Ever seen a movie or read a book, where a man is searching for water using a forked stick? Thats a Dowsing Rod or Diviner’s Rod the person is using to dowse, one of the many variations.

You may be wondering “does that actually work?”. The answer will vary depending on who you ask. Science says No, it doesnt work. But others, myself included, know they work. In fact if you ask some of your local city workers who lay and fix water pipes, you may be surprised to learn that they actually dowse to quickly find pipes. Many of the wells found on old farms locations were selected by use of dowsing as well.

Actually, you probably know about Dowsing to some extent, most people do. But a common misconception is that it is only used to find water. While Divining Rods tend to find water quite easily, they can be and are used to find just about anything your looking for. From misplaced items and lost treasures, to invisible energy fields and ley lines.

I am going to tell you how to make and use your own Divining Rods to dowse. But first I would like to point out that there are many variations of Divining Rods and Dowsing tools used to dowse in general. Some fit certain purposes better, but in general they are all equally effective to dowse with. You see its not the tools themselves that are locating what your looking for, its your subconscious. The way I like to think of it is that we are all small parts of the universe, and therefore connected to it. The Dowsing tool is simply a way to connect your subconscious connection with the universe to your conscious mind and dowse.

How to Dowse: DIY Dowsing Rods

The type of Dowsing Rod I am going to show you how to make and use is the typical modern dual L-shaped rod. This variation of Dowsing Rod is basically an L shaped piece of metal that is held in each hand much

like a gun is. My personal rule of thumb when making this variation of Dowsing Rod is that the long part of the L-shape should measure the about the same length as from your elbow to your wrist, the short part of the L-shape should roughly measure the same length as across your palm or a little more. Another approach to measurements when making Dowsing Rods is that the long part should be between 30 and 40 centimeters with the short part being around 10 centimeters. Just do whatever you are comfortable with because you will be using the Dowsing Rods as a sort of extension of yourself, so that is all that matters.

Hanger cuts

To make a set of these you will need 2 bare wire hangers and some wire cutters. I prefer bare wire hangers because I believe the skin making contact with the metal helps the Dowsing Rod be more effective, but this is probably just in my head however that is all that really matters when it comes to things like this so I do it. The diagram shows where to typically make the cuts on a wire hanger, if you ensure the short part before the bend is about palm width then the bottom of the hanger will usually be long enough so that only minimal bending is needed to create the L-shape and the Dowsing Rods are straight, which is important. After the cuts are made, just bend both the wires into as perfectly straight of an L-shape possible and ensure they are both the same lengths and straight. Making these types of Dowsing Rods should be relatively easy and effortless for just about anyone.

Dowse: Testing Out and Using Your Dowsing Rods

After you have made your Dowsing Rods you most likely want to try them, right?

The first thing is to ensure that you know the proper way to hold this type of Dowsing Rod. With your arms bent at a 90 degree angle and elbows tucked at your sides hold the rods at about waist level slightly

extended away from you with the rods pointing straight away from you being parallel to the ground, kind of like a gunslinger. Grip the handles of the rods as loosely as possible while still maintaining the control and balance that will allow them to swing easily. In order to prevent the rods from meaninglessly swinging around widly you should hold the tips slightly downward about an inch or half an inch. Practice this and make any adjustments you need to maintain comfort, try walking around like this and ensure that you can keep them fairly stable.

Now you are ready to try your Dowsing Rods out. Keep in mind Dowsing is something you need to be confident and comfortable in doing before it becomes very reliable or accurate. Do not get discouraged if the results are not very accurate at first, this is common with those who have just started to dabble in the art of Dowsing. If you can focus correctly and approach your attempts with confidence you are much more likely to see accurate results. The important part at first is that you enjoy yourself and remain persistent without becoming prematurely discouraged, so remember that practice makes perfect.

Dowse Experiments

Dowsing Rods are also known as Diviner’s Rods by some people. Divining or divination means to seek knowledge of the unknown by supernatural means. My point here is that Dowsing Rods are not restricted to the use of finding things only, they can also be used to answer simple questions.

One of the first things I would recommend trying with your Dowsing Rods is to ask simple yes or no questions. The movements of Dowsing Rods may vary from person to person but typically them moving inward to cross eachother is a signal in the affirmative or “yes”, and when they move to point outward away from eachother it is typically a signal to the negative or “no”.

However when you use the Dowsing Rods you may find that their responses to your intent are different, even the oppposite than the typical ones. What the Dowsing Rods do in response to you is not important, only what the responses mean to you. I recommend you try this next exercise to get acquainted with the way your Dowsing Rods respond to you.

Dowse for Divination: Yes or No

For this experiment as well as any time you plan to Dowse, it is important that you are calm and comfortable with a clear mind and intention. Stand up and hold your Dowsing Rods as mentioned above. Regulate your breathing and clear your mind of any distractions, if you have any doubts about whether or not this will work you should try and let them go for now. Focus on what you are doing and be confident.

