Tapping into the Earth Energies – the Art of Dowsing

By Pearl Blackthorn

From Darkside Magazine May 2014

Dowsing, also known as water witching, diving, or rhabdomancy is known to have been practiced for at least 7000 years. Images of dowsing forks are portrayed in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and it is believed that the Egyptians used the instruments to find water. Similarly, ancient Chinese cultures used dowsing techniques to locate underground water channels and also minerals. Later, the Celtic druids used the same methods to discover not only water, metals and minerals but also to find ley lines—electromagnetic lines believed to intersect many ancient archeological sites (such as henges and burial mounds).

During the Middle Ages, Europeans frequently used dowsing to search for water and metal. In the 15^th century it became a popular tool for German and English miners who were seeking coal, though Martin Luther, whose own father was a miner who employed dowsing, condemned the practice as “the work of the Devil”, and the subject gradually sank into obscurity. Interest in dowsing was revived during Victorian times, partly due to a relaxing of the church’s attitude and a growing scientific interest in the practice. During the following decades, a number of prominent people, including Albert Einstein had some positive results in experiments using dowsing.

How Dowsing Works

Each dowser has their own slight variation on how the process works, though most proponents believe that dowsing rods or a pendulum may act as antennas that are able to receive information in the form of energy waves from people, places, objects and sometimes even thoughts. Albert Einstein believed that dowsing was connected to electromagnetic waves and that dowsers use their tools to follow this energy in the same way that birds use electromagnetic waves to follow their migratory paths. Some dowsers refer to their art as ‘divining’ because they believe that they are channeling a divine force, or accessing divine knowledge through the pendulum or dowsing rods. Others believe that the dowsing tools are merely visual aids that show us what our body is already aware of.

To locate underground sources, dowsers hold the rods loosely in their fists with their arms stretched away from their body at 90 degree angles, elbows at their sides. They walk slowly around the area that they are examining, as they cross a boundary line the rods will slowly cross over each other. As they move away from the boundary line the rods will slowly move apart again. Dowsers often say they can feel a gentle vibrating movement in the rods as they move, as though a subtle energy is flowing through them. A wooden, forked dowsing stick is held gently with one end of the fork in each hand, pointing slightly upwards. It is said to vibrate slightly and to point downwards to signify a positive response.

When using a pendulum, dowsers hold the end of the string or chain gently in their fingers, so that their grip will not influence the direction of the swing. They will ask the pendulum to show how it will indicate a ‘yes’ response. If the pendulum rotates clockwise, then an anti-clockwise rotation will signify a negative response, and vice versa.

Sometimes the dowser does not travel physically to a specific location but may merely use a pendulum with a map. In this instance the dowser will hold the pendulum over the section of the map which they are investigating to obtain results.

Finding Water

Dowsing has been used throughout history for finding water. Many pioneers used the method to figure out where to dig their wells, and dowsing is still use throughout the world to find water sources today. The results of a German, government sponsored program to test and apply dowsing methods for locating water sources in arid regions were presented in the Journal of Scientific Exploration in 1995. This was the most ambitious dowsing experiment ever to be undertaken, and achieved a striking 96 percent success rate by dowsers in Sri Lanka. Based on previous geological experience in that area, a success rate of only 30-50 percent would have been expected from conventional methods. Even more remarkable, it was reported that the dowsers were also able to accurately predict the depth of the water source and the yield of the well to within 15-20 percent.

Once an underground water source is located, the depth is measured by first marking off the edge of the source above ground. At this starting point the dowser asks how deep below the surface the source is located. The point at which the rods cross again are then measured with a tape measure. The reading gives an estimate of how deep the source is. The results are said to vary depending on the experience and skill of the dowser.

Dowsing and the Military

During the Vietnam war, it is reported that U.S. marines were taught how to use a dowsing pendulum to locate the Viet Cong’s underground tunnels and mines. Apparently the men in the field came to rely on the dowsing marines because their methods were far more accurate even than the sophisticated apparatus that was already at their disposal.

During the Second World War, Colonel Kenneth Merrylees, a well known water diviner, worked successfully as a bomb-disposal expert, using his dowsing talents to find bombs with delayed action fuses which were buried deep underground.

The Chinese Army has been utilizing dowsing techniques for decades to train advance troops to scout the terrain and locate enemy targets and optimum sites for encampment. Both the Czechoslovakian Army and the Canadian Army Engineers also have permanent corps of dowsers.  On home ground, at USMC Camp Pendleton on Southern California, young enlistees have been screened for their dowsing ability. It is reported that one out of five is found to have a natural ability to dowse.


Dowsing in Archeology

Many archeologists believe that dowsing can be a valuable tool if it is used systematically and accurately. It is sometimes used when other instruments are impractical, for example, under churches or buildings that are still in use. In these cases, dowsing may be the only means of accessing below-ground information. Carl Etheridge, Historic Preservationist and Cemetery Preservation Consultant from Cartersville, Georgia, often finds uses for dowsing in his fieldwork. When surveying possible grave sites Carl will often use his personally made copper dowsing rods to locate unmarked graves that have been hidden by undergrowth and the ravages of time. He explains that sometimes a ground probe will not work because “over time graves subside as the coffin deteriorates and the ground sinks. As the family tends a grave they will often fill in the depression, bringing the grave back up to ground level. Once it’s packed in good and tight over the years a probe rod won’t penetrate it.” When Carl walks the site with his dowsing rods however, their gentle movements will show him where the exact boundaries of the grave sites are and often even whether the coffin is a rectangle shape or the old hexagonal shape. This enables him to record the locations of the burial sites and conduct research in the historical archives.

