Dowsing

Dowsing is a broad term for a method used to find people, artefacts or substances using either maps or pictures, pendulums or dowsing rods. People who use this as a means of divination are Dowsers.

Dowsing with rods is most common, and usually done with a Y shaped twig. The Dowser holds the stick by the forked end, and uses the single end as a pointer. “Following” the rod will lead the Dowser to the water or other substance which is being sought, and the rod vibrates when getting close.

It’s an old practice, and reported to date back about 7000 years. The ancient Greek philosopher, Iamblichus, described the dowsing used by the priestesses of the Oracle at Didyma.

” The prophetess Branchus either sits upon a pillar, or holds in her hand a rod bestowed by some diety, or moistens her feet or the hem of her garment with water, and by these means, she prophesies“.

Dowsing is still used today in many countries, especially for the search for underground streams and other water sources. Dowsers are consulted by oil companies, mineral companies and many building sites before construction of a building begins, to avoid building over an underground stream.

Forked sticks pointing at the ground are used to locate water or, in some cases, precious minerals.  Pendulums are used too, and many a modern mother has used a ring on a string, or a threaded needle, to divine the sex of her child while still inside the womb.

These days it’s often called radioesthesia – the human sensitivity to radiation – or biolocation.