Figure 1 – Pictured are different types of dowsing tools
This year at the 2017 Fall Conference, the kick-off class will be hosted by TYHSON BANIGHEN, from 1:00 – 3:00, with a how-to Basic Dowsing session.
If you are interested in dowsing, and would like to learn from a master, then this is the event for you!
My first exposure to dowsing was in my childhood. My dad needed to dig a new well on the farm, and was hoping that it would be able to be situated between the house and the barn. He called our neighbor, Lloyd H., and asked him when he would be able to come to find a well site for us. Lloyd set a date for the following week.
When Lloyd arrived, he was surprised to find several of our other neighbors already waiting for him. You see, Dad had let some of the neighbors know that Lloyd would be dowsing for a new well, and everyone wanted to see how it was done.
Lloyd chatted for a few moments, and then went back to his truck to retrieve a two foot long willow stalk that was forked at one end. The willow stalk looked like a very young tree had been cut off about a foot and a half below the fork or “Y” in the stock.
He closed his eyes and seemed to mumble to the Willow. The Willow looked like it jerked up and down several times. For a youngster, it was very mysterious and even scary that a tree branch seemed to have a life of its own. Lloyd then asked everyone to move off to the side of the area that he would dowse, and everyone moved to stand by the lilac bushes.
He then started to walk around the area in ever widening circles. The Willow bobbed slightly as he walked, but did not do the big jerks that it had in his initial contact with it. After about twenty minutes, all of us observers were getting fidgety. And there were some murmurs that it was time to head home. Dad asked everyone to be patient. He described how several years earlier he had asked Lloyd to dowse for a spot to dig a dugout to water our cattle. Lloyd had successfully found a spot at the east end of the pasture and our neighbors knew that Dad did not worry about it ever going dry, even in winter. The group settled down.
Then about forty-five minutes into the ever widening circle that Lloyd was walking, the Willow began jumping. Lloyd walked back and forth across the area several times, from all directions, to make sure that he had accurately identified the spot. He told my Dad that this spot was where to drill and dig, and Dad marked it with several stones. And, yes, the neighbors were impressed and a little bit spooked just as I was.
The well was drilled and dug out and cribbed within the next two weeks. A water line was run to both the house and to the barn. The well was still alive and well (no pun intended) when my sister last visited the farm, now owned by others, five years ago.
I never forgot the sight of the Willow jumping for Lloyd, and in my nine year old mind, he was a magic man. Years later, because of Lloyd, I began to learn about dowsing, and, I now use it as part of my daily life.
Figure 2 – Picture of a Willow Divining Rod
Submitted by Judith Hirst, Public Relations Committee