Paranormal
Dowsing is the ancient and mysterious art of detection of the unseen, and appears to tap into levels of knowledge held in some higher plain of consciousness.
Probably best known for its application in divining water, dowsing is also used for the detection of drains and electricity, missing people and animals, and even for healing purposes. The British and U.S. forces are known to have used this art for locating land mines, where other methods have not been available.
However, the interest here, is in dowsing for the detection of what has become known as Earth Energies, not ley-lines as thought by some. 'Leys', discovered by Alfred Watkins in 1921, are purely lines connecting ancient and sacred sites in a strange straightness. In fact, Watkins himself was not happy with the use of the word 'Ley' and for his own purposes, and more clarity, he introduced the term 'old straight track'. The connection between ley-lines and dowsing came much later, when it was discovered by some that these lines, or tracks, could be detected by dowsing of some form of energy seemingly associated with them.
What are Earth Energies?
There is considered evidence that in the ages in which sacred stone circles and sites were laid down, there was a deep spiritual relationship between mankind and the all-providing Earth. Daily involvement with earth energies was probably a central fact of life, and a most important part of worship and ceremony. The earth was the all-provider, the ground on which to grow the crops, to feed the cattle, and to nurture all natural life. It is perhaps this deep spiritual energy that we can detect today, laid down by our ancestors through their worship.
It is not a new-age phenomenon. Earth Energy has been talked about in literature since Pythagorus and forms the basis, and alignment of nearly all sacred sites, and churches etc, whatever the religion, prior to the Reformation, seemingly located on north/south and east/west energy lines, with towers at the points where those lines cross. It is thought also, that these lines are not haphazard or without some logic, that they are all part of one huge grid of such energies covering the whole of this planet. It is an aspect covered much by more recent literature, and examples of this grid-like structure, possibly geodesic dome, are shown to exist in different parts of the world. We await the concise findings to prove this.
One of the best books written on the subject of ley-lines and earth energies, is The Sun & The Serpent by Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst. This book sets out the discoveries of the writers in their dowsing of the energy lines that are found in, and that can trace, the well known Michael & Mary 'straight tracks' that traverse southern England from Cornwall in the west to the Norfolk coast in the east.
To quote "there seems to be an undeniable intuition that deep mysteries lie hidden in the landscape, and that the vanished civilisations that gave us Stonehenge, Avebury and a baffling array of earth and stone structures throughout the land were guided by a purpose that was profound indeed. This book is an exploration into the forgotten territory of natural energies that our ancestors undoubtedly understood. On the face of it, taking a single phenomenon such as the St Michael line can never give us more than a glimpse of the intention behind such an extraordinary concept".
The writers, in talking about dowsing, say: "Much mystery hovers about the idea of a latent sixth sense which can, with the aid of rods or pendulum, detect and measure the energies emanating from the earth, yet it is clear that when refined, dowsing can be an extremely accurate method of sensing the unseen. Like any other talent, it can be developed to a fine degree of sensitivity, and the fact that so many people can dowse to some extent may indicate that what we are really dealing with is a sense that has atrophied through disuse, a side of the human mind that has been locked away for a very long time… Dowsing these unseen energies leads into the world of multi-dimensional forces that lie behind the physical reality we observe with our ordinary senses."
However, these energies seem to be elsewhere other than just purely on these ley-lines, or old straight tracks. They appear to radiate all around these sacred sites, between sites within sites, from stone to stone, circles within and without circles, lines between and outside alignments and even emanating from the stones themselves as an aura. In respect of the latter, some dowsers are able to detect the siting or even shape, of stones that are no longer physically there, purely by the spiritual energy that has been left behind.
In his important book The New View Over Atlantis, John Michell explores with great insight the earth mysteries. He talks of the works of Guy Underwood, a well-known and expert dowser - quote: "Mr Underwood was both an archaeologist and a dowser. Through the use of a sensitive divining rod of his own design he was able to achieve great precision in tracing the course of that force to which dowsers respond. In the course of his work, he made the remarkable discovery that the entire geographical arrangement of prehistoric Britain coincides with the lines and centres of subterranean influences."
