A plastic planchette with a pointer was designed to slide easily around the board, hopefully to spell out various messages.
Could this seemingly-simple game actually communicate with the dead? If it did, would we learn enough to stop the hauntings or would it just be a waste of time and money?
Chapter Eleven: Spiritual contact
Later on that Friday evening, we were ready to see what would happen with our attempt to communicate with Ivanko.
I was worried how Kelly would react to any spiritual happenings in the room, so I encouraged her to rest on her bed in the hallway, leaving some dog biscuits for her to chew.
We were supposed to set the mood by dimming the lights, using candles or burning incense, but we both agreed that, if any spirits were going to make contact, adding these scents and smells should make absolutely no difference. We did, however, have a reading light to illuminate the table instead of using the main ceiling light which, according to Suzanne, did help to create a suitable, creepy atmosphere.
The board was placed on the dining table, Suzanne and I sitting side by side, preferably with our knees touching. We had no problem with this suggestion. The instructions said that both of us had to put our middle and index fingers on the planchette, resting them quite gently.
I found it extremely difficult to keep a straight face, as I asked, “Is there a spirit present in this room?”
We were supposed to move the planchette lightly in circles as a warm-up, but, after a minute or so had passed, I was going to stop, convinced that this was a waste of time, when the planchette suddenly began to move from the circular pattern. “Did you move it, Suzanne?”
“Not me. I thought it was you.”
The planchette moved to the word “Go”. It then appeared to move without much effort or purpose. “Are you a good spirit?” I really felt stupid asking such a question, yet the instructions had suggested this very question.
The planchette began to move again. When it stopped, Suzanne said, “It has stopped near the Sun symbol. That is supposed to mean that it is a good spirit.”
“Well, I suppose it would say that, even if it was not true.”
“Careful, Tonie. You don’t want to upset it.”
Humouring Suzanne, I said, “Sorry, I accept that you are a good spirit. What is your name?”
The planchette began to move and Suzanne told me the letters it pointed to. “R, h, o, d, a. Rhoda! What is your surname?” Again, the planchette began to move “B, a, r, n, e, s. Rhoda Barnes! That sounds a good, old-fashioned name.”
I thought that I should ask a question. “Did you used to live in this house?”
Suzanne exclaimed, “It moved to the ‘Yes’ position. In which year did you die?”
Again, the planchette moved. “1, 9, 5, 4. 1954”
I did realise that this was getting us nowhere with Ivanko, yet, I did find the whole experience quite fascinating and a little scary at the same time. “How did you die, Rhoda?”
The planchette moved quite quickly, Suzanne reading the letters as they were identified. “Heart attack in my bed. It was so sudden that I did not have the chance to make peace with my family.”
It was so hard to believe that we were actually communicating with the dead, yet I could not doubt it any more.”
“Rhoda, do you have a spirit there called Ivanko?” I just had to get to the reason behind all of this.
My question seemed to cause a bit of a turmoil. The planchette moved around in quite erratic circles before spelling out “There are many spirits here.” It then moved to the “Goodbye” position and then stopped moving altogether.
Disappointed, I said, “Ah, well, I think the spirits have had enough for one night. Let’s have another try, tomorrow.”
Suzanne sounded surprised. “Are you certain that you don’t want to try again, tonight? We don’t seem to have got very far.”
“I’m sorry, Suzanne. This is very unsettling for me. Don’t ask me why, but I feel really nervous talking to the spirits.”
“Okay, my love. Tomorrow night, then.” She sounded disappointed, but, inexplicably, I felt really exhausted. I supposed that a full working day of coding had not left me with much spare energy, yet it would be just the same for Suzanne. This must be what they mean when they say that women are much stronger than men.
I did not mention it to Suzanne, but I had noticed that, all the time we were managing to communicate through the Ouija board, I felt such a heavy pressure on my head, that it made me feel quite sick and dis-orientated. I really could not understand the reason why I should have felt this way, but it was a relief to end the session.
When I let Kelly back in the room, she danced around, excitedly. She probably wondered why she had not been allowed to join us, but now seemed to be happy to be with us again.
After returning the Ouija board to its box, we watched television for a while. In truth, there was not much on television, but it did not really matter as we talked over many different topics, including the experience of communicating with Rhoda. My curiosity got the better of me and I powered up my computer. An internet search on deaths and the name Rhoda Barnes gave me the answer I had been seeking. Rhoda Barnes, wife of Wilfred, had, indeed, died, suddenly, of a heart attack at the age of sixty-three. Although it did not give her address, it was in the Sale area. I had enough proof of spiritual contact to convince me that we should continue, in an effort to find out more about Ivanko.
The following evening, when we both felt that the time was right, we, again, laid out the Ouija board on the table, after, as on the previous night, banishing poor Kelly to the hallway. As we placed our fingers on the planchette and moved it around, the strange feeling in my head re-emerged. “Are there any spirits present?” Again, I felt quite silly asking this question. I was surprised when the planchette moved to a point on the board and stopped.
Suzanne looked and, with a little laugh, said, “It said, ‘No’. I think it is teasing us, as there must be a spirit to have moved it.”
“Is the spirit of Ivanko Ademovic here?” Again, the planchette moved fast, almost urgently around the board and then stopped.
Suzanne gave a little gasp. “Now, it’s stopped against the ‘yes’ label.”
A cold shudder of fear ran through me. After a long pause, I asked, “Ivanko, can you tell us what happened to you? How did you die?” I found it incredible that I was really asking such a crazy question and, even worse, how could we be certain that Ivanko was actually communicating with us? While I was thinking about this, the planchette began to move quickly around the board.
“Ivanko! You are moving too fast. Can you slow down a little, please?” I could hear the tension in Suzanne’s voice, as she struggled to keep track of the planchette.
Surprisingly, there was a slowing down of the planchette’s movement and Suzanne managed to determine the content of the message. “I think it must be difficult for Ivanko to move slowly around the board. He just said, ‘Give Tonie pen and paper’.”
This puzzled me. How could I communicate properly when I am unable to see what I am writing? Still, it may be worth trying. I stood up and walked over to my small desk, on which I had my notebook computer and a small printer combined with a scanner. I removed a few sheets of paper from the printer, grabbed a pen and returned to the table. I sat down, placed the sheets of paper on the Ouija board and held the pen in my hand. I must admit that I felt ridiculous and did not really expect anything to happen. To my amazement, the pen seemed to come to life, moving quite fast across the paper, my hand serving only to support the pen.
“Oh, my God!” Suzanne sounded shocked, yet held on to my left arm to provide the continuity suggested for psychic communications.