What You Should Know About the #CharlieCharlieChallenge

Charlie Charlie, Are You Real?

By: Yvonne S. Santos

“Charlie Charlie,” a game/Internet urban legend of sudden and unfathomable popularity, surged to the top of the global social media charts in the last week of May 2015 after kicking around on the Spanish-language Internet for decades.

How Did It Become So Popular?

According to WashingtonPost.com, Charlie Charlie (Charly Charly) was an old schoolyard game played by children in Spain. The site says that traditionally, the version with the crossed pencils was called the “Juego de la Lapicera” while “Charlie Charlie” was a slightly different game, played with colored pencils. At some point in their Internet and playground travels, the two games seem to have merged. In either case, both have always had demonic or supernatural connotations; one site calls Lapicera “the poor man’s Ouija board.”

The game was rumored to have started to become popular when a local TV news station in the Dominican province of Hato Mayor broadcasted a report about the “Satanic” game overtaking local schools. From there, social media users in the Dominican Republic began Tweeting, Instagramming, and Vining about the game, and the phrase “Charlie Charlie” was suddenly trending on Dominican Twitter.

It only took one 17-year-old from central Georgia to Instagram herself playing the game and gave it the #CharlieCharlieChallenge hashtag before it became a viral thing. It’s been Tweeted more than 1.6 million times since then (as of this writing).

Thousands of people have been treating this game as some kind of dare so much that it has become a new trend, spreading worldwide. It’s all over Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and almost any other popular social networking site. More people are Googling “Charlie Charlie” than virtually any other news event this week.

How Do You Play It?

The game is easily played: just draw a cross in the middle of a piece of paper, creating  four squares total. Label two quadrants “no,” and the other two “yes.” The player then positions two overlapping pencils on each line of the cross, intersecting them in the middle.

The game starts when the player says, “Charlie, Charlie, are you here?” And when the pencil moves to “yes,” the player can then ask Charlie to respond to any question they ask.

Is It All Just Fun and Games?

It is never good to meddle with things you don’t understand. It's even worse to try to invite spirits to come and communicate with you.

The most dangerous thing about the Charlie Charlie challenge is that it seems harmless and fun, is just a little bit thrilling... and much too easy to do (which is why it's gone viral). But the consequences that come after may be deadly. 

Because while it’s easy to invite a spirit to interact with you, it is way more difficult to ask it to leave... especially when it doesn't want to.

But maybe you don't believe in such things as spirits and ghosts.

Remember, however, that just because you don’t believe in something--or just because it hasn't happened to you--doesn’t make it any less real, particularly for the millions of reported (and thousands of documented) paranormal phenomena collected throughout history worldwide. 

(People didn't use to believe in gravity either, until it was proven by theory, mathematics, and gravity's effects. When it comes to the paranormal, the cases and theories are there: we still just haven't pinned down the math.)

Bottom Line: the Charlie Charlie challenge is a form of ritual that invites a spirit to communicate with the players. 

“Charlie Charlie, are you here?” may seem like a simple phrase that won’t harm anyone, but that is not true. That mere phrase is an open invitation to anything that’s out there.


Anything. 

It is okay to be curious, but it is never okay to be stupid. 

As mentioned in SPRG Book 1: Voices in the Theater, dealing with the paranormal is not simple:

“The fact of the matter is this: you might think you’re studying something as simple as a roller coaster, but you’re not. Instead, you’re dealing with something more dangerous than a nuclear bomb. If you don’t handle it carefully or neglect to respect its power, it could cause you and others a lot of unnecessary harm.”

It is said in recently-published  articles that a Vatican-backed exorcist has claimed anyone who performs the "demon-summoning" Charlie Charlie Challenge could end up "harassed" by evil visitors from the other side. Leaders from Catholic groups see this game as a threat, and it is. It is not as harmless as it seems. 

And it's very hard to ward away something you have invited out of your own free will. 

This is a warning. Stop the Charlie Charlie challenge.

BONUS

Beyond Ouija boards and Charlie Charlie, learn about the "Top 3 Things Teens Need To Know About The Paranormal" in this special report by A.S. Santos:

Top 3 Things Teens Need to Know About the Paranormal (Special Report) from A.S. Santos

The True Story Behind "The Exorcist"

The fictional movie "The Exorcist" was shown in the 1970s,
but is actually based on the true story of a possessed boy
in the 1940s.

Here's an account / reconstruction of what really happened.

(Note: If you can't see the video screen shots and/or you're
getting the message that "This video may be inappropriate,"
it simply means you have your Safety Mode turned On.

Unfortunately, YouTube requires that you change your
Safety Mode settings to Off in order to watch these videos.

So just choose "Off" for now, and just turn your Safety back
"On" later. )

Video 1 of 3:

Video 2 of 3: 

Video 3 of 3:

Could The Ouija Board Help You Find True Love?

Love Coach - Turned - Paranormal Romance Author
Shares Her True Story

By day, Aileen Santos is known as “The Relationship Coach,” with a number of her past clients now finding and growing loving relationships of their own.

But by night—well, in between coaching & workshop sessions, to be exact—Coach Aileen goes by another name: A.S.Santos, author of the teen paranormal romance series called The SPRG.

Of Love & The Paranormal

SPRG stands for Student Paranormal Research Group, and it is in this novel-based organization that college student Samantha Davidson not only discovers her growing psychic powers, but also becomes involved in a spiritual battle between good and evil.

And yes, she learns a thing or two about love, too.

When asked how she became involved in such diverse fields as love and the paranormal, Santos simply explains that these are “the two most confusing experiences of teenage life.”

