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As I puzzled over the problem, I realized that the only real way to combine energies as a human biocosmic receiver was to use some form of communication that required more than one person and which also provided an immediate feedback checking mechanism. The obvious Well, in my younger days I most definitely had experienced modest success “playing” with such an instrument, though I had given it up as possibly “dangerous” or just merely childish. It was slow, tedious, and I wasn’t exactly sure of the source of the replies, never mind how accurate they were. Nevertheless, now I was looking at it in a different way and considering the possibilities that it was a potential means of coordinating focus and intent as well as proximity of energetic biopsychic fields, with the added feedback loop for “tuning”. I knew that I needed to research it to discover if, theoretically, it would suit the purpose. There are two main theories about how the Ouija board is supposed to work. The first is called “automatism”. Automatism is also supposed to be the means by which dowsing, pendulums, table tipping, automatic writing and other movement of physical objects by purported spiritual forces is supposed to take place. What this means is that the participants may not realize that they are responsible for the participants not realize participants may not realize that they are responsible for the movements of the indicator, but they are still doing it themselves. for the are Conscious or unconscious expectations can signal nerves to fire thereby causing tiny, imperceptible motions of the fingers which produce the “answers”. In this theory, the use of the “talking” board is similar to theories of automatic writing which claim that such messages originate in the conscious or unconscious mind of the medium. Defined within this context, the talking board is merely a bypass of the conscious mind, and a shortcut between the unconscious mind and _ the mind, the mind and the So we see that, psychologically speaking, automatism allows the subconscious mind temporary control of some part of the body without the interference of the conscious mind. At the same time, it leaves the conscious mind conscious for checking the feedback, monitoring the activity, and basically balancing the effort within the controls of experimental protocols. Some “experts” claim that having a healthy unconscious mind is the key to protection since opening such a door without due care could most certainly trigger psychosis in certain individuals. I have a slightly different view. I don’t think that bypassing the conscious mind in this 55 High Strangeness — Part One answer was a board type instrument. neuromuscular control system. “Collective automatism” occurs when more than one person is operating the board.