The Exorcist Files - Case #03 - Spiritual Roulette - Pt. 1

Episode Date: March 6, 2023

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Do you crave more Exorcist Files content? Do you want to go deeper into theology and spiritual warfare? Well, you're going to want to subscribe to The Vault, our new premium subscriber program. The Vault is our way of ensuring we bring you content all year long. Subscribers will get access to exclusive once a month, Ask Me Anything episodes with Father Martins, where you can submit questions and vote on the ones you want him to answer most. You'll also get access to a very special case behind the case series,

where we relisten to past episodes and cases, and father reflects back on insights and anecdotes he just didn't have time to get into in the podcast. To subscribe, head on over to exorcistfiles.tv and sign up. Or just click the link in the show notes. Again, that's exorcistfiles.tv to get access to the vault. The year was 1890. A man by the name of Elijah Bond sits in the U.S. Patent Office,

attempting to gain that coveted status for his brand-new invention. Next to Bond is his sister-in-law, Helen Peters, a prominent medium. Bond faces a dilemma. To be granted the patent, they must first prove their invention to work. And just what is this invention? The now infamous Ouija Board. So the patent clerk issues a challenge. If the board can identify the clerk's real name,

which has been kept private and very few know, then the patent will be granted. Peters approaches the board. places her hands on a teardrop-shaped slider, then conjures the spirit realm to reveal this mysterious name. The slider lurches into motion. It glides across the board, spelling out one letter at a time. The clerk's eyes go wide as his name is set before him.

After a moment of stunned silence, he shakily responds. You have your patent. Bond, along with his business partner, Charles Kennard, began manufacturing this toy under the Kennard Novelty Company, ushering the Ouija Board into American society, where it now remains, over a century later, still shrouded in mystique and controversy. Welcome back to the Exorcist Files, where we bring you first-hand accounts direct from the case files of Father Carlos Martens,

dramatized for your listening enjoyment. The thing about the story you just heard is that it's not rare. Tales of the Ouija board's autonomy are replete with over a century of use. So we must ask ourselves, what is happening here? Is the board simply a party trick? A tool that preys on our desire to reach for something beyond our physical realm? Or, as the legend suggests, is it a gateway to a high-stakes game of spiritual roulette? In our next case file, a group of friends roll the dice and discover just what lies

on the other side. There were six friends, college kids, Matthew, Gowan, Peter, Tom, Walt, and Anton. They were all gathered together at the apartment of a seventh friend, Ed, who wasn't present.

But Ed had left his apartment available to use for a weekend, for drinking, for smoking, and just kind of having some downtime. Yo, yo, yeah, Anton, your girls on. need to have a moment of silence for a woman. What's so great about her? What do you mean?

What's her? Look at her. She looks like April O'Neill, except for hotter. Who's April O'Neill? I feel you, bro. Turtles? I feel you. You feel like the turtles?

Come on, Lorena. Tell me about the rain. You know, the station's like 10 minutes away. You could just go down there and ask her out with me. Man, look how she points out those cute little clouds. Shoot a chat, bro. Yeah. It's beer 30.

Anyone else want one? Yes, please. Please. Me too. What is this? When did Ed become a board game collector? He got like 30 in here. Oh, he has a ton.

He collected old vintage once. I think he has a deck of cars from the Soviet Union. They call that the people's cards. Yo! Weezy board. Bro, bro, bro. Wait, seriously? There are two different stories attributed to the origin of the term Ouija.

