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Ouija Calls To Repentance?

I have been inactive for two years and am currently reconsidering the church. I have had a few disturbing Ouija board experiences since I've been inactive that I'd like to get some opinions on. I haven't used a board very often, especially when active in the church, because it has been my understanding that the "spirits" that communicate with us through the boards are "evil." Because of this assumption, I have never taken anything a board says seriously and have always viewed the vague predictions and cryptic references with skepticism and even amusement. However, while attempting to show some skeptical friends how the board works I was told some very serious, unamusing things.

My first experience after leaving the church involved a supposed communication from my recently deceased mother. I was not attempting to contact her and was surprised when I asked who I was speaking to and the "spirit" spelled "mom" repeatedly. Then "mom" proceeded to tell me that I needed to go back to the church and needed to try to get back together with my ex-husband (who I was sealed to in the temple) who had divorced me. The spirit said it was "moon" --pointer actually moved to the moon picture-- and I was "sun" --pointer moved to the sun picture. I asked "celestial?" and it replied "yes." (My mother had been inactive many years before her death and had never been to the temple.) Then this spirit talked about damnation and about man being bound with a chain or something to that effect. It talked about going to see the bishop and many other things, all in line with church teachings. Well, I was running away from church teachings at the time so this was extremely disturbing to me and nothing I wanted to hear at all. Anti friends subsequently explained all of this away as my church-affected subconscious and I just tried to put it out of my mind.

About six months ago, I used a board again. This time the "spirit" wouldn't say who it was when I asked, but it told me who I was instead. It proceeded to spell out my NEW NAME, which I have never told ANYONE except who should know and where it should be told. (I may have been inactive and very near denying everything completely at times, but I was never willing to discuss things I had once promised to keep sacred--just incase.) Well, I almost fell apart in hysterics when I saw that. It took a few minutes for me to compose myself and return to the board. Keep in mind, I was playing with someone else who was not a member and had no idea what was going on and I couldn't explain it for obvious reasons. But I demanded how it knew that name and it said "Gabriel" had told it. I asked "who is Gabriel?" and it said "Noah." Then it started going on like the "mom" spirit before about repenting and going back to the church and my mission etc etc. I DID NOT want to hear any of that and stopped playing soon thereafter. I haven't touched one since, but that experience still haunts me.

SO, does anyone have anything to offer that might explain what could have happened here? I thought only "evil" spirits could communicate through these things. So why would they tell me to go back to church? And I thought only me and the person I tell that Name to ever know it. How is it possible for anyone or anything else to know?

Repentance Calls Ouija

I don't have any doctrinal answers for you, but regardless of whether you are active or in-active you are entitled to personal revelation. If it were me who had these experiences I would do some soul searching and a lot of fervent praying to learn the answer for myself where these things were coming from. I do not think there is anything doctrinal that says only evil spirits communicate through ouija boards but that is what I have heard from "people" throughout my life.

I tried to search on LDS.org for more information. I didn't find much. There was a quote from the Aaronic Priesthood lesson manual:

It only mentions ouija boards as "tools of Satan," nothing that says they are his exclusive medium.

I did find an excerpt from a talk on the evils of Satan and the occult, it says:

I like this quote by C.S. Lewis:

Ouija Calls To Repentance? Studies Doctrine Mormon

Additional Discussion can be found: Black and White Magic or Lds Position On Occult Affiliation

Repentance Calls Ouija

I always remember what I learned from seminary about this... that Lucifer's spirits don't have a veil over them so they can remember a lot of details about us and our associations here. They can then mimic like if we are making contact with someone when we are really just making contact with fallen spirits who did not get their first estate. Be careful!

Repentance Calls Ouija

I appreciate the feedback. I did actually search through all of the other occult and Ouija board references in other discussions before I posted, but I have never read about an experience like mine that revealed such sacred information. I have always believed that the Ouija board spirits know so many "right answers" because they are observing us constantly anyway. That was why I was so skeptical about the spirit that claimed to be my mother, even though it answered all of my questions about her correctly. What I was most puzzled by, to be honest, were the admonishments to return to the church. If they were evil spirits, my theory is that they could have been giving me what my heart would perceive as truth or divine authority in order to get me to seek out further communication with them. And it actually was tempting to use the board again and take what was said seriously. I could see it being a dangerous trap. (Along the lines of telling a hundred truths to make us believe one lie.)

As a side note, I am not returning to the church because of the Ouija board experiences. I have finally admitted to myself that my deep love for these beautiful doctrines will never leave my heart at peace if I am away from it. I have had other, more positive and spiritually edifying experiences that would have touched my heart regardless. I suppose I am most disturbed by the Ouija board experiences BECAUSE I really do believe in the sacredness of the temple ordinances and the potential of satan to use these as a "tool" to mislead and entrap. I can say, at least, that I definitely won't be using one again!

Ouija Calls To Repentance?

Why wouldn't you return to church because of your experience with the ouija board?

Ouija Calls Repentance

I think she means the reason she is returning to church is not because of the ouija board experience, but because she really does have a testimony.

Ouija Calls Repentance Mormon Doctrine Studies

Well, I didn't return to the church after those experiences because of my inherent distrust of anything a Ouija board says. A malicious spirit could easily use religion to mess with my mind whether the religion was true or not. Even that last experience could be explained by a spirit's presence at the times that name was spoken--if the church ISN'T true, of course. If the church is true it is hard to imagine evil spirits having free access to the temple to overhear the things said there. But if the church isn't true, then the temple is not a sacred space at all and information could be gleaned from observations there just like any other place. In fact, the experience more easily supports the church NOT being true because that explanation makes more sense than a "good" spirit who knows Gabriel and my Name communicating with me through a Ouija board.

But I suppose there was one positive outcome from that experience. It made me realize that I still DID have a testimony. Logically, if I truly believed in my heart that the church wasn't true then the experience shouldn't have ruffled me at all. I would easily explain it away as just another spirit's regurgitation of my life experiences and brush it off with mild amusement. But my reaction spoke volumes to my own mind. I understood that it did shock and even offend me BECAUSE I hold that name and the location I have heard and spoken it sacred. And I have assumed, possibly wrongly, that there was very limited knowledge of that Name. That's why I posted the experience here, looking for help to make sense of it in light of the gospel being true.

But to clarify not going back because of the experience, I just tried even harder after that to bury it deeper and worked on an "I don't care if it's true I'm still not going back" attitude. It wasn't until the missionaries found me and helped me to feel the Spirit and the love of the Lord again that I even began to consider trying to return. Without their intervention I'm sure I would have eventually come to a sense of peace with the theory that the temples aren't sacred and the spirit was just having a good time trying to mess with my mind. And it probably would have become even more fodder for denial.