WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:08.199 Faith is the peerless bridge, supporting what we see and to the scene that 2 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:13.720 we do, not to slender for the eye. It bears the soul as 3 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:19.320 bold as it were, rocked in steel, with arms of steel at either 4 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:27.800 side. It joins behind the veil to what could we presume the bridge would 5 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:36.439 cease to be, to our far vacillating feet A first necessity. Faith is 6 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:49.039 the Peerless Bridge by Emily Dickinson. If you've ever visited Colorado, or if 7 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:54.159 you're lucky enough to live here, then you know it's an outdoor enthusiast's playground, 8 00:00:54.759 --> 00:01:00.840 hiking, biking, skiing. The list goes on and on another side 9 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:06.079 to the centennial state that most people will never see. It's a side that's 10 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:11.439 a little darker, a little more sinister, and a little bit strange. 11 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:26.239 Welcome to Strange Colorado. When this episode comes out, Halloween will be happening 12 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:34.319 in less than one week. That's right, my spooky friends. This is 13 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:38.560 our time of year, so I hope you're soaking it in and loving every 14 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:44.640 minute of it just like I am. And in honor of that whole fall 15 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:53.040 Halloween spooky season vibe, I found another fun, interesting tidbit of history that 16 00:01:53.079 --> 00:02:00.159 has very strong eerie other round tie ins that fits perfectly with this, But 17 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:07.560 what is it about this season in particular that just sort of sends a shiver 18 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:13.520 down your spine, makes you want to wear a big thick sweater and just 19 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:21.120 sort of bundle up and stay safe inside watching a Harry Potter marathon. Well, 20 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:30.360 the origins of Halloween and that feeling of change and the oncoming darkness of 21 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:38.919 winter goes back thousands of years. If you know your Halloween history, then 22 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:46.360 you probably are already aware that initially the holiday was known as sam Hayne as 23 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:53.680 some pronounce it, but original pronunciation was actually Sowin, and this originates from 24 00:02:53.199 --> 00:03:01.400 the Celtic Pagans pre Christian era, which encompasses the air of Ireland, Scotland, 25 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:07.479 Wales, that sort of region of the world, which is pretty funny 26 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:14.759 to me because that's most of my DNA markers and it explains a lot. 27 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:20.680 When you know, all those videos about basic fall girls come out, it's 28 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:27.039 not just us being basic, it's literally in our DNA. Okay, maybe 29 00:03:27.039 --> 00:03:31.240 not, but it makes me feel better about it anyways. So Sourin, 30 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:36.800 as I was saying, or Halloween as we now call it, was originally 31 00:03:37.240 --> 00:03:40.199 a time of year thousands of years ago in this area of the world where 32 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:47.120 people began to understand that nature was tucking itself away for the winter. The 33 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:52.520 trees were starting to drop their leaves, the crops were dying, it was 34 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:58.280 getting colder, it was time to put up food and prepare for the long, 35 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:03.319 dark, cold winter ahead, And as everything around them was sort of 36 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:08.479 in a state of death and decay. Even though we think the leaves are 37 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:13.919 beautiful when they're dying, people began to believe that this meant, because all 38 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:18.959 of nature was going through this transformation, that the veil, or the divider 39 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:26.079 between our world and the spirit realm, was very thin, which makes sense 40 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:31.439 if you are thinking along those lines of so much of the natural world dying 41 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:38.160 during this time and passing over. It's a huge rush from one side to 42 00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:41.519 the other, so it does make sense that if there is a veil, 43 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:45.959 it would be a little bit easier to access during this time of year, 44 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:54.279 which meant to them that if they had any recently deceased loved ones, they 45 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:58.879 believed that these loved ones were still close enough to that veil, having recently 46 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:03.879 passed on, that they would still be able to cross back over and visit 47 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:11.920 their living relatives. So on the night of Salen, many of these ancient 48 00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:18.879 people would leave food and trinkets out in their homes and on their properties just 49 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:27.399 in case their friends and relatives who had passed decided to return they could partake 50 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:34.519 in the fall festivities and enjoy a little bit of liveliness in their after life. 51 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:43.639 It was all about honoring and remembering their dead and celebrating death and life 52 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:48.279 and the link between the two and the cycle, which we're really terrified of 53 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:53.759 now today in our current society because it's hidden from us so much of the 54 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:58.800 time. But back then it was just another Tuesday. They saw this stuff 55 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:04.920 all the time, so celebrating death wasn't a scary prospect for them. As 56 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:12.439 these traditions grew and expanded over the years, people would gather together to celebrate 57 