What is dowsing and why it’s more important than ever

As seen in Spirit of Change magazine.

For many, dowsing conjures images of a white-haired man with a forked stick looking for water. Dowsing’s roots go much deeper than that and much farther back than the tools we now associate with dowsing, such as the pendulum, forked stick, or dowsing rods (L-shaped bent rods). So far back, some believe, that it is encoded in our DNA.

Dowsing taps into our original way of knowing

“Ancient peoples did not view the world the same way we do. They view themselves as part of the world, not separate from it,” said Sandi Isgro, President of the American Society of Dowsers, in a recent interview. Sandi has been, in her words, “an unofficial dowser my whole life and an official one for 30 years.” As a dowser, she’s found water for wells, cleared houses and property, worked with spirits and found missing objects.

Founded in Vermont in 1961, the American Society of Dowsers (ASD) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching and spreading dowsing knowledge, developing dowsing skills, archiving its findings, and recognizing dowser achievements.

“So, dowsing was that innate knowledge that was very strong back then. Our ancestors would ask for direction or guidance and talk to the animals because the animal was a brother, the bird was a sister….The land was part of them, not separate from them,” Isgro explained. “They were not walking on the land; the land was allowing them to walk on it. The land supported their footsteps. So, it’s a whole different worldview than what most have now.”

The same worldview is preserved by Native and Indigenous Peoples: “The spirit world is connected to the mortal world, the sea is connected to the land, and the sky is connected to the ground.”

Dowsing taps into this original way of knowing, born of our profound interconnectedness. That connection allows for an exchange of information with the network of all beings who live on Earth, seen and unseen, including Earth herself, a living being. People have always dowsed, though they may call it by another name.

Giving voice to your superbeing

Lee Barnes described it as accessing your superconscious or your “dowsing intuition.” Barnes is a long-time dowsing educator and professional water well dowser with over 25 years of experience dowsing wells, sacred sites, geopathic energies, and map dowsing for moving hurricanes.

“The basic premise is we are superbeings,” Barnes explained. “We have one part conscious, and I‘d say about a million parts subconscious. Dowsing gives a voice to your subconscious,” which is still plugged into our original way of knowing.

“I teach people to dowse first with things they can confirm, like using L-rods or a pendulum over a known water pipe, or even a visible stream. But eventually, you learn to be aware of, ‘How does that feel in my body?’ Ultimately, we don’t need the tools to tap our dowsing intuition.”

Another way to look at it is that our brains are our conscious minds, while our bodies carry our subconscious and intuitive knowing. And, the part of all of us, no matter our background or ancestry, that remains connected to our original way of knowing, is our hearts.

Your heart is where your truth resides. It is here where we connect with the vast interconnected network of information that is our original way of knowing. One could say that dowsing gets us out of our heads and into our hearts for the answers that are true for us.

Anyone can dowse

Tapping our original way of knowing, or our dowsing intuition, may sound mysterious, and a skillset reserved for psychics and intuitives who were “born with it,” but we can all dowse and learn to hone the skill. You’ve done this anytime you’ve trusted your gut or followed a gut instinct.

For example, have you ever walked into a room, then turned right around and walked out for no other reason than something felt off or not right? That was your subconscious, your connection with all that is, sending you a warning: “Get out… now!”

Or have you ever randomly decided to take a different route to work one morning, only to find out later that you avoided a big accident or traffic jam? Or better, like a recent “wrong” turn I took, which landed me on a gorgeous, tree-lined road. Halfway down it, I gasped when I spotted not one, not three, but eleven(!) deer peacefully grazing in the warm dusk light.

Developing and practicing this skill set allows you to access that field of information more intentionally and specifically.

So, what is dowsing?

Dowsing, then, is any time you tap into this field of information, born of our deep connection with each other and our environment.

Some prefer to define dowsing by its instruments; in other words, it’s only dowsing if an instrument is being used to ask for information, like a forked stick, pendulum, set of dowsing rods, or some other implement. They don’t reject body or deviceless dowsing; they just call it something else.

The first definition is the most inclusive and accessible. It’s also aligned with First Peoples’ perspectives — this exchange of information is more a way of being and walking in the world than a doing. That said, to truly harness the benefits of dowsing requires practice and intentional inquiry — going beyond intuitive hits to ask clear questions of this field of information — and just as importantly, trusting the answers you receive.

