[by Dean Smith] Google, the web’s largest internet search engine, is predicting Ouija boards will be a popular item this Christmas. Google is basing its prediction on search engine data requests.

The number of search requests for Ouija or spiritual boards in November 2014 had increased by 300% since October leading Google to state in its commerce blog that the Ouija board will be “one of the hottest gifts likely to sell out this season.” It attributed the Ouija board’s renewed interest to the horror movie “Ouija” released in October.

The Ouija board was the fifth most searched Christmas item behind American Girl, My Little Pony, Paw Patrol and Lego Friends.

The Ouija board, invented in 1890, has letters and numbers imprinted on a board. It also comes with a pointing device (often heart-shaped) on which people place their hand. The participant asks a question and a spirit will answer the question by guiding the person’s hand to the letters on the board. The communicating spirits are generally believed to be those of dead people, but some seek advice from the demonic realm through the board.

Though many treat it as an innocent parlor game, others do not. I had previously reported on a case of demonic possession that was attributed to playing on a Ouija board. During World War I, Pearl Curran, an American spiritualist, started using the Ouija board as a divining tool exposing the board’s occultic side.

Communicating with the dead and evil spirits is strongly condemned in the Bible (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10; Leviticus 20:6). The Biblical term “spiritists” (also called a necromancer) found in these verses refers to those who communicate with the dead. Many Christian churches have warned against using the board.

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