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:18.160 this holiday, and they would do things like light large bonfires and invite all 58 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:23.720 of their friends and family to come and celebrate the thinning of the veil and 59 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:30.879 the visiting of their dead loved ones. These bonfires often represented the warmth and 60 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:36.639 vibrancy and light of the bright summer sun during the summer months, and when 61 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:43.199 these bonfires were ending, people would take a bit of the fire home with 62 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:49.680 them to light their hearts, and more and more games began to pop up 63 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:57.000 in these celebrations as they really started to embrace the fun side of getting ready 64 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:02.680 for winter. This is where we get trick or treating from the origins of 65 00:07:03.079 --> 00:07:08.079 going door to door and getting candy from people, which is maybe one of 66 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:13.439 the best parts of Halloween, comes from the game these ancient people used to 67 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:18.360 play when they too would go from house to house dressed up as the mischievous 68 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:24.680 spirits that they believed were also able to access the land of the living during 69 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:28.879 this time. If the veil is thin, it's not just loved ones that 70 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:32.439 are coming through, it's the little nasty bits as well. So they would 71 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:39.160 dress up as these mischievous spirits from their histories and their lore, and they 72 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:46.279 would go from door to door asking for food because remember they left food out 73 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.480 for the spirits who decided to visit their homes during this time. So it 74 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:53.160 was a great way to get a free snack and to have a little bit 75 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:58.720 of fun. But of course, street lights weren't a thing hundreds and thousand 76 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:05.040 years ago, so they would use turnips that they had carved with a candle 77 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:11.279 inside to light their way. These were called mangle wurzels, and these were 78 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:20.279 their lanterns. Once these people began to immigrate to the American colonies way back 79 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.519 in the day, they brought all of their customs with them. Of course, 80 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:30.079 as so many cultures have, and beat roots weren't exactly in abundance, 81 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:35.480 but they did have access to the even larger and easier to carve pumpkins. 82 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:43.240 So if you had a pumpkin carved and set out on your doorstep, people 83 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:48.879 knew you knew about Halloween, were participating, and that you were handing out 84 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:54.639 goodies for the evening. And the traditions continue and people still dress up, 85 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:00.879 but the mischievous spirit costumes now look a little more like I would imagine this 86 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.200 year Barbie and Ken. Now, why am I talking about the origins of 87 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:13.559 Halloween. Well, because what we're going to talk about today has everything to 88 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:18.600 do with the thinning of the veil and contacting those on the other side. 89 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:24.279 This is not a new concept, as I've just demonstrated, and even before 90 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:31.120 Sowyn sam Hayn Halloween, all of these things for millennia, people have been 91 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:37.440 attempting to connect with the spirit world in some form or another. Every culture 92 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:43.000 in every region of the world has similar beliefs in the other side, And 93 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:50.320 when you are thinking about contacting the other side and why people would want to 94 00:09:50.360 --> 00:09:56.120 do that, it really shouldn't take you too long to puzzle out that. 95 00:09:56.320 --> 00:10:01.080 Generally, when people are attempting to rea through the veil to contact someone, 96 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:09.519 they're driven by grief. And at no other time in our history was grief 97 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:18.360 more prevalent in our society here in America than during our major wars, the 98 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:24.639 first one, most especially being the Civil War. We're going back to eighteen 99 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:33.679 sixties. The fighting is way more intense. Conditions are horrific for everybody involved. 100 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:41.639 Soldiers as young as ten are being shipped off to god knows where to 101 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:46.440 fight hand to hand combat while cannonballs are blowing men to bits all around them. 102 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:52.639 It's almost hard to even wrap your head around a reality like that, 103 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:56.480 what it would have been like for these men and children. But the other 104 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:03.960 side of this situation are those that they left behind at home, mothers, 105 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:11.840 daughters, wives, girlfriends, you name it. Generally speaking, women who 106 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:18.240 were left behind often never saw or heard from their soldier ever, again, 107 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:24.159 there were not dog tags during this time. There was no formal notification system 108 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:31.600 through the Union or the Confederate Armies for how to get word to a family 109 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:35.159 that they had lost their loved one. Death tolls and battles were so high 110 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:41.799 that bodies would lay out for months, just rotting away in fields, no 111 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:46.399 way to identify them, and by the time whoever it was got around to 112 