Ouija

Tapping into a growing interest in American culture with the occult and new spiritualism, this book is the first scholarly work devoted entirely to the unique place of Ouija in American culture. On the one hand, Ouija has at different moments in history pointed to a deep fascination and openness with the supernatural in the American psyche. On the other hand, Ouija resides squarely outside of orthodox religious belief, and, as we shall see, garners suspicion and even outright rejection from various Christian traditions especially. Thus this cardboard doorway to the supernatural continues to reflect some of the most interesting paradoxes in American life. Bringing together an international team of scholars, this book shows that what qualifies as religious remains an open question, and how Americans continue to grapple with what practices lie within and without the traditions they inherit and pass on.

Katherine G. Schmidt is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Molloy University, USA. She is the author of Virtual Communion: Theology of the Internet and the Catholic Sacramental Imagination (Rowman and Littlefield, 2020).

1.Introduction 2. "A History of Ouija: Myths and Misconceptions" 3. "Ouija Rhetoricity" 4. "Spirited Play: The Ouija Board and Gamification" 5. "Examining the Ouija Heebie-Jeebies: A Material Culture Analysis of Ouija Board Goods" 6. "Teens and Fear/Fearing Teens: Images of Ouija in Young Adult Literature" 7. "I Hope You Got This on Camera: Ouija Boards in Film" 8. "Secrets, Satan, and Slaughter: Protestant Responses to Ouija Boards During the Satanic Panic" 9. "US Catholicism and Ouija" 10. Epilogue: "I Do Not Claim Any Negative Energy"