Divining With Dowsing Rods

I have always loved working with my dowsing rods and have used them in various ways over many years. I have used dowsing, for example, to track down missing car keys, find lost jewelry, and locate various other household items. However, yesterday was a dowsing first for me.

I received a call from a friend whose husband had mysteriously lost his partial-denture plate. Apparently, he has the habit of frequently taking it out and then leaving it lying around in unusual places in their home. Of course, it irritates my friend, both from an aesthetic and hygienic point of view, but she has never been able to get him to be more conscientious with his false teeth!

Well, yesterday, his dentures were nowhere to be found. They had searched everywhere inside the house, until their four-month-old terrier-mix puppy sauntered in with soil all over his face. It was obvious that he had recently buried something.

The search for the missing teeth was thus taken outside to their large fenced off plot with its many olive trees and shrubs. The needle in the haystack was nowhere to be found. As a last resort, I was eventually called in to assist with my dowsing rods.

It took me about 20 minutes to locate the missing teeth. The dowsing rods took me directly to an area that was being prepared for planting. Once I reached the spot, all I had to do was sift through the soil with my fingers, and ‘voila’…the missing teeth were restored to its rightful owner!

The rods begin to close…They close like strong hands have grabbed them and are twisting them in. They close like rain must fall and wind must blow, like it’s their natural course, like they always have and always will ~ Dan Schwartz 

Dowsing, also known as ‘divining’ or ‘doodlebugging,’ is a divination method traditionally mostly used to locate ground water, oil, mineral ores, or gemstones, without the use of any scientific apparatus. It is typically done using one Y-shaped or two L-shaped dowsing rods. Traditionally, dowsers use a forked branch cut from a live tree in the area. These days sophisticated copper dowsing rods can be purchased online, but you can also shape your own set of rods from wire coat hangers. Some dowsers also use other equipment, or no equipment at all.

The dowser essentially follows the spontaneous movement of the dowsing rods known as the ideomotor phenomenon or ideo-muscular response – a subconscious, intuitive response in the dowser that causes involuntary movement of the dowsing rods. Dowsing therefore reveals what the dowser already knows intuitively. The motion of the rods occur automatically as the dowser’s mind—body intuitively responds to subtle energies.

Dowsing rods work with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. The rods turn inwards to indicate ‘yes’, and outwards for ‘no.’ The target is near when the end of a V-rod starts moving, or two L-rods begin to cross over each other. Like any metaphysical tool, it takes practice to become adept and confident using dowsing rods. One of the first things I learned was how important it is to set a clear intention and ask precise questions.

These men dowsed because it worked. They didn’t know why or how, but knew that it worked, and how to do it. This is a key difference between science and technology – technologists cheerfully do all kinds of things that they don’t understand scientifically, because they work ~ Richard Ellam

Early in my dowsing career I was asked to find a waterpipe in someone’s backyard. The old house did not have any plans indicating the layout of the underground pipes. Well, I found the pipe and the contractors dug a massive hole, but they did not tell me to search for the open end! So, they dug up the wrong end of the garden! That was a lesson for me to be very clear and intentional about what I was dowsing for.

As a highly intuitive process, dowsing works best the more one can subdue your conscious mind. The dowser must be relaxed and neutral as to the outcome. This unfortunately makes it difficult to accurately dowse for oneself.