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:52.720 disposing of the remains, they were usually just skeletal. That sort of grief 113 00:11:54.080 --> 00:12:01.519 and feeling of not knowing what happened to your husband or your son I can't 114 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:09.000 even imagine. So it makes sense that this is the first time we really 115 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:16.279 see a surge of spiritualism sweeping through American culture. People wanted answers, They 116 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:20.320 wanted to know if their loved ones were dead, and they wanted to know 117 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:28.759 that they were okay wherever they were. Mediums became very popular during this time, 118 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.320 people who claimed to be able to talk to those on the other side, 119 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:39.840 who could channel whichever spirit it was that someone was looking for. They 120 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:46.240 started earning themselves big reputations and lots of money, and yes, many of 121 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:50.360 them took advantage of the horrible grief people were dealing with to turn a buck. 122 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:54.320 I'm sure they got their come up and in the end, at least 123 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:58.399 I hope they did. But these mediums would often have tools that they would 124 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:07.720 use, such as tarot cards, crystal balls, divining rods, whatever it 125 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:13.919 was that they believed would help them channel the energy to contact the spiritual world. 126 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.879 This is when we first begin to see the popularity of things called talking 127 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:24.399 boards really taking off. Now, what is a talking board, Well, 128 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:33.360 a talking board is a form of automatic writing. What's automatic writing? Automatic 129 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:39.840 writing is a way of communicating with the spiritual world where basically a medium or 130 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:48.000 a sensitive person sort of shuts down their own thoughts and motivations and gives their 131 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:54.120 body over to whatever spirit it is that they are trying to connect with and 132 00:13:54.360 --> 00:14:00.559 allows that spirit to communicate with them through the written word. Some people have 133 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.519 done this with just a pen and a paper, where they just kind of 134 00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:09.519 began moving their hand and suddenly words form, while others began to use talking 135 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:16.159 boards, which were boards that usually had some type of an alphabet laid out 136 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:22.120 on it with words like yes and no. And they would use a plan 137 00:14:22.279 --> 00:14:28.919 chet, which is a small piece of wood or glass, whatever it was 138 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.559 that would slide easily over the surface of the board with minimal contact from the 139 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:39.399 hands guiding it or not guiding it. The hands that were placed on it, 140 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:45.600 they're not supposed to be guiding it while that does happen. So essentially, 141 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:50.320 everybody sits around in a seance setting, places their hands on the plan 142 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:56.519 chet, asks questions, and the planchet, using the energy of those participating 143 00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:03.120 in the seance who are touching the plant, should move around to different letters 144 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:09.080 and be able to spell out coherent words, answering questions and engaging in a 145 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:13.200 conversation. I mean, you're getting to have a conversation with someone who is 146 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:20.200 deceased. This was a very easy way to communicate with the spiritual realm, 147 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:26.559 and like I said, it became really really popular during this era. Now, 148 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:31.679 with most things that become popular, people figure out how to make money 149 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.519 off of it very quickly, and talking boards were no different. Now. 150 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:41.879 Between the Civil War and World War One, even though things might have calmed 151 00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:48.279 down a bit, it definitely didn't die off. We're still talking about pre 152 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:54.080 twentieth century America, which wasn't all that friendly. I mean, if we've 153 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:58.759 heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times on this podcast. People 154 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:02.159 died at the drop of hat. Back then, I mean they were prescribing 155 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:07.200 opioids and arsenic to people who were sick, and lead was in everything, 156 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:14.080 so death and loss was still a thing many people dealt with on the regular, 157 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:22.519 which means so was grief. Enter the talking board we know today as 158 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:27.159 the Ouiji board. Now, during this era, it was only known as 159 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:30.480 a talking board. Yes, people used it for seances, but it was 160 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:34.039 actually sort of a parlor game as well. It was something for people to 161 00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:37.919 do at parties, which is pretty funny if you think about it, because 162 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:44.360 it still is. It's a sleepover staple. This version of the more modern 163 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:51.840 talking board was a little more streamlined. It had the alphabet in two arching 164 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:56.320 rows across the middle of the board, with a yes in one corner, 165 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:00.279 a no in another, and goodbye at the bottom, as well as a 166 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:06.680 row of numbers. And then there's also the essential piece, which is the 167 