What I find interesting is the evil spirits always talk about demons, Satan, Jehovah, etc , all from the Christian frame of reference in a majority Christian country. When JW's play with one it spells out stories that would freak out someone from the JW frame of reference.
When a Muslim plays with a Ouija board what does it spell out to freak people out? Christian? Infidel?
If a Buddhist played with one, what would freak them out? Reincarnation as an ant?
What about Hindus or Sikhs? Do they have scary demons in their religions with other names that would be spelled out.
It reminds me of when the WTBTS printed that mag about near death experiences. They said that people always "saw" the other side as something that was already in their frame of reference or validated their already preconceived ideas of what "heaven" was like.
The human mind is indeed a powerful force as is the power of suggestion. I had demon experiences all the time as a child. So did my brother. I also had them when I was disfellowshipped at 18 because I "knew" I no longer had Jehovah's protection. Do I think it's possible I imagined all those experiences because I had my mind drilled full off such horror stories for my entire life until I had the shit scared out of me? Absolutely!
Now, I'm a full blown apostate and nary a demon experience in sight. It's amazing how when you stop believing in other people's stories, they cease to have any power over you.
As for other's perceptions being "real", I tend to think of what the mind is capable of in distorted perceptions by thinking on the movie "A Beautiful Mind". Now there was a brilliant man with a brilliant mind, who imagined all sorts of crazy things and he absolutely believed them to be real. Such is the nature of mind. It is capable of great insight and great deception. To be able to tell the difference is wisdom.
Cog
"A neurotic builds castles in the air. A psychotic moves in."