Dowsing: Once and For All Is It Paranormal or Scientific?

What happens with dowsing, particularly when you're looking for water, is that as you walk along uneven ground holding the dowsing rod (or similar pivoting device) the rod will swing according to subtle changes in the pitch of the ground. Underground streams will tend to form beneath old covered stream beds or depressions in the ground that are angled downward for drainage. The change pitch might be too subtle to simply see with your eyes, but because the dowsing rod is more sensitive, it picks it up.

Dowsing for other purposes (like over maps) doesn't work any better than chance.

Why dowsers fail under testing is a mystery to me, if the ones tested were legitimate. I just know what I've seen, and know there was no way to fake it under the circumstances.

And this is where the paranormal aspect comes in. Could it be the dowser is being influenced by entities who prefer not to be present under certain conditions? Does the dowser need to leave himself open to spirit influence like a medium in order for it to work?

It's neither scientific nor 'paranormal', it's utter nonsense.

originally posted by: DrogoTheNorman

Why dowsers fail under testing is a mystery to me, if the ones tested were legitimate. I just know what I've seen, and know there was no way to fake it under the circumstances.

And this is where the paranormal aspect comes in. Could it be the dowser is being influenced by entities who prefer not to be present under certain conditions? Does the dowser need to leave himself open to spirit influence like a medium in order for it to work?

I won't discount the paranormal, but I see it more as one more human ability we don't understand yet. People can nay say all they want, but I know what I've seen and experienced. Not just with water, but with other forms of dowsing. I love science, but it hasn't explained everything yet. We've much more to learn about ourselves, and the world around us. Let alone the universe.

originally posted by: DrogoTheNorman
I have always questioned the mechanism that supposedly makes "dowsing" work or not. Recently I met a person who claims to not only be able to dowse for water but for precious metals as well.

Being mostly a skeptic on things like this, I question whether there is some actual scientific principle behind dowsing, or if it's some sort of paranomral, spiritual phenomenon.

What do you think?

In control studies, I've never seen dowsing to prove effective... James Randi even had a special where he challenged dowsers .. the prize was of course the million dollar prize he offers... 100% fail.

So ...

Paranormal: No
Scientific: No
Quackary: Yes

originally posted by: yeahright

What do you think?

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

Hooey. Dowsers have been tested time and time again in scientifically controlled experiments and are successful at a rate no better than random chance.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

That may be because, since the scientific community cannot verify the authenticity of water witching, their controlled experiments are flawed to begin with.

I don't why this is so "deep" for some people. Sounds like science 101 to me. It would fail if the water is so slight in amount and far enough under the ground that two 50 pound bars of copper couldn't register it, let alone two coat hangers.

It seems to be all about magnetism and electricity to me, both of which are abundant on this planet, in the air and within each of us.

Just because science can't prove it yet, that doesn't mean it isn't valid. It just means it's "paranormal".

originally posted by: DrogoTheNorman

Why dowsers fail under testing is a mystery to me, if the ones tested were legitimate. I just know what I've seen, and know there was no way to fake it under the circumstances.

And this is where the paranormal aspect comes in. Could it be the dowser is being influenced by entities who prefer not to be present under certain conditions? Does the dowser need to leave himself open to spirit influence like a medium in order for it to work?

That is a common tactic used by "psychics" and others... they fail under testing because they just aren't feeling it .. blah blah blah..

It reminds me very much of when Johnny Carson nailed Uri Geller, Geller made somewhat similar arguments... Uri has actually been busted on more than one occasion..

originally posted by: miniatus

originally posted by: DrogoTheNorman
I have always questioned the mechanism that supposedly makes "dowsing" work or not. Recently I met a person who claims to not only be able to dowse for water but for precious metals as well.

Being mostly a skeptic on things like this, I question whether there is some actual scientific principle behind dowsing, or if it's some sort of paranomral, spiritual phenomenon.

What do you think?

In control studies, I've never seen dowsing to prove effective... James Randi even had a special where he challenged dowsers .. the prize was of course the million dollar prize he offers... 100% fail.

So ...

Paranormal: No
Scientific: No
Quackary: Yes

Washing your hands before surgery was once considered quackery, as was Ohm's Law. One might say...Well, we know more now than they did then. Yes, and we'll know more 100 years from now than we do today. Just because scientists have failed to verify it, doesn't mean it's quackery. The pendulum swings both ways.

My S.O has/had family members who were able (so I've been told) to do this. It seems as if it could be possible (to me).
Maybe certain people are just so "in tune" with the energy or current that they can receive and not influence the direction of the sticks or rods.
The people in his family were what you would consider outdoorsman and they spent a lot of time in the woods.
There is also talk of family that could remove warts, etc. a type of charming or something like that...

My own experience started with an Anthro uni class "pseudo-science and the paranormal" where they had a local dowser come in to find hidden things... like pipes in the classroom walls, floor and personal objects secreted around the room.

It was supposed to show how silly it was and the guy wasn't supposed to find anything... the trouble was, he did.. .every single thing... accurate to the inch.

Our professor was stymied... we discussed how the man could have "cheated" and came out blank... unless he was psychic, heh.

Since then, I've seen other dowsers fail .. .and a few that were also very accurate. They say anyone can do it, but I think some are better at it than others... but in the end, there is something to it... despite the 'wive's tale' vibe.