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:11.839 plan chet. The plan chet is sort of the focus of all of the 168 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:18.359 energy surrounding the use of this board. It's generally shaped like a triangle or 169 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:23.640 a heart, something pointed right so that there's a point to the plan chet 170 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:27.839 that is used to point to specific letters, words, and numbers on the 171 00:17:27.880 --> 00:17:34.119 board so that there is no confusion about whatever word is being spelled. There 172 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:41.720 are also very important rules for using a Wiji board, and yes this is 173 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:49.440 in every horror movie that they've made surrounding these boards, but they hold true. 174 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:56.400 Number one, never use a Wigi board alone. Number two, you 175 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:03.839 always have to close the board when you're done using it. That means saying 176 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:12.039 goodbye to whoever or whatever you've been speaking with. Don't just set the board 177 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:19.519 aside and walk away mid conversation, because basically you're leaving an open portal to 178 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:25.960 the other realm in your living room. And after you say goodbye, put 179 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:32.599 that sucker back in the box. When you are done done with the board, 180 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.400 it has to be disposed of properly. Of course, not everybody believes 181 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:41.880 in this stuff, but on the off chance that it might be real, 182 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:47.319 it doesn't hurt to cover your bases if you're going to use one of these 183 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:52.960 things. So there you go. There is the basic setup for the Wiji 184 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:59.799 board as it was back in the turn of the twentieth century. Times nineteen 185 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:07.039 h under dish and now enters the star players in today's story a man named 186 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:14.839 Charles Canard and another man named Elijah Bond. These two set out to patent 187 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.559 the board for themselves, or at least a version of the board. Now, 188 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:23.319 it really seems like even though these two were businessmen, at least according 189 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:27.799 to the stories, they believed in the powers of the talking board. They 190 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:33.440 believed it worked, and they believed it would sell because it worked. They 191 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:38.559 respected the board and sort of came up with their own design, which is 192 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:44.000 the one that I just described the classic when you think of Auiji board, 193 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:48.200 that's what they came up with the layout. But when they were thinking about 194 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:53.480 what to call this board, they thought about maybe using their own last names. 195 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.039 They went down a whole long list of things, and they just couldn't 196 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:07.079 settle on something that felt right. So Elijah Bond called in his sister in 197 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:14.119 law. His sister in law was a woman named Helen Peters Noseworthy. At 198 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:18.599 this time in nineteen hundred, Helen was living with her husband Ernest in Denver, 199 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:25.160 where they had moved from the South in eighteen ninety six. Helen was 200 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:29.799 about forty years old at this time, and she was really well known for 201 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:36.319 being a successful, powerful medium. Who better to help name this board than 202 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:41.519 someone who's already plugged in to the other side. So Elijah and Charles invited 203 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:48.039 Helen over to host a seance with them to ask the board itself what it 204 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:55.839 wanted to be called. So, even though we're talking about nineteen hundred and 205 00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.519 even though some of the spiritualist movement had died off thanks to the efforts of 206 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:07.640 men like Harry Houdini who worked very hard to shine a light on all of 207 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:14.599 the false prophets so to speak, and the fake mediums who were stealing money 208 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.200 from people who were in the depths of their grief, there were still those 209 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:25.960 who held strongly to the belief that spiritualism as a religion was a good godly 210 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:32.119 practice that also allowed them to stay in touch with deceased loved ones. And 211 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:38.960 Helen was someone that everybody knew was able to practice this successfully. And this 212 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:45.000 could definitely be because her upbringing was more than just a little bit spooky, 213 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:52.079 at least in my opinion. You see, Helen came from a very wealthy 214 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:56.599 and established Southern family. So when she was a child during the Civil War 215 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:03.640 or a young girl teenager, there had been a battle that was on her 216 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:11.279 family's property and afterwards there were deceased soldiers all over the place, all around 217 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:18.960 their home. Helen and her siblings ventured outside and started poking around these corpses. 218 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:26.000 They decided that they wanted some mementos from the dead men, and so 219 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:32.720 they cut off all the buttons from their clothes and brought them back home as 220 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:37.640 a collection. I know times were different back then, but that's that's morbid. 