Can't Afford a Great Metal Detector? Just Be One!

By Sally Taylor

Dowsing, also known as divining, is the practice of finding water, minerals, caves, missing items or people, and locating illnesses in the body using tools such as pendulums and maps or two L shaped or forked sticks. One method of dowsing involves holding the sticks in front of you while you walk and noting when the sticks cross or pull toward the ground and another, which has a bit less obvious scientific reasoning, involves holding a pendulum over a map.

Records of knowledge of the art of dowsing go back 8,000 years. The earliest record of dowsing comes from cave paintings dating back 8,000 years found in the Tassali Caves in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. A large wall painting in one of the caves depicts a man holding a forked stick looking for water while others watch. In Egypt 4,000 year old wall etchings depict Pharaohs dowsing and a 2,500 year old etching in China depicts a ruler dowsing as well. References are made to dowsing in scores of ancient literature including the Bible. By the middle ages German miners relied heavily on dowsing skills to locate their caches. The 31st president of the USA, Herbert Hoover was a mining engineer and a known, as well as a publicly admitted, dowser.

Today while many scoff a the idea of dowsing having any scientific basis, many members of both the British and American Societies of Dowsers are earning impressive amounts of money from major companies for their help in locating minerals, water, underground wires and pipelines, and even missing persons. The United States Government spent 35 million dollars researching and training "remote viewers" over a twenty year period during the Viet Nam era. In Russia and several other countries, dowsing is widely respected and taught as any other vocational skill. The principles by which dowsing works are just beginning to be understood on a scientific level, however.

While scientific minds have not been widely convinced that the art is anything more than superstition or "witchery", increasing understanding of earth energies is building evidence of a scientific basis for forms of the art. Modern scientific instruments have been able to uncover many forms of earth energies that were previously undetectable. For example, some of these subtle earth energies form Curry lines which are a grid of energy lines traversing the planet. These lines can become disturbed at points where other energies create interference. Ley lines are another form of energy pattern which have been found to change shape and form in the areas of water. Animals have been found to react to these energies, and humans do as well, even if only on purely subconscious levels. Recent studies show that these energies react upon people living in areas where earth energies have become polluted by making them physically ill or mentally uneasy. Even rocks and minerals have been found to vibrate at frequencies undetectable to our conscious senses.

While the means by which using a pendulum and a map to find minerals remotely remains a bit esoteric to our present understanding, the means by which using dowsing rods and other such equipment to find minerals has become a matter of learning to detect how one's body reacts to the different elements which are being sought. Many have thought that it is only a rare few which are able to develop this skill, but teachers of dowsing maintain that just about anyone can learn to dowse. It is the same as any other skill or craft and the level of proficiency achieved will vary with a person's natural knack for the skill.

It is interesting that in an age that scientific equipment is becoming so technologically advanced that many are stepping back in time and learning to perfect the art of finding their treasures the way that humans have done since prehistoric times. But isn't it reassuring to know that if you can't afford a great metal detector, you can always learn to be one?

� 2007 Sally Taylor You don't have to be Indiana Jones to find gemstones and fossils or prospect for gold and artifacts. Come on over to http://www.rockhoundstation1.com and learn how easy it is to turn those dull weekends into a life of adventure.

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#Dowsing - Empower Yourself With Intuition On-Command

By Michele K Fitzgerald

When people hear the word "dowsing", if they recognize the term at all, they most often think of someone who uses a forked stick or metal rods to find water. However, the applications of dowsing stretch far beyond the use of this skill to find water--and forked sticks are rarely used by 21st century dowsers.

Dowsing is a form of neuromuscular interfacing that can be used to intuitively access information on just about anything. The dowser starts by asking a question, like "Would taking Vitamin B supplements benefit my health at this time?", while at the same time holding a dowsing instrument, such as a pendulum or a pair of copper rods. As soon as the dowser asks the question, the "answer" is delivered via small neuromuscular reflexes in the dowsers body. The dowsing instrument amplifies the dowser's neuromuscular responses so those responses can be detected by the movement of the instrument. The movement provides visual feedback that the dowser uses to interpret the answer based on whatever motion the dowser has programmed as a "Yes" or "No" response.

