, I followed.

She sat down on one end of the couch and motioned for me to sit too- using only her eyes without moving her head.

I sat down.

“Zach” she said.

“I uh..need to talk to you about something”

“Okay” I said. “What is this about?”

Here’s what she told me. Surely another thing that I’m not going to pretend that I enjoy recalling. It’s easier to forget about all this than to relive it again as I write this.

Anyways, she asked me if I’d used the Ouija Board recently. I said no, not at all. This was true. I hadn’t touched it since we used it last. Honestly, I had no desire to- I told her.

She said “Well, I have”.

She went on to explain that nothing has been right since that night. Her grades were slipping, she hadn’t slept at all in months, and she had this persistent feeling of being...followed.

She said that one night, she went up to a dorm with a couple guys she was friends with. When they got up there, they pulled out a Ouija Board.

She told me that at first she flipped out a little bit. She didn’t want anything to do with a Ouija Board- especially after last time. Then she told me that she couldn’t help but feel like maybe it would give her some closure to try it again. Maybe this time, it would be playful and nothing would happen she said.

Valerie started to mumble as she described to me what happened next.

“Zach, why did it say that God loved your soul?” She muttered.

“I don’t know Valerie, it was probably nothing” I said apprehensively

She knew I didn’t mean that.

Valerie said that she decided not to “play” at first. She would let the guys do it and see what happens.

Ugh, I’m sorry, but this was a truly scary time in my life- bare with me.

“Zach” she says

“Yes” I replied.

“IT SPELLED OUT YOUR NAME” she exclaimed.

Valerie told me that she hadn’t told a single soul about what happened to us. Nobody at school knew anything about me in regards to her. She said that the board spelled out:

Z A C H

Z A C H

Over and over again.

She told the that the guys were laughing and said “Sorry Valerie, looks like the board is broken”

Valerie said that she told the guys she was leaving and kind of stormed out.

She was so uncomfortable as she sat there telling me what happened. She kept twiddling her hands and nervously shaking her feet.

I had this feeling like not only was she scared but she was angry...

Angry at me...

As if I had brought her into this mess and she resented me for it.

Oddly enough, she halfheartedly and indirectly asked me to go but kissed me again as I stood up to leave.

Valerie didn’t look well. I could tell that this had consumed her life. Maybe we should have never played the Ouija Board.

Valerie and I never spoke again.

I am not sure why exactly but for some reason we just never quite recovered from that night.

But why the kiss again? I don’t know.

Let’s fast forward again...

This time a couple year had passed. I had no idea what Valerie had been doing or if she finally recovered from the experiences we’d had. I had hoped that maybe it had faded away but I felt like it still haunted her in some way.

I know that for me, the feeling had gone away. It had certainly become more bareable but I could resist that constant feeling. It was almost like a constant reminder not to drop my guard- because when I did, it would be waiting for me.

So anyways, at this point- I had learned to live with the fear. I always felt like I was protected somehow and that I didn’t have anything to worry about as long as I remained mentally sound.

Part 2

I had started dating a girl a while back. Karli was her name. I never shared my Ouija story with her. You'd think that a story like that, you’d wanna tell everyone. No, talking about it gave it power. It made things worse and it lingered heavier in my thoughts.

Nonetheless, Karli had found my Ouija Board one day and started begging me to play it with her.

For months I politely declined her request. I wasn’t about to bring her into this mess. I saw what I did to the last person. Karli was a fairly strong willed girl though...not that Valerie wasn’t but they were definitely two different people.

Karli had invited some friends of hers over to my house one evening to have a few beers and sit camp out in my back yard. I lived out in the “country” and had plenty of space for a big tent. Everybody was into it. We had a pretty decent night overall. Well, until Karli went and grabbed my Ouija Board. Now I was clearly outnumbered. I couldn’t turn it down to 4 people who were begging me to let them play.

I argued a bit but eventually decided that they could use it but I wasn’t going to play myself. I figured that it would be safer to let them do it without the baggage that I brought to the table.

I’d decided that it would be easily for them to play inside the tent. We were all able to fit comfortably inside it. When we got in, I crawled inside the sleeping bag and fairly quickly drifted off to sleep.

That’s until I awoke to a terrible noise coming from inside the tent.

One of the girls that stayed in the tent with us was standing in front of the tent with her head hanging outside of the unzipped door.