221 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:45.640 So Helen always kind of had a macabre, eerie side to her, 222 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:52.839 and spiritualism fit right in with that. So Helen, Charles, and Elijah 223 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:57.279 sat down with the board one evening. They all placed their hands on the 224 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:03.279 plan chet and Helen began to lead the seance to ask the board what its 225 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:11.400 name was. Helen asked several times for the board to spell out its name, 226 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:17.640 and every single time she asked, the plan chet would move from one 227 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:25.599 letter to the next, repeatedly spelling out a single word, Oh you I 228 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:33.119 j a ouija. Finally sure that the board meant what it was spelling, 229 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:37.960 as it happened multiple times, the men asked the board what the word meant. 230 00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:47.279 It then spelled out good luck, whether that was a well wishing for 231 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:53.359 them or a more ominous message for so many people messing in other worldly matters 232 00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:00.519 we don't really know. Interestingly, though, throughout this seance, Helen happened 233 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:07.559 to be wearing a locket containing a picture of her favorite novelist, an english 234 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:15.160 woman whose pen name was Wida, and her signature on her works looked a 235 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:25.920 lot like it was spelled wija. Hmm. Coincidence, I don't know, 236 00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:34.079 but they ran with it and Bond and Canard applied for a patent locally in 237 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:40.119 Maryland, where they were at the time. They were refused the patent by 238 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:45.480 the local patent office because the patent officer said there wasn't really any way to 239 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:51.920 prove that the board worked, or even really to know what it did, 240 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:57.960 so they couldn't patent it. Undeterred, Elijah and Canard then applied to Washington 241 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:07.279 for a patent. Initially they were refused, but determined, they collected Helen 242 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:15.559 and traveled to the patent office in Washington and applied again in person. With 243 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:19.839 the Wija board in tow They set up shop inside the patent office, and 244 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:26.720 one patent officer after another came in to assess the board to see if they 245 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:30.599 might give it a shot, and time and time again, each patent officer 246 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:37.720 that they saw denied them. That was until intrigued, the chief patent officer 247 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:44.519 became curious and decided to check it out for himself. He entered the area 248 00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:48.720 where Helen and the men were stationed with the wija board and told them, 249 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:53.240 quote, you don't know me and I don't know you, but if this 250 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:59.839 contraption can spell out my name, you've got your patent. So essentially, 251 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:03.799 he was challenging them to figure out what his name was because they hadn't been 252 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:08.480 introduced yet, and if they could using the weed aboard, he saw that 253 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:15.200 as proof of its efficacy. Could they have heard the Chief patent Officer's name 254 00:26:15.240 --> 00:26:18.519 around the office as they were hanging out? Yeah, but maybe not. 255 00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:26.559 As the story goes, Helen, Elijah and Charles and the patent officer placed 256 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:33.160 their hands on the plan chet, and smoothly and without hesitation, the plan 257 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.200 chet moved from one letter to another as it spelled out the man's name correctly. 258 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:42.039 According to reports, he abruptly stood up from the table, as white 259 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:48.759 as a ghost, and said, you've got your patent. A grand success 260 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.240 for the group, and now they got their patent. They started making money. 261 00:26:53.799 --> 00:27:00.279 Things were going great, but just one year after this victory, Ellen 262 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:06.880 would lose faith completely in the board she fought so hard to get a patent 263 00:27:06.920 --> 00:27:11.559 for. You see, Helen had returned to her family's southern home on a 264 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:18.839 visit, and as she was there the super creepy collection of dead soldier's buttons 265 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:23.640 that her and her siblings had cut off the clothes of the deceased men that 266 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:30.559 had been on their property. They had actually displayed these inside their home as 267 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:40.119 like trophies, super normal right while at home during this visit, the buttons 268 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:47.720 disappeared. And these buttons were a prized possession to Helen and her siblings, 269 00:27:48.599 --> 00:27:52.759 so of course they wanted to know what happened to them, who took them? 270 00:27:52.119 --> 00:27:57.240 Where are they? Helen said, I have an idea. Let's consult 271 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.839 the board. The board will tell us where they are, or at least 272 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:06.960 who took them. So they agreed. They sat down to a seance and 273 00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:12.680 asked the board who stole the buttons, and the board named one of the 274 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:22.319 siblings. Of course, there was denial and angry words exchanged as the one 275 00:28:22.359 --> 00:28:26.680 who had been accused said that the board was lying and that they had not 276 00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:32.759 stolen the buttons. The other siblings were angry and demanded that the buttons be 277 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:38.240 returned, and so a huge feud was born between the group of siblings, 