Now think of a question you know the answer to, such as “is my shirt blue?”. Staying relaxed and focused ask the question aloud and give the rods a few moments to respond. Depending on whether your shirt is blue or not you should see the Dowsing Rods move into either a yes or no position. If you are not quite comfortable with using your Dowsing Rods yet, the response may be slow or delayed but dont worry this will quickly turn into quick and effortless responses. Often times the Dowsing Rods will begin moving before you have even finished asking the question, this is because you have already asked it in your mind and saying it aloud is really not necassary. If you get no response take a break and try again shortly, you will get the hang of it.

This way of using Dowsing Rods may prove practical to you later but it is likely that the uses you will have for it will be much different. This experiment is really just a way of familiarizing you with not only the way Dowsing Rods work but to illustrate their wide range of possibilities. Locating things are typically what Dowsing Rods are used for, and the next experiment will show you how to get started using them for that purpose.

Dowse to Locate Objects

Have someone hide something from you around the house. Hold your Dowsing Rods the way mentioned above and clear your mind. Focus on the hidden object and try to visualize it in your head. Then ask aloud or in your head “where is the object?” and your Dowsing Rods should respond by moving to point in a certain direction. Turn or position yourself to face that direction and see if the Dowsing Rods continue moving or maintain their indication by continuing to point in that direction. Continue to focus on or visualize the hidden object and very slowly take a few steps in the direction your Dowsing Rods indicate while asking again “where is the object?”. Continue this process around the house, following the directions your Dowsing Rods indicate.

When you get near the spot suspected hiding spot your Dowsing Rods typically will continue to indicate a direction while slowly turning inwards on themselves. Sometimes the Dowsing Rods will quickly and forcefully turn inward on themselves if they are indicating you are right on top of the object you are trying to dowse for or it is right under your nose.

You may quickly locate the object you are looking for. But if you don’t find it do not let that discourage you. You may get strong indications and find it is nowhere near that spot. What is important to understand is that a big part of learning how to Dowse involves training yourself to “tune into the right frequencies” so to speak. With practice you will become much better at Dowsing and find yourself confident in its effectiveness when you dowse. The extra confidence will in turn cause you to dowse much better.

You may notice that if you use this technique to locate for instance a set of keys you have misplaced, it tends to be very effective regardless of how familiar with Dowsing you are. This is because the memory of the spot you misplaced those keys has entirely left your concious mind, but is still very accessible to your subconcious mind. Many forms of divination including Dowsing works not because of some unknown or supernatural force but because of a very subtle dialogue taking place between your conscious and subconscious when you dowse and very tiny, involuntary muscle movements your are not conscious of. Knowing this will help you dowse effectively.

This is not to say that Dowsing can not be used to locate things you never knew the location of or have never seen. A famous psychologist, Carl Jung theorized about a collective unconcious where experience is stored in the subconcious of all beings. For the sake of staying on topic I will just say when you dowse to locate things like this it requires you to access deeper levels of the subconscious information available to you and can for that reason be more of a challenge. This is just the way I look at it and what my experience has lead me to believe.

Another Divination Experiment

If you want to try something different or find yourself discouraged, this experiment is worth trying. For this experiment you will need a friend and an empty pair of shoes. This is usually a very effective dowse experiment that also further illustrates the wide range of possibilities in Dowsing.

Set the empty pair of shoes on the other side of the room and have your friend sit on the other side of the room facing the shoes. Now stand between your friend and the shoes, holding the Dowsing Rods the way mentioned above.Get ready to dowse. Tell your friend to at any moment of their choosing, to visualize themself stepping outside of their body and walking across the room to step into the shoes. Now focus on your friend standing up and walking across the room and look at your Dowsing Rods. In your head, ask the Dowsing Rods to follow your friend across the room when they begin walking toward the shoes. The moment your friend imagines themself standing up and walking across the room they will notice you Dowsing Rods pointing to where they imagine themselves following them perfectly.

This is a really cool way to introduce yourself or someone else to what it means to dowse. This experiment is also almost always very successful and demonstrates how accurate and capable Dowsing Rods can be when used to dowse.

If you remain vigilant and persistent when you dowse, chances are you will become quite adept at using a Dowsing Rod. With practice comes perfection. Once you become intimated with Dowsing you will discover just how much its reality implies and the wonderful possibilities it presents. I hope you enjoy yourself and have fun.

Whether you are trying to dowse and locate water, an object, asking questions, ghost hunting or just experimenting, Dowsing Rods can be very effective. Science has expressed it’s staunch disbelief in the effectiveness of Dowsing, yet militaries and governments allover the world still dowse. The fact of the matter is that Dowsing Rods do work and nobody really knows exactly why. But there is alot of things we do not know, as much as we like to pretend we do. Why these things work does not change the fact that they do,if we dismissed things because they have no explanation we would still be in the dark ages. Good luck in what you dowse.