The more common one, which you may have heard before, is that the word is a combination of the French and German words for yes, we and yeah. This is a fitting description considering use of the board involves being opened up, with the mind receptive to any notion presented. The user's philosophy is quite literally, yes, yes. However, this claim was perpetuated by a man named William Fold, an early financial supporter of the Ouija board,

who, along with his brother Isaac, orchestrated a hostile takeover of the Kennard Novelty Company in 1892. More on the fate that befell William Full. a little later. Now, according to historian Robert Merch, the term Ouija actually comes from an alleged encounter where the media mentioned earlier, Helen Peters, and her brother-in-law, Elijah Bond, asked the board itself what they should call it. After coming in contact with a spirit, the board spelled out Ouija. When asked what it meant, the board replied, good luck. Today the term Ouija is a trademark of Hasbro.

but it is commonly used to refer to any talking board or spirit board as they are sometimes known. It says you can ask spirits anything. A bunch of dudes sitting here on a Ouija board on a Friday night. What happened to us? Didn't we used to be cool? To be fair, we've never been cool. Look, come on, boy. Just give it a try.

It's just a game of spirits. What do we have to lose? You know I'm always down, bro. My man. My man. Like Mario, Super Smash. Bro, always play video games or something. Let's give it a try.

Look, ten minutes. If nothing happens, we do something else. I mean, I'm down, as long as we can drink. Let's go, baby. I knew it. Let's do it. Yeah, does someone say spirits? Pass me the vodka.

You guys can play about yourselves. And you can play a little. The Ouija board is a simple occult instrument. It consists of a board. And upon it, it has the alphabet, the numbers from zero to nine, the words yes and no. And then there is a slider or what's, properly called a planchette that slides across the board whereby a spirit is summoned and then questions are asked of that spirit. The planchette then points to the spirit's answers.

Okay. This looks simple enough. It is. Even Gavin can do it. I'm not playing a stupid game. Okay, so what are the rules? Are there even rules or? You just put all your hands on the pointing like this and we'll see if it moves. This is beyond stupid. Oh, holy. Hold up. Okay, we definitely have to play this right now. What was that?

Dude, it's a power surgery. It happens here all the time. Okay, moving on. I'm pretty sure we have to call the spirit first or set the vibe. Gowan, get over here. Not happening. Just ignore him. Gowan was enjoying a beer on the couch.

He didn't believe in God, didn't believe in the spirit realm. So he had better things to do than to participate. So the five friends who were interested in it, They all laid a hand on the planchette. Since Anton clearly needs the most help, how about he does the honors? You got it, boys. Whoever is out there in the spirit realm, I summon me. Come forward.

Now. How do you know they speak English? Be quiet back there. Man raises a good point down. I don't know. He raises a good point. No, shh. Chill there. Come forward.

Great Spirit. Show us the answers we see. Okay, seriously. It's not a movie. Anton, I think you scared it away. It's probably a female spirit. Look! We got a live one here.

Age. Matt, you're really trying to hear, pal. I swear it isn't me. Okay, we got a knee now. Is this you talking? Dude, it ain't me. Hell? I had a certain point, the planchette took on a life of its own, and it spelled the word,

Hello. Mattie. Is this the best you can come up with? I promise you. It isn't me. I'm only slightly inebred, slightly. But seriously, that wasn't me. I'm not buying it, but I'm also pretty sure this thing just said hello.

You're going to do this all night. I'm not following for this. Look, one of you is Josh with me, man. You all saw it, okay? What do we do? Oh, spirit. No else doing this? Are you pushing this? Are you pushing this at?

Peter? No. And all of a sudden, it started alternating between tracing out the shape of a circle and the shape of a star with perfect fluidity. The Ouija game involves planchette writing, or automatic writing, as it is also known. The use of guided instruments as a means to commune with the deceased dates at least all the way back to ancient Greece, where Greek philosopher Pythagris is said to have had a table that he used for divination. And in ancient China, one of the first mentions of the practice called Fuji is found during the Song Dynasty

and involved using a suspended sieve to guide a stick which would then draw characters in the sand. Believe it or not, when it comes to whether the Ouija board, quote, works, there is some actual science around the widespread reports of the planchit having a life of its own. Various studies conducted recreating the effects of the Ouija board show that under laboratory conditions, the subjects were moving the planchette involuntarily. And strangely, a 2012 study found that when answering yes or no questions, Ouija use was significantly more accurate than random guessing. 65% to 50%, to be exact.