278 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:48.359 causing an actual permanent rift in this family over dead soldiers buttons. Half of 279 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:55.440 the siblings believed the board and half of the siblings did not. Interestingly enough, 280 00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:00.880 Helen sided with the half that did not believe the board. She was 281 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:07.480 extremely devastated over the rift in her family, and from that point on she 282 00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:12.279 swore off the Ouigi board and she would not allow any one of her family 283 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:18.039 members or friends to use it, telling everyone that she could that the Wuiji 284 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:25.319 board was to be avoided at all costs because it lied. Whether she believed 285 00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:30.599 the board had been manipulated to set up one of her family members, or 286 00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:36.279 whether she believed that whatever was communicating on the other side was deliberately trying to 287 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:41.400 cause a rift and strife within her family, I'm not sure, but she 288 00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:49.039 would never again go near one. Immediately following this incident, Helen and her 289 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:57.119 husband returned to Denver. They enjoyed a quiet life far away from anything to 290 00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:04.359 do with the Luigi Board, and spent forty four presumably happy years here in 291 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:11.519 the Denver area. In nineteen forty, Helen would pass away and be buried 292 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:17.119 next to her husband in the Fairmont Cemetery. They had no children together, 293 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:22.640 and due to lack of care of the years and no family members nearby, 294 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:30.200 their graves fell into disrepair and were actually lost over time. That is until 295 00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:36.720 twenty eighteen, when the efforts of an organization known as the Talking Board Historical 296 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:41.599 Society decided they wanted to dig into the real history of the Wiji Board, 297 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:48.559 and when they did, they discovered Helen's story and how she had been the 298 00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:56.039 one to actually give the Wijiaboard its name. They combed through records and found 299 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:02.880 the site where Helen and her husband's graves sat in Fairmont and erected a custom 300 00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:11.000 headstone. This headstone is large and unmistakable. It details her story regarding the 301 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:18.039 Wigiboard in large letters across the front. It has the title the Woman who 302 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:23.319 named the Wigiaboard, as well as the picture of an actual board, and 303 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:30.319 on the back a few quotes from those who are around at the time and 304 00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:37.799 cited Helen's instrumental involvement in the board's patenting. So now, if you go 305 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:44.240 to Fairmont and you visit Helen and her husband's gravesite, the only thing anybody 306 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:51.279 is going to know her for is the wigiboard, the one thing she wanted 307 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:56.759 nothing to do with any longer. If she's around at all to see this, 308 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:01.960 that can't be a pleasant thing for her her I wouldn't imagine, And 309 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:08.960 it would be really interesting if someone happened to take a wija board into the 310 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:15.519 Fairmont Cemetery and try to ask Helen how she felt opening up a wija board 311 00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:20.359 in the Fairmont. You might get a lot of people coming through, and 312 00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:23.720 I'd be surprised if Helen did. She'd probably stay as far away from that 313 00:32:23.839 --> 00:32:29.960 board as she possibly could, if she didn't turn around and huck it right 314 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.680 at your head. If anybody tries to do that, please let me know. 315 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:37.599 I want to hear all about it. So what do you think? 316 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:45.839 Are weija boards real? Is this game you can pick up at your local 317 00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:51.920 store in the children's section something that's innocuous and silly and just fun for party 318 00:32:51.960 --> 00:33:00.119 games, or are we literally and figuratively playing with fire here dealing with entity 319 00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:06.119 and spirits that we really have no clue what they're capable of and what they 320 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:10.359 want. Is it safe to get that close to the veil and to try 321 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:16.759 to reach through to make a connection to something or someone on the other side, 322 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:21.720 whether it's real or whether it's fake. I think I'm going to air 323 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:28.440 on the safe side, take Helen's advice, and steer clear until next time. 324 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:34.640 Happy Halloween, and I hope that all of your interactions with the veil 325 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:44.559 this time of year are good ones. Sources for today's episode include Fox thirty 326 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:51.880 one, Wikipedia Burialsanbeyond dot com, find a Grave dot com, and an 327 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:59.119 article from the University of Bristol titled The Thin Veil of Autumn by Andy Winfield. 328 00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:09.119 Thanks for listening, Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever 329 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:15.519 you listen to podcasts. You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram at 330 00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:21.159 Strange Colorado Podcast. If you have a strange story of your own or an 331 00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:31.800 episode suggestion, you can reach me at Strange Colorado Podcast at gmail dot com.