Dowsing

A few weeks ago I promised to write a blog post about Dowsing, and as High Summer approaches, it seems the perfect time to get out the rods and have some Earthy fun.

I learned most of what I know about dowsing from a brilliant little book called The Definitive Wee Book on Dowsing: A Journey Beyond Our Five Senses, by the late Hamish Miller, whom I dearly wish I could have known.

Dowsing is at once light-hearted and serious, physical and spiritual, easy and oh so not. It takes some practice. The forks are responding to micromovements in your muscles that you can’t even feel. You connect into the Earth Grid, ask your question, and the energy for the answer comes through you, not straight to your forks. The forks are not intelligent in and of themselves; they are an instrument of your consciousness, like any other tool for expression that you might use. The pen doesn’t write the poem, the guitar doesn’t compose the music, the dowsing rods don’t know all the answers. You do, or you are capable of tuning into the frequency that has them. But oftentimes we are so locked up in our own heads that we can’t get to the answers, and we need help. Dowsing rods are the perfect companions for this work.

No one really know why, where or how it started, not exactly.

There are a lot of images from pre-history, cave paintings for example, that look like someone might be using a dowsing rod to find water, or to find a safe place to camp for a while, maybe find some good caves to live in, discover where abundant food would be found, or find areas where the Earth energies are strongest for creating sacred spaces for ritual.

My intuition tells me that it probably began in Africa with the earliest humans. A shaman was meditating about needing water for the tribe, and received a vision, or was drawn to pick up a forked branch off the ground and hold it a certain way, and while keeping “water” firmly in her thoughts was led straight to a pure source. It seems like there have always been dowsers, in every part of the world, regardless of what religion is common wherever they are. Dowsing somehow escaped the kinds of religious persecution that other forms of divination such as Tarot did not. Probably because it was mostly used to find water or other natural resources that were essential to the survival of the community, and possibly because dowsing has historically been one of the very few divinatory traditions that were predominantly practiced by, yes, men.

So dowsing, whatever its origin and history, has come through to us relatively unchanged since Paleolithic redecorators were called in on those lovely caves in Lascaux. 

You can purchase spiffy but inexpensive Dowsing Rod Kits, with a carrying bag and a little manual that teaches you how to use them; or you can purchase bespoke rods from metaphysical shops, or you can make your own out of old wire coat hangers and bucket handles. Guess which method I chose? Oh, you know me so well. I love making my own tools because I feel like I have so much more of a connection to them when I do. Mine are vintage coat hangers with old bucket handles as grips, so the rods spin cleanly.

There are those who favor cutting a Y-branch from a small tree on-site, and that has its appeal. You want to make sure you ask the tree for permission before you cut it, though, because the tree may be suffering from a fungus, parasite, or has been stressed recently and needs all its resources intact. No means no. Move on. I have never dowsed with a branch, so I can’t help you much more than that, but I’m sure a friendly tree will be willing to teach you everything you need to know.

So once you get your dowsing rods, you have to spend some time with them. At first they seem to have minds of their own, and almost never want to cooperate with you. It takes a quiet mind focused on a specific question–Where’s the water? Is there harmful energy here? Are there any Ley Lines in this area?–to get them to settle and give you the answers you want. They are not tetchy, petulant or willful. They can only respond to what’s going on in your nervous system. It really does seem like they are their own entity, but they’re truly an extension of your body and will.

You have to establish Yes and No first, which is just a matter of stating, “Show me a clear Yes,” and “Show me a clear No.” There aren’t a lot of options with two rods; open and closed are about it. For most people, X means no and Y (open) means yes, but sometimes it’s the opposite. Maybe in your mind, X marks the spot and open means empty. So getting a clear Yes or No is essential before you even begin. Clear your mind, focus on Yes and No, and see what happens.

Then start simple. “Show me where the bathroom is.” “Is there a kitchen in this house?” “Where’s the wine?” Then move on to, “Is this bottle of salad dressing still safe to eat?” “Where does this strange smell originate?” “Should I have another glass of wine?” And again, no means no. But yes means yes, too.

After you gain some confidence, venture outside and see what you can find. Map any strong or weak power vortices around your house and neighborhood, and see whether they are harmful or helpful. If they are helpful, ask an angel to come in and protect them. If they are harmful, ask an angel to remove, negate or transmute them. Test again and see if the vortex is still there. Angels work fast.

The sky is honestly the limit.

I know people who take their dowsing rods to the grocery store to make sure that their food is safe and appropriate for their bodies. I don’t go that far. Weather prediction, garden plotting, treasure hunting, ley-line tracing (map dowsing is a great way to begin), chakra checking, allergen testing . . . you can use dowsing rods as a baseline test or a second opinion on damn near anything.

Plus there is a feeling that happens when you are using them that is of itself worth all the time and effort you put into training yourself to use them. It’s somewhere between giddiness and peace, a combination of ebullience and contentment, joyfully clear, and empty in a very fulfilling way. Because you have to stay focused and in the moment it’s perfectly calming, but because you feel so connected to all levels of your being and to the planet your feet are on, it’s also energizing. There’s really nothing else quite like it, and I highly recommend you give them a try.

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