Ouija Boards in Portland and Palm Springs

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: SInger/Songwriter, Receptionist, Student
Residence: Portland, Oregon
Performance Date: 4/23/22
Primary Language: English

J. has always had a fascination with the supernatural. From her strong belief in fairies, forest and water spirits, and ghosts growing up, she held onto her belief in the paranormal well into her teenage years.

“The summer after ninth grade, I was gifted a ouija board from one of my mom’s friends. I had always loved horror movies and anything that had to do with ghosts or spirits–people on ‘the other side.’ That summer, I went to Palm Springs for a family trip. That was the first time I used the ouija board. Me and my friend who had come with us sat down to try it out one night, and we contacted a spirit named Dino. He said he was an older man, around his 50’s–he was a nice spirit. He told us that him and his brother had grown up near the area we were staying, and that he remained in that area because he was waiting for his brother to return.”

That wasn’t the only time that J. used that Ouija board. J. was my best friend in high school, and after she came back from that trip and we started sophomore year together, the Ouija board was the main event of every sleepover, birthday party, and even casual after school hang out sessions. The first time we pulled it out in Portland, Dino visited again. He had followed J. home from Palm Springs, saying she was the first person he had been able to connect with from across the grave.

Not all the spirits we encountered were nice like Dino, though.

“I remember we were both here the night of my 16th birthday party. Remember? That’s when all the really crazy stuff happened and we decided to stop using the ouija board.”

I do remember that night. This is how J. gave a run down of the events:

“All of the girls had come over to celebrate my birthday and we couldn’t wait to pull out the ouija board. We were sitting in my living room downstairs, all gathered in a circle on the floor. You were sitting out because you always refused to touch the board–so lame.” She laughs. “Anyways, we started playing and the first spirit we contacted was a 10 year old girl named Rose. You were freaked out because that was your middle name and something only people in your family called you. It started to get scary because she told us that she was outside the door and needed us to let her in. All of us got super scared and I think it was Avery who got up and ran to lock it. After that, she told us she had a message but all of us had to power off our phones so that we couldn’t share her message. Then, she told us that one of our friends from school was in danger–that he was going to be in a car crash that night. All of a sudden, we all panicked, saying we needed to use out phones to call and check on him. She let you, actually, turn on your phone and text [L] to ask if he was with that friend and to make sure he was okay.”

“After that, she started counting down from 10, which we all learned is really dangerous and you’re not supposed to let them reach zero or they could enter the house or even one of our bodies and like, possess us. We had to quickly say goodbye–that’s really important, too. If you leave a spirit without saying goodbye they get really mad and some bad things can happen.”

After the first attempt at the ouija board that night, and our crazy experience with Rose, J. wanted to try again, but this time in her spooky attic. All of her late great grandmother’s old clothes, furniture, and paintings were up, and she thought it would heighten our connection to something across the grave. When we went up there, we came into contact with Dino again, but he soon revealed that he was actually an evil spirit named Zozo. We had heard about Zozo before, and he was supposedly more evil than the devil himself. Long story short, he threatened to break our friend E.’s fingers if I didn’t join in and put my hands on the planchette. After refusing, he wouldn’t let us say goodbye, and we all got really scared before eventually forcing him to leave.

“That was the last night we ever did Ouija. I still carry the board in my car, but all of us are too freaked out to try again.”

For more information about the infamous, malevolent spirit, Zozo, see here: https://www.bustle.com/life/what-is-zozo-read-this-before-you-ever-touch-a-ouija-board-again-12197819

Ouija boards can be seen as a kind of contagious folk belief, because one has to come into contact with the board and the planchette to be able to contact spirits.

Pelican Soup

Date: April 4, 2022 

Source and Relationship: W, friend

Type: Riddle

Folklore/ Text:  “A man is walking down the boardwalk in San Francisco, he sees a sign outside of a restaurant that says “Today Only – Pelican Soup.” He goes inside, sits down, and orders the pelican soup. He takes one bite, walks back outside, and kills himself. Why did he do it?”

Answer: “This man had been previously stranded on an island with his wife for a very long time, and out of delirious hunger, he ate her after having convinced himself it was pelican soup. Once the man got back to civilization, he tried the pelican soup to compare it to what he had on the island. When he discovers that it tastes completely different, he walks outside and kills himself, realizing what he had done to his wife while they were deserted.”

Performance Context: My friend W told us this riddle during a break in our Thursday discussion section that his mom used to tell his siblings to keep them occupied on long car rides. He is a 20 year old USC student with two siblings and high family values. 

Explanation: When I first heard this riddle, I threw out a myriad of potential answers that made sense in my head, but W simply sat and looked at me sympathetically, knowing I would never guess it. My other classmate who I was sitting next to insisted on figuring it out himself, but I eventually surrendered and begged for the solution. 

Hit the ceiling on Yellow lights

Date: April 20, 2022 

Source and Relationship: T, best friend

Type: Superstition, Tradition

Folklore/ Text: Hit the Roof on Yellow Lights: “Since I’ve had my car, I always knew I wanted to do some weird little traditions with it. I thought it was a right of passage to have your own superstitions about driving. Basically, one day I was watching some movie with Brad Pitt in it and the character driving had to speed to make it through a yellow light, and when he did, he punched the ceiling of his car. They never really explained why he did that but I thought it was awesome so now I do it for good luck. All my friends have learned to do it with me when we’re in the car together too, which is great, because that means extra good luck.”

Explanation/Context: I love this superstition of T’s because it is so specific to her and I’s friendship together, so much so that I’ve found myself doing it in my own car for good luck. Our entire friend group knows about how spooked out T gets about angel numbers and specific street signs, so it only makes sense that we all participate in this strange ritual each time we narrowly escape a red light. I feel it has a placebo effect, as someone who is not superstitious, but nonetheless it provides her comfort and a semblance of safety when driving along Los Angeles roads, which superstitions often do. 

Grandma’s Christmas

Date: April 12, 2022 

Source and Relationship: Emily, cousin

Type: Tradition, Recipe, Family

Folklore/Text: Grandma’s Christmas: “My favorite part of every Christmas was spending the morning of Christmas Eve at Grandma’s house, when she’d make all the cousins ebelskivers for breakfast. I’m not even really sure how to describe them other than pancake balls. They were light and doughy and most of the time we’d pipe them with fruit or syrup or something. I think they’re Austrian or something, because I remember her telling us that she got the idea to make them after watching The Sound of Music. After everyone finished eating, we’d all gather around her tiny fake Christmas tree and exchange presents. Most of the time mine would be a scarf or a gift card. I miss her a lot.”

Explanation/Context: Every Christmas since I was born, all 20 of my first cousins on my mom’s side and their partners would squeeze in my grandma’s condo and share a giant breakfast together. By the time I was five or so, there was a clear schedule to our family reunions in December – we’d all arrive around the 22nd, share Christmas Eve morning with Grandma Julie, and then all go to Christmas Mass together at her favorite church the next morning. Since she passed, my aunts and uncles have attempted to make ebelskivers from her recipe book each year, but they simply don’t taste as good as when she made them in masses in her tiny kitchen. 

Annotation: Ebelskivers are actually spherical snacks of Danish descent, not Austrian. The name literally means “apple slices” in Danish, but typically apples are not a central ingredient in present-day recipes. The crust is similar to regular pancakes, but due to its shape, the inside tends to have a texture more like bread pudding, which is why it pairs well with fruit and other toppings. 

Humans lick too

Date: April 25, 2022 

Source and Relationship: G, younger brother

Type: Scary Story, Legend

Folklore/Text: Humans Lick Too Story: “My friend Quincy told me this story at a sleepover and I still think about it a lot. So this girl who’s my age was staying home alone for the night with her golden retriever. She started hearing strange noises around the house so she stayed in her room and put her hand under the bed so that her dog would lick her, so that she knew she was safe. She felt her dog’s tongue on her hand, so she decided she was fine and tried to go to sleep. But then she heard the faucet running in her bathroom, which was weird because no one was home. When she walked to the bathroom to turn it off, she saw across the wall, written in blood, ‘HUMANS LICK TOO.’ The body of her dead dog was also lying on the floor in front of her. When Quincy told me the story I didn’t sleep for three days, I still need to get him back for it.”

Explanation/Context: I have actually heard many versions of this story over the years, with some details being added or discarded based on who I’m talking to. It clearly is an urban legend that found its way through the power of the internet and/or spoken word to the minds of current high schoolers, which is fascinating to me since I first heard the story when I was his age as well. After further investigation, this tale is actually quite famous since it was originally printed in a 1871 novel by M. R. James. It is remarkable to me that such stories have stood the test of time and continue to strike fear into children globally. I still refuse to leave any of my limbs hanging off the side of the bed at night because of this very tale.