She was projectile vomiting over and over again onto the damp grass outside the tent.

To be honest, I was only about half awake at this point and did nothing to help her.

It was a at least an hour before she laid back down and went to sleep.

Let me just point out that this girl didn’t have a single drop to drink. She was a bit of a pot head and did nothing but smoke her little bowl of Mary Jane. This was an everyday kinda thing for her.

Did that really happen I thought to myself. Could she have really been affected by their use of the Ouija Board.

Karli was the last one to wake up- I was eager to ask her what had happed regarding the “game” they played last night.

At least half of you aren’t going to believe this next bit..... I wouldn’t if someone told me this same story- but I can assure you that it’s true.

I said “So, how’d it go last night using my Ouija board after I fell asleep?”

Karli said “Well, it was kind weird because all it did was spell your name over and over again. We probably weren’t even doing it right”.

So yeah, my stomach dropped...and my heart was pounding in my throat. Could it really still be after me- after all these years? What was it? And why was it so obsessed with me?

I told Karli that this was something that had happened before and that I wanted her to stay away from The Ouija Board. No more sessions- Nothing.

I asked her if she heard her friend last night? She said no but that it was no big deal. She said that she probably smoked too much pot or something.

I knew better. Something happened to her last night and she paid the price for what they had done. Playing the Ouija Board is never just “Playing”. At least not in my vicinity.

A couple weeks later, Karli and I had gone to bed. It was a fairly normal evening- nothing too out of the ordinary. Karli..didn’t seem outwardly affected by the Ouija Board; at least not in the way that Valerie had been affected. We had shut the television off in the living room and headed to bed like any other night. She didn’t stay the night with me every single night but most nights she did. We both laid there talking for a bit until we got tired enough to fall asleep. All of a sudden I start hearing talking coming from the living room.

At first I thought I had been imagining it but Karli said she had heard it too. It was coming from the living room.

The bedroom we were sleeping in was right by the living room. It was within a couple steps of the room once you opened the door. I decided to investigate.

As I opened the door to the bedroom, it became immediately clear where the sound was coming from.

The TV had turned back on.

Now I realize that this wasn’t too terribly odd. Now the TV certainly shouldn’t be turning itself on- randomly in the middle of the night but surely there were much scarier things that had happened.

I wasn’t alarmed necessarily but there was a part of my mind that went back to that place. The place it always seems to go when something like this happens.

I turned it off again and went back to bed. Closing the door behind me. I told Karli what had happened and I could tell she was a little caught off guard by it. Again, it was nothing too scary but how often does a tv randomly turn on. Especially when the remote was clearly sitting on the table, untouched.

We laid there slowly falling asleep. I remember I had been laying there on my back. Karli had been on her side with one hand sitting on my chest- palm down.

An hour went by, I was almost completely asleep but Karli had been running her hand up and down my chest. It felt good but it had kept me from completely falling asleep.

Out of nowhere I’m startled intensely by a voice coming from next to the bed.

It loudly whispered my name. ZACH!!

Almost a whisper scream- if you can imagine that.

At the same time- I still feel Karli’s hand on my chest. I look over to ask her if she heard it...but..

She was facing the complete opposite direction. Her hand wasn’t even on me. I quickly take my own hand and put it on my chest- right where I felt the sensation.

By that time- the feeling had vanished.

What had been touching me for the last hour? Was it ever her? Or was it something else?

Over the next few months, Karli and I’s relationship fell apart. We no longer got along like we used to. She was making poor decisions while being with her friends.

Eventually, we broke up. Was it bound to happen? I am not sure.. I’m not saying that The Ouija Board caused this but it sure pushed Valerie away. Karli never had he ongoing feel that Valerie had- but for both of them, I was the common denominator.

Part 3

Let’s again- fast forward...

I was now alone- in a matter of speaking that is. I still often felt like there was something watching me, waiting for me.

To be honest, I was getting a little fed up with it. I started looking for ways to ward off evil entities.

I couldn’t find anything real concrete until I came across the Lesser Banishing Ritual of The Pentagram

It seemed that this was a Wiccan protective ritual that was about ascertaining power over the elements and creating a sort of protective barrier.

It all seemed a little far fetched to be honest but I needed something to change- and I was willing to
step outside the box to do it.

