Knowing the Facts about Dowsing and Water Dowsing

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1 Knowing the Facts about Dowsing and Water Dowsing By Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon Published by ATRI Publishing Copyright 2012 ISBN License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture verses marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible. This ebook is taken from the author s book, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, updated Contents Title page Info at a Glance Introduction and Influence Nature Terms and Instruments Categories Uses Dowsing in the Church Claims for Biblical Dowsing Biblical Prohibitions Scientific Testing Occult Aspects Altered Consciousness Psychic Abilities Faith, Respect, and Interaction Linkage to Occult Practices Hereditary Transfer Christian Hindrances to Dowsing Uncontrollable and Supernatural Amoral, Yet Personal Energy

2 Dangers of Dowsing Practice Conversion to the Occult Dowsing and Spiritism Bibliography About the Authors Info at a Glance Description. Dowsing is a practice employing divinatory implements and methods in order to search out information, such as a site of water, the nature or location of disease and its proper treatment, lost objects, or missing persons. Founder. Unknown; the practice is ancient. How does it claim to work? Dowsing claims to work through a practitioner's supposedly natural sensitivity to nature's geomagnetic phenomena, "water radiations," or by some allegedly unconscious "motor ability" operating in an unknown manner. Scientific evaluation. Controlled testing has not confirmed dowsing powers scientifically. Examples of occult potential. The development of altered states of consciousness, psychic powers, or spirit contact are almost always possible. Major problem. Dowsing is not the natural human ability many assume; it is a spiritistic power. Biblical/Christian evaluation. Dowsing is rejected by description (Hosea 4:12) and by nature, i.e., divination (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). Potential dangers. Financial loss and other deception through dowsing failures; health risks through improper medical diagnosis or treatment; occult influences. Introduction and Influence Dowsing and water dowsing are ancient pagan practices that are essentially forms of divination.* The early Greeks called it rhabdomancy, "rod divination." Since ancient times it has been associated with pagan gods, the spirit world and occultists (refs. 1071/623/626; cf. Divination). Only in modern times has there been an attempt to place dowsing into the category of a natural human power that functions by currently unknown scientific laws. *Technically, dowsing is a type of radiaesthesia and, by extension, a form of psychometry. Dowsing per se comprises a large category of phenomena encompassing many different forms; its most recognizable aspect today being water dowsing. As Francis Hitching, a member of the British Society of Dowsers ( remarks in Dowsing: The Psi Connection, dowsing for water is only the tip of the iceberg. In the past, "as now, there were two ways in which the art was practiced: in the narrow sense of water finding, and perhaps mineral finding too, and in the much broader sense of divination in general, in which the rod could be used to gain unlimited knowledge" (623:39-40). Dowsing is related to New Age Movement in two basic ways. First, the energy said to be employed in dowsing is frequently claimed to be the same energy many New Age practitioners allege that they manipulate: prana, chi, ectoplasm, orgone, mana, and suchlike. This is illustrated

3 in books like Erwin Stark's A History of Dowsing and Energy Relationships, which assigns the source of dowsing power to the occult energy concepts found in dozens of cultures (626) Second, many New Age practitioners employ rod and pendulum dowsing in their work. For example, because they have developed psychic abilities, they often discover they can also dowse or use pendulums. New Age psychics in general may use "map dowsing" to locate a missing object or person. New Age healers may dowse with a rod and pendulum to diagnose a patient and to prescribe homeopathic or other remedies. Dowsing is also used in the popular practices of crystal work and Therapeutic Touch (1590:396). In addition, dowsing is frequently employed in New Age or transpersonal education" one reason being the emphasis modern dowsers place upon instructing children in their occult art (1352). And dowsing is fundamentally related to the occult practices of psychometry, radionics, and radiaesthesia, which enjoy widespread support in the New Age Movement (632:3-38/631:53-55). Dowsing societies exist throughout the world in Britain (The British Society of Dowsers), Kenya, Sweden, New Zealand, Austria, Argentina, Vietnam, Germany, India, Spain, Israel, Mexico, and other countries. In France, dowsers have a national union, and many countries' memberships run as high as several thousand, such as in the United States and Germany. In the United States, the American Society of Dowsers founded in 1961, has many M.D.s, lawyers, engineers, scientists, and even ministers among its ranks. Past president Gordon MacLean was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The modern impact of dowsing is unmistakable. Although dowsing literature often contains claims that are not documented or suspect, dowser Erwin E. Stark is correct when he argues that the influence of dowsing is greater than most people realize. The following account by Stark, at least illustrates the influence of dowsing:... Nearly 50% of all practicing doctors in France, I have been told, use some form of dowsing in their treatment... Also significant is that virtually every major water pipeline and public utility here and abroad has a "diviner" on its payroll... UNESCO has engaged a Dutch dowser and geologist to conduct official investigations. Noted dowser Evelyn Penrose was retained by British Columbia to locate oil and water resources... One authority reports that 150 Soviet geologists are using dowsing in their work.... Both Moscow State University and the University of Leningrad have established training schools in dowsing in cooperation with the Russian Army... Similarly, articles published in The New York Times (1967) confirm the use of dowsing by the First and Third Divisions of the U.S. Marine Corps in both Korea and Vietnam... This article entitled Quackery and Mumbo-Jumbo in the U.S. Military (August 21, 2012) exposes instances of acupuncture, cupping and other new age methods being used by the US Military, as well as the Iraqi military using dowsing rods: cine_in_the_military_acupuncture_cupping_and_moxibustion_are_endangering_troops_.ht ml

