Water dowsing: science, magic or straight up fiction?: The Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock Diaries no. 9
What is water dowsing?
Dowsing is a type of divination used to locate ground water (and can be used to find other things). It is also known as water finding, water witching and my personal favourite: doodlebugging.
The way to dowse is to use a Y shaped twig or rod or two L shaped rods called dowsing rods. In theory, the rods will cross when the operator has crossed a water pipe (or whatever else you’re looking for). The sceptics amongst us would say any movement is random and something called ideomotor phenomenon (I won’t go into this too much because we’d be here all day but essentially it’s a psychological phenomenon where movement is made unconsciously). On the other side of the coin, hardcore dowsers would say “they have the gift” – something I’ve heard numerously since I started dabbling with dowsing.
Spoiler alert: I have the gift... seemingly.
Jake is surprised the dowsing rods work for him
How did I come across dowsing?
I was thinking about different ways of finding water pipe lines for watering troughs or field drainage pipes and a couple of colleagues mentioned having a go with dowsing rods. To say I was sceptical at the beginning would be an understatement but I have said I’ll try everything once (within reason!) so when a colleague brought in a couple of shiny dowsing rods I jumped at the chance to give them a whirl.
The first place I tried was a water pipe connection point. Surprisingly the rods crossed! This was very exciting but I was still sceptical: where was the scientific evidence? So I walked away and returned to the same point, lo and behold the rods crossed. Still thinking about the excitement-killing ‘ideomotor phenomenon’, I considered that this might be me moving the rods unconsciously. With this in mind I decided to compare some fields we suspect might have field drains in them and areas we know for sure have field drains in.
Jake remains sceptical about dowsing
The result?
Now I’m probably going to disappoint both the sceptics and believers with this bit. I tried out the rods whilst I was planning future excavator work for the Wilder, Wetter Caerlaverock Project. At the beginning, the rods were crossing when I walked over known and suspected field drains. The next few drainage pipes I cross the rods stay straight. How confusing… Have I angered the dowsing gods? Have the rods gone to sleep? Or was the previous crossing of the rods all been by chance?
Unfortunately I can’t give you any concrete answers to that you’ll have to make your own minds up. Maybe before you decide though, give dowsing a go and see if you have the gift.
Words by Jake Goodwin
Pictures by Marianne Nicholson