Accurate dowsing can enable the location of archeological features without running the risk of damaging any evidence even though excavation will be required later. Dowsing may also be used to suggest dates for artifacts and buildings that can be confirmed later with traditional methods. Though non-dowers often deny the validity of the method, some archeologists claim that dowsing can bring new understanding to the field’s relationship to the ancient energies of early buildings and megalithic features. The use of dowsing in archeology ins becoming more widespread in Britain, in countries such as Russia it has been widely accepted as a science for some years and is taught in colleges at graduate and post graduate levels.

Communicating with the Dead

Sarah Harrison of the Ashville Paranormal Society, North Carolina, is a sensitive to spirits of the deceased. She uses dowsing to communicate with spirits of the dead when she and her team travel round the U.S. investigating haunted sites. She recently investigated Noonday Baptist Church Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia. The site is also known as Devil’s Turnaround because of its reputation for paranormal activity. Although she did not experience any of the negative activity that is told of in local folklore, such as mysterious appearing scratches and bruises, howling sounds and a ghostly dog, she did take a number of photographs which revealed orbs and was able to contact an adult male and an eight year old boy, using dowsing rods.

Sarah explains that using dowsing rods to communicate with spirits is a fairly simple process. She asks the spirit a simple question and then asks it to cross the rods if the answer is yes, and to open them if the answer is no. Names are received by going through each letter of the alphabet. During her visit to Noonday Cemetery, Sarah communicated with the spirit of a young boy who told her his name was Sam. Interestingly, Sarah later found a grave at the site, marked with the name Samuel Barnes, though it was only inscribed with the date of his death so she does not yet know how old he was when he died. She is currently making further investigations.

Dowsing and Medicine

In France, doctors have actually been using dowsing pendulums since the 1930s to diagnose illness. This practice is known throughout Europe as Radiesthesia. The pendulum has been used to detect a range of ailments including allergies, to locate areas of and causes of disease and to determine the sex, and even the due date of unborn babies. Some chiropractors prefer to use dowsing methods on their patients rather than x-rays. Dentists have even been reported to use dowsing to find cavities in their patient’s teeth.

In the U.S. many holistic healers believe that dowsing can be a very versatile tool because it can be used for a wide range of purposes beginning with highlighting imbalances within a patient’s body, from there, it may be used to indicate how the patient may make adjustments in her diet or lifestyle, with the aim of regulating the flow of energy, chi or prana throughout the body.

Dowsing Controversy

The history of dowsing is not without its share of controversy however. One of its most notorious characters was Verne Cameron. Cameron became noted for his dowsing talents in the late 1920s, by which time he had discovered numerous water well sites and springs for his neighbors. He achieved international fame in the 1950s for developing the Cameron Aurameter, also known as a “water compass” which incorporated five different devices able to detect water. Tens of thousands of these devices were used throughout the world by professional dowsers. During the Cold War, in the 1960s he was invited by the South African government to use his pendulum to help them locate their precious natural resources. The U.S. government denied him a passport due to the fact that some years earlier, he had demonstrated his dowsing prowess to the U.S. Navy, by map dowsing and successfully locating every submarine in the Navy's fleet. He also successfully located every Russian submarine throughout the in the world’s oceans. The CIA subsequently determined that Cameron was a risk to national security, and he was forbidden to leave the country.

What the Skeptics Say

Though the argument for dowsing may be compelling, skeptics claim that all dowsers will ultimately fail when properly tested. If you ask them why dowsing works at all they will probably explain that it is due to the “ideomotor effect.” The ideomotor effect is a sudden and involuntary body movement which is stimulated by a conscious or subconscious thought, rather than any external stimuli. In other words, according to the skeptic, the dowser is unknowingly moving the rods or pendulum herself. While this does seem to explain the failures, it does not seem to satisfactorily account for the extraordinary number of successes. Other skeptics explain dowsing successes as the result of visual cues, visually imperceptible shifts in the levels of the ground that move the rods and prior knowledge of the area

How to make your own dowsing tools

If you want to put it to the test yourself you can quite easily equip yourself with the essential tools. A dowsing pendulum is simple to make as you merely need a weighted object on the end of a string or chain. Favored objects include rings and crystals.

Dowsing rods may be made of several different materials. Metal ones are commonly made of copper, though some of them are also made from brass. Many people have also made simple dowsing rods from metal coat hangers. The rods are bent into an L-shape, with the smallest part of the angle being the part you hold in your hand and the dowsing end itself usually being about three times the length of the handle. You can make variations on these dimensions based on what works for you and what you feel comfortable with. You can also use a single L-shaped rod or a single U-shaped rod which functions on the same principle. Some people use an L-shape rod with a fine wire loop in the middle of the bar, which bobs up and down when it detects a source. Early divining rods were made from forked wooden branches. Many dowsers are still in favor of these types today. A forked piece of rowan, hazel or willow wood are the most traditional dowsing instruments. With a little practice you may even be able to design your own style rod that is even more sensitive than the ones described above.