Not an insignificant number. The implication of this study is that we may have knowledge at a subconscious level that the involuntary movement of muscles can reveal while using the board. Think of it as a gut reaction. Your muscles may move instinctively towards the answer, even if you don't consciously know it. These involuntary muscle movements are known as the idea motor phenomenon, which is based on the idea that simply thinking about something

can influence muscle activity without the person's conscious will. So with a Ouija board, the simple act of playing, of thinking about the planchip moving, could result in players moving it without their knowing, thus reinforcing the entire idea that the board is in fact being guided by a spirit. And of course, there is the belief that real entities are contacted, many of which are extremely negative. Every one of them was intrigued except Gowan who continued to enjoy his beer.

Shit, this is insane. It's still not working, guys. You made a valiant effort, though. Bro, I need to get this game. Look, okay, assuming we have an actual spirit here, what should we do? I think we should ask it to identify itself, just like in the movies. Then we know who we're dealing with. Okay.

Spirit. Who are you? Identify yourself. Oh, whoa. There it goes again. And the planchette spelled out, Stevie. I am eight. I am eight?

What? Boys, we have a genuine spirit on our hands. Wow. Okay. So where do we think it is? like in the room, in the board. I see it, Anton. I guess I'm our minister to the spirits here.

Okay, Stevie. Where, um, where are you? See, close? Okay, close. Okay. Stevie. Close, like, in the room or down the street from us? It's moving again.

He... Closer. Oh, ho, ho. Am I the only one who's... thinks were wrong and maybe we shouldn't keep asking. Closer to what, though? Stevie, closer to what? Oh, okay, look, I'm with Peter,

maybe we shouldn't keep it. Here goes, here goes, here goes. E, R. E, here. Oh, shh. Trippy. No, no, no. Hell no.

What's the matter, boys, little on edge there? Is this food? Anyone actually a good friend in order us some grub? That's good. That's pretty good. You boys are good. How the heck? You're going.

That wasn't us. Oh, I'm sure. Tell Stevie thanks for nothing. No food, no love. Come on, now. Come see for yourself, man. And not biting. Okay.

So we know it's named Steve. Stevie is eight. What are we asking now? Dude, let's ask you when it died. Why would we ask that? We need to know when Stevie was around. I mean, what are we going to talk about? That's true.

All right, ask you. Stevie. Nice to meet you. Um, can you tell us when you died? Best Friday night ever. Stevie identified himself as the spirit of a young boy who had died 52 years prior. The members of the group all peppered them with different questions. How did you die?

Where did you grow up? What's it like being dead? And for each question, Stevie spelled out an answer. Carr accident. Dung Hill Road. Awful. I'm scared. Scared? Why would Stevie be scared?

I'm no one scared. Okay, look, look. What if Stevie is, you know, in a bad place? The bad place? Like hell, dude. What if Stevie is, like, being tortured right now? Like I am right now? Jets, enough is enough, right? It's getting old.

You've been at the stupid game for like... Gowling! Just get over yourself and come look at this thing. Why are you so afraid? I am not afraid! Hold up. Letters come in high. I...

Stevie spelled out, I hate Gowen. Now, of course, to some, the idea of communing with a spirit through a board will seem ludicrous. But it's important to note that at the inception of the Ouija board's release, communicating with the dead was actually common practice, and to many would not have been seen as strange. Oddly enough, it wasn't even sacrilegious to many traditional Christians. You have to remember that the board was released in the decades immediately following the Civil War, an era where life expectancy was well under 50.

Men died in war, women died in childbirth, and children died of disease, and there was a deep hunger to connect with lost loved ones who were stripped from their lives all too soon. In 1862, even First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln held seances in the White House, following the death of their 11-year-old son. The spiritualism trends surged during World War I, then continued to gain momentum, and in 1967, the Ouija board distributed more units than Monopoly with two million sold. It wouldn't be until 1973 before widespread opposition to the Ouija board began to form. More on this perspective shift later.

