by Sadie Kay

Created on: November 17, 2008

Dowsing history:

The history of dowsing (aka well witching or divining) some say starts with Moses (Numbers 20:9-11), or with the ancient Greeks, but the first written record of finding anything with a forked twig was in 1556 in a work by Georgius Agrocola, "De re metallica" where he spoke of divining for minerals. He did not think much of the practice. No matter where the origin, the practice of well witching is still in use all over the world today. The early settlers preferred a forked branch from the Witch Hazel tree, thus the term well witching was born. Some people have more of the "gift" than others and become well-known in their community and surrounding areas for their expertise. There have been scientific experiments done with inconclusive results.

Uses and Tools of the trade:

Well witching was used mainly to locate water; however, it has also been used to locate other underground sources of oil, minerals, persons, water and sewer lines, gas lines and even golf balls. Most diviners prefer a forked branch from a fruit bearing tree, willow, or witch hazel. There are also Divining Rods that can be purchased (usually solid copper) or it has been said that Divining Rods made from a simple welding rod bent at a 90 degree angle will work just as well. There are Divining Pendulums used by some Diviners.

The forked twig is held in both hands (palms up), under the fingertips and bent into an arch. When the branch gets over a good water source, the point of the twig will turn downward to the water. You cannot hold the twig tight enough to keep it from turning down! Once passed the vein of water, the twig will come back up to its original position.

Divining rods are held by the handles while each rod points outward. As a water source is approached, the rods will begin to cross. As the source is located the rods will cross further up the rod and uncross as the source is passed.

The pendulum is supposedly held loosely and swings to locate sources.

Personal Experience:

In 1972 when we purchased the acreage to build our home, the Rural Water District could not guarantee that we would be connected to rural water when the time came to complete the financing. After paying for a water meter and signing the contract with the Rural Water District, we set out to find the local "Well Witch". Now, the local town is small and rural, but the reception we received when asking around for this person was much laughter! The local people thought we were rather silly or maybe even a little

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