A Personal Experience 

In fact, one of Santos’ own early experience of both was when she played the Ouija board in high school, and the spirit she contacted gave her the full name of the man she was supposed to marry.

“At that time, I didn’t know anyone by that name,” recalls Santos, “And I didn’t mention it to anyone. But just a week later a classmate of mine said this guy from another school wanted to meet me… and he had the exact same name that I got from the Ouija board.”

So did she meet this guy in high school, and eventually marry him years later?

Santos smiles. “Actually, I never got to meet him. I was only fifteen then, but I knew that if I met the guy that some ‘spirit’ told me I’d one day marry, then it would be like I had no choice in the matter. That information would always be at the back of my head, and would influence my decisions about him. Which is why I told my classmate, ‘Don’t introduce us, please.’ I figured that if we were meant to be together, then we’ll have another chance to find each other.”

What Happened Next 

Many years later, Santos is now happily married to the man who gave her the courage to become a relationship coach, “The one who’s shown me that real love happens.” And no, he is not the man from the Ouija board. Instead Santos says, “He is my choice—not some strange spirit’s.”

In fact, this concept of making your own choices is one of the underlying themes throughout the SPRG paranormal romance trilogy, while the Ouija board itself is featured in Corpse in the Mirror, book two of the series. (Ed’s note: Santos’s biggest message about the Ouija board is this: “Do NOT use it.”)

Writing Her Own Future  

Santos is a Registered Guidance Counselor with a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology, and is a Certified Professional Coach.

She has worked professionally as a magazine writer and editor, as a television scriptwriter, and as a creative writing workshop facilitator, and is a fan of Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Mortal Instruments trilogy, and the Hunger Games.

It is in the SPRG series that Santos gets to combine love and the paranormal, in the form of a creatively spooky, three-book story.

Book 1: Voices in the Theater was published by Flipside in 2012, followed by Book 2: Corpse in the Mirror in 2013. Both are now available on Amazon, iTunes, and Kobo. 

Santos is currently writing Book 3: Darkness in the World, with a planned release date of Halloween 2014.

For more information on the SPRG Series and to read more about the author, click on the links you need at the left side of this page.

Paranormal Series Author Giving ‘Ghost Talks’ This Halloween

Manila, Philippines (October 2013) — Student Paranormal Research Group (SPRG) Series author A.S.Santos is offering to deliver a highly informative talk about The Top 10 Things Teens Need To Know About The Paranormal during this Halloween month of October to high school students,college groups, and organizations who reserve their spot by emailing info(at)flipside.ph this September.

A.S.Santos is the author of the SPRG Series, a paranormal romance trilogy for college students set in one of the well-known universities in Manila. Beginning with book one titled Voices In The Theater (released last year) and now followed this year by book two, Corpse In The Mirror, the series follows Filipino-American Samantha Davidson as she comes to terms with her growing psychic abilities, and as she tries to find answers by joining her school’s newly-formed Student Paranormal Research Group.

“It was during my teens that I started having paranormal experiences of my own,” reveals Santos, “And in my current work with teens and new adults, I’ve come to realize that many of them encounter many strange experiences, too. They just don’t often know how to make sense of them.”

The SPRG Series has become the author’s way of helping teens make sense not just of their ghost experiences, but also of the other mysterious experiences that come with the territory of young adulthood: changing relationships with parents, managing priorities, nurturing friendships, and--of course--figuring out this mysterious phenomenon called love.

“All of our strangest experiences seem to happen during our teens,” the author says, smiling.

“One of my own personal experiences with the paranormal happened when I once used a Ouija board to contact a spirit. In response to my question, the spirit spelled out the full name of the person I was supposed to marry. At that time I didn’t know anyone by that name, but that same week a classmate told me someone from a neighboring school wanted to meet me, and when I asked who it was she mentioned the exact name that the spirit gave me through the Ouija board.”

(Before we continue this story, Santos gives us a warning: DO NOT ever play with the Ouija board, or Spirit of the Glass, or Spirit of the Coin. The author will tell you exactly why during the talk The Top 10 Things Teens Need To Know About The Paranormal.)

“My classmate asked if I wanted her to arrange a meeting between me and this person,” continues Santos. “At that moment I realized I was about to make a major decision in my life. I knew that if I actually met this person--at that moment in time, when I was only fifteen--I would always carry around in my mind the idea that this was the person I was going to marry. This idea would naturally influence my decisions,until, eventually, I probably will end up marrying this person. Not because of my complete choice, but because an unknown spirit had planted the idea in my mind.

“So I told my classmate, ‘No, please don’t introduce us.’ If I was really supposed to be with this person, then I knew we would have the chance to meet each other eventually. But at that point in my life, I knew that our meeting each other would not be good for me at all.”

As of this writing, Santos still hasn’t met the person-mentioned-by-the-Ouija-board. In fact, the author is now happily married to someone else,“Someone I really chose to be with,” the author says, “And not because of the influence of some spirit.”

Santos realized then that our paranormal experiences often have something to teach us, not just about life and death, but also about who we really are.

The author concludes that “This is what my characters go through in the SPRG Series as well. Because every kind of experience we have helps us become who we’re supposed to be.

“Even the paranormal ones.”




For more information on the SPRG Series and to read more about the author’s other real life ghost stories, please visit  www.StudentParanormalResearchGroup.com.

To reserve an October talk schedule for your school group or organization (YES, bookstores, cafes, and radio show invites are also welcome!), please email info(at)flipside.ph with the subject heading “We want to invite A.S.Santos.” Schedules will be booked on a first come, first served basis.