We'll be right back after this short commercial break. Amen. Father Martin's here. I want to do a quick plug for one of the most powerful tools I've seen for breaking free and growing closer to Christ. Exodus 90. The Exodus 90 challenge begins this year on January 20th, but this isn't just a 90-day program. Exodus 90 is a spirituality for modern men that is built on three ancient pillars, prayer, self-sacrifice, and fraternity. We all long for something more. We long to be the men God created us to be, sons of a loving father. It's time to turn away from our idols. It's time to break free from the pharaohs that hold us in bondage.

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Welcome back to The Exorcist Files. When we left off, our friends were interacting with a seemingly benign spirit who identified himself as Stevie, who then revealed he was not a fan of one friend in particular. Okay, Galen, apparently Stevie hates you. Okay, that's enough. I'm leaving. Gee, seriously, come look at this. You expect me to believe that you guys have been talking to a ghost for the last 40 minutes,

who also happens to have a personal vendetta against you. Look, I'm going to try one last thing, okay? Matthew asked Stevie, which he should have never done, whether he could do something to prove to Gowan that he was real. Guys, this is not a good idea. No, no, no. Do it. I dare you.

Anton, let's go. Unless someone else try. I don't know why I'm the only spirit was true. I'll do it. Stevie, can you prove you are real? Galen doesn't believe it. You're provoking it, okay? Yes, Stevie replied.

And he spelled out sign. S-I-G-N. Sign, what does a sign mean? Like, we ask for a sign? Stevie loves a bass of bass. Stevie died 50 years ago, dipshit. Their music is timeless. Maybe Steve is giving us a sign.

Do not like this. Oh, shit. Oh, now. Dude, are you okay? Oh, dude. Ed, the apartment's owner, had a large stop sign that he had stolen from a street corner held against the wall by one nail. All of a sudden, the stop sign,

fell off the wall and plopped down with a loud thud upon Gowen's head. Oh, that hurt. Dude, do you believe? Yeah, I'm fine. That just, I hurt. Boys, it's got to be. For several moments, no one said a word. Okay, seriously, anyone?

Are we not going to talk about what just happened? Okay, I know how this looks. Damn, strike we do? You just took a stop sign to the forehead, bro. Dude, that thing was, like, held on by a string. Look, the nail was. was bent. How, like, the knock in the dark, could someone... I'll give you that. That was pretty good, but...

Galwin, we didn't do this man. Play the game with us, and you'll see you. I'm not touching that thing, all right? Put your hands on. It's moving again. You all have your hands on it. This is so stupid. Look for yourself, Galvin.

Seriously, enough. Fomit? Okay, I'm not sure how you're all going to pull this one off, but this is... Oh! Oh, gross. What's that shrimp? I'm sorry. What did you eat?

Bro, you're all right? Gowan, you okay, me? See, you, man. Gowan was projectile vomiting. Vomit shot from his mouth so hard that it splashed off the wall in front of him at eye level. The whole apartment smelled like gastric fluids. It was disgusting. As I mentioned earlier, it wouldn't be until 1973 when sentiments on the Ouija board took a turn.

Some of our listeners will recall the Roland Doe Exorcism case, which inspired the film The Exorcist. That case cited Ouija board use as the cause of the demonization, and as a result, the film's popularity helped unleash an enormous fury against the use of the boards. As historian Robert Merch explained, it's kind of like psycho. was afraid of showers until that scene. It's a clear line. The Exorcist actually changed the fabric of pop culture. Today, engaging with the board is widely condemned in Christian circles, and the Catholic Church even mentions a specific prohibition against all divinations, such as using the Ouija Board in the catechism of the Catholic Church. With regard to the Ouija Board, that's an act of the occult. Other acts of the occult would be,

visiting a fortune teller, visiting a diviner, engaging in a seance, necromancy, the calling forth of the dead, visiting a psychic. Any act of attempting to extract information of the unknown, information outside the realm of nature, or obtaining power that is normally not available to humans, that's an act of the occult. It is a violation of the first commandment. It is a violation of the first commandment, I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 3, verse 20. You are refusing to accept God's predetermined limits. It was like all of a sudden had something in my throat. This is just gross. Yeah, guys, can someone get him some towels? This is foul. This is for sure the last time we hang out here. Where does Ed keep the towels?

Over. By the sink. Stop it. Okay, can I say it now? We're all thinking. Got one. Told you so. Yep. Here, clean yourself off. Listen, dude. Okay, so here's the thing. Oh, my God.

Dude, look what just happened. There may be an explanation. Okay, I have a theory. The explanation is all over the table. Hypnosis. Oh, my God. That's what you're going with? I'm just saying maybe the drinks, auto suggestions, I don't know.

You may have hypnotized me. I wouldn't put it past you full. Down, seriously, man. Listen to yourself. You're fresh out, excuse me. You just project dialed by. commented on the table. Okay.

What do we do now? Should we keep going? How about we call it quits? You know, before anything else happens to somebody? Hold on. Hold on. Hold up. Look, we've got a live connection with an actual spirit.

It's as real as it gets. We need to keep going. I'm just glad Steve you didn't say diarrhea. To find out why these guys keep playing after Gowen's involuntary cleanse, stay tuned. We'll be right back after this short commercial break. Welcome back to The Exorcist Files, where our listeners are probably enjoying a renewed sense of gratitude for the gift of an audio-only experience. We return now to a group of friends who have made contact with an entity known as Stevie and are requesting validation of its power to convince their lone skeptic to whom the spirit harbors a mysterious grudge against.

After an interlude where the vomit was cleaned off the wall and the floor, the friends were back to the Ouija Board. You really can't admit this is happening. Nope. I bet I'm game to try one more shot. One more chance. One more and that's it. You bet. If it happens again, I'll concede.

Okay, well, now I'm back in. Let's go. Really, this thing hates Gowen, remember? Stevie will eventually love me. Okay, so Gowen needs another son. Hey, Stevie. What else can you do to Gowen to make him believe? And it's moving again.

S. L E P Sleep Okay How long do we wait before we start playing Mario Just give it a minute

Okay, cool I have a word for Stevie S-U-C What? Oh Shit, dude, are you okay? No, he's out, yeah. Yo, he's out, yeah

Hey, come on, buddy, we're done Kick him Bro, he's snowing. This is amazing. Kick him. You kick him. Come on, buddy, wake up. Bro, it's Stevie. This is all Stevie guys. Okay, Stevie, look, that was an excellent trick and we loved it, but could you please wake

galling up right now? Look, look. What happened? How long was I out? What a minute? Easy now. You sure you're okay? Oh, what was my sight hurt?

Steve just killed your ass. Nice, nice. Not moving it all. Okay, all right. This shit is real. Finally. Jeez. And now we need to stop this before anyone else gets hurt.

No, no, no. No, don't stop, okay. What are you talking about? Dude, this is done. Yeah. Look, we somehow are connected with whatever this thing is. What if there's power in this? It should have been apparent now to every one of them that they were dealing with something that they didn't understand,

something that had tremendous power and with which they should not be messing. But while each of them was afraid, no one wanted to be the first to admit it. Personally, I would have admitted I was afraid. As father recounted this case to me, I couldn't help but wonder, what prompted some of these friends to keep returning to the game? At what point do you say, this isn't working out how we thought. and now the evidence is dripping down the walls. But, as Gowen said, there is power in it. And as history tells us time and time again,

humans are often consumed by the thirst for power. In conducting research for this episode, I was struck at the sheer amount of bizarre and unfortunate circumstances surrounding the Ouija board that go all the way back to its founders. Now, some of you might argue that the board is also credited with helping people discover self-truths, and enriching their lives for the better. For example, in 1913, St. Louiswoman, Pearl Curran, through the Ouija board,

