THURSDAY,OCTOBER31,2002
HALLOWEEN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3
Weekly gatherings summon spirits for advice, wisdom
By Mandalee Meisner
mmeisner@kansan.com
Jayplay writer
"Are you moving it?"
"No,are you?"
Conversations exchanged over candlelit games of Ouija may bring up images of pre-adolescent slumber parties.
But, a group of Wiccan-Pagan Alliance members at the University of Kansas are turning the ancient divination game known as Ouija (pronounced wee-ja) into spiritual exercise.
"Most people think of ouija as a parlor trick more than anything legitimate," Brandon Geistdoerfer-Munger, vicepresident of the alliance, said. "But we get excellent results."
He said he now had notebooks filled with messages from spirits contacted through the ouija spirit or "mystifying oracle."
Photo Illustration by Aaron Showalter/Kansan
This is the ritual: three people gather around a smooth, wooden board decorated with a "hello" and "good-bye," two rows of alphabet letters, and the numerals zero through nine. They each take one hand and lightly touch a plastic indicator, called a planchette, with their fingertips.
One person is designated a caller. This person both asks questions of the ouija spirit guide and calls out the letters to which the planchette mysteriously moves. A fourth person takes down any messages spelled out by the spirits.
"A lot of people are very skeptical, even if they are involved," Geistdoerfer-Munger, Overland Park junior, said. "But I trust that others aren't moving it, and I'm not moving it."
The Wiccan-Pagan Alliance's weekly ouija session, held after meetings every Wednesday on the second floor of Hashinger Hall, often attracts a throng of spooked-out onlookers. Bob Irwin, who got involved with the alliance last spring semester, said he personally preferred to stand back and watch the magic happen when the ouija board was out.
"At first I had to ask myself if I was just imagining it or if it was something real," Irwin, Crete, Neb., sophomore, said. Despite his initial skepticism, Irwin finally decided that there was "definitely something outside of us there."
"There were a couple of times the planchette actually left people's hands and drifted a bit before they could touch it again," Irwin said. "We're pretty lucky
Photo Illustration by Aaron Showalter/Kansas Some students claim that ouija boards are useful in communications with spirits from other realms. People place their finger on the pointer, called a planchette, and wait for the spirits to spell out messages.
in that we have some people who just have a good connection."
The scientific community cites the "ideomotor effect" as the real force behind ouija movement. The ideomotor effect explains that minute variations in muscle tension, multiplied by the number of hands on the planchette, leads to movement across the board. According to psychologists, ouija experimenters are actually projecting their subconscious thoughts and desires onto the board. Spirits are out of the question.
Irwin said two common entities contacted during Hashinger Hall séances were a mischievous trickster named George and an advice-lending "hippie spirit."
Irwin said that the ouija board actually contained a spirit that was physically bound to the game forever. This spirit acts as mediator and soothsayer, and is the primary otherworldly communicator with the group.
During one session, GeistdoerferMunger said two spirits of the hippie variety were dispensing their wisdom.
"One message that I remember from that session was, 'to find love, hold out your palms during the next rain,'" he said.
Kacey Carlson, owner of the Good Earth Mother Alchemy Shoppe, 803 Vermont St., said ouija might be a popular divination method, but it was a "mushy" tool for communicating with the spirit world. She said she didn't recommend ouija boards for the serious spiritualist.
"It's almost impossible to control a ouija board, even for experienced magicians," Carlson said. "That doorway's just too big and too difficult to control."
—Edited by Matt Norton
Kansas Union provides opportunities to indulge in traditional tricks, treats
By Amy Kelly
akelly@kansan.com
Jayplay writer
Not in the mood to watch Friday the 13th, Children of the Corn or that special Halloween episode of ER on yet another Halloween? The Kansas Union has a variety of events today that could revive the long-lost trick-or-treaters in us all.
Food for thought
One campus organization is hoping the Lawrence community will take some time from trick-or-treating to treat it with donations of food.
Concerned, Active and Aware Students (CAAS), a student-run segment of the Center for Community Outreach committed to the issues of hunger and homelessness, is using Halloween as an opportunity to trick-or-treat for canned food, not candy.
"It's something that some of our friends on other campuses have done in the past," said Amanda Flott, Omaha, Neb., junior and co-director of CAAS.
"A bunch of us will be out in front of the Kansas Union, and from there we'll go trick-or-treating between 13th and 17th streets collecting canned food items."
Students are encouraged to trick-or-treat with CAAS from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. or drop off donated food items in front of the Kansas Union from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For those who cannot participate, ongoing drop-off points are located at the entrances of Twente Hall, and the Hy-Vee and Dillons grocery stores.
The event comes at a time when hunger is a growing problem, Flott said.
"All of the food pantries are really, really low on supplies," Flott said. "Especially with the holidays coming up, it's important that students donate and help as much as they can."
Calling all Bards of Blood
Do you fancy yourself the next Edgar Allen Poe? Do you think Stephen King's Carrie does not compare with your macabre genius? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, the Hawk's Nest, located on the first floor of the Kansas Union, is the place to show off your spooky skills this Halloween.
From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., students and faculty are encouraged to make hair stand on end by telling original tales of terror.
HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES
Trick-or-treat with Concerned, Active and Aware Students Between 13th and 17th streets 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Food donation drop-off Kansas Union 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Scary storytelling contest Hawk's Nest, first floor in the Kansas Union
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Halloween Open House Fourth floor in the Kansas Union 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
"I want it to be like an open mike type of thing," said Shannon Clayton, Student Union Activities public relations coordinator. "People are encouraged to just come up and tell their original scary stories."
For the three individuals who are the most likely to cause students to sleep with one eye open, the SUA officers are planning to make it worth their while. The first place storytelling winner will receive $100, second place earns $50 and the third place recipient will pocket $25.
Free apple cider and candy will be available to those in attendance.
Dress for the Dollars
"It's the first time in at least four years that there has been something like this at the Union," said Clayton. "I don't even remember anything like this going on since I've been here."
Traditionalists will find themselves right at home today in the Kansas Union lobby. From 10 a.m.to 2 p.m., SUA is also sponsoring a Halloween open house featuring a costume contest, fortune tellers and a magician.
The costume contest does not have specific categories such as scariest, sexiest or most original, but participants will need to be present in the Kansas Union at 12:30 p.m. in order to be eligible.
The first place winner will receive $100 second place will earn a KU hooded sweatshirt and third place will receive a KU hat and shirt.
Other activities include face painting pictures taken with cut-out monsters and free apple cider and candy.
— Edited by Andrew Vaupel