Dowsing with rods

When I was young, my father (Superintendent of the local Water Works) showed me how to dowse with two brass/copper rods bent to an L shape and fitted with copper or brass handles. We were often asked to find old wells or places where pipe or electrical cables were buried. The important part is that we had no prior knowledge of where an item was (other than a general plot of ground most of the time). Years after I left home and went into the military. we had a dinner party and I talked everyone into going outside and using them. Half of the people could get a result.

Skip ahead a few decades.

I was a little bored and made a couple of rods today and went outside to try them out and they worked for known locations (water and sprinkler pipes). I didn’t try to find unknown things since I wasn’t going to dig up our lawn (SO would NOT be amused). Here is what I made (Amazon… theirs are copper wire and mine was brass. I like brass since it is less bendy. I spent slightly less buying the basic stuff and making it myself – it only takes about 20 minutes to make a set.)

I then looked dowsing up and all links insisted there was no scientific evidence that they worked. Hmmmm… I KNOW they work.

SO… I said all that so I could ask if anyone here has used them?

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I tried once. Wasn’t all that focused on it and didn’t get results. I suppose if I were more serious about it, I might fare better.

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All the posts about them say you need to be relaxed, sure of yourself, concentrating, blah, blah… but I just grab them and go. Not everyone can make them work though.

I spin them around for a few seconds while holding the handles (if the ends were connected it would be a jump rope swing), let them stop and then hold my fists together with the rods pointing ahead and handles not touching. The rods are independent and once you are going, they don’t cross each other. If you pass to the right of an object, the left rod will point to it and the right rod will stay still. Range depends on the object. I start seeing a reaction 5 to 7 feet away from buried water pipe.

An easy test of them is to walk under a suspended power line (if you have any), They like electricity and will trigger quickly.

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I have never used these but have heard of them. I have heard of uses for these to find spirits. Do you know anything about their use for that?

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I only have used them for finding tangible stuff (water, pipe, wells, electric lines, etc). However, spirit work is one reason for my original post. I seem to have a good talent for using them so I would be excited to move in that direction.

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When I tried, someone said to cut up a wire coat hanger (tell you how old I am?). My hands sweat, so the handles didn’t swing freely. I’ve since seen where people use handle covers. Does it matter if the covers aren’t the same material as the rods? I was considering using an old hose to make grocery bag handles so the plastic doesn’t bite, but would that be more of an insulator than a conductor of energy for the rods?

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I must admit that I have resolutely stayed with how I learned to do it and I never tried to vary it. That means the handles are either brass or copper (hard copper works best) as are the rods. I don’t think coat hangers would work for me. Usually, sweaty hands makes no difference to function (I’ve used them on 100F days) but, in your case it may be nerves and that could interfere. In this case, I would actually suggest you do center yourself and meditate a tad. Meditation might calm you. I know I said I just grab them and go but that doesn’t make it a universal truth for everyone.

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re: Spirit work

Here is a simple video about working with spirits. My homemade set would be awkward because of the length and sensitivity. They would lock onto house articles if I was inside. I will make a shorter set and experiment.

In the video, she just starts using them but I would do the ‘jump rope’ thing if I was trying it. They are slightly squirrelly when you first pick them up - when I told my Dad that, he said to spin them and it worked. Also, she just holds them with her hands separated. I never do that, I put my fists together but don’t touch the handles to each other.

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Here is a picture from Friendlyspirits.com that shows, generally, the way I hold the rods. My hands are big so I just put my thumbs alongside my fingers instead of on the handle. The picture also seems to show her holding her fists together - which is the way I do it. Also, the rods in the picture are pointed down too much, they should be straight out.

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Thank you for sharing this video and picture! Very informative. I talk to spirits regularly. I may give this a try!

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I have always wanted to try dowsing. I am currently reading a book on pendulum magic and was surprised to learn that you can use a pendulum for dowsing! :pendulum:

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My pendulum fu is not so hot. I’m just getting used to reliable (ish) yes/no with it. A pendulum dowsing ability would be very convenient (no open areas required).

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I got a set from Amazon. The rods are quite short so they are marginal for dowsing. They do work but first time users might be frustrated. They are well made (better than mine) but the shorter rods make them less sensitive. I use rods that are at least two feet long (longer is OK).

As far as spirit work, I couldn’t get them to move at all. I’m not giving up but I have doubts about the exaggerated results from the video.

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