Apparently, it’s not the same old forked stick any more.

On a cold Saturday morning, I drove to Asheville to attend a meeting of dowsers: people who are best known for finding water underground. But what I encountered was an open-minded, well-educated group of folk discussing an expansive mixture of geology, Jungian psychology, Buddhist-like philosophy, ancient history and quantum physics.

I learned that dowsing goes far beyond finding water. Simply put, it is a way of obtaining information by using awareness other than the standard five senses, which places it in the category of divination. But what most distinguishes dowsers from psychics or clairvoyants is their use of tools (in their terminology, devices), the most common being the pendulum, L-rod and Y-rod (or forked stick). I also found it curious that Webster’s Dictionary says the origin of the word dowsing is unknown.

According to the American Society of Dowsers, theirs is an ancient craft depicted in wall paintings and on coins and manuscripts. As Europeans moved to the Americas, dowsers helped develop several hundred thousand wells, but their influence declined with the advent of single-source, municipal water supplies and the increasing popularity of physical sciences that could not explain their results.

In 1913, according to the society, dowsers on the surface accurately located a network of Roman-era catacombs dug under Paris, prompting Nobel Laureate Charles Richet to write: “We must accept dowsing as fact. What is needed is its development.”

After World War II, interest resurged as dowsers generally expanded from finding underground water and minerals to locating lost objects, missing persons and downed aircraft.

But what is it that separates dowsers from the rest of the pack? Based on my day-long meeting, some subsequent reading and listening to taped lectures, I will try to convey what I’ve learned so far.
There are four apparent tenets of dowsing:

First, everything is energy - which is certainly verified by modern physics - and every life form and physical object has its own unique energy signature.

Second, these energies can be sensed by persons who have the native talent and are properly trained. Dowsers view this ability as no more mysterious than sight or hearing.

Third, with our minds we can control the movement of pendulums and other devices. This is where dowsing takes on an aura of magic, and where most skeptics find fault or even deception. But this is also where every documentary I’ve seen has missed the point I heard repeatedly: It’s the dowser, not the device. The Y-rod doesn’t find the water; the dowser does. In fact, according to the people I talked to, a steel nut on a string makes a pendulum every bit as usable as a crystal orb on a fancy chain.

Then fourth - and perhaps most importantly - the clarity and intent of the dowser is critical. Dowsers say their ability to sense energy patterns can be blocked or altered by negative feelings, resentments and even expectations. I was told that the most accurate dowsers not only are the least attached to the outcome and best able to “tune out” the negative feelings of themselves and others, but dowse only when they are intuitively certain their actions serve the highest good for all involved.

So how does it work? There are many models, but as best I can describe the one presented to me, dowsing works something like this:

Imagine that your mind is built like a snowman (or snow-woman) - three large snowballs in a stack. The center snowball contains your conscious awareness, which relies on your five senses to experience the world. The bottom snowball contains your subconscious, which communicates through feelings and hunches, and especially through imagery in your dreams. The top snowball contains your total consciousness, which is your connection to higher or universal knowledge.

In an alpha (or “prayerful”) state, the dowser poses a question to his subconscious, which asks his total consciousness for the answer. As the answer is received, his subconscious controls the movement of a pendulum or other device, which is read by his conscious mind through the sense of sight.

In this way, dowsers believe they can obtain information not otherwise available in the waking state. However, the subconscious mind is picture-driven and quite literal, so dowsers tell me they not only must be very careful how they ask each question, but frequently must pose a series of progressively specific questions to get an accurate answer.

For example: Is the checkbook really lost? Is it inside? Is it in this building? Is it in the study? Is it on the desk? (Then go look under the piles.)

According to the Society, with a little practice, nearly all preadolescents and a fair percentage of adults can use their subconscious minds to influence a device, or in their lingo, “get the dowsing response.”

But among those with the basic ability - just like music or mathematics - the Society says aptitude will vary from person to person. Not only are some simply more sensitive (or more practiced), but individual dowsers often lean toward specialties. For example, one dowser might prove superior at finding water, but not so good at finding minerals or lost objects.

What I find more enticing, though, is the opportunity for self-improvement. Many dowsers report using their skills to probe themselves for personal flaws of which they are otherwise unaware, and to discover activities that will help reduce or eliminate their shortcomings. As one dowser put it, “At the basic level, dowsing is a practical tool. But at higher levels, it’s a spiritual path.”

So do I believe this stuff? I’m not sure. With any craft of an uncommon nature, the opportunity for charlatans and swindlers is great, so my investigation has been cautious.

But given how little we really know about human potential, I certainly believe it’s possible. And considering the focus I saw on right thinking, common good, and loving intent, dowsing - in the hands of ethical persons - seems to offer substantial possibilities for benefit.

(For more information on dowsing, see wncdowsers.org. Garnett lives in Maggie Valley. He can be reached at lgar@brinet.com)

 

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