Dowsing

Also called water witching, dowsing is the act of using a tool to find a hidden substance. The typical tool used is a dowsing rod, also called a divining rod, which can be either a forked piece of wood or an L-shaped piece of metal. The most common substance found through dowsing is an underground source of water, but people use dowsing to find many other materials as well. These include minerals, lost money, lost pets, missing persons, and shipwrecks. Dowsing is performed in one of two ways. In the most common way, called field dowsing, the dowser walks through a field or other area where the hidden object might be. With very steady hands, the dowser holds the dowsing rod (which, in cases where oil is being sought, is often called a doodlebug instead) roughly waist-high in front of the body. When the rod twitches or moves in some other fashion, seemingly of its own accord, this is taken to mean that the object of the search is directly below. In the second, less common way, called map dowsing, the dowser holds a dowsing rod or a dowsing pendulum over various parts of a map and notes the spot where the rod or pendulum appears to jerk, twitch, or move on its own.

Various theories have been put forth in an attempt to explain how dowsing might actually conform to known physical laws, but each has serious flaws. No one knows why dowsers sometimes make amazing discoveries. Sceptics, however, point to controlled studies that suggest the success rate of dowsers is no better than chance. In fact, sceptic James Randi has offered a monetary reward to any dowser who can prove that he or she has a success rate significantly better than chance. No one has yet claimed the prize.

SEE ALSO:

• James Randi

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning