Dowsing

[dusza]

Background:
As a 14 year old kid I discovered the ability to find water sources with wooden dowsing (divining) rods. My father also found to have that ability. I know that there are many skeptics and this post is not to try to persuade anyone to believe in that “magic” force. All I know that I could feel the pull towards or away from the ground, presumably a water source. Interestingly, it worked great next to a water hydrant. I have found to have lost that ability shortly after moving from Europe to the U.S. I haven’t tested it in years and frankly don’t intend to at this point.

Question:
Do you believe that the church’s prohibition on divination and magic extends to dowsing?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Background:
As a 14 year old kid I discovered the ability to find water sources with wooden dowsing (divining) rods. My father also found to have that ability. I know that there are many skeptics and this post is not to try to persuade anyone to believe in that “magic” force. All I know that I could feel the pull towards or away from the ground, presumably a water source. Interestingly, it worked great next to a water hydrant. I have found to have lost that ability shortly after moving from Europe to the U.S. I haven’t tested it in years and frankly don’t intend to at this point.

Question:
Do you believe that the church’s prohibition on divination and magic extends to dowsing?

I voted “hooey”, but that’s probably colored by my own experiences. In my locale, it’s called “water witching” or “witching for water”, which has a sort of ominous name to it. When I was a kid, there was an old guy who was widely known to be able to “witch for water”. I saw him do it, and sure enough, some guys dug down and there was water.

It wasn’t exactly thought of as supernatural, more just one of those “folklore magic” things which were then common in the Ozarks, where I grew up. Some people attributed it to magnetism. Some said there was some affinity hickory (it had to be hickory) had for water (and it was believed, without any good evidence I could discern, that hickory trees were particularly vulnerable to lightning)

So anyway, I thought I would try my hand at it. Got me a hickory limb and carved a forked stick. You have to hold it in a peculiar sort of way that’s kind of unstable. Sure enough, before long, the end of the stick dived. My brother and I dug and sure enough…water!

Then he did it, with the same result. We repeated it with the same result. After a bit we began to really question the whole thing, and decided to just dig for water without even using the stick. Sure enough, water. Well, it turns out that this area is such that you’ll find water almost anywhere you dig. The hills are karst limestone with sinkholes and water layers everywhere. In the valleys, the creeks and springs actually extend to the edges of the valleys underground, though you can’t tell it from the surface.

So, yes, I think it’s hooey, just like I think all the many, many ghost stories around here are hooey, and like I think the will-o-the-wisp is hooey.

But you know, when you’re out in the woods on a dark night, and in the corner of your eye you see yellow or orange or red light that disappears when you try to look right at it, you can tell yourself it’s foxfire all you want, and you can still half believe it’s the ghosts of Indians or old settlers the old-timers tell you about. And when you are in a deep hollow at night and you hear something splashing in the water of a spring behind you somewhere, you can believe almost anything.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I didn’t answer the question, though, did I?

I think the Church’s position would be if you think it’s some kind of magnetic force or something, no problem. If you believe it’s somehow magic, it’s a problem.

 

[dusza]

Thanks for an honest response. FYI, some other kids would try it too and I was the only one experiencing the pull. It wasn’t everywhere, just in some spots and hydrants. I can vouch that I wasn’t trying to make the rod move as I would experiment with different holds, even firm ones, with the same result. If I was just fooling myself I wouldn’t have lost that ability, would I?

 

[didymus]

I fall between Satanic and a bunch of hooey.
Somebody called CA Live about this awhile back & Jimmy Akin said it would fall under the prohibition, his take being divining rod = divination, duh!

Obviously most folks who do this don’t have any evil intent & think they just have some sort of natural talent but the same can be said of more dangerous things like “psychic readings”.

 

[dusza]

I fall between Satanic and a bunch of hooey.
Somebody called CA Live about this awhile back & Jimmy Akin said it would fall under the prohibition, his take being divining rod = divination, duh!

Obviously most folks who do this don’t have any evil intent & think they just have some sort of natural talent but the same can be said of more dangerous things like “psychic readings”.

I avoided using the term “diving rod” precisely because it could be an old misnomer that sways the vote. But then again, perhaps it’s the right term, hence my question.

 

[hellopeople]

I have absolutely not idea what a dowsing rod is…it detects water? How so? Is it just a stick or something?

Also, why would the devil help you detect water? Of what purpose would it be? Also, if the devil is capable of making people have supernatural abilities, how do we not know that every miracle ever was not just the devil?

 

[Katerini]

Also, if the devil is capable of making people have supernatural abilities, how do we not know that every miracle ever was not just the devil?

Well, that’s why it is important that we use discernment, and not take every miracle at face value.

 

[curlycool89]

I think it’s a bunch of hooey. If you dig deep enough you’re bound to find groundwater because it’s all over the place. Finding water is not exactly a miracle. Now finding drinkable water is a little harder because most groundwaters have heavy concentration of salts and ions.

 

[Schn]

Same as all superstitious stuff. Hooey.

 

[Jermosh]

Smoke and mirrors. You can dig almost anywhere and eventualy find water.