The pentagram ritual, also known as the “LRP” goes a little something like this:

Touching the forehead, say Ateh

Touching the breast, say Malkuth

Touching the right shoulder, say ve-Geburah

Touching the left shoulder, say ve-Gedulah

Clasping the hands upon the breast, say le-Olahm, Amen

Turning to the East, make a Pentagram

with the proper weapon. Say YHVH.

Turning to the South, the same, but say ADONAI.

Turning to the West, the same, but say EHEIEH.

Turning to the North, the same, but say AGLA.

Extending the arms in the form of a Cross, say:
Before me Raphael

Behind me Gabriel

On my right hand Michael

On my left hand Uriel

For about me flames the Pentagram,

And in the Column stands the six-rayed Star.

There is a little more to it...but this is the bulk of it.

I know, it seems a little out there if you’ve never seen or heard anything like it. I’m pretty open minded and it was weird for me at first. I knew that it was important to commit to it for it to really be effective- so I waited until I was comfortable and could take it serious before I did it.

After completing it, I had no idea if it was going to work...but I’ll admit that I definitely felt a sense of comfort that I didn’t have before.

To get even more serious, I actually found a metaphysical shop and purchased some pentagram charms that I could wear for added protection.

its a common misconception that the pentagram is a demonic symbol. The symbol is actually meant to be protective and represents The 4 elements united by spirit.

Soon after doing the “LRP” I had a profound experience during the night...

Let me say again- everything that you are reading here, truly happened. I know how crazy it all sounds...but it’s the real deal. I say it because as I tell this story, I think to myself- people are gonna think I’m an absolute nut job. I hope you can respect that this is nothing shy of the truth.

Part 4

So one night I fall asleep... normal night- nothing out of the ordinary to note.

I wake up in the middle of the night with this odd sensation in my legs.

You know when you sleep on your arm and it falls asleep? That’s kinda what it felt like- but a little different I suppose- especially because it was actually getting worse by the second.

What was also particularly odd, was that I had this sound ringing in my head over and over- like an oscillating buzzing of sorts.

To top it off, I could actually see a vision of this buzzing in my head—

It looked like this

———— • ————
————— • —————
—————— • —————
——————- • ——————

The lines were bouncing towards the dot as the oscillating sounds grew closer and closer together.

The numbness has started to creep up my legs into my groin and up my stomach. The more intense the sound got- the more the numbness spread.

Until...

Boom!!

In an instant- my entire body went numb and then I flew strait out of myself towards the ceiling.

Now- I had left my body, no more numbness...

I didn’t know it at the time but I was having an “Out of Body Experience” or an “OBE”.

It wasn’t anything like how I would have imagined. Well, to be honest- I don’t know that I ever imagined what it would be like. I never really put much thought into it.

I was not stationary- looking down at my body like it is often portrayed in the movies. I was actually flying sporadically around my room. I could see myself at times, everything on my wall, I felt serene but also out of control.

See, most OBE’s happen to people who are dying or having an operation under anesthesia- or meditating.

I’m not 100 percent sure what brought on my event, but it was as if I needed it. It was transcending...

Let me just say- it is a completely bizzare experience. First of all- I wasn’t dreaming. I was hyper aware the entire time. This had never happened before and hasn’t happened since. I couldn’t control it but it was like being able to fly my spirit as if it was a little drone.

I eventually slowed to a complete stop and slowly entered back down into my lifeless body below.

I immediately sat up- and felt completely normal. I had no strange sensations or numbness- no sounds buzzing in my head. It was over.

The whole experience lasted about a min or so. At least it seemed to have lasted about that long..it could have been an hour- I wouldn’t have known. My concept of time was completely distorted while I was up there.

This seemed to have brought an end to my entity problem. I finally felt free.

Was it the LRP or the OBE? Was it purely a figment of my imagination that I had finally exorcised?

Whatever it was- it was gone. I no longer felt it stalking me. I no longer had the lingering fear in my mind, haunting my thoughts.

It was over.

Or was it?

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my story.

A special thanks to @jerrybanfield and @gmichelbkk for reading through numerous stories and making it happen.

If you have ever had an experience similar to mine- please reach out to me! Please share it with me...

If you are dealing with something like this- remember, you aren’t alone. Be strong.

Photo credit: all photos are royalty free from
Pexels.com
20twenty.com
Pixabay.com
Shutterstock.com

Lesser banishing ritual directions from:
Thelemistas.org

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