..THE HISTORY OF DOWSING

..Dowsing, sometimes called doodlebugging, divining or water witching, is a practice that attempts to locate hidden water wells, buried metals, gemstones, or other objects as well as currents of earth radiation without the use of scientific apparatus. A Y- or L-shaped twig or rod is sometimes used during dowsing, although some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at all.

..Dowsing has been in use since ancient times and is still widely practiced although the scientific evidence for its efficacy is disputed. In the 1980s German physicists undertook a large experimental study of dowsing and concluded that a "real core of dowser-phenomena can be regarded as empirically proven", while physiologist J. T. Enright wrote that those same experiments provided "the most convincing disproof imaginable that dowsers can do what they claim." Traditionally, the most common divining rod was a Y-shaped branch from a tree or bush. Some dowsers prefer branches from particular trees; hazel twigs in Europe and witch-hazel in the United States were commonly chosen, as were branches from willow or peach trees. Some dowsers prefer the branches to be freshly cut.

..Many dowsers today use a pair of simple L-shaped metal rods, and some use bent wire coat hangers. One rod is held in each hand, with the short part of the L held upright, and the long part pointing forward. Some dowsers claim best success with rods made of particular metals, such as brass. A divining rod (also known as dowsing rod or witching rod) is an apparatus used in dowsing. There are many types of divining rods: two brass "L" shaped wire rods (commonly made of brazing or welding rod, but glass or plastic have also been accepted) that are to be held one in each hand. When something is found, they cross over one another making an "X" over the found object. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the wires will point in opposite directions, showing the direction the object is pointing. Brass is commonly used.

..A forked (or "Y" shaped) branch of a tree or bush. The two ends on the forked side are to be held one in each hand with the third pointing straight ahead. Often the branches are grasped palms down. The pointing end turns up or down when water is found. This method is sometimes known as 'Willow Witching'. Hazel or willow branches were commonly used; these were called virgula divina.

..Divining rods are used in dowsing, a type of divination that claims to be able to find ground water, oil, and other mineral resources by non-scientific means. Expert dowsers are allegedly capable of dowsing exact depth measurements of water veins, electromagnetism, currents and telluric phenomena. They are also allegedly capable of measuring blood toxicity, white cells, and sugar levels, and detecting human illness and health. Expert dowsers are allegedly not limited to any specific time and space, claiming the ability to dowse any material at any given time from any location.

..One method of divination uses a pendulum. Pendulums such as a crystal or a metal weight suspended on a chain are sometimes used in divination and dowsing, particularly in remote or "map dowsing". In one approach, the user first determines which direction (left-right, up-down) will indicate "yes" and which "no", before proceeding to ask the pendulum specific questions. In another form of divination, the pendulum is used with a pad or cloth that has "yes" and "no" written on it, and perhaps other words, written in a circle in the latter case. The person holding the pendulum aims to hold it as steadily as possible over the center. An interviewer may pose questions to the person holding the pendulum, and it swings by minute unconscious bodily movement in the direction of the answer. In the practice of radiesthesia, a pendulum is used for medical diagnosis.

..A weight of any kind, the bob, is suspended at the end of a string or chain: crystals, real or fake, are currently popular. The device is held over a map or other object, and various movements of the bob are interpreted in different ways by different operators. Most pendulum swingers say that the bob swings clockwise over a person's right hand and counterclockwise over the left. They say that it swings to and fro over a male's body and in a circular pattern over a female's. But some of them say exactly the opposite.

..In this phenomenon, it can always be seen that the subject moves his or her hand to set the pendulum swinging, though this will be vehemently denied. The event is a perfect example of ideomotor reaction. To-and-fro motions and circles are produced, often in answer to questions directed by the dowser at the pendulum itself. The operator speaks to the pendulum. Really. The bob of the pendulum is often hollow so that diverse substances. (solid or liquid) can be retained inside, the idea being that the device with thereby become more sensitive to the contained substance. The French, who dignify the process with by term radioaesthesia, produce a wide selection of screw-together pendulums in various colors made of metal, wood, or plastic.

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..HOW DOES DOWSING -ACTUALLY- WORK

..The quick answer is that no one really knows - not even experienced dowsers. Some theorize there is a psychic connection established between the dowser and the sought object. All things, living and inanimate, the theory suggests, possess an energy force. The dowser, by concentrating on the hidden object, is somehow able to tune in to the energy force or "vibration" of the object which, in turn, forces the dowsing rod or stick to move. The dowsing tool may act as a kind of amplifier or antenna for tuning into the energy.