 

[thistle]

Background:
As a 14 year old kid I discovered the ability to find water sources with wooden dowsing (divining) rods. My father also found to have that ability. I know that there are many skeptics and this post is not to try to persuade anyone to believe in that “magic” force. All I know that I could feel the pull towards or away from the ground, presumably a water source. Interestingly, it worked great next to a water hydrant. I have found to have lost that ability shortly after moving from Europe to the U.S. I haven’t tested it in years and frankly don’t intend to at this point.

Question:
Do you believe that the church’s prohibition on divination and magic extends to dowsing?

Dowsing is divining and all forms of divination are a grave sin.

CCC 2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

 

[Schn]

Dowsing is divining and all forms of divination are a grave sin.

CCC 2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

Which was convenient in the past because it meant you could easily persecute pagans. Weed out the competition.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Which was convenient in the past because it meant you could easily persecute pagans. Weed out the competition.

Divination was condemned in the Judeo-Christian tradition back when pagans were on the persecuting end, and were for centuries. Not persuasive.

 

[dusza]

Smoke and mirrors. You can dig almost anywhere and eventualy find water.

I actually never looked, dug for, or found water except when the stick pointed at a hydrant, but I most definitely felt the pull of an unknown force, sometimes quite strong and unmistakable. FWIW, had it not been for those experiences I would probably also be a skeptic . Of course, I don’t intend to try it again over the concern that it might indeed be demonic (I’m quite happy to be a Catholic in good standing even if I wasn’t then), so I would discourage others as well. I will probably discuss it with a priest, since I never have.

 

[tafan]

Dowsing is divining and all forms of divination are a grave sin.

CCC 2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

Dowsing does not fit into any of the categories of occult practises listed in paragraph 2116. It is not divination. Water witchers do not attempt to conjur up any spirt or supernatural power, they honestly believe it is an unknown natural phenomena. I knew one, who died a few years ago, but whom all the farmers in my hometown would use for well placement, in a very dry climate. Very interesting stories. He attended daily mass and was very religious his whole life. He would have been shocked to see someone even consider it a form a divination.

 

[m134e5]

I actually never looked, dug for, or found water except when the stick pointed at a hydrant, but I most definitely felt the pull of an unknown force, sometimes quite strong and unmistakable. FWIW, had it not been for those experiences I would probably also be a skeptic . Of course, I don’t intend to try it again over the concern that it might indeed be demonic (I’m quite happy to be a Catholic in good standing even if I wasn’t then), so I would discourage others as well. I will probably discuss it with a priest, since I never have.

I don’t know if there is a natural explanation for dowsing, but if it is a supernatural gift, it certainly does not come from God, if people have this gift without holiness. If there is any truth to this, I imagine there is a natural explanation. Some people are able to sense things that many others cannot (PTC paper, etc.), and water is such a strong need to us that it makes sense that at least some people can instinctively detect it.

 

[TedDC]

I think there might be an unknown natural phenomenon at the core of it, but it has been embellished with a lot of hooey.

I don’t believe for a moment that some external force causes the stick or rods to move - I’m sure it’s simply muscular movement done unconsciously by the person holding the object. But I do think that movement, in some cases, may be triggered by sensing small magnetic or gravitational variations which might indicate buried objects. I believe some animals have that ability, and use it for navigation.

I’ve experimented a few times with using bent coat hangers to detect underground pipes. It wasn’t very scientific, because I knew that the pipes existed and where they were. But the results were still pretty impressive. And I’ve seen utility-locating crews (the guys who put down colored paint and flags to mark buried lines at construction sites) use the same technique to double-check their electronic metal detector.

Anyway, it’s kinda fun to try. Just straighten out a couple of wire coat hangers, and bend them into an L shape, with the short leg maybe 5-6 inches long. Hold one rod in each hand by the short leg, like a pistol, with a loose enough grip that it can swivel freely. Then walk slowly toward a known buried pipe or cable, and see if the rods swing horizontally.

It’s funny, with me the rods always swing inward when I’m over a buried object, crossing over themselves. But for the neighbor who showed me the technique, the rods consistently swing outward.

 

[dusza]

I don’t know if there is a natural explanation for dowsing, but if it is a supernatural gift, it certainly does not come from God, if people have this gift without holiness. If there is any truth to this, I imagine there is a natural explanation. Some people are able to sense things that many others cannot (PTC paper, etc.), and water is such a strong need to us that it makes sense that at least some people can instinctively detect it.

That’s a good point, so I guess option #1 is most unlikely in my case . I have always leaned towards natural phenomenon, I know it’s not just a bunch of hooey, but now being a person of faith I’m also exploring the possibility of it being demonic, e.g. the devil trying to imitate the saints who had the God-given ability to locate underground water (Moses, St. Pio, St. Frances X. Cabrini).

 

[TedDC]

That’s a good point, so I guess option #1 is most unlikely in my case . I have always leaned towards natural phenomenon, I know it’s not just a bunch of hooey, but now being a person of faith I’m also exploring the possibility of it being demonic, e.g. the devil trying to imitate the saints who had the God-given ability to locate underground water (Moses, St. Pio, St. Frances X. Cabrini).

Not sure why Satan would want to help me find my water line…