“Dowsing allows you to find out information — the information that is true for you. That is the biggest benefit of dowsing,” Isgro reiterates. “The more you practice it, the better you get at it, and the clearer the information you get.”

As it’s traditionally known, dowsing is used to find water, lost and missing items, and other items invisible to the eye — even missing people. Dowsing can also be used beyond these pursuits as a tool for daily life and work to support just about any endeavor. Many healers and energy workers already use dowsing to enhance their practice. For instance, if you’ve ever muscle-tested or otherwise tapped into your body’s response to get an answer for yourself or a client…surprise! You’re dowsing.

Dowsing has become my go-to tool to check my energy’s alignment, confirm messages I receive intuitively, help steer my decision-making, and give me clarity and peace when my brain can’t see a clear answer. Like Sandi, I was an unofficial dowser years before I started learning how to use the tools. I’m what some in the community call a body or deviceless dowser.

Adding a tool like a pendulum allows me to receive more nuanced feedback, ask for clear direction when I’m stuck in indecision, or move past resistance or blind spots in my area of inquiry with an objective response.

Many people use dowsing to test whether products are a right fit for them, pick the best produce at the market, or choose which business strategy to follow. At the supermarket, here’s how I do it: I pass my hand over the fruit or vegetables, the same way you might when picking a card from an oracle deck. When I feel a pull or little tingle in my hand over a particular fruit, that’s my “yes.” I don’t question it, and pop the produce in my cart.

The more you can learn to tap into and trust this powerful interconnected knowledge, as many dowsers will tell you, the easier and better life gets.

Why dowsing is more important than ever

We live in a rapidly changing information age. In every moment we are bombarded with information pertaining to a thousand questions we didn’t ask, let alone the myriad answers we get when we specifically search for information online. There are experts in every corner offering conflicting advice.

Now more than ever, we need to be able to identify, “What is my truth? What is true for me?” No matter what the experts say, what Google says, what social media says, or even what your loved ones say.

How do you know what’s right or true for you? You can dowse for it.

Although we are all indelibly connected, our perspectives are unique. Your truth is different from my truth — and both equally valid and important. Dowsing helps you identify your truth, which is critical in navigating our noisy world.

In addition to the sea of information we unconsciously swim in, the energies we are experiencing as a collective are rapidly shifting and escalating, according to Dr. Michelle Peal, a naturopathic doctor with over 30 years of experience in holistic health, dowsing, and working with energy modalities. “To say that we have changes one right after the other is an understatement.”

“We’re very much habitual creatures,” Dr. Peal continues, “but you have to allow for this shift in energy. So, what was good yesterday may not be good today. You’ve got to be diligent about making sure you’re in alignment with your heart. Dowsing is the most important tool you have in your toolbox.”

How to dowse for alignment with your heart

Dr. Peal teaches a simple technique to ensure that you are aligned with your heart. Although her preferred tool is the pendulum, this exercise can be adapted to any method:

Holding your pendulum in your dominant hand, place your non-dominant hand over your heart. Take a moment to connect with your heart space.
Ask your pendulum to show you your “yes” response. I recommend asking out loud, if you are able, especially if you’re new to dowsing. Commonly a circular swing clockwise, everyone’s yes is unique and correct for them. There is no right yes. Lee Barnes’, for example, has been counterclockwise for as long as he’s dowsed. The point of this exercise is to get your current yes, since we and our world are constantly changing.
Once your pendulum has swung its response, take your non-dominant hand off your heart and gently lower it to your side. When Dr. Peal does it, she keeps her palm open and facing out, and a little away from her body. You want to make sure not to jostle or bump your body or pendulum hand in any way.
If your pendulum continues to swing with your heart’s yes, hooray! You are in alignment with your heart. You are now free to move about the cabin. Anything you dowse will now be accurate because you are in alignment with your heart, which is in alignment with the interconnected web of our original way of knowing and being.
If your pendulum starts swinging differently (say, circles in the opposite direction or switches from a circle to a line or vice versa), then your energy is not in alignment with your heart’s energy. Rest at ease because the fix is easy.
To get back into alignment with your heart, place your left hand over your heart, your right hand over your left, and take a few deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. As you breathe, tune into feelings of trust and gratitude. Then, try the exercise again.

Dowsing is an easy way to check ourselves, get real-time feedback on our decisions, and build our trust and communication with the world of which we are an integral, interconnected part. The best part is, anyone can learn how to dowse!