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Dowsing
A Brief History
The use of dowsing rods (or divining rods) was practiced in ancient China and Rome. Eventually dowsing was practiced throughout Europe where it quickly gained disfavor and was denounced by Martin Luther as the work of the devil.
In 1556 George Bauer (Georgius Agricola) of Saxony (Germany,) wrote De re Metallica, the first and one of the most important scientific books on metallurgy and mining.
Written in Latin, De re Metallica contained several Renaissance woodcuts, many of which depict miners dowsing for ore. While he worked on his book, Agricola lived and worked with the miners; eventually he changed his viewpoints on dowsing and came to accept that it was indeed a useful endeavor.
Despite opposition from religious leaders who believed it to be associated with witchcraft, dowsing gained widespread popularity in France during the 17th century. This was because of Jacques Aymar
In 1670 Jacques Aymar, a wealthy Lyons landowner used his dowsing rods to solve a brutal murder that took place in a nearby village. Aymar, who had already demonstrated his ability to find water and the bodies of murder victims, was summoned by townsfolk to help find the murderer. His success caused a furor across France; since dowsing rods had helped bring a murderer to justice, dowsing was once again acceptable. Books were written on the subject and religious leaders were silenced. Soon Monsieur Aymar was called in to help with other crimes. Unfortunately he failed at the task and suspicion was cast on anyone who admitted to the practice dowsing.The practice of dowsing (water witching) was probably brought to this country with the colonists.
In 1916 a U.S. Geological Survey report by Arthur J. Ellis and entitled The Dowsing Rod: A History of Water Witching was released. The report quoted from Agricola’s De re Metallica that had been translated from Latin to English by mining engineer Herbert Clark Hoover (later President of the United States.) The report found dowsing (water-witching or divining) superstition and nothing more. According to the Times Democrat Lima Ohio October 17, 1917,
Water-Witch Idea is condemned by your Uncle Sam. Finding water in earth by divining rod is declared absurd…..
Dowsing and the Paranormal
Mankind has been dowsing for thousands of years. However, it has only been in the last few years that ghost investigators have added dowsing rods, which have also been called divining rods, to their arsenals of investigative equipment.
One reason for this is the apparent accuracy of the rods. Think of all the ghost hunting equipment on the market today: electro magnetic field detectors (EMF meters,) tri-filed meters, motion detectors, relative humidity gauges, thermal scanners, ion particle counters, and of course cameras and recorders.
There is no shortage of expensive equipment that you can purchase to aid in the detection of spirit activity, yet a relatively inexpensive pair of dowsing rods can prove to be as accurate as any of them. Once you become accustomed to their use, you will probably find yourself relying on your rods more and more.
How does dowsing work?
No one knows exactly how the ancient craft of dowsing works. Throughout recorded history, dowsers have proven time and again that they can locate underground water sources, unmarked graves and other objects with uncanny accuracy. In the early 1900’s dowsers located Paris’ underground catacombs, some of which had lain hidden and forgotten since ancient Roman times.
There are many theories as to how and why the dowsing rods work, but a definite answer as to how dowsing actually works has yet to be given.
Albert Einstein had this to say about dowsing, “I know very well that many scientists consider dowsing as they do astrology, as a type of ancient superstition. According to my conviction this is, however, unjustified. The dowsing rod is a simple instrument which shows the reaction of the human nervous system to certain factors which are unknown to us at this time."
Einstein’s beliefs were shared by many other imminent scientists of their time. French Nobel Laureate Charles Richet wrote, “We must accept dowsing as fact. It is useless to work experiments merely to prove its existence. It exists. What is needed is its development.”
After an exhaustive study on dowsing, Professor W.F.Barrett of Great Britain wrote two papers entitled On the So-Called Divining Rod for the Society for Psychical Research that were published in 1903. In the articles he wrote.
For some centuries past certain individuals locally known as dowsers have declared that they can discover the presence of underground water, mineral lodes, coal, building stone, or other buried objects which may be sought for by the apparently spontaneous motion of the so-called divining rod; when their pretensions have been tested, the result, though by no means uniformly in their favour, has been so remarkable that chance coincidence appears a wholly inadequate explanation.
Any explanation based upon trickery or unconscious hints from bystanders, or the detection of faint surface indications of the concealed object or other known cause, is insufficient to cover all the facts.
The movement of the rod or forked twig is only a special case of motor automatism exhibited by a large number of individuals, and arises from a subconscious and involuntary “suggestion” impressed on the mind of the dowser.
Accompanying the involuntary and usually unconscious muscular contraction which causes the motion of the forked twig or rod, many dowsers experience a peculiar malaise and some a violent convulsive spasm. This is a psychophysiological effect, akin to emotion. Moreover, the state of monoideism of the dowser creates a condition of partial catalepsy when some suggestion causes the idea to culminate.
This subconscious suggestion may arise from a variety of causes; sometimes it is merely an auto-suggestion, at others it is unconsciously derived through the senses from the environment, but in a certain number of those who exhibit motor automatism the suggestion appears to be due to some kind of transcendental perceptive power.
Such persons appear only able to exercise this transcendental faculty when their normal self-consciousness is more or less in abeyance, or when it is completely profound hypnosis.
This subconscious perceptive power, commonly called “clairvoyance,” may provisionally be taken as the explanation of those successes of the dowser which are inexplicable on any grounds at present known to science.
The interesting point is that these psycho-physiological phenomena have a real existence; they exist among dowsers in all countries, and can be traced back, as historical investigation shows, for upwards of two centuries.
Dowsing for Ghosts
Ghost investigators generally fall into two distinct categories: the scientist and the etherealist. The scientist relies solely on equipment and tools to locate and analyze anomalous activity. The etherealist, on the other hand, develops and uses feelings and intuition. Both types of investigators are essential for a thorough investigation.
The accomplished dowser generally incorporates both scientific skills and heightened receptiveness.
How to Begin Dowsing
Once you have decided to dowse in earnest there are certain things you should be aware of. Let’s take a look at those.
1) Dowsing is a spiritual endeavor as well as a craft. Before dowsing for anything, be it water, ghosts or lost car keys; take a moment to relax in a calm setting. Free your mind from the worries and cares that would interfere with your dowsing session. Concentrate; ask your higher power for guidance and assistance. Surround yourself with white light and positive energy.
2) If you will be dowsing in a haunted location it is always a good idea to ask for permission to do so. Ask something like, “May I dowse for spirit energy at this location?”
3) Some dowsers ask that they receive answers to their questions with the rods. Crossed rods meaning NO and open rods meaning YES.
4) Anyone can dowse. Some may need more practice than others. If your results are not what you hoped for, keep practicing. Maintain a positive attitude and trust that the dowsing rods can point out anomalous activity and spirit energy. Soon you will find your ghost investigations greatly enhanced.
5) Your dowsing rods are tools. Never permit others to treat them as toys.
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