A Bit of Gold

copyright Imogen Crest 2006.

More Thoughts on Dowsing

As some of you know from posts I've made on other bloggers, some of my ancestors were dowsers-- at least that's what I've been told.

I did, a while back, fashion a pair of rods out of brass tubing and the plastic outer casings of ball point pens (to use as handles to allow the tubing to move freely). I fooled around with the rods and put them aside, determining in my mind that any pronounced movement of the rods had a rational explanation.

Earlier this week I lost an earring. It was an amber stone in a silver setting-- not expensive, but enough so to make it worth my effort to hunt for it. I scanned the floor of my office, our parking garage, the sidewalk outside my front door, and of course every room of my apartment. No luck.

So, I'm sitting in my living room a couple of nights ago and saw the rods sitting on the top of my bookcase and I thought-- "What the heck, I've done weirder stuff...." So I began to dowse for my lost earring.

I know you see this coming: I found the earring. It was on the floor of my bedroom where I had walked numerous times since I lost the earring but didn't see it.

I actually can't remember if the rods crossed right over the earring. It could be that I was simply walking much more slowly and looking more carefully. It might have been that, it might have been luck, or it might have been those darn rods leading my attention to the earring.

I'll let you all decide for yourself.


Lori Gloyd (c) 2006

Thoughts on Dowsing.....

Thoughts on Dowsing

My aunt says that my great-grandfather was a dowser, or a “water-witch,” a person who used divining rods to locate underground water. She says that her son, my cousin, has successfully dowsed for water, and she herself tried it once, only to scare herself silly when the rods actually began moving.

Because I am a more scientific person than a superstitious one, I decided to give it a try myself, mainly to debunk the experience; however, a little bit of me was open minded enough to be receptive to anything. So I fashioned myself a pair of brass rods and began moving around my apartment. Interestingly, the rods crossed whenever I got near electronic equipment—my television, my computer, a halogen lamp. Since I had previously heard dowsing rods supposedly cross whenever they are near energy sources, I surmised that I was merely unconsciously moving the rods myself to accommodate what I already knew.

The supposed purpose of divining rods is to search for things hidden deep—water, gold—or for things hidden beyond—spirits, paranormal energies. Perhaps dowsing is merely an outward manifestation of some deep seated motivation all humans have to get to the heart of themselves—looking for some inner golden nugget of validation, or seeking the waters of understanding deep in the recesses of the psyche.

Whether or not my ancestor was a real dowser (my dad, contrary to my aunt, says he wasn’t), the experience for me proved an insightful one, both experientially and metaphorically. By the way, I didn’t throw out the rods I fashioned—they are nearby in case I feel the need to go searching for “hidden gold” again.

Lori Gloyd © April 21, 2006.