Cecil’s re-release of his classic dowsing column reminded me of my introduction to this topic many years ago. I happened to pick up a book by the late, great American-history author, Kenneth Roberts (Boone Island, Northwest Passage) and began to read the story of Henry Gross, a retired Maine game warden who had considerable facility with the forked stick. Roberts, the consumate storyteller, wove an engrossing tale of a “folk talent,” ignored by scientists, but of immense potential value to the world if it could be harnessed.
After reading one book in the series, which I found very convincing, I began to think there might be some mysterious force that connected the mind of the dowser to flowing, underground water (Roberts was adamant that although Henry dabbled in locating lost dogs, oil, metal deposits, etc., only “flowing underground water” could be located accurately.) But I was puzzled about how Henry would “ask the rod” about depths and water quantities. Did the rod speak to him? Was it talking to him in his mind? Nothing seemed to make sense.
Then I located all three books Roberts wrote on this subject and found out that Henry would literally ask by speaking out loud, a question like “Is there potable water below this spot?” and the rod would dip for Yes, and not dip for No. He could also ask a series of questions like,
“Is it 10 feet down to the top of the vein?” No dip.
“Is it 20 feet?” Dip.
“Is it 15 feet?” No dip.
“Is it 16 feet?” Dip. “So water could be expected at about 16 feet,” said Henry.
Whoa! Suddenly we have crossed the line from an unknown physical force to psychic phenomena. And the “discovery” was made that Henry could draw a crude map on a scrap of paper, and holding the rod over it, ask the same questions. And the rod would answer. This saved an immense amount of travel time, of course, since some of their downing jobs were on other continents! Henry always recommended on-the-spot pinpointing, but the map became the first step.
Roberts & Gross formed a company, Water Unlimited, to provide dowsing services for a fee. The books document many adventures, successful and otherwise, but are told in such a way that it is hard to question the basic premise that dowsing works.
I am in no way saying that Roberts has proved that it works. But I find it fascinating that such a convincing (and entertaining!) story can be told. I’m sure many readers with less knowledge of science and human nature have been convinced, and I recommend reading these books as a case study in the practical application of just such topics.
Roberts, while respected as an historical fiction author, was widely thought to have gone off the deep end in his old age, as he made the Water Unlimited dowsing company his full-time project and crusade until his death (ca. 1960?).
Unfortunately, all books are out of print. A quick search on Amazon did not turn up any, although out-of-print sources may work. Here’s a list of them:
[ul][li]Book 0: The Kenneth Roberts Reader. Only one chapter is devoted to Henry Gross, but it serves as an introduction when Kenneth Roberts first hires dowsers to help locate water on his Maine farm and they pique his curiosity.[/li][li]Book 1: Henry Gross and His Dowsing Rod.[/li][li]Book 2: Water Unlimited. A case-by-case story of the company’s adventures, mostly “successful” ones, although failures are mentioned and analyzed.[/li][li]Book 3: The Seventh Sense. Continuation of book 2. (There are at least 8 books with the same title shown on Amazon, so don’t be misled if Roberts is not the author.)[/ul][/li]As a side subject, Roberts and University of Oregon Professor Ray Hyman got into a pissing contest about dowsing. Hyman, who is still alive, wrote a (ca. 1940’s) book, “Water Witching USA,” that was quite skeptical. Roberts though Hyman to be hopelessly deluded.
And, Gordon451, Roberts mentions the “Official Dowser” for Australia, a government position then held by Evelyn Penrose, who used a pendulum for most of her work. I wonder if that position still exists?