Home diagnosis the old fashioned way Lee Barnes shares the science and mystery of the ancient art of dowsing

New Life Journal, April-May, 2005 by Lee Barnes

Most folks have heard of "dowsing" or "water-witching" as an old time way to seek the location of underground water for well placement. Water-witches got the name due to the seemingly mystical tools (often witch hazel branches) and doodle-bug like, crisscrossing movements across the landscape while searching for water. In fact, they were using highly sensitive electromagnetic equipment--their bodies--to perceive the weak electromagnetic fields associated with flowing underground water. Dowsing techniques generally involve using simple tools (forked sticks, bent rods) and highly focused intent to solve practical problems such as finding water or locating underground pipes and electric lines. It is clear that successful dowsing involves a simple form of two-way communication between the conscious mind and subconscious mind, which is normally "aware" of changes in background electric and magnetic fields. Men and women have been using their "sixth" sense for basic survival throughout history; now we have simple techniques to regain our connections with our natural intuition.

Dowsing actually includes a range of holistic intuitive processes and energy resonations which I choose to call "applied intuition." Consider that we are normally five percent conscious awareness and 95 percent subconscious awareness. Your subconscious never sleeps; it is your primary guardian angel. We usually "talk" with our subconscious through feelings and dreams. To tap into one's applied intuition, all one has to do is set up a means of communication between mind and body, and this can be done with a movement of a simple stick--the tool is only an extension, an exaggerated movement of the body.

The key to successful dowsing is to create and focus attention on a clearly worded question from the conscious mind and for the subconscious mind/body to answer using a simple tool to indicate a yes or no answer to the specific question. The subconscious mind is programmed to move a tool up or down or right or left to answer yes/no or to point to the source of a mental target. Part of your mind remembers where you last had your "lost" car keys; just ask yourself for help finding them.

With extensive practice, one can learn "device-less" dowsing. Without any tools, one can recognize specific body feelings such as a tingling palm or blinking eye and use this feeling as an answer. Muscle testing resistance techniques that measure relative muscle tension and weaknesses when exposed to stress, reflexology, and various forms of clairvoyance, are all types of device-less dowsing. Programming the subconscious how to answer is the easy part, asking a completely clear question is the hard part.

Our subconscious understands words very literally and in context with other words: if we ask vague questions, we will only get vague answers. A classic example is, "Does my car need gas today?" Yes, but only if you plan to start it today. The engine will need oxygen, a gas, to burn gasoline. A better question would be "Does my car have enough gasoline for traveling today?" Likewise, when looking for a water well site, the dowser needs to seek "high quality, potable, year-round water sufficient for the needs of this family, etc." versus just seeking "water."

Dowsing is an easily taught skill that becomes an art form with repeated practice. One learns to perceive or bio-locate (locate with the body) changes in weak energy fields. Once one learns to dialog with the subconscious awareness of weak electromagnetic fields, it is easy to realize that one can ask any question of the subconscious and get a practical answer. Every physical material (flowing water, a metal or plastic pipe, an electric wire) has a characteristic resonance or frequency that the body can learn to recognize. Once one is taught the basic dowsing techniques, it is fairly easy to practice over a known pipe or electric wiring and then bio-locate the pipe or wiring behind the sheet rock. The body has weak electrical potential differences and is sensitive to weak electric fields around pipes, wiring, and even wooden studs.

Practical uses of dowsing include finding moving underground water and mineral ores, hidden pipes and wiring, wall studs, and the route of septic systems. The same intuition can be used to avoid unhealthy natural and man-made energy fields, allowing for safer house placement and location of stress-free sleeping areas.

Dowsing activities have been documented throughout human history: people using dowsing tools in 30,000 year old cave wall paintings in Spain and in 7000 year old cave paintings in Iraq; a 3000 year old Chinese woodcut shows workers using long rods to detect Feng Shui energies, and 3000 year old Egyptian writings describe the use of pendulums and divining techniques. The careful placement of houses and ceremonial sites in the British Isles in the late Neolithic and early Bronze age (3000 BC), were verified by modern dowsing surveys. Houses were placed to avoid areas where dowsers felt stress, while ceremonial sites were consistently located on high energy sites, which may have produced health benefits with short-term exposure. In the Bible, Moses apparently used a staff to final shallow springs, striking the crusted-over ground to release water from seasonal springs in certain mineral soils of the desert. The use of the classic Y-rod or "witching rod" is seen in woodcuts with miners searching for mineral ores in 1530 AD Germany.