Today, this ancient craft is called by many different names, so you may have been exposed to dowsing without even realizing it. If you know someone who uses a pendulum--that's dowsing. If your doctor uses muscle testing to determine what food substances you are allergic to--that's dowsing. If you have ever played with a Ouija Board and watched the little plastic device mysteriously spell out answers to your questions--that's dowsing.

Anyone can learn to dowse. Once a reasonable degree of skill has been attained, the dowser possesses the incredible ability to intuitively access a seemingly infinite amount of information on-command.

In this introductory dowsing lesson you will learn how to use a pendulum, a very common and easy to operate dowsing tool, to achieve simple "Yes" and "No" answers to questions that you ask. As a bonus, there is a section at the end of the lesson on how to dowse using just your body, which is often referred to as "applied kinesiology" or "muscle testing".

To prepare for the dowsing process:

1) Be well hydrated and well rested.
2) Minimize distractions and situate yourself in a quiet environment.
3) Relax, calm your breathing, and induce a coherent brainwave state (essential for effective dowsing) by focusing your attention on the area just between your eyebrows on your forehead.

After you are prepared to dowse, take your pendulum and hold the cord or chain between your thumb and index finger. Force the pendulum into a forward swing, 45 degrees to the right, and say out loud, "This is my 'Ready' position" -- meaning you are now ready to seek an answer to a question through the dowsing process. By making this statement you are acknowledging consciously that this is your intention, and at the same time, programming your subconscious mind with this thought.

Next, force the pendulum into a forward swing, straight away from your body, while saying "This is my 'Yes' response." Finally, force the pendulum into a forward swing, 90 degrees to the left and say, "This is my 'No' response."

To see a picture of how to properly hold the pendulum and a simple graph that you can dowse over to more easily monitor your pendulum swings, click here: http://www.sedonaportal.com/dowsinglesson.htm

You can actually choose any "Ready", "Yes", and "No" responses you want, such as a counterclockwise swing of the tool for "Yes" and the opposite for "No", but the above responses are commonly chosen.

Practice whatever response positions you choose a few times, forcing the pendulum into the appropriate swing angles. Then attempt to achieve the responses without forcing the pendulum. After a few forced demonstrations, your subconscious mind will pick up the pattern and cause your body to produce the neuromuscular signals to create the appropriate response without your conscious attention. To speed up your body's response time, from the point you ask the question to the point the tool actually moves, all you need to do is practice.

Asking Questions

Your subconscious mind is the middleman between your conscious thoughts and the pool of information that you are going to be tapping into to get a response. No one is quite sure where this pool of information is, or how it came to be, but apparently it does exist, because all practiced dowsers can retrieve information from it.

In posing dowsing questions, it is important to realize that the subconscious mind is very literal. Because the subconscious is the aspect of your mind that will be retrieving answers for you, it is crucial that you are very specific in describing the information you are seeking and that you phrase your questions in ways that cannot be misinterpreted.

Example of a Poorly Phrased Question

"Do I need vitamins?"

The answer will always be "Yes". The body needs vitamins and minerals to operate properly.

A Better Question

"Would I benefit from taking vitamin supplements at this time?"

If you get a "Yes" response, you will at least know that the purchase and intake of vitamin supplements will not be a waste of time and money. How much of a benefit you would realize and what form the benefits will take are still unknown, so you would have to ask more questions if you want more specific information. Also, you would have to ask more questions to find out which vitamins (A? B?, E?) and what dosage would be most beneficial.

Another Example of a Poorly Phrased Question

"Is George a good match for me?"

The subconscious mind cannot clearly interpret this question. The word "match" has too many possible meanings. To name a few:

1) An instrument for starting fires
2) A competitive game, as in "tennis match"
3) A complimentary coupling of colors
4) A pairing of a set
5) A person considered with regard to suitability as a partner in marriage

A Better Question

"Considering the following aspects of relationships (list the aspects that are important to you), and using a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is a perfect partner and 1 is totally unsuitable), does George rate an 8 or above in all of these categories?" Or, dowse each category separately to see how George rates in specific areas.

How to Dowse Lists of Information

Now that you can achieve "Yes" and "No" answers with your pendulum, you can utilize this skill to dowse lists of information. Taking the vitamin example noted above, if you want to know which vitamins would be beneficial to your health and well-being at this time, do the following:

1) Get a list of vitamins, like the label from a bottle of multivitamins.

2) Instruct your "dowsing system" (you, your subconscious mind, your body, and the information pool) as follows:

"Considering my optimal health and well-being, please give me a 'Yes' response when I point to a vitamin that my body needs more of at this time."

3) Point at each vitamin on the list using one hand, and while swinging your pendulum with your other hand, make note of the "Yes" responses you receive.

Finger Dowsing

To achieve "Yes" and "No" responses with your body, instead of a pendulum, a very easy method is to use "finger dowsing", which is a form of applied kinesiology or muscle testing. With this method you establish "strong" and "weak" signals as codes for "Yes" and "No". Strength will equal "Yes", and weakness will equal "No". Start by connecting your thumb and index finger to make a circle, as shown in the photograph on the webpage noted earlier in this article.

Using two fingers from your opposite hand, insert them into the circle and try to break the connection of your thumb and index finger by pulling forward with the finger set. Before doing this, instruct your dowsing system to make your thumb and index finger very strong (hard to break apart) if the answer is "Yes" to your question. If the answer is "No", instruct your dowsing system to make your thumb and index finger weak so the circle breaks easily when minimal pressure is applied from your fingers.

Learning how to achieve "Yes" and "No" answers is an entry level dowsing skill. With further training and practice, you can learn how to use dowsing to intuitively access more sophisticated and detailed information, such as linear measurements, percentages, and probabilities. You can learn how to detect and measure energy fields with dowsing, such as electromagnetic fields and the human aura. You can even learn how to use dowsing to focus, direct, and super-charge the power of your thoughts to create desirable outcomes in life. So, get busy and see what you can do with dowsing.

Michele Fitzgerald is the founder of the Senzar Learning Center and the author of Chasing the Shadow of Free Will - An Introduction to Belief Codes. She has lectured nationally and internationally on a wide range of subtle energy and mind-science topics. She currently works as an intuitive coach and seminar leader, teaching intuitive arts and advanced power-of-thought strategies to students from around the world via teleseminars, webcasts, and periodic events in Sedona. For more information about Michele and the many courses she offers, visit http://www.sedonaportal.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michele_K_Fitzgerald/249617
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#Dowsing Uses

Dowsing rod divination is an ancient divination skill. They are often thought of as a way of finding water, but this is only one of their many uses. They can also be used to find all sorts of items that may have been lost. They can also be used to divine the presence of ghosts and spirits.

by Rachel Saxon

The dowsing rod itself tends to take the form of a y shaped stick. This stick is commonly a witch hazel twig. The stick can also be made from wood from peach trees or willow trees. Some people find that their abilities to dowse require a freshly cut rod whereas others will prefer to work with one that they have had for a long time and become familiar with. Dowsing rods do not have to be made from wood. Some successful dowsers use rods made with metal or plastic. The metals that are most often used are brass and copper, but again this can vary. Many experienced dowsers will also use different rods for different forms of divination. They may find that they can find water best with wood and metal object best with metal rods. They may well use an entirely different set of rods again in order to detect the presence of spirits in a house.

It seems to be that although some materials tend to have more success the rod is a tool that helps to hone the ability of the dowser. As with many abilities, the ability of dowsing is something that can be practised and improved. Learning to dowse is quite a straight forward process and certainly one that can be improved with practice. It is, perhaps, the shape that is more important than the material it is made from. To use a y-shaped stick it must be held with the hands holding the y forks. The remaining straight section, or stem, of the y will dip or vibrate when close to what is being looked for. The other common shape is the L shape. These are used in pairs and the short section of the L is lightly held. The long sections will waver or cross over each other when close to what is being looked for.

L shaped rods can also be used for more complex divination. The movement of the rods can indicate yes or no in answer to a question. The rods may cross, for example, when the answer is yes, or they may produce some other form of movement such as vibration, pointing forward or moving up and down. Often lack of movement is interpreted as a no. Each individual dowser will have their own particular system and method and particular way of interpreting the movement of the rod or rods.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Saxon writes for the psychic & metaphysical industry and offers fact based unbiased advice and overviews.