Oracle ...Part 2 ...Dabbling in Darkness
― Ursula K. Le Guin
Mireya and I were spending our lunch period antiquing, rooting through antiques, when my gaze fell upon an antique Ouija board with the familiar arcane letters.
I made a joke about summoning spirits knowing that Mir was superstitious.
Her eyes grew huge and she turned pale. “You musn’t joke about such matters, Cole—it’s not wholesome to contact the dead.”
I tried to calm her fears.
“I was only joking, Mireya. Besides, these boards aren’t mystic oracles—they’re only parlour games made by toy companies from paper and plastic—quaint and dated as Spiritism and table tipping.”
A voice rasped behind me, “In this day and age I suppose it’s regarded as old technology.”
I turned to see Ella James, the proprietor, smiling at us—her eyes crinkled from much laughter and far too much cigarette smoke—the latter being another instance, no doubt, of ‘old technology.’
I smiled back at her. “I suppose folks nowadays would be more inclined to the Internet than having an affinity with ether—that so-called mysterious fifth element of alchemists and mediums.”
The older woman turned serious. “You know there’s a long tradition of linking communication with the dead to wireless telegraphy. Edison tried to build such a device to contact the dead. Back in 1898, there was even a Ouija board called The Wireless Communicator.”
“Really?” I said, growing interested. “You don’t happen to have one of those in the shop, do you?”
She gave a wheezing laugh, “Naw, can’t say I’ve seen one of those lately, but I do have a computerized Ouija board—The Gypsy, put out by Mac. It was state of the art back in the 1980’s.”
“You’re kidding! Can I see it?”
“Sure, if you’re into haunting entertainment—it was real popular back in the day.”
As the older lady went back into the stockroom to locate the device, Mireya was becoming agitated. “You should not use such instruments, Cole—they’re witch boards used to summon a demon.”
I tried to calm her fears.
“Relax, Mir—even at the height of the Spiritist Movement these games were used mostly for harmless flirtation between men and women—sitting knee to knee with the board on their laps and their fingers touching on the planchette. The questions asked were more of a romantic nature.”
She was not deterred. “That doesn’t make it right, Cole.”
Ella was back with what looked like a boxed board game tucked under her arm. “Here we are—THE MACINTOSH MYSTIC—the cyber oracle for the computer age,” she laughed.
I opened the box and perused the contents. The so-called Ouija board was blank—no letters or numbers. It looked like an oversized mouse pad.
“How does it work?” I asked.
Ella’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“You create the talking board on your Mac using the supplied software and MacPaint. You can use the basic design or create your own unique board using different fonts and layouts. You can even add blinking stars and constellations to create a magical effect.”
“That’s kind of hokey—I like the vintage version.”
“Well, the planchette is also super-charged—it fits into a “Mouse Mover” that glides effortlessly across the board and as the cursor touches different letters, messages appear on the screen.”
“That’s kind of cool.”
I liked the blend of ancient mysticism and modern technology
Ella continued her sales pitch. “And you have the option of switching to “Automatic Writing Mode” and a blank board. Then, the planchette becomes an automatic writer.”
“I’ll take it,” I laughed, “I can’t wait to get it home and try it.”
Mireya looked glum but said nothing.
We walked back to the agency in the gray November rain—Mir morosely mindful of her Día de los Muertos, and I, keenly anticipating a different arcane ritual to honour All Souls Night.
Does the Mac prog actually exist or is it just for the story?
Of course the lady is right, for at best it stirs up little self-created demons from our subconscious. I've had some experiences with such things and it can get a bit scary, but then, it is just as easy to dismiss it all the next morning when that great healer, called the sun, returns.
No it does exist - it was a separate tablet type of device called the Mac Oracle or The Gypsy and was a niche offering.
I personally find the ouija disturbing - I don't like throwing open the doors of my psyche and saying 'come on in'. Whether or not one believes in such things there's a kind of cosmic law against dwelling on negative energy and attracting it to you. Mind you, dead people often visit me in dreams, but that's different.
BTW, here's a link FYI : https://museumoftalkingboards.com/gypsy.html
Very interesting. With virtual reality become such a large part of the market, I will not be surprised to see this adopted for that. With the advances in AI, it means such a board will be less trusted, as it could be the AI responding.
Thanks for taking the trouble to show me.
Hello @johnjgeddes, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!
Thank you!