..Skeptics, of course, say that dowsing doesn't work at all. Dowsers who seem to have a track record for success, they contend, are either lucky or they have good instincts or trained knowledge for where water, minerals and the like can be found. For believer or skeptic, there's no definitive proof either way.

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..FINDING THE DEAD

..Last Month, a dirt mine operator accidentally discovered a cast iron (ca 1859) casket in the area in which he was digging. As a State Environmental Scientist, and Mine inspector, I was called to investigate along with an archeologist from the state (MS) history and archives office. As a geologist / Mine inspector, for the state of Mississippi, its my job to look into such matters, as it is illegal to mine within 100 feet of a cemetery. This grave was not marked, but the operation had to be shut down any way.

..Also, there was a local county historian and dowser (Emory Morgan) who was an expert at locating graves. Emory is a retired FBI agent and head of Monroe County Historical Society. He claimed to have located several other graves in the area. Since I had found some graves myself in an old family cemetery, I talked Emory and got some new pointers from him.

..First of all, I did a test. I walked up to the coffin that was still in place (the body since removed). To my surprise, my rods did not respond, despite the iron (magnetic) nature of the coffin. The rods did not cross over the coffin, until I moved to the head area, at which point they crossed. Emory confirmed my observation. He said that that’s where the rods will cross (over the head). He then proceeded to show me how to determine the sex and body build of a buried corpse.

..Emory instructed, walk up to where the rods cross, and then back off a bit (just forward above the top of the head) separate your hands a foot or two and proceed to walk back over the body. The rods will then close up a bit tracing the outline of the head, narrowing at the neck, spreading wide for the shoulders narrowing at the waist, widening at the hips and tapering off to a point as one moves down the legs to the feet.

..A woman's head is usually larger, because of the longer splayed out hair, and her hips are wider than her shoulders. The difference in a man is obvious--as the width (body build). In theory, the soil is altered from the decomposition of the body (fluids, etc) The rods respond to the different chemical compounds in the soil (more or less "magnetic" than the surrounding soil). Another trick Emory taught me was to find the depth of the grave. Walk up to where the rods initially cross, and then back off slowly. The rods will swing outside to side a few feet from where they crossed. The distance from there to the swing out point is said to be the depth of the grave.

..Of course, I have some skepticism, while I don’t doubt that the rods can detect graves (a photon magnetometer can do that too). Determining the sex, body build, and depth buried sorta fringes on the "psychic", less substantiated end of dowsing. I would not bet any money on the results, but still, I now know how it is done, and can do it myself for fun anyways.

..Emory has a reputation helping the Sheriff's department with missing body cases and locating historical sites in the area, so he is not to be taken lightly. I was happy for what he showed me. I just got back from investigating the uncovering of a cast Iron "Fisk" Coffin in a dirt mining operation south of Hamilton MS in Monroe County. A local dowser and president of the Monroe County Historical Association went with us and also spotted an unmarked slave cemetery close by, along with several other graves next to the Iron Coffin. (Those unverified, but possible).

..The coroner has since removed the body to the local morgue, but left the coffin in place. Some people from the Smithsonian are scheduled to look it over later. Despite being over 150 years old, meat was still on the bones, and the smell of death is still very strong around the coffin, which was damaged by a "track hoe" during the inadvertent excavation. It was my Job to take a GPS reading of the grave's position so that we can put its area off limits to mining in the future.

..I had fun with the Dowser guy, who showed me, not only how to find graves, but also how to determine the sex, age and body build of the "residents" --with the "L " Rods, and also how deep they are buried. This could be a great skill I can use in my SCV (Sons of Confederate Veterans) group's efforts of "Civil War" Cemetery restorations. I can only hope I didn’t bring any local ghost's home with me. (at least no evil ones)

..The Fisk coffin is a very rare human shaped "mummy" sarphagus looking iron coffin in 2 parts that was sealed with a rubber gasket, an has a porthole looking, glass window over the face. It looks like something out of a 1950's outer space movie. They were made in the 1840-50s. And cost over $100, at a time when most coffins cost $3 to $7. Obviously, the man in the coffin was very important, and likely rich.

..A few years back I read a news article where somewhere about three of these were dug up, and the locals and even the sheriff were convinced they might have some "spacemen" on their hands, but a reader recognized the coffins for what they were and the mystery was solved. It seems that the Fisk coffin was rendered obsolete around 1860 with the introduction of "embalming" with formaldehyde fluid pumped into the body just in time for the late "war of Northern Aggression"

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REFERENCE-RESEARCH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

http://www.dowsers.org/

http://www.dowsingworks.com/

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