In addition, we can look even further afield for those energies, and in particular, to the crop-circles and formations that are becoming more and more commonplace. It cannot be argued that there is a big coincidence of examples of these phenomena happening near to, and within, those sacred sites that hold such energies, and to the lines, or straight tracks that join them. To quote John Michell in his introduction to The Sun & The Serpent: "We are living through a period of revelation. In response to the dire necessities of this apocalyptic time, answering the demand for real knowledge and wisdom, our minds and senses are receiving messages from nature - from Gaia as the Lovelockians have it… The UFO phenomenon has solidified from mere lights and rumours, now leaving its physical marks every summer in the form of energised 'crop circles' in the fields around Avebury, Warminster and other ancient parts of Wiltshire. Here again the question of meaning arises; and it arises also in connection with modern discoveries of aligned sacred sites ('leys') throughout the world, of temples orientated astrologically to receive light and energies from contain heavenly bodies, of the cosmological patterns and formulae which sustained ancient civilisations."
There is certainly a large body of opinion that crop circles are created by the underlying earth energies, and even perhaps by the occurrence of existing earth energies being distorted by the round-the-year change in the position and effect, of the Sun and the Moon. But not only crop circles, there have been many sightings of sheep, cattle, and even birds, seemingly taking up geometric formations on land near to, or within sacred and ancient sites. There have also been numerous instances of an energy of some kind, earth related or not, within formations causing nausea, sickness, defects to cameras and mobile phones, and even to the unprecedented curing of healing defects and long term illness.
So, our dowsing techniques can be put to use in the detection of energies within crop circles, but, being a fairly new or rediscovered exercise, there are no positive guidelines or rules to give. One dowser can get very different results from another through their different approaches and perhaps lack of technique and planning. Evidence suggests that these energies still exist after the crop has been cut, and that would seem the most sensible time to do the investigations; with no hindrance from standing or lying crop, pegs can be put in to mark the findings, strings can be laid to connect alignments and directions, and more accurate measured plans can be drawn.
How to dowse?
There are several books on the subject and many acknowledged experts, but not all are agreed on the methods and physical and mental attitudes necessary. It is generally agreed that the messages and information dowsers receive, are picked up from the earth by their bodies, and not by the tools they use. As all our bodies are different, how can reactions and interpretations be the same? With belief in the art, together with repetitive practice and a positive attitude, each individual will in a short time learn to understand and interpret his own reactions. Books can give guidance on how to hold the tools, with what physical posture, but given time you will find your own technique, one that fits comfortably with you. What is almost universally agreed, is that the dowser must be mentally aware and tuned to what he is looking for, and ask the questions relevant to the exercise i.e. divining for water, searching for electricity, or dowsing for energies… where is it? Which direction does it flow? Etc.
To quote again from the Sun & The Serpent: "the description of the right mental approach is at first perplexing and contradictory - relaxed concentration. If you concentrate too much you get nothing, and if you relax too much you get spurious results. In essence it is a matter of reaching an almost meditative state with one razor-sharp part of the mind inflexibly focussed on the precise thing that is being sought. Like many arts, there is a knack to it. This precision is eloquently illustrated by dowsers employed by electricity and telephone companies, who are able to differentiate between the two types of cable".
How good an expert can you become, there are no bounds, no restrictions as to the limit of talents you will find. "This ancient rapport within the hidden energies that surround us opens up limitless possibilities only bounded by the imagination. To focus the attention on the invisible side of nature is to create a bridge between the intellect and the intuition, striking a balance that is desperately needed in a world where rampant nationality has brought us to the edge of cataclysm. Experienced dowsers often find that after some years, they can throw the rods or pendulum over the nearest hedge, for they learn to sense the object of their quest without tools, seeing it with their inner eye. Dowsing, it seems, is the first stage of developing a form of clairvoyance and perhaps an important part in the next stage of human evolution".
