The ouija board has long been a source of controversy for centuries, not only because of religious backlash, but also because people just don’t believe it works. If you’re unfamiliar with how a ouija board operates or what it does, I’ll give you the wiki version:

A ouija board consists of two parts: a board, and a planchette, which is historically made of glass, but nowadays is manufactured mostly with plastic. On the board, the words “yes," “no," and “goodbye” are written, along with the alphabet and the numbers 0 through 10. Using the planchette, the spirits can spell out messages and converse with the people operating the board. At least two people must be using the board for it to work, each user must always say “hello” and “goodbye” to the spirit/board, and the board will slide over the word goodbye from G to E.

It’s easy to see why so many people doubt the validity of the ouija board; it seems physically impossible for an object to just start moving on its own, and honestly, the existence of spirits is a little frightening. After taking some time to communicate with the spirits under the expert guidance of my ouija-enthusiast roommate, I’ve concluded that the ouija board is in fact not a hoax for the following reasons:

1. You can feel it when other people are moving the planchette.

I’ll begin with something that is physically feasible. When using a ouija board, each user has to place two fingers on the planchette, or else it won’t move. A lot of critics dismiss the fact that ouija boards actually move on their own without human interference. I beg to differ.

Firstly, my roommate would probably rather go bald than cheat the spirits and move the planchette on her own. But, if that’s not enough proof, I think we can all agree that if someone were to move an object that you were also in contact with, you would be able to feel the direction of motion and where the motion was stemming from. (Try it yourself at home with a light, flat object). When the planchette moves on a ouija board, it is absolutely clear that the movement begins with the planchette. The planchette is always centered between each person’s fingers, so that the side with one user’s fingers will not lead the movement. For example, if my fingers were on the left and my friends’ were on the right with the planchette facing up, the planchette would tilt toward my fingers if I were to move it. What actually happens is that the planchette does not tilt by any angle when it moves.

P.S: My roommate and I tested it out and had one person move the planchette, and it is so obvious that it is being moved and my fingers are being dragged along.

2. The planchette moves in strange, unexpected patterns.

When a message is being spelled out, the planchette does not simply move from one letter to the next in the shortest distance possible. The planchette often swivels and spins in strange patterns on the board. For example, one specific spirit we were speaking with would make a convoluted up-down roller coaster motion in between every word, whereas another would slide up to the top of the board in between each letter in its message.

3. The board spells out surprising messages.

For me, this is one of the most convincing reasons the ouija board is not a hoax. One of the most interesting things you can do with a ouija board is ask the spirits questions. One time, I had lost my USB and I couldn’t place exactly where I had left it. As a joke, my roommate and I pulled out the ouija board and asked it where my USB was. Its answer? “I’m not your lost and found.” And just FYI, neither me nor my roommate are clever enough to have come up with that response fast enough to start spelling it out.

Another surprising response was when we were trying to convince one of our skeptical friends. We had just been asking the ouija board about our past lives, how many each of us had, where we lived, etc. Skeptical friend George said, “Okay, if this is real, then who was my first kiss?” The ouija board spelled out a name, but we are disappointed when George shook his head and confirmed it was incorrect. The planchette then began to move again, spelling out “H-E-D-O-E-S-N-T-R-E-M-E-M-B-E-R,” as in he doesn’t remember his very first kiss from his very first life. Spooky stuff.

4. Ouija boards are historical and transcultural.

To wrap this up, I just want to remind everyone that ouija boards have existed long before sophisticated technology, and across cultures as well. My roommate tells a particularly interesting story relayed from her very Catholic mother. When her mother was a child in the Philippines, she used to write out the alphabet in the dirt, and using a piece of glass, recreated a working ouija board. Ouija boards really do work, no matter what form they come in.