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Left Brain/Right Brain

We have been trained very well to use our rational mind, our left brain. Most of us have spent much of the first two decades of our life sitting in rows, being quiet, paying attention and coming up with the answer that the teacher thought was correct. (I have a number of memories from my "academically-checkered" school career where the teacher told me that the answer I gave was wrong, when in later life, I realized that I was correct and the teacher was wrong - but this is beside the point here.) We learned how to quickly give the answer to such questions as:

"What is the sum of nine and six?"

I trust that you came up with "fifteen" rather quickly. You have trained your left brain, your rational analytical brain very - or at least reasonably - well. But what about:

"Is this person telling the truth?"

or

"Where is the nearest source of water to this house that is good and potable, less than twenty feet down, over five gallons a minute, and runs year 'round?"

In both cases, your rational skills will be of little or no use, You have to tap in to the other half of your brain - your right hemisphere, where intuitive, creative and spiritual awareness come from.

Just as you have trained your left brain to give you simple mathematical sums, dowsing is an excellent tool to get intuitive responses on demand.

But the important point here is that in dowsing you have to ask the right question (a left brain function) to get the best answer (a right brain function). For example with the last question above, if you only asked the first part of the question, "Where is the nearest source of water to this house?", your dowsing rod would show you where the nearest source of water to the house is, but it may be nine-hundred feet down, yield a thimble full of water an hour, taste like sulphur and runs dry for three months every summer!

Our unconscious takes our questions VERY literally.

In dowsing, you gotta' ask the right question to get the right answer! You must do BOTH good left brain analytical preparation of the question AND solid right brain intuitive work.

I call this conscious use of BOTH sides of the brain and valuing their answers EQUALLY "Gnowing." They say that today we use less than ten percent of our brain. Dowsing is a solid way of at least doubling this, and increasing the chances that what you are looking for will be correct.

I feel that gnowing is the path to greater consciousness - dare I say - the consciousness we will need as we move in to the New Age.

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The Pendulum

The pendulum is perhaps the most versatile and convenient of all dowsing tools, and this leads to it's great popularity amongst dowsers of all ages and abilities. It is of great importance to understand that dowsing is an inner process, a conversation between the rational and intuitive self, the left and right sides of the brain working synergistically. Any dowsing tool is thus a passive witness to this process - something that our physical body can use to bring its deep, unspoken awareness of the All to the conscious awareness of the alert mind.

Terry Ross, author of "The Divining Mind" asserts that the ultimate goal of all dowsers is to "go deviceless" - to dowse without the aid of any tools at all.This is the equivalent of riding a horse bare-back, without harness or saddle, whip or spurs, and is indeed a desirable and graceful state - to have one's intuitive awareness developed and awake at all times - an integrated and completely natural part of who we are and how we relate to the world. However, the focus and discipline that comes from learning to use tools in a competent and reliable fashion helps to train the inner dowser and make familiar the doors and pathways between the worlds, offering also a degree of protection and orientation along the way - a touchstone when charting unfamiliar territory.

A pendulum is, quite simply, any weight or object that can be made to freely swing.

Whilst this can include key rings, necklaces and a host of domestic and office items, most pendulum users prefer a symmetrically weighted object, centrally suspended from a light chain or cord.

The nature of the dowsing tool itself is of no intrinsic consequence. Having said this, as with the tool of any craftsperson, dowsers develop very particular preferences of weight, cord length and material, many choosing pendulums of crystal, brass or copper, or items of personal significance with which they have a close bond such as a wedding ring or special talisman.

Choose a pendulum that is appealing to your sense of aesthetic, that feels comfortable to hold and that swings freely and symmetrically when held between forefinger and thumb.

There are various systems for using a pendulum. Be aware that there is no right or wrong way to use dowsing tools. When learning to dowse we are simply programming "software" into our dowsing computer and can choose any program that suits and pleases us. If you already have a system that works for you, use that. If not, try the following:

Preparing to dowse

Sit comfortably, back upright, feet on the ground shoulder width apart.

Hold the cord of your pendulum between thumb and forefinger, and have these fingers pointing downward (see photo above). The cord should be around two to three inches in length.

The Search Position

The neutral or search position is achieved by setting the pendulum into a "to & fro" swing or oscillation, towards and away from your body, in the midline over the space between your knees.

Yes and No

Next, maintaining the neutral swing, hold the pendulum over the knee on the dominant side of your body (generally the right side for those who are right handed, and the left side for those that are left handed).

As you do this, ask to be shown a clear signal to indicate "yes".

This may be any alteration in the swing, and typically is found to be a rotational swing in a clockwise direction.

Next, take the still-swinging pendulum back to the midline and allow it to return to the neutral or search "to & fro" swing.

Now move the pendulum over your non-dominant knee and ask to be shown a clear signal to indicate "no".

Again this may be any alteration in the swinging motion of your pendulum, and typically is found to be a rotational swing in the opposite direction from your "yes" signal.

If you find that you spontaneously get clear signals for "yes" and "no", go with those - congratulations !

If you found that no signals emerged on their own and that the pendulum remains in it's neutral to & fro swing when over one or both knees, simply choose your yes and no signals and "program them in" by making your pendulum swing in the way you choose whilst over the appropriate knee.

This is not cheating - you are merely establishing a symbolic language to use between mind and body, and once it is familiar it will become automatic and serve you long and well.

If you do have to choose and program your signals, I encourage you to use a full circular clockwise rotation for "yes" and a full circular anticlockwise rotation for "no".

"Yes but" and "No but"

It is helpful to have "half signals" - incompletely developed "yes" and "no" signals to indicate a weak response and suggest that more questions need to be asked to achieve clarity.

It is also helpful to have a "misleading question - stop and rethink" signal - this can help to let you know if you are on the wrong track and save you confusion and fruitless questioning.

Practice Makes Perfect…

If pendulum dowsing is new to you, you are likely to find that sustained and patient practice is required before your responses come swiftly, easily and reliably.

We are after all learning a new skill and a new language, and although it is not an apparently complicated one, it is a new sensory-motor skill and requires repetition to become an integrated part of who we are.

I suggest that for the next two weeks you find two or three minutes each day to sit quietly and practice getting your dowsing responses, moving from side to side from the neutral position through your "yes but" and "no but" signals to your fully developed "yes" and "no" signals over your knees, and also practicing your "wrong question" signal.

Asking questions through dowsing - The Eight Step Method

When you first open an inquiry with your dowsing, or when you change dowsing topics, it is important to first check that it is timely and appropriate to be using your dowsing for this particular purpose.

Sometimes we may be asking questions which cannot yet be answered, or that may not be for us to know the answers to - issues of psychic intrusion and trespass can occur if we are asking questions outside of our legitimate concern for example, and under these circumstances our dowsing may be inaccurate or misleading.

Not all dowsers use this opening sequence when starting a fresh dowse, but I have found this process very helpful in helping me tune in to what I am about to dowse and to focus my intent.

Begin by setting your pendulum in motion in the search position

1. State clearly the topic of inquiry you wish to pursue - This is what I want to do. This is like turning on the radio. It is letting you unconscious know what you are about to do. You should get a "Yes" response.

2. "Can I ask about this ?" (meaning, "do I have sufficient skill & competence ?")

3. "May I ask about this ?" ("meaning, do I have permission ?") * please note - if you are dowsing in relation to another person or their affairs, the verbal request or permission of that individual should first be sought. Dowsing works best in response to genuine need and less well in response to idle curiosity or unwelcome intrusion. Be responsible and respectful and your dowsing will work better for you.

4. "Am I ready ?" (meaning "is this a timely moment to make this inquiry ?" - energy moves and unfolds in cycles, and sometimes our own energy is not ready to be dowsing a certain topic, or the topic may not be ready to be revealed - waiting a while and then trying again may sometimes be necessary)

If you receive a "yes" to all the above questions, you can then go freely ahead with your inquiry.

5. Ask the Question

Phrase each of your questions such that a "yes" or "no" response is a full and complete answer. This requires a little practice, and typically when one is mislead through dowsing, one sees retrospectively that the question asked was ambiguous or that more than one meaning could be inferred from the answer received.

