This document discusses the techniques of water dowsing, including its history and various methods. It explains that dowsing is a practice used to locate underground water and other objects without scientific instruments. Traditionally a Y-shaped twig is used, but now metal rods are common. The document outlines different dowsing types and equipment. It also discusses dowser beliefs about groundwater versus scientific explanations, and concludes that while dowsing intuitions may seem successful, scientific analysis is needed to accurately locate water resources.

1. WATER DOWSING TECHNIQUES
ASSIGNMENT
SABA SAIF
01-161102-065
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Bahria University Islamabad
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2. Table of Contents
WATER DOWSING TECHNIQUES .................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1
OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................................. 1
WHAT IS WATER DOWSING? .......................................................................................... 2
HISTORY ................................................................................................................................. 2
DOWSING RODS ................................................................................................................... 4
TYPES OF DOWSING ........................................................................................................... 5
OTHER EQUIPMENT USED FOR DOWSING ................................................................. 5
WHAT DO DOWSERS BELIEVE ABOUT GROUND WATER? .................................... 6
HOW DOES GROUND WATER OCCUR? ......................................................................... 6
WHAT DOES SCIENCE SAY ABOUT DOWSING? .......................................................... 7
CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 8
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 9

3. WATER DOWSING TECHNIQUES
“It's an ancient art used for finding water, buried treasure and even missing
people. Here's what it is, how it works, the methods and tools - and how you can
learn to dowse”
INTRODUCTION
“Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water,
buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and
materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation (ley lines), without the use of
scientific apparatus. Dowsing is also known as divining (especially in reference to
interpretation of results), doodle bugging (particularly in the United States, in
searching for petroleum or (when searching specifically for water) water finding,
water witching or water dowsing. There is no scientific evidence that dowsing is
effective”.
“A Y- or L-shaped twig or rod, called a dowsing rod, divining rod (Latin:
virgula divina or baculus divinatorius), a "vining rod" or witching rod is sometimes
used during dowsing, although some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at
all. Dowsing appears to have arisen in the context of Renaissance magic in Germany,
and
it
remains
popular
among
believers
in
Forteana
or
radiesthesia”.
(Wikipedia.org/wiki/dowsing, 2013)
OBJECTIVE
According to many books and dowsing experts, dowsing has a robust history.
The objective of my assignment is to explain the various processes of water dowsing
and its techniques that are being used worldwide. To explain the concept of what
science says about these dowsing techniques. Its scope in the technological world is
how it helps in locating ground water, its success rate, failure and the truth behind it.
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4. WHAT IS WATER DOWSING?
"Water dowsing" refers in general to the practice of using a forked stick, rod,
pendulum, or similar device to locate underground water, minerals, or other hidden or
lost substances, and has been a subject of discussion and controversy for hundreds, if
not thousands, of years”.
“Although tools and methods vary widely, most dowsers (also called diviners
or water witches) probably still use the traditional forked stick, which may come from
a variety of trees, including the willow, peach, and witch-hazel. Other dowsers may
use keys, wire coat hangers, pliers, wire rods, pendulums, or various kinds of
elaborate boxes and electrical instruments”.
“In the classic method of using a forked stick, one fork is held in each hand
with the palms upward. The bottom or butt end of the "Y" is pointed skyward at an
angle of about 45 degrees. The dowser then walks back and forth over the area to be
tested. When she/he passes over a source of water, the butt end of the stick is
supposed to rotate or be attracted downward”.
“Water dowsers practice mainly in rural or suburban communities where
residents are uncertain as to how to locate the best and cheapest supply of
groundwater. Because the drilling and development of a well often costs more than a
thousand dollars, homeowners are understandably reluctant to gamble on a dry hole
and turn to the water dowser for advice”.
(http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/dowsing.html, 2013)
HISTORY
Cave paintings in north-western Africa that are 6,000-8,000 years old are
believed to show a water dowser at work. The exact origin of the divining rod in
Europe is not known. The device was introduced into England during the reign of
Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to locate mineral deposits, and soon afterward it was adopted
as a waterfinder throughout Europe. Water dowsing seems to be a mainly European
cultural phenomenon; it was carried across the Atlantic to America by some of the
earliest settlers from England and Germany.
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5. Dowsing as practiced today may have originated in
Germany during the 15th century, when it was used in
attempts to find metals. As early as 1518 Martin Luther listed
dowsing for metals as an act that broke the first
commandment (i.e., as occultism).The 1550 edition of
Sebastian Munster’s Cosmography contains a woodcut of a
dowser with forked rod in hand walking over a cutaway
image of a mining operation. The rod is labeled "Virgula
Divina
–
Glück
rüt"
(Latin:
divine
rod;
German.
"Wünschelrute": fortune rod or stick), but there is no text
accompanying the woodcut. By 1556 Georgius Agricola's
treatment of mining and smelting of ore, De Re Metallica,
included a detailed description of dowsing for metal ore.
Figure 1. A dowser, from an 18th century
In 1662 dowsing was declared to be "superstitious, or rather satanic" by a
Jesuit, Gaspar Schott, though he later noted that he wasn't sure that the devil was
always responsible for the movement of the rod. In the South of France in the 17th
Century it was used in tracking criminals and heretics. Its abuse led to a decree of the
inquisition in 1701, forbidding its employment for purposes of justice.
An epigram by Samuel Sheppard, from Epigrams theological, philosophical,
and romantick (1651) runs thus:
Virgula divina:
"Some Sorcerers do boast they have a Rod,
Gather'd with Vowes and Sacrifice,
And (borne about) will strangely nod
To hidden Treasure where it lies,
Mankind is (sure) that Rod divine,
For to the Wealthiest (ever) they incline."
Dowsing was conducted in South Dakota in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries to help homesteaders, farmers, and ranchers located water wells
on their property.
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6. In the late 1960s during the Vietnam War, some United States Marines used
dowsing to attempt to locate weapons and tunnels. As late as in 1986, when 31
soldiers were taken by an avalanche during an operation in the NATO drill Anchor
Express in Vassdalen, Norway, the Norwegian army attempted to locate soldiers
buried in the avalanche using dowsing as search method.16 soldiers died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing, 2013)
DOWSING RODS
Traditionally, the most common dowsing
rod is a forked (Y-shaped) branch from a tree or
bush. Some dowsers prefer branches from particular
trees, and some prefer the branches to be freshly
cut. Hazel twigs in Europe and witch-hazel in the
United States are traditionally commonly
chosen,
as are branches from willow or peach trees.
The two ends on the forked side are held one
in each hand with the third (the stem of the "Y")
Figure 2: Two L-shaped metal wire rods
pointing straight ahead. Often the branches are
grasped palms down [citation needed]. The dowser then walks slowly over the places
where he suspects the target (for example, minerals or water) may be, and the
dowsing rod supposedly dips, inclines or twitches when a discovery is made. This
method is sometimes known as "Willow Witching".
Many dowsers today use a pair of simple L-shaped metal rods. One rod is held
in each hand, with the short arm of the L held upright, and the long arm pointing
forward. When something is found, the rods cross over one another making an "X"
over the found object. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the rods
will point in opposite directions, showing its orientation. The rods are sometimes
fashioned from wire coat hangers, and glass or plastic rods have also been accepted.
Straight rods are also sometimes used for the same purposes, and were not uncommon
in early 19th century New England. In all cases, the device is in a state of unstable
equilibrium from which slight movements may be amplified.
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7. TYPES OF DOWSING
“There are several types or methods of dowsing:
a.
Forked stick: The most traditional method uses a small Y-shaped tree
branch (most often from a willow). The dowser holds the branch parallel to
the ground by the top of the Y shape, then walks over the area to be probed.
When the dowser passes over the sought object, the end of the branch is
drawn down, pointing to the spot at which the object can be found.
b.
Rods: An alternate method uses two L-shaped metal rods, one held in each
hand parallel to the ground and parallel to each other. In this case, when the
dowser passes over the sought object, the rods either swing apart or cross
each other. You can easily make dowsing rods from wire coat hangers.
c.
Map dowsing: Some dowsers don't even have to visit the location to be
dowsed. For them, a map of the area is sufficient over which they hold a
pendulum. They know they have located the target area when the pendulum
begins to move in a circle or back and forth.
Y-rods, L-rods, pendulums and other dowsing equipment’s are also used”.
