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    • The Joy of Dowsing

      by Richard Webster

      (Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

      Dowsing is the art of finding something that is hidden, usually something concealed underground. Dowsing is most commonly used for water divining, but there appear to be virtually no limits to the number of applications it can be used for. Over the years I have dowsed for water, minerals, arrow shards, oil, lost objects, and even a parking space in the central city.

      I learned how to dowse when I was ten or eleven-years-old. Every year, our family rented a holiday home at a beach resort. We were having lunch one day when a crowd of people gathered on our front lawn. We went outside to see what was going on. A man, holding a forked stick, had wandered onto our property, followed by a group of people who had no idea what he was doing. Our next-door-neighbor asked the man what he wanted. "Water," he replied. She fetched him a glass of water. This broke the man's spell. He was embarrassed, and quickly left without answering any questions. My father missed the excitement as he was out fishing. We spent all afternoon on the beach waiting for him to return home so we could tell him about the strange experience. Much to our surprise, he knew who the man was. He invited him back the next day and over the following few days the man taught almost everyone at the beach resort how to dowse.

      I, and my friends, found it easy to dowse, but our parents found it much harder to get started. Of course, they had no problems either, once they had experienced the dowsing response. I have noticed over the years that children are usually better than adults at picking up skills such as dowsing, as they have yet to gain the skeptical attitudes of adulthood.

      Some people are able to dowse with their hands, but most people find it easier to learn the art using angle rods, a forked stick or a pendulum. Angle rods are probably the most useful tool to start with, as the movements they create are easy to see and interpret. My first angle rods were made from two wire coat hangers, but any wire will do. You need two pieces of wire, eighteen to twenty-four inches long. Bend the wire into an L-shape. One side needs to be about six inches long, leaving twelve to eighteen inches for the longer side. The longer the long side is, the more noticeable the dowsing response will be. However, you will become tired more easily with longer rods.

      Hold the angle rods loosely in your fists with the longer section of the wire pointing straight ahead. Your arms should be relaxed, and your hands should be approximately your body width apart. The two rods should be parallel to each other. It is a good idea to practice walking with the rods, so that you get used to the feel of them, before starting to dowse. Keep your eyes focussed on the tips of the rods as you walk. The rods are likely to move slightly from side to side as you do this. The dowsing response, which starts shortly before you are directly over the item you are dowsing for, is a marked and distinct movement of the rods. Your rods will cross over each other, sometimes ending up parallel to each other in front of your body.

      Once you have become used to walking with the angle rods, it is time to start dowsing. A good first test is to go outdoors and use the angle rods to find the water pipe leading into your home. Think about locating the water pipe, but remain as relaxed as possible. Any tension will prevent the angle rods from moving. A few deep breaths before starting helps eliminate any tension. Start walking slowly across the front of your property. Feel confident that the angle rods will work for you, and will ultimately cross over each other, when you are directly over the pipe. If you feel skeptical about the whole process, try to suspend disbelief. The best results occur when you are quietly confident of success, and maintain a feeling of positive expectancy while you are dowsing.

      If the rods produce the dowsing response by crossing over each other, make a mental note of the spot where this occurred. Keep on walking across the property, and then turn around and walk back again, this time about a yard away from where you walked before. The rods should produce the same response again when you are over the water pipe.

      Many people are successful the first time they attempt this exercise. Others need to practice to achieve success. The most common problem I have found is that many people grip the wire too tightly, and this naturally prevents it from moving. If this appears to be the case, place the short sides of your angle rods inside short pieces of plastic tubing. The plastic casings from ball point pens work well for this. You can grip these as tightly as you wish, without affecting the free movement of the angle rods. Most dowsers find it hard to locate still water. Moving water is easier to detect. Consequently, if you find it hard to locate the water pipe, turn on a faucet for a couple of minutes to get the water moving.

      Your first dowsing session should be no longer than thirty minutes. Several brief sessions will produce much better results than one long session. Dowsing requires concentration, and it can be draining, both mentally and physically. Once this occurs, your results will become erratic, and you will start making mistakes. Even professional dowsers pause every now and again to avoid this.

      Children make excellent dowsers, but adults often make it more difficult than it should be. The best advice is to relax, and allow the dowsing response to occur. There is no need to fight, or help, the dowsing response. Relax, focus on your goal, remain slightly detached, and allow it to happen. Dowsing is a skill well worth mastering, and you will find many uses for it.

      Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2003. All rights reserved.

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    • Interest in Psychic Matters But No Abilities?

      guidedimagery

      I am fascinated with angels, guardian angels, spirits, etc., and believe in all mystical matters. However, I don’t seem to be connected to them personally. I don’t hear any voices and am not able to see spirits. I wish I could do that. Is this something that is only meant for some chosen people, or can anyone acquire those abilities? I do meditate in my own ways every day. My chakras are spinning and I am able to raise my kundalini. There was a period when I was drawing some symbols without conscious awareness that I was doing so, but that is all. I have always wanted a friendship with an angel or spirit guide that I can talk to. How can one develop this? I am a Virgo female, born September 10, 1955.

      Dreamchaser:

      Jayamoni, guess what? I do not hear voices or see spirits either. So many people have misconceptions about what “psychic ability” is really all about.  Because I am a working psychic, people assume that I see rooms full of spirits and hear voices outside of my head and speak in tongues or something. I think we can thank Hollywood for that.

      Most psychics I know hear in the form of our own thoughts. Sometimes I just “know” something. You do this too. When a good friend comes in the door and you look at her and say, “Something is wrong!” that is your psychic ability. You don’t think of it as such because you already know your friend, so let’s take it into the realm of strangers. Let’s say you have a date on Saturday night. You walk up to the man, you shake his hand, and you instantly want to run away. What is that? That is your psychic ability or instinct.

      There are lots of books out there about increasing your psychic ability. I have heard that John Edwards (the medium on television) has written a good one. You could go to a local bookstore and look around and see if anything grabs you.

      I do have a way to hear spirit guides. It seems too easy, but it is how I first started hearing mine. Wait until after dark and then light one candle in a dark room. Lie down or sit up, but make sure you are very comfortable. Use the candle flame as the focal point, and just stare at that flame. Now this is the easiest part: Just let your mind run wild. Do not try to direct it; just let it do what it wants to do, and think the thoughts it wants to think.

      If you listen to your mind, you’ll find that there are thoughts that you just did not think. At first, you may not see or believe it, but if you keep listening, you will realize that it is true. I want you to do this for only about 20 minutes each night. It could take three or more nights for you to actually believe that you are getting thoughts you know did not come from your own mind. Once you believe, then you can start interacting. Start by asking questions and hearing the answers back in the form of your own thoughts. Once you really get a dialogue going, it is wise to write down the questions you asked and the answers given, verbatim, in a notepad because you may forget.

      Trust me! Once you get used to hearing the voices in your head, you will get used to interacting with spirit, and more beings will begin to talk to you.

      Try it! I wish you acute hearing!

      *****

      Astrea:

      You seem to have a good start on what you want to do, as far as communicating with angels. I’m not sure what you mean when you write that your chakras are spinning, but if you can raise your kundalini, you are definitely a good receiver. The trick is to develop and then clear your psychic reception.

      There are many avenues you can take to achieve your psychic goals. Since what you’re doing isn’t working exactly the way you want it to, try this new way a few times, and see if this system is right for you.

      When you’re in meditation, think about a television set filled with snow and static. Then slowly reduce the noise of the static in your mind, until the screen is a blank white space. Open your third eye and allow a picture of an angel to appear to you on that screen. You can decide if you want the angel to look like a storybook angel or a living person. You can decide what the angel is wearing, and what you want to know from that being of light.

      Within a few months, you’ll be able to develop the ability to see that angel without going through the imaginary TV. As soon as that happens, turn up the volume on that angel, and see if you “hear” anything.

      Also, you should do some research and practice with automatic writing, since you’ve had some experience with that. There are great books at your local library on the subject. Be careful when you start to get into this: Do not invite anyone that you would not like to channel through this medium. Don’t be so open that you get some yackety-yak ghost who just wants to bend your ear. There are plenty of those frustrated spirits out there beyond the veil!

      The most valuable asset in any undertaking like this patience. If you try to rush your development or hurry through a process, nothing will work. It takes years to develop what you’re talking about doing, and several months just to get started, but you can do it if you’re determined.

      Another avenue you might try is some kind of course on automatic writing. Your experience with drawing symbols in a trance-like or meditative state suggests this is the path for you. You may find that is the simplest way for you to communicate with spirit.

      Whatever avenue you choose to explore, you’ll receive great rewards for your efforts. Speaking with higher beings also brings a new kind of personal responsibility, so be ready for that too!

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