Divining and dowsing
What's It Wednesdays
In this current drought, maybe these will help…
ACHC #2008.009.7ab
These are divining rods or dowser rods for locating underground water sources. L shaped metal rods aren’t required. Dowsers of old made do with a Y-shaped branch. Others just divined (or located) water by walking the land.
Many dowsers tend to prefer branches from witchhazel trees, but willow or peach branches are also used. The two ends of the Y are held one in each hand, palms up, with the long part pointing upward at a 45-degree angle. The dowser then walks along the ground where he/she hopes to find water. The theory is that the branch will dip downward where water is to be found.
Metal rods like the ones in our collection are held one in each hand like holding two pistols, long ends pointing outwardly. If the rods cross one another, a water source has been located.
Divining, also known as water witching, water dowsing or water finding, dates back centuries. It has believers and non-believers aplenty.
Divining as we know it today, first appeared in Germany in the 1500s as a technique for finding metals in the ground. In 1558, Martin Luther denounced divining for metals as a transgression of the first commandment.
Dowsing for water was first described in 1568, in a narrative of the Life of St. Theresa of ̒Ávila Spain, who observed a Friar Anthonio using a stick to find water that sustained a well - “a plentiful fount of water gushed forth, excellent for 'drinking, copious for washing, and it never ran dry.’ ”
By 1662 dowsing was declared to be "superstitious, or rather satanic.”
Since that time, dowsing has had its ups and downs. And has endured endless scientific studies. There have been many theories to explain how it works (or doesn’t.)
A study in the 1800s, stated that paranormal activity influenced the movement of the rod. Another concluded that successful rod movement results were due to unconscious muscular action. In 1986, David Marks, a British psychologist attributed a dowser’s success to the use of sensory cues and sub-conscious indications from the terrain and probability.
Carl Sagan’s book Universe notes that in 1990, a group of 30 expert dowsers were invited to Kassel, Germany to have their skills tested in an organized study conducted in a field with underground pipes filled with flowing water. “All failed to do better than random guessing.”
The US Geological Survey pamphlet on Water Dowsing acknowledges that “Water dowsers practice mainly in rural or suburban communities where residents are uncertain as to how to locate the best and cheapest supply of groundwater…. The natural explanation of ‘successful’ water dowsing is that in many areas underground water is so prevalent close to the land surface that it would be hard to drill a well and not find water.”
Yet, there are many who believe dowsing is effective. The American Society of Dowsers, Inc. is located in Danville, VT and conducts seminars on the technique and has instructions available on their website. If you want to give it a try, dowsing rods are available for sale on Amazon and Ebay.
I’d love to hear about your dowsing experience!