Recently, Tony Kenninsh, a fellow dowser here in Glastonbury, gave me a tip on how to miminize the possibility of you influencing your answer. He suggests that the first thing you say when asking the question is:

"Excluding my own conscious and unconscious thoughts, beliefs and needs for a specific answer ..." Then state your dowsing question. This reinforces step # 6.

6. "I wonder what the answer will be?"

Once the question has been asked, there is typically a short pause before the pendulum swing indicates the answer. During this time it is important to hold an open mind, unattached to the answer that we are about to receive.

One can hold this open mind either by continuing to ask the question until the response is fully established, or by entering a state of childlike innocence and excitement, as though wondering what is beneath the wrapping of ones' Christmas present "I wonder what the present will be ?!" - "I wonder what the answer will be ?!"

7. The Answer - "Yes" or "No"

8. "Is this the truth?" You genuinely want to know this, so it serves as a final check.

If you plan to ask more than one question about any given subject, at this point, you don't have to go back to the beginning again, but rather go back to step number 5, and ask the next question.

Dowsing blind

This unattached and open minded state can be hard to achieve if the question is highly emotionally charged or bears great consequence, particularly for oneself or a loved one.

In these circumstances, one can get a little more distance by writing the question(s) down on a piece of paper, and several other questions to which the answers are already known (is today Saturday ? - does the Thames run through London ?) on similar pieces of paper.

Turn all the pieces face down and shuffle them around until you can no longer tell which is which, and then dowse each piece one by one - "what is the answer to the question on this piece of paper?"

Not only does this allow you to dowse with less investment in the outcome, but it also allows you to check your accuracy and can help you to assess how much weight to place on the information your dowsing reveals.

Checking and building confidence

Getting another dowser to check your answers can be tremendously valuable, and if you find that your friend gets a different answer to yours, look carefully to see whether the difference is truly in the dowsing response or if it is actually related to a difference in the questions asked or the way that you are each interpreting the words and meaning of the question.

You can check your accuracy by dowsing questions that you will shortly know the answer to - when making a phone call for example you can first dowse to see if the person that you are calling is at home / in their office - and if they are whether their answer machine is switched on... you'll get instant feedback but again look to see if inaccuracies are due to an ambiguous question...

If you find that your dowsing is misleading you, stop and try again later when you are again feeling alert and clear.

Remember that genuine need is the best key to unlock your dowsing faculties, and this in itself will help to direct your dowsing and indeed the alignment of your energy generally in relation to the world. I like to say "thank you" to the All Source when I'm finished a dowsing inquiry - it helps to keep ones' energy aligned with Grace and also fosters a sense of reverence and respect for this innate and wonderful gift that we all share. Good Luck and Good Dowsing!

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Dowsing with L rods

(Please note - a complete introduction and system of dowsing is described under pendulum dowsing - if you are not already a dowser we suggest that you read the pendulum dowsing section first before acquainting yourself with the other tools.)

What Are L rods?

L rods are amongst the favourite tools of the dowser and are typically used for dowsing searches that are concerned with locating linear features such as water veins, energy lines or archaeological features, and are helpful when covering any distance out of doors.

The L rod may be made from any material, copper, brass, steel and coat hanger wire all being popular. They are so-named because of the shape of the rod, having typically a hand-held section of rod six to eight inches in length bent at a right-angle to a section of ten to eighteen inches which is held away from the body at or near the horizontal.

You can easily make yourself a pair from coat hanger wire by cutting and bending coat hangers into shape - one for each hand. Bend the tips over so that you are not left with a sharp point, and if you wish you can make sleeves for the handles by slipping the empty body of a biro pen over the short sections of the L, which makes the rods more sensitive by allowing them to swing more freely.

Using the L rods

The search position for your L rods is achieved by holding them one in each hand, slightly out from the body with the hands a comfortable shoulder-width apart and the rods in parallel pointing away from the body at or near the horizontal. (Looks like a cowboy holding two pistols...).

Your L rods will swing more freely and sensitively the nearer they are to the horizontal, and if you need them to be a little less responsive, such as if you are walking or out in a wind, drop the tips of the rods down below the horizontal which will make them a little more stable and slower to react.

"Yes" and "no" responses are gained by holding the rod to the right or left, or dominant or non-dominant sides of the body while asking to be shown your signals for "yes" and "no". The rods will typically open apart for "yes" and close or cross over each other for a "no" response, although as with the other tools the response that you get or choose to use is an entirely personal matter.

You can get additional responses from your L-rods by having only one of the two rods swing or both rods swinging in the same direction, giving you sufficient responses for your "yes but", "no but" and "wrong question" signals.

Finding the Target - Triangulation

If you are searching for hidden features in a large area, you can start by dowsing in which direction you should begin your search - "Where did I leave my car in this parking lot ?" - "Where is the missing engagement ring..."

To do this, hold one L rod out at arms length and slowly rotate your body while repeating the question.

The tip of the L rod will "stick" like a pointer-dog when it is pointing in the right direction even though you continue to rotate your body and arm past the point.

You can then either proceed to walk in the direction indicated with your rods held in search position until your receive another dowsing response, or else you can go to a second point in the area of search and repeat the rotation procedure to get a second line on the target, thus giving you the proximity of the object of your search by triangulation - where the two lines indicated by your rods meet, "X marks the spot".

On-target Responses

When moving over an area looking for a particular feature such as a water vein or energy line, either following a triangulation line or simply "quartering" the ground, keep the L rods out in front of you and parallel with each other in their search position.

Be as specific as you possibly can in the question that you are asking - "Show me the water vein feeding my well" - "Show me the strongest energy line to place my meditation seat upon".

When you get close to the object of your search, the tips of the L rods will start to split apart, and once your hands are exactly over the feature, the rods will be pointing in opposite directions and they will be parallel to the feature that you have found.

This immediately gives you the both the location and directionality of your target, and you can use the previously described "yes" and "no" responses to gather more information about the feature that you have found, such as depth, strength, potability and seasonality of a water vein.

Tracking a Linear Feature

Once you have found your drainage pipe, water vein or energy line, you may track it over a distance of its course by moving along sideways facing it, intermittently pushing your rods over it to re-establish its location and directionality.

Another technique is to place your body directly over the line and face yourself long its path.

This done, point your rods along the line in search position and ask the tips to point at the center-line of the feature that you are going to follow. You can then proceed along the line, allowing your rods to point slightly together like the edges on the point of an arrow, keeping you on track and pointing you back on course if you stray to one side or another.

If you are looking for one particular point along such a feature, such as a break or block in a pipe or a power centre along an energy ley or water vein, you can arrange to have your rods split fully apart or cross completely over each other when you arrive at this point in your tracking.

Useful Pointers…

One or two pitfalls to be aware of when seeking for or tracking features "in the rough" -

Water veins and energy lines have two edges and a centre, and sometime also have dowseable energetic "auras" out beyond their anatomical edges. It is important to be highly specific when dowsing as regards which bit of your target you are looking for or finding...

Also, a common error for beginners using L rods is to get the dowsing response occurring when their feet rather than their hands are over the target - this is simply a question of practice and intention, and can be checked by dowsing over the target from both sides of the feature, and paying attention to whether the same spot is found or whether there is an apparent "lag" in the response occurring, giving an apparently different response point - were your feet or your hands on the same spot when the response occurred ?

L rods are tremendously useful and versatile tools and certainly are worth a bit of patience and perseverance in gaining their acquaintance. There is a good deal of variation in weight and rod length and you wish to experiment until you find a pair that feel comfortable in your hands.

Most dowsers will quickly and easily find a friendly pair of L rods and get clean and clear dowsing responses with them. As with the other tools, any trip-ups are typically caused by inadequate or ambiguous question asking, so if you find yourself mislead at any point, do go back over your dowsing inquiry and see if you can find where the error crept in - this is not in order to blame or shame yourself, but to let you know that you are in grand company with the rest of us and to learn from your occasional mistakes…

Enjoy :-)

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Dowsing with a Y rod

(Please note - a complete introduction and system of dowsing is described under pendulum dowsing - if you are not already a dowser we suggest that you read the pendulum dowsing section first before acquainting yourself with the other tools.)

What is a Y rod?

The Y rod is the traditional tool of the water dowser and is still favoured by many water dowsers both professional and amateur.

The time-honored Y rod is a forked stick of apple or hazel wood although nowadays many dowsers have switched over to Y rods of plastic construction - I was proudly shown a Y rod fashioned from an air hose salvaged from a diesel engine and some strong tape by one dowser which goes to show that anything you truly need is already near at hand...

Y rods can be of any size and are typically one to two feet in length. Wooden Y rods are generally best when freshly or recently cut so that they are still somewhat springy, although some dowsers have favourites that they keep using over a great length of time.

Getting Dowsing Responses From the Y-rod

Hold the two "legs" of the Y rod one in each hand, palms upward and thumbs pointing outward. The single leg of the Y should be pointing away from you, held at or somewhat above the horizontal, with the arms a comfortable distance out from the body somewhere between waist height and chest height. It is necessary to hold the rod in such a way that there is some degree of tension in the Y rod, so that a dowsing response can quickly develop over the target of search or in response to a question.

The Y rod has only two responses - a swing of the single leg upwards or an equivalent swing downwards (gentlemen beware).

You can quickly establish your "yes" and "no" responses by asking for them as you position the Y-rod towards the dominant and non-dominant sides of your body, and once known in which way the Y-rod reacts for "yes" and "no" you can use it for simple question answering similarly to the pendulum and other dowsing tools.

Using the Y rod for Target-finding

The classic use of the Y rod is in finding linear features such as water veins or points along them such as the best place to dig or drill a well.

Direction finding with the Y rod is achieved by first posing a clear question - "where is the best place to site a well for my new home ?" while holding the Y rod out in its search position and then slowly rotating your body until the Y rod dips or rises strongly.

The direction in which the single leg of the Y rod is pointing when the dowsing response occurs is the direction in which you should walk to find your target, or you may choose to repeat the procedure from a second point and get two indicated lines for triangulation - where the lines cross "X marks the spot".

Once you have a direction to proceed towards your target, again hold the Y rod out in search position as you walk steadily forwards.

You will feel the Y rod begin to either dip downwards or pull upwards as you approach your target and it will typically fix into a vertical position over the exact location that you seek.

Sometimes your Y rod will make a complete and enthusiastic 360x rotation in your hands when you reach your target (gentlemen beware).

Information Gathering

Once you have found your target you can get more information about what you have found by asking "yes" / "no" questions using your previously established "yes" and "no" responses - "is this a vein of potable (drinkable) water ?" - is this the drain leading to my septic system?"

If necessary you can follow the feature that you have located by swinging the rod repeatedly over the vein or line as you walk along it and tracking the point at which the dowsing response occurs.

Remember that features such as water veins and energy lines have a centre, two edges and sometimes a dowseable "aura" out beyond their anatomical edges.

Many dowsers find Y rods clumsy and awkward to use, preferring a combination of pendulum and L-rod; however the Y-rod retains its popularity and great loyalty is displayed towards it by a great number of dowsers, particularly amongst the water dowsing community.

It is certainly a tool that deserves a respectful acquaintanceship, and if you choose it as your preferred dowsing helpmate you will be following in a grand tradition stretching back at least as far as the recorded history of dowsing itself.

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Dowsing with a Bobber (a.k.a. Wand)

(Please note - a complete introduction and system of dowsing is described under pendulum dowsing - if you are not already a dowser we suggest that you read the pendulum dowsing section first before acquainting yourself with the other tools.)

What is a Bobber?

The bobber, also known as a wand) is not frequently used as a dowsing tool, but those who do use them love them with a passion. It is a useful skill for any dowser to be able to use many different tools, as circumstances of necessity can be unpredictable, and also some dowsing tasks are more easily accomplished with particular tools than others - pendulums or very light L-rods for example can be difficult to use in windy conditions when out of doors.

A bobber is a length of springy material such as a freshly cut branch or "switch" typically two to three feet in length, held more or less horizontally at one end in the hand and weighted more heavily at the end held away from the body.

The weighted tip of the bobber is where the dowsing response takes place, and the responses available from this tool include the tip nodding up and down vertically, swinging to left and right in a horizontal plane, oscillating in a clockwise or anticlockwise motion, or any combination of the above.

Using the Bobber

To establish your responses with a bobber, start by holding the bobber out in front of you in the midline, and setting it into a neutral or search "bounce" up and down in the vertical plane. (Some folks have an absolutely stationary tip for the search position, but this is hard to maintain if one is walking or moving about).

As with pendulum dowsing, you can then go ahead and get "yes" and "no" responses by moving the bobber to the dominant and no-dominant sides of your body and consciously asking "please show me my signal for yes" and "please show me my signal for no".

"Yes but", "no but" and "wrong question" responses can also be established.

To bob, or not to bob…

The bobber is a somewhat cumbersome tool if one is simply sitting quietly asking questions of ones' dowsing, although it certainly can be used in this way - I prefer a pendulum in such cases - but the bobber comes into its' own if one is out of doors covering the ground looking for features such as water veins, energy lines or archaeological features.

In these cases the bobber can go ahead of one snail-like as an antenna or proboscis, giving one advanced warning of features ahead.

A well-balanced bobber is a very sensitive tool, and some find it a friendly weight and action in the hand. Also they can easily be fashioned at a moments notice from a springy branch or stem giving great versatility to the dowser caught without tools...

Try one and see for yourself if it helps you to go bob, bob, bobbing along!

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This combination dowsing tool was developed by Verne Cameron in California in the middle of the last century. It is essentially a spring loaded L rod, but it has many different uses and can act as a number of different dowsing tools.

The Cameron Aurameter in the usual Search position.
Note the tip is pointing slightly up.

As its name suggests, it was initially designed to look at human auras, and to find holes in them. (For example, we humans usually have a hole in the small of our backs.) This tool is not very good at looking for a specific point as in Drill here but rather, it is excellent at defining outer perimeters of energy fields, or for following underground veins of primary water, or other less than straight energetic phenomena.

	Now here's the most important tip I can give you: When following the path of a vein or any other energetic sructure, push against the edge of it.
Map Dowsing the Glastonbury Ley Map. Notice how the tip of the Aurameter has been turned to point down and it is "sticking" on the Glastonbury Tor. This map is by Palden Jenkins.

Do not allow the aurameter to get into the L rod search position because when it does that, >it is very easy to loosecontact with the vein or energy line. Push against the vein. Keep the wire bent. Let the tip lead you like a dog on a leash.

For map dowsing, bend the tip down "like a sniffing dog" and it will lead you just as if you were on site. /*Map Dowsing the Glastonbury Ley Map. Notice how the tip of the Aurameter has been turned to point down and it is "sticking" on the Glastonbury Tor.

The Aurameter, unlike any other dowsing tool that I am familiar with, can do two dowsing operations at once. While following a vein, for example, you can ask a question like, "Is this vein more that twenty feet down?" The tip will still follow the vein, but, like a wand or bobber, it will bob up and down for "Yes" or go side-to-side for "No." This is the only dowsing tool I know of that can do this. So it can follow something (by pushing against it and moving forward), but at the same time, you can be asking yes or no questions about the thing you are following, or something else, by using the tip as a bobber or wand.

In closing, I need to say that this tool is rather expensive, and most dowsers do not need one. However, if you frequently need to follow things ? like veins of water or other energies, it is much less stressful on your arms and wrists than other tools. Also, it is the best there is for helping others to see the curving energies that you are finding.

And, of course, it is great for looking at auras!

You can purchase a Cameron Aurameter at the Tools Section of BSD Supply. It is my favourite tool for work in the field when exploring sacred space, and judging by the "Which dowsing tool is most commonly used" poll in the British Society of Dowsers (BSD) Form, a growing number of other BSD dowsers would agree.

Now that you know how to use dowsing tools, your ready to look into how geomancers use this ancient tool.

For further dowsing instruction, check out our Geomantic Events page, the American Society of Dowsers, and the British Society of Dowsers.

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