Dowsing

 Morton Willow Tree (above)

Dowsing is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual often used in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, grave-sites, and numerous other objects and materials, without the use of a scientific apparatus. Dowsing is also known as “divining” or “doodle-bugging”, particularly when searching for petroleum or if searching for water, the process is most often termed “water witching” or “water dowsing”. Needless to say, there’s no accepted scientific rationale behind dowsing, and there is no scientific evidence that verifies its effectiveness.

A Y- or L-shaped wooden twig or a metal rod, called a “dowsing rod”, “divining rod” or “witching rod” is the only tool required for the very best dowsing experts, although some “dowsers” use other equipment and the really good ones use no equipment at all.

Some say Dowsing originated via the context of Renaissance magic in Germany a few hundred years ago.  On the other hand, others insist the art of dowsing has been practiced throughout millennia, although the names used to identify the dousing process may have changed from varying cultures and eras, the basic techniques have not. For example a 1949 team of French explorers stumbled upon a massive system of caverns in the Atlas Mts. of North Africa known as the Tassili Caves.  The cave walls were covered with marvelous pre-historic paintings, many of which were fascinating wall murals. However, their find not only located an art gallery devoted exclusively to the depictions of spacecraft and ET's, they also found a remarkably huge wall painting of a dowser no less. The dowser was holding a forked branch in his hand and was apparently searching for water; the painting was complimented by a group of admiring tribesmen.  The big surprise: These wall murals were carbon dated and found to be a least 8000 years old.  Over the years evidence has surfaced that confirms that dowsing was commonplace in early China, Greece, and Egypt.

A Forked stick that is said to dip down to indicate the location of underground water or oil is the definition given by the on-line dictionary but another way to describe the process of dowsing, in more general terms, is the art of finding hidden things. Usually, this is accomplished with the aid of a dowsing stick, rods or a pendulum and has been used to find the location of underground water, locate oil, mineral deposits, and even in rare cases, people, in fact it’s no secret that dowsing is occasionally used for a few of these purposes today.

Skeptics, of course, say that dowsing doesn't work at all and the dowsers known to have a track record for success, the skeptics contend, are either lucky or have good instincts or trained knowledge for where water, minerals and the like are located.  The fact is there’s no conclusive proof either way.

Just how the technique of dowsing was discovered is unknown, yet those who practice it are unwavering in their assertions that it works. No one really knows, not even experienced dowsers, how or why the process works, but before you totally discount the idea as folly, you might consider what Albert Einstein had to say about dowsing, apparently, he was convinced of the authenticity of the process. His comments on the subject matter: “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.”

For all you entrepreneurs or potential practitioners; be aware that dowsing is one of the few psychic talents that can be applied directly for profitable results or in other words, as a business. If you’re looking for credibility in regard to the process, here’s some well-known names from history who promoted the legitimacy of dowsing; they include Leonardo De Vinci, Robert Boyle (considered the father of modern chemistry), and even though General Erwin Rommel of the German Army (the Desert Fox), and U. S. General George S. Patton (Ol’ Blood & Guts) were pitted against each other on the battlefield during WW II, both were known advocates of dowsing.               

‘Beginning’ Dowsing Schools teach the use of four common tools, and involves plenty of on-site instruction and practice for water dowsing as well as other fields of expertise.  The ‘Advanced’ Application School is for those with basic dowsing knowledge; it typically offers various options to expand skills with experienced dowsing instructors.  Yes, such schools do exist; often as not those located within the United States are in places like the state of Indiana to the state of California.  

By the way, if you’re wondering which type of tree branch is best suited for water dousing, most dowsers insist on some species of the Willow Tree; if you want one of your very own, believe it or not, you can’t order one (the tree) on eBay but you might try “Fast Growing Trees.com.”

Sources:                                                                                                          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing                                                                            http://www.neholistic.com/articles/0008.htm                                                                         http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/divining+rod                                       http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/willow                                                                                                   http://paranormal.about.com/od/dowsing/a/All-About-Dowsing.htm                               http://www.meetup.com/bay-area-metaphysics/events/68802182/