began contacting a spirit who identified as a 16th century Englishwoman named Patience Worth, who dictated to Pearl a massive amount of poetry and novels. Also, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Merrill composed his epic, The Changing Light at Sandover, via the Ouija, after two decades of spirit communications. But according to church doctrine, the devil tempts and comes disguised as an angel of light. So it is plausible that even the good things are diabolical siren calls. The devil is a master at promising something good and shiny in exchange for a relationship. While the thought of, quote, striking oil through the assistance of a spirit might sound

encouraging to some, the number of negative Ouija board outcomes should give one pause. Story after story I read, where users thought they were talking with dead people they know were friendly spirits, the interactions ended up taking a sinister turn as malicious entities revealed their true nature and tragedy befell the participants. In opening up the agency of demons, which is what happens in Ouija board playing, in fortune telling, in median ship, astrology and so forth, you're sticking your hand down a dark hole and you can't control what reaches back and takes hold of your hand. that thing is a part of you.

You will remember Helen Peters, the medium we mentioned earlier in this episode, who helped name the board and get the patent. She had her own share of Ouija Troubles. According to Robert Merch, Peters was consulting the board about the location of some missing items from her home when the board accused a certain family member of being the culprit. A bitter family dispute erupted, and in the ensuing drama, Peters sold all her stock in the company, and for the remainder of her days, she told people to avoid playing with Ouija boards because, quote, they lie.

And then there is William Fold, the man credited as the father of the Ouija board, who took control of the Kennard novelty company in a hostile takeover bid, and subsequently marketed the board to mass commercial success. Well, he fell in hard times, literally. Fold, who ironically was a staunch Presbyterian, was supervising the installation of a flagpole on the rooftop of his new building when the support he was leaning on suddenly gave out. In a moment of cinematic tension,

he fell and grabbed on to an open window sill, which then abruptly closed on his hands, and he plummeted to the ground. Fold actually survived the impact, but en route to the hospital, a bump in the road caused one of his shattered bones to pierce his heart. He died immediately after. If divination is a proud resistance to God's will,

then truly pride does come before the fall. Put simply to engage in the occult is the desire to usurp God's will and appropriate a power that is normally reserved to him alone, and there are spiritual implications of that. Not the least of which is the fact that you are replicating the very sin of the devil. The devil became the devil because he put himself above God. He was the most powerful angel, the most perfect in every way. And now he is the most defective thing in the universe.

So when one engages in the occult, one is participating in that satanic rebellion against God. As Western society gets more and more de-Christianized, I'm noticing occultism is on the rise. Exorcists are called upon to cast out more demons acquired through the occult than through any other means. So what will become of our five friends and their new visitor, Stevie? For that, you will have to return next week. Thank you for joining us for this episode. And if you're looking to plan your next game night,

might we recommend Settlers of Catan instead? Though the sheer amount of relationships that have been broken from that game, have led some to call it settlers of satan. Yes, Stephen, I'm looking at you. Just trade me for some brick already. If you'd like to learn more about the topic or hear bonus materials, you can visit us at our website at exorcistfiles.tv. You can also email us absurd and overly specific criticisms

at exorcistfiles.gmail.com. All cases in the Exorcist Files are recounted by Father Carlos Martins from his personal archives. The Exorcist Files is hosted by Father Martins and myself, Ryan Bethay. This episode's reenactments were directed and recorded by Chandler Mays and Ryan Bethay in Los Angeles, California. Matthew was portrayed by Cornell Williams, Gowan by Landon by Landed Merrill, Walt by Parker Reinaga, Peter by Alex Reinega, Anton by David Gridley, and Tom by Mark Reinega. Any likeness or similarities of characters are entirely coincidental and unintentional on the part of the writers.

Additional research provided by Anne Marie Robson and Miranda Hopkins. Script written by Ryan Bithay and Chandler Mays. original theme and select scores written and composed by Dan Carey Bailey. Assistant editor is Jonathan Dressler. Supervising producer, sound designer, editor and mixer is Chandler Mays. Executive producers are Carlos Martins, Ryan Bethay, and Chandler Mays. And a special thank you to Mark Reinega for lending us his apartment. The Exorcist Files is a production of IHeartRadio.