(Paranormal.about.com/od/dowsing/a/All-about-Dowsing 2.htm, 2013)
OTHER EQUIPMENT USED FOR DOWSING
“A pendulum of crystal, metal or other materials suspended on a chain is
sometimes used in divination and 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, or else another person may pose
questions to the person holding the pendulum. The pendulum may also be used over a
pad or cloth with "yes" and "no" written on it and perhaps other words written in a
circle. The person holding the pendulum aims to hold it as steadily as possible over
the centre and its movements are held to indicate answers to the questions. In the
practice
of
radiesthesia,
a
pendulum
diagnosis”.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing,2013)
5
is
used
for
medical

8. WHAT DO DOWSERS BELIEVE ABOUT GROUND WATER?
“Some dowsers seem to believe that water occurs in veins resembling the
veins of one's body. According to Henry Gross, one of the best-known modern
practitioners, underground water flows upward from great depths, forming "domes."
He believes such domes to be the source of water for underground veins that flow in
various directions. Three domes supposedly on top of Mount Washington, N. H., were
said to be coming from a depth of 57,000 feet.
Most dowsers attempt only to locate the positions of the so-called water veins.
But many of their clients ask: How deep will I have to drill, and how much water will
I get? Some dowsers, therefore, do attempt to estimate the quantity of and the depth to
water.
If the well driller does not find water at the indicated spot, the failure may be
blamed on interference of hills with the dowsing, a short circuit of "current," incorrect
drilling, or the crushing or deflection of the delicate water veins by the driller”.
(http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/water_dowsing/pdf/water_dowsing.pdf, 2013)
HOW DOES GROUND WATER OCCUR?
“Contrary to the belief of dowsers, ground water does not commonly flow in
veins, domes, or underground rivers. Ground water is the water, which fills pores or
cracks in underground rocks. It is replenished by nature according to the local climate
and geology and is variable in both amount and quality.
When rail falls, the plants and soil take up water. Some of the excess water
runs off to streams, and some percolates down into the pores or cracks in the
subsurface rocks. A well that extends into the saturated zone will fill with water to the
level of the water table the top of the zone in which all the openings of the rocks are
filled with water”.
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9. “It is important to know whether water will flow into the well fast enough to
make it useful for man's purposes. A "tight" rock such as clay or solid granite, with
tiny pores or only a few narrow cracks, may give up water so slowly that it is not
useful. If the openings in the rock are large enough to let water flow freely, however,
water in useful amounts can be taken out.
Several water-bearing rock layers may lie beneath the surface, separated by
layers of rock less capable of carrying water. This geologic configuration may give
rise to artesian conditions, where water levels in wells that penetrate the deeper layers
of water-carrying rock rise under pressure and in some instances rise so high as to
create flowing wells”.
WHAT DOES SCIENCE SAY ABOUT DOWSING?
“Case histories and demonstrations of dowsers may seem convincing, but
when dowsing is exposed to scientific examination, it presents a very different
picture. The natural explanation of "successful" water dowsing is that in many areas
underground water is so prevalent close to the land surface that it would be hard to
drill a well and not find water. In a region of adequate rainfall and favorable geology,
it is difficult not to drill and find water!
Some water exists under the Earth's surface almost everywhere. This explains
why many dowsers appear to be successful. To locate groundwater accurately,
however, as to depth, quantity, and quality, a number of techniques must be used.
Hydrologic, geologic, and geophysical knowledge is needed to determine the depths
and extent of the different water-bearing strata and the quantity and quality of water
found in each. The area must be thoroughly tested and studied to determine these
facts”.(http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/dowsing.html, 2013)
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10. CONCLUSION
Dowsing has a long, illustrious and checker history. Because it accesses the
realm of intuition, however, it is often sneered at in these rational times. But in fact,
most people are using their 'dowsing response' constantly - they just call it something
else, like 'a hunch', a 'gut feeling', a 'sixth sense', 'first impression' and so on. A
dowsing response is simply a kind of self-registering biofeedback.
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11. Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/dowsing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing
http://paranormal.about.com/od/dowsing/a/All-About-Dowsing_2.htm
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/water_dowsing/pdf/water_dowsing.pdf
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/dowsing.html
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