4 The Czechoslovakian Army maintains a permanent corps of dowsers. The Canadian Army Engineers also rely on dowsing. At U.S.M.C. Camp Pendleton in Southern California, young enlistees have been screened for their dowsing ability (626:14-16). Psychic magazine is correct in asserting that there is also some influence of dowsing among electrical engineers: Power company engineers are the most likely to be found carrying dowsing rods searching for underground lines. Steel plant maintenance engineers in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, have been known to use the rod for similar reasons. Though publicity shy, these busy engineers do not stop to question this particular ability; they use it, and use it effectively (643:13). The name "Culligan" is a household word in California and other states due to the Culligan "water softening" service. Founder Emmett Culligan was a proponent of dowsing, and in his Emmett Culligan on Water (812), he has a chapter "Water Dowsing Explained." Dowsing has also made inroads into some high schools and colleges. An issue of The American Dowser reports on the first Boulder Free School course in dowsing. Some of the topics included: visualization, psychic states of mind, map dowsing, dowsing "charts and the Ouija board," psychic healing, meditation, higher states of consciousness, shamanism (Carlos Castanada ( and the "huna philosophy"), hypnosis, and yoga (1073:15-16). The following report on Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, was also given in the The American Dowser. Note how the instructor uses dowsing as a vehicle for introducing students to other forms of psychic activity: At Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, only twenty miles from the ASD [American Society of Dowsers] headquarters in Danville, faculty and students have for years been free to engage in a variety of psychic studies. Many of these have followed the major tasks pursued by the great psychologist Carl Jung, particularly his investigations of dreams, mandalas and alchemy. Recently faculty and students have been studying dowsing as a technique for tapping intuitive/unconscious resources and knowledge... Psychic studies are seen as natural areas of inquiry. I find dowsing a convenient tool for enabling students to enter into new experiences and to talk about previous experiences. Many students cross a threshold in their work once dowsing has been introduced. By dowsing with them I demonstrate that it's acceptable to have and to discuss psychic experiences... Dowsing is an enlivening tool in numerous kinds of courses. This is especially so in courses geared to study "lateral" or alternative, non-lineal ways of thinking.... [D]owsing belongs in courses set up specifically to uncover the history of psychic research or the characteristics of psychic events.... It is particularly relevant in courses where psychic material is under consideration, that all students in the class have at least some limited shared experience of a psychic phenomenon.... The pendulum is by far the most easily accessible dowsing instrument for students (1074:150). The general literature on dowsing also reveals its influence. For example, a bibliography of the 1920s listed over 600 references, which at that time were said to comprise only a fourth of the total (623:7-8). Today that number has increased significantly. However, even today the literature on dowsing remains poor in quality, e.g., "[T]o read the dowsing literature is an

5 exercise in futility. Even if all the writing were narrowed to the last fifty years, it would still be a collection of contradictions, omissions, and personal opinions... The frustrating problem in examining dowsing literature is the subjective view taken by every writer" (514:2,32). Nature How does dowsing claim to work? Dowsers often allege that they possess a natural sensitivity to earth magnetism, water "radiations," or some other geophysical phenomena. They believe their dowsing stick or other device (often an occult pendulum) somehow "focuses" or otherwise "identifies" this energy and through it provides access to an unknown source of information, so that one is able to find water or other things, such as oil, treasure, or lost persons and objects. Virtually all dowsers agree that dowsing is somehow connected to a mysterious form of higher intelligence. As architect Ben Hester, a seasoned researcher of dowsing, comments:... it is agreed upon by all, that it is the tapping of a superior intelligence. That this intelligence is far superior... must be admitted. It is frightening to find it is also deceptive, contradictory, undependable, and often harmful... It must be remembered; there is supernormal intelligence involved in every type of dowsing. Dowsers explain this in a variety of ways: 1. From a throwback to ancestral knowledge or ability. 2. From a breakthrough to that great unused portion of the human brain. 3. From the Universal Mind. 4. As a gift from God. 5. As a gift from Satan (witchcraft, etc.) (514:90, 98-99). The fact that dowsing "works" is clearly the major defense put forth on behalf of this practice. Dowsers think that if it works it must therefore be both a helpful and legitimate method. Thus, whether dowsing is employed within the New Age Movement or outside of it, the practice is justified on the basis of pragmatic concerns; it works, therefore it is to be employed whenever relevant. As one dowser comments, "What interests us about all dowsers is not the theories they develop but the results they obtain. It is these results which will attract more and more adepts as well as less and less convinced adversaries" (682:116). On the basis of such pragmatism, Hoffman-La Roche, the huge multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, has had dowsers on its payroll since These dowsers seek water for the company's operations. When interviewed as to the unscientific nature of dowsing, a company spokesman replied as follows: "Roche uses methods that are profitable, whether they are scientific or not. The dowsing method pays..." (648:106). But so does the racetrack and casino. The deeper question is, Should dowsing be used if it is really a method of occult divination? Before we address this, we will now look at some common dowsing terms and instruments.

Knowing the Facts about A Course in Miracles

Knowing the Facts about A Course in Miracles By Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon Published by ATRI Publishing Copyright 2012 ISBN 9781937136765 License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal