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Divining Rods
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Posted By:
Winona
in USA
Apr 12, 2005
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When I was a kid my family lived in a pretty rural area. We needed to have a well dug so we called in a person who used divining rods for a living. The guy was pretty nice & taught us kids all how to do it. (little know factoid about me) We did find a great source of water in the spot on the property where he told us to dig.
So, what do you all think, is there a possibility that divining rods might be real, or is a hoax?
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Comments
Sharruma
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 07:46 PM
I remember a series a long time ago where they looked at a large variety of scams and hoaxes
They debunked everyone of them by showing how it could be done without anything mystical
Divining is the only one they couldn't shoot down,
though they tried.
Since it seems to work when I do it, I'm willing to believe there might be some reason it works. |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 07:46 PM
Most likely you could have dug just about anywhere on your property and hit the underground water table. Would you have not hit the water table had you dug 100 feet to the North or South? At least in our area the underground water supply isn't merely a narrow stream so to speak as much as it's a layer of water. The key to digging a well in Central Indiana isn't locating the exact spot needed to dig as much as it's determining how far down you need to go to reach the water. That's just my guess though... |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 07:51 PM
You know, right after I posted this - weirdly enough I went off to a different forum I occasionally read, and one of the topics on there was about Divining Rods. Celestine Prophecy, anyone? 😊
Mark, not sure. The area I lived in was considered semi-arid (yes, in Canada!). We found the water about 15-20 or so feet down as I recall... At that time we had a little less than 2 acres to work on.
Personally, I could see the possibility for it working, but that's just me. |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:07 PM
So Winona,
If you think that there is some possibility for it working... on what principles do you think it might work? Meaning, how do you think that it might be possible? Just out of curiosity. I haven't done any research into the matter because I've never really given much credence to it. Does the Rod (and no this no reference to our Canadian friend) have to be some specific kind of metal in order to work? Is it working (if it does) based on magnetism or something? Are there any magnetic properties to water? Or any other properties of water that might make this work? Perhaps if you were able to detect a strong field of co-valent (hydrogen) bonds you might be able to detect water... but can you do that with just a metal rod?
I don't know... was just curious as to what your thoughts on it might be... |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:09 PM
PS - About Canada being arid... that's not so hard to believe considering that Antartica is one the most arid places on Earth and considered by some to be the biggest desert on the planet. |
Katherine
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:19 PM
Um, Mark and/or Jen...I'm truly not trying to be rude or snarky or anything, but I'm drawing a blank here: how does Antarctica being a desert have anything whatsoever to do with Canada's aridity, or lack thereof? |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:24 PM
Um Katherine,
Deserts aren't defined by their sand content, common mistake. Deserts are defined by their aridity or lack of rainfall if you will... which there is surprisingly very little of in Antartica. I know, I was a little surprised to hear that when I first heard it to, but their explanation for calling it a desert made sense. Especially after I looked up the definition for "desert."
😕
PS - It's Mark btw... |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:28 PM
Also, didn't say the two were directly linked (Canada's aridity and Antartica being a desert) just that her part of Canada being arid didn't surprise me because you can have water everywhere and it still be arid... like in Antartica. After learning that Antartica was considered arid, and possibly a desert, that Canada being arid wasn't surprising to me. Winona stated that..."The area I lived in was considered semi-arid (yes, in Canada!)." like she expected me to be surprised by that... |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:30 PM
and I was just saying that it wasn't surprising to me because of... blah, blah, blah. I think she got what I was saying, maybe not, but it is after all just some light-hearted conversation right?
😊 |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:37 PM
Mark, not really sure how to answer that, because I don't know why I would think it works & haven't really given much thought to it. 😊
So, who knows. It could be that the person is just taking cues from the environment and then influences the movement of the rods subconciously. Or, maybe it could have something to do with earth fields. Not sure at all, wish I could explain better!!
About the metal - a lot of them use brass (I've seen 5-7 dowsers, as I come from a very small then-emerging community outside a small community) though I've also seen them use old coathangers. 😊
The guy who showed us kids how to do it showed us with his silvery colored metal ones, and also with forked sticks. So I assume it doesn't matter.... |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:38 PM
So does that give any idea whatsoever why I said that her part of Canada being arid didn't surprise me? You see where I was coming from now? |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:40 PM
Didn't mean to put you on the spot Winona, just figured that with your experience in the matter maybe you could contribute some information. Like maybe they had told you their operating theories behind it or something... plus, always looking to learn something new. UNLESS it's about DNA activation... I can't believe that thread is still coming up...
:roll: |
padego
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:41 PM
I would suspect Winona is from southern B.C. which has an arid region that stretches into Washington state. I'm on Vancouver Island and in the more rural areas divining is considered an art.
We have an old family friend who does it as a favour for friends and has a 95% success rate!
Go figure. |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:49 PM
padego, correcto! Though I don't live in Canada anymore...
Mark, didn't feel put on the spot, just had a hard time coming up with theories as it was (gasp) one of those things I accepted pretty blindly. Which is funny, because I do have a healthy bit of "prove how it works" in many other areas. On the other hand, I also have an interest in spirituality and the paranormal (with a very very strong sceptical sense though). |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 08:59 PM
I myself am one of those "let's see your proof" kind of people (almost to a fault sometimes) but am still always interested in hearing about things. Even the way-out-there theories are at least worth hearing about in my opinion because science is a great tool... but we are FAR from knowing everything there is to know about the physical world and how it works. Don't give much credit at all to the spiritual side of things other than it can better a person's life by making them feel better, however, paranormal is extremely interesting to me because as I stated before... our knowledge is VERY incomplete. For that matter, evolution might someday make things possible that aren't currently... who knows? |
Winona
in USA
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 09:04 PM
I have seen some weird things in my life, living in a supposedly haunted house growing up and don't think I'm crazy (some of you may diagree 😊 ) so that's where my interest comes from... but I do look for a better(?) explanation.
I think I need an on-topicsickle, even on my own topic. Sorry! |
Myst
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 09:21 PM
An old man I talked to once had done water divining all his life. He said he only used wood, such as small sticks. I asked him how he thought it worked? He said he honestly didn't know, he even wondered sometimes if it all wasn't just dumb luck. Despite his doubts he still did it, he said it was fun to do. |
Captain Al
in Vancouver Island, Canada
Member
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 10:05 PM
I recall reading on the James Randi website that 94% of the land on earth has water at a drillable depth below it.
They have tested many dowsers for the $1 million paranormal challenge. To test them they make them find a spot that has no water below. It goes without saying that none have come close to winning. |
Katherine
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 | 10:39 PM
<a href="http://www.skepdic.com/dowsing.html">Here's</a> an interesting linky on the subject if anyone cares to look... |
Charybdis
in Hell
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 08:35 AM
Dowsing is one of those "touchy" subjects. Unlike other paranormal claims, most dowsers actually seem to believe that they have the abilities they claim.
What happens when a fraud is tested and fails is that the testee immediately starts making excuses for why they failed (bad materials, bad subject, bad vibes Always with the negative waves Moriarty, always with the negative waves). They blame their failure on everything but themselves. Testers accept and even expect this. The progression of blame that a fraud uses is pretty standardized.
When testing a true believer who fails, however, the results are a little different. Usually they are just confused. They know that they have the power but, for some reason, it's just not working for them. It's sometimes a very sad scene when the believer realized that they have failed and the testers often feel sympathy for them that they would never feel for the frauds. They may even accept the responsibility for their failure at first. The end result is usually the same, though, as the believer eventually comes up with an excuse for failure that makes it not their fault. They then go back to their blissfully ignorant beliefs. |
LaMa
in Europe
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 09:30 AM
Rod, divine? No way, Rod..... |
Rod
in the land of smarties.
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 10:07 AM
For that comment, LaMa, I SHALL SMITE THEE AND ALL LLAMAS FROM THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE.
But later, I'm busy now. Damned Lego biible is too funny. |
X
in McKinney, TX
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 10:14 AM
It is well known that it works. They just have a hard time explaining how. There are alot of people that make a good living at it. |
Terry Austin
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 11:03 AM
Several thoughts.
First, if you dig in a random spot on land, you have about an 80-85% chance of hitting water. Most professional dowsers have about an 80-85% succcess rate.
Second, if dowsing worked, one of the hundreds of dowsers who have applied for the $1,000,000 JREF prize would have won by now.
Third, read through http://www.randi.org/library/dowsing/ for more information. |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 02:56 PM
What I have a hard time explaining is how Stephen can sound so "with it" most of the time and then come out with a comment like...
"It is well known that it works. They just have a hard time explaining how. There are alot of people that make a good living at it."
😊
I mean seriously Stephen, you could have just inserted DNA Perfection for the subject and you'd sound just like some of those silly idiots. Just because lots of people make a good living doing it (see Toby) doesn't make it any more valid. Just because someone can't explain it (again, see Toby) doesn't make it valid, in fact if our advanced sciences can't explain it... that should raise your skepticism. As for, "It is well known that it works." Well... that's just silly. Everyone knows that if you drill far enough, you'll find water MOST anywhere.
You must have been joking when you wrote this right? Just trying to get a rise from someone...
You little jokster you... 😉 |
Terry Austin
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 03:51 PM
Just because it's well known that it doesn't doesn't mean that it does work. |
Mark-N-Isa
in Midwest USA
Member
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 | 04:51 PM
What? I thought I was going going to understand this this sentence when when I first read it but in the end ended up confused. But what's what's new? |
Zygi
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 | 04:27 PM
Terry,
Yes, there were several dowsers that tried to challenge Randi and failed. I also know of several that challenged him and he didn't accept their challenge. Why? Maybe there was a possibility to prove him wrong?
Imagine that you are taking a test on a subject you know everything about, you've studied it from A-Z and live and breath it. You take the test in front of Randi and you are immediately intimidated, laughed at, ridiculed, and so on. You still take the test - and chances are you fail!
I did a search on James Randi and came up with several instances of less than perfect conduct and rather very unethical behaviour on his part.
As you can imagine - I do believe in dowsing. |
mak
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 | 10:11 PM
einstein was correct.
ive been very reluctant to come forward with this, my brother has convinced me otherwise.
think of a pipe full of water capped at both ends perfectly level. if u remeber you highschool science, you know the the water in the tube is comprised of matter and has energy. potential energy. if one lifts the tube of water above ones head, tilts it, upcaps the 1 end, it now has dynamic energy.
the dynamic energy can be used to generate power, push an object, etc.
you are made of matter, matter has energy. more importantly animated matter controlled by energy that your body generates. you are also mostly made of water. you are like the tube of water perfectly level at all times, this is the bodies natural state. the water in you has potential energy.
groundwater is always moving, trying to achieve a destination of the lowest point. therefor it has constant dynamic energy no matter the rate of flow. water and electricity behave the same when the are moving, they will always try and reach the lowest point.
the water inside you is filled with potential energy. the water moving in the ground has dynamic energy. the water wants to achieve it's natural state and reach the lowest point. one is able, one is not. the energies are attracted to one another like electricity. water and electricity share another common trait, they will always take the most direct route or shortest path to reach the lowest point.
when you divine with a rod, the rod is the conductor. it is a much better conductor than you, especially if the rods are metal. the shortest route for the energy trapped in the water within you to reach the energy in the water flowing thru the ground is thru the conductor straight thru the ground to the water travelling thru the ground whereby it would logically achieve it's lowest point.
since the water in you cannot achieve this unless it were to arbitrarily leave your body, the energies potential and kinetic attact - like a compass. the rod becomes the needle. |
mak
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Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 | 10:24 PM
Where r the spacemonkeys?
so if u read my previous post, i have ur attention. yes, that is how it works. by now your slapping urself in the forehead have a eureka moment and go "Of course!" u also have no doubt a lot of questions. and before u conjecture me with a barrage of what ifs, let me give you something entertaining to think about.
during the early years of the space race, man launched monkeys into space. many went up, but not all came back down. if the first monkey lauched was around 1961, and some of those subsequent monkeys didn't make it back, they should be still cruising thru space, if they haven't hit anything and been destroyed. if the voyager spacecraft was launched in the 1970s and has achieved a distance now past planet pluto, where are the spacemonkeys launched in the 60's?
WHERE ARE THE SPACEMOKEYS??
How far outside our solar system are the spacemonkeys if they are not all destroyed? |
Zygi
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Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 | 09:17 AM
I wouldn't consider James Randi a reliable source, just do a search on him and you will see a pattern of deceit and manipulations on his part.
If you can't "prove" something "scientifically" it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it just means that there are no tools (yet) to measure it :o) |
Digital Marketing Firm
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 | 09:56 AM
Anyone who puts up comments here saying it is fake, simply has never seen it. I have seen not only the rods locate a water source a well to be exact but also pick up on the energy fields our body gives off.
The first time I saw it I thought for a second he is moving them...until he gave them to me and said try.
"The less a man make declarative statements the less apt he is to look foolish in retrospect."
Go actually try it before you post an ignorant opinion. Those who want it explained...good luck. Explain what a black hole is.
Skeptics are only intelligent if they are not one sided and stubborn. Meaning I could show a skeptic like many here and they would still deny it. Fools that live in their limited minds. |
fergy
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 | 09:39 AM
I've never tried to find a spot for a well, so I don't know if I can do that, nor would I know how to tell how deep to dig or drill. But I can find water pipes underground with no effort at all. Years ago we were doing all our own water line for a place in the country we had bought and the older man who was helping us with his equipment and such showed me how to use a bent rod to find existing water lines. He used a piece of bent copper wire and held it loosely in his hand with the long end pointing ahead and walked at a slow pace until the rod turned sideways in his hand. He backed up and it went straight out in front of him again, then moved forward and it turned to the side and if he kept moving it turned back toward him til it finally moved back to pointing in front of him. He told me how to hold it and I tried it, and sure enough it moved in my hand just like it had in his.
I've used a piece of 1/8" copper wire that I've kept around my garage for this purpose for years. Several years ago, my neighbor on the 6 acres behind me offered to share his well with us for the same $25/month we were paying the water company for the pretty nasty "city water". My neighbor had previously been on the city water and had decided to drill his own well and was pleased with the water quality. His land was behind our 1.5 acres, and his water meter was beside ours, at the front of our property. The two water lines were parallel running toward the back of our property toward his, until ours took a right turn and cut over to our home. He had run his water lines to a "T" where he put a shut off valve between his well lines and the city water line so that if his well had problems, he could always turn the city line back on and have water once they opened his meter back up. So we needed to put another valve on his line where it paralleled mine, then put a valve on mine in the same location, then tie his line going toward his land to mine so we could feed our land from his well by him opening the valve he had put in line between his well and the city water line.
I was able to use the divining rod to mark exactly where our lines ran, and mark exactly where our line took the right turn, and then I started digging a hole and found both lines and the right turn of my line exactly where I had marked it. Ed (my neighbor) was an older man who was long retired and he never even blinked when I mentioned I could find the lines with the divining rod but just expected me to do just that and I did with pinpoint accuracy.
I don't have any idea how it works, but it does. And, like I said I've never tried to do anything but find water lines with it so I don't know to what extent it would work for me to find a spot to drill or dig a well, but it would be fun to try and find out! |
fergy
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 | 09:53 AM
Just to add, I'm about to use the trusty copper rod again in my yard of the house (in a neighborhood) we bought 3.5 years ago. The bonehead builders/plumbers ran my water line through the home, through the loop for a softener, then back out and to the three outside water spigots. We put in a softener and then I discovered that my lawn watering was going through the softener. So, I have to turn the softener to bypass every time I water. So I'm going to find the line from the meter where it goes into the foundation and tie into it there with a line I can eventually feed a sprinkler system and temporarily put a pipe up to the surface and put a spigot on it to water from.
It isn't a question of whether or not I can find the line with the divining rod. I know I can. It will be harder to find the divining rod in my garage than find the water line! |
digital marketing firm
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 | 10:56 AM
Hey Fergy take those diving rods and have someone stand across the room and think about picking up their energy field and they will. As a matter of fact you can walk over a water line and they will not move if you are looking for an energy field. Ok it gets better. Next tell the person to think about something that made them angry and chaeck again...it will shrink a lot. Then tell them to think about someone they love it will grow.
Another thing....when you search for water and hit a line ask out loud "is this the best source for water, where is the best source?" They will point. Remember to rub them together and spin them...that charges the metal with ions and makes them more responsive.
It is not magic it is science....you are the conductor your thoughts deliver electronic impulses the same as you make a muscle move. Ever shocked someone with static? So you can see how simple the concept is that we can connect to a metal.
Have fun...you can ask the rods about anything...like where is my wife and they will point towards her. |
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Note: This thread is located in the Old Forum of the Museum of Hoaxes.
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