Anna Glypta Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Typically a guy with a couple of hazel twigs looking for water. Does it work? It seems that there are plenty who practice it but there is no scientific basis for it being effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithy266 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Yes, it works. I use welding wire, bent to an 'L' shape. The poll should say 'I know it works' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkey Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 There seems to be strong evidence that some people can find water through divining. But I think the 'healers' who claim to detect illness through divining are charlatans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Typically a guy with a couple of hazel twigs looking for water. Does it work? It seems that there are plenty who practice it but there is no scientific basis for it being effective. I doubt Yorkshire water would have paid him to do it if it didn't work. Dougie Scriven, 60, has been using divining rods to find underground leaks and old mains since he began working at Yorkshire Water 23 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavegirl Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I've read somewhere that dowsing works because of changes in electromagnetic fields within the landscape. I've used dowsing once as an archaeologist. We knew there were archaeological features (mostly wall foundations) beneath the ground but we didn't have a plan of where they were. We each walked across the field and every time the dowsing rods crossed we placed a cane in the ground and plotted it onto a plan. Not everyone had a reaction as they walked across the field. When we'd finally excavated and drawn the site we overlaid one plan onto another and there was about an 80% correlation between the dowsing canes and the presence of archaeological features. I don't think that it's the best method we have any more for locating features. Magnetometry, for example, is a far more advanced method, but I've known that go wrong on a few occasions. Magnetometry works due to the fact that soil always contains weakly magnetic minerals which can be read as 'general noise'. Any features or variations within the soils (particularly soils that have been affected by burning or burnt clay bricks for example) will create a variation in the levels of magnetism (higher or lower) which will offer a different reading to the general noise and they can therefore be mapped. It seems that dowsing might work on a similar principle, although much less reliably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubydazzler Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I doubt Yorkshire water would have paid him to do it if it didn't work. Dougie Scriven, 60, has been using divining rods to find underground leaks and old mains since he began working at Yorkshire Water 23 years ago. You can't 'teach' it. It's a gift, you either have it or you don't, in my experience. Most people don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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