T C Lethbridge wrote a book about it that is very interesting... even if he was a total crank... but I doubt he was. There is something to it ...that most don't understand.

Maybe certain people are just so "in tune" with the energy or current that they can receive and not influence the direction of the sticks or rods.

I will tell you of a phenomenon I experience regularly:

I will think of a song in my head, and no matter how old the song is, if it's a song that was once popular I will hear it playing on the radio, in a store's music, on a computer, someone's ringtone, or SOMEWHERE, no more than a few hours later.

Can I prove it? No
Is it paranormal? Who knows
Is there some scientific principle involved? Who knows


All I know is that the phenomenon is real and occurs at a frequency far greater than random chance should be able to explain.

There truly are things in this universe that happen for which there is no rational explanation.

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
My S.O has/had family members who were able (so I've been told) to do this. It seems as if it could be possible (to me).
Maybe certain people are just so "in tune" with the energy or current that they can receive and not influence the direction of the sticks or rods.
The people in his family were what you would consider outdoorsman and they spent a lot of time in the woods.
There is also talk of family that could remove warts, etc. a type of charming or something like that...

I had an aunt who used dowsing to determine the gender of babies while still in the womb, during the 50' to the 70's. She was never wrong. I witnessed her do it several times during the 70's. So I can only attest she was never wrong on the ones I was present for.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

originally posted by: TNMockingbird

There is also talk of family that could remove warts, etc. a type of charming or something like that...

I've experienced this in Devon. My pony had ringworm. The vet was visiting the farm the day I noticed it and said he'd post the medicine to us as soon as he got back to the surgery. That evening I went to the farm where I'd been told I could leave a message for the wart charmer. When I got to the farm I thought I'd come to the wrong place, it was the most modern farm in the area. The young man who answered the door said, "All we need is the name of the animal and what the problem is." The ringworm was gone before the vets medicine arrived in the post. The identity of the charmer was kept secret as far as possible due to media etc. harassment. There was never any charge and donations were not accepted.

Its mystical only because people do not understand the scientific answer.

Mineral veins are populated largely by positive valency elements like copper, iron, zinc.

The earth is negatively charged so as a person (negatively charged) walks over a mineral vein, the steel rods will cross each other at the tangent between the mineral vein / water way and the person on ground level as the electrons in the rods try to pass through the air down into the earth.

This is how non-spiritual men working in the tin mine industry would detect mineral veins in Cornwall, UK during the 18th Century.

a reply to: Tristran
In 20+ years of teaching in archaeology field camps we found that about 85% of people who attempted to learn to dowse for water pipes are successful. I have no idea why the other 15% failed.
My experiments are confined to finding underground pipes---archaeologists need to know where they are before we begin digging and I've never failed to find them using bent coat hangers as described above.
Just a week ago I was called out to locate a septic tank and lines---as BH described earlier. Heavy equipment operators know it works and use it on a regular basis. I suppose they don't care if it is paranormal or completely natural. It keeps them from doing unnecessary damage to otherwise unknown underground pipes.

originally posted by: diggindirt
I have no idea why the other 15% failed.

From what i have found out, the nephilim (humans who are contaminated with fallen angel DNA or RH- bloodtype) have more copper in their DNA and bone marrow. Thus electrons in the form of static electricity that surrounds us 24/7 flows easier through their bodies.

It doesn't matter what object the dowser users. As long as the electrons flow fast into the hands > stick or steel rods they can detect where the mineral vein is beneath them.

And water of course will always take the easiest route and a mineral vein with fractures in the bedrock is easier to erode through rather than 100% solid granite.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic

originally posted by: Klassified There are people who seem gifted at it, and others I consider grifters.

I don't know if it's a gift or a certain body chemistry, but this is one thing I've been very successful with myself! In fact, I found the water lines going out to our septic tank and to our well using this method. We didn't know where the spetic tank was previously. MAYBE it was a coincidence, but maybe it's something we don't yet fully understand...

Cool. I have no ability at dowsing at all but I cannot say I have tried to get the ability. What is considered as a coincidence by some can be seen as a quantum effect synchronicity by others.

Just because we have a problem understanding it if we believe in Materialism do not mean it cannot be theorized as a quantum level information exchange phenomena.

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
a reply to: DrogoTheNorman

Cant say for sure how it works but will say that I know it does and is very accurate .I got a golfing buddy to dowse my property for water and he was spot on in depth and the amount of water . He worked for CNCP telecommunications as a dowser at the time . They had the electronic equipment to detect buried cables but sometimes failed to find them .When that happened they sent him to look and he usually found them ..go figure , scratches head .

I have to agree with you. I've seen it with my own eyes. Dowsing can find water. As far as finding precious metals, I've never heard that, and I'm skeptical. Of course, I was skeptical about dowsing for water until I saw it done.

a reply to: Okeyd57

I've seen it used to locate water pipes under the sidewalk in wash dc when the ground penetrating radar was inconclusive.

I dont know I think its more science than anything. I know I am going to the extremes with this one but what do you think insects are doing with their antennae way outside of their heads? They are feeling something, I am sure it must be something along those lines. What it is exactly is outside of current scientific knowledge just as what causes the wind was once outside of our knowlede. It does invoke some thought over the theories about the ancient pyramids and pylons being antennae for laylines etc.

Good thread!