Dowsing: forbidden by Scripture?

Post by **_Seth** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:40 am

Hey all,

My wife put an interesting question to me yesterday. A friend of hers had mentioned "dowsing" (using divining rods to find water, among other things). She also mentioned that "water witching" (another name for it), was forbidden by Scripture. She didn't have a reference for the injunction against it, so my wife asked me if there was one.

My first response was, "Well, if it's actually a form of Divination, then it's certainly forbidden in Leviticus 20 and Deuteronomy 18."

However, does anybody here know if "dowsing" actually falls under the category of divination or any other occult practice? Or is it just a natural, if weird, process that involves some scientific process?

I found this article on Wikipedia, if anybody wants a little more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

Thanks in advance.

Post by **_TK** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:49 am

howdy seth-

i dont think dowsing, if it works, would be considered divination as meant in the scriptures. if it works, there is likely some natural explanation of the phenomenon. in other words, i do not believe that a dowser (at least modern ones) are invoking spirits to help them find water.

skeptics, like james Randi (randi.org) of course will state that dowsing is a crock; they very well could be right.

but around 25 years ago there was a major problem with natural gas seeping out of the ground in a rural part of the town where i live; apparently there was some sort of fissure that was allowing the gas to escape and there was fear of an explosion. my dad, who was on the fire dept at the time, and who is generally skeptical about such things, said that they brought in dowsers who were able to pinpoint the location of the leak underground. they didnt use forked sticks; they used a ball or something on the end of a string. i also had a friend who swore he could locate the water pipes in his house using a dowsing rod made of a wire hanger.

BTW, i have no idea what this has to do with theology- sorry for the digression.

TK

Post by **_Seth** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 3:58 pm

Thanks for the reply, TK.

Trouble is, from what I've seen, there's no actual "scientific" explanation for how divining rods work. Now, I don't want to go the "I can't explain it so it's demonic" way, but I also don't want to go the "I can't explain it, so I'll assume it's kosher" way.

Hopefully more folks on the forum have some experience with this stuff.

Post by **_PAULESPINO** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:01 pm

According to wikipedia:

Repeated tests under controlled conditions have not supported these claims

If it did not passed the test under controlled condition then you can not call it scientific therefore it is divination.

Scientific method must be performed in order to prove its' claim.

http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/phy_la ... l#Heading3

Post by **_Seth** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 6:24 pm

PAULESPINO wrote:If it did not passed the test under controlled condition then you can not call it scientific therefore it is divination.

Agreed. Alternatively, it's just guesswork, which doesn't fall under "science" or "divination".

Post by **_TK** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 7:04 pm

paul wrote:

If it did not passed the test under controlled condition then you can not call it scientific therefore it is divination.

that seems to be making quite a leap. true, it has not passed scientific scrutiny (james randi offers 1 million dollars to anyone who can "prove" the existence of the paranormal. no dowsers have collected).

when you say "divination" do you mean that the people who claim to be able to dowse are actually using "spirits"- either intentionally or unintentionally?

i think the better explanation is likely that it is lucky guesswork, or trickery. now, if the dowsers were consulting Ouija boards to figure out where the water is, that is a different story.

TK

Post by **_PAULESPINO** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 8:46 pm

Hi Seth and TK,

I don't see any problem with guesswork but if the person performing the procedure will believe or think that something is supernatural with the whole procedure and they will put their trust in it then I will say that it is divination.

I think it all comes down to how the people will approach the whole process.

Post by **_TK** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:06 am

Paul-- i guess i can agree with that. good point!

TK

Post by **_Paidion** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:54 pm

For some reason, I had not encountered this thread until today.

Water witching is more than guesswork. That is why big companies have hired witchers to find water in desert conditions. They wouldn't be willing to shell out the big bucks for mere guess work.

Witching doesn't work naturally. Water doesn't have the power to bend a willow toward it, working like a magnet, as some claim. If that were the case, the willow should bend down toward the water, even if it were attached to a mechanism with wheels, and pushed along. But it doesn't. It has to be held in human hands in order for it to work.

Furthermore, the power to witch can be transferred from a person who has the power to one who does not have it ---- by the laying on of hands.
The seasoned witcher places his hands over those of the novice, and imparts the power.

I am convinced that the power to witch is pure spiritual power ---- but not from the source from which we disciples of Christ draw.

During the days of Vietnam refugees, my nephews and I, sponsored some refugees in a house trailer on my place which we bought for the purpose. We had to have a well drilled for the family. My nephews and I prayed, asking the Lord to show us where to have the well drillers place their drill. Each of us walked to a position we believed the Lord led us, and decided to mark the spot in the centre of the triangle thus formed.

When the drillers arrived, they saw that it would be difficult to move their drill to the exact spot we had marked, and the owner asked me, "Do we have to place the drill in the exact spot you marked? Was this location witched?"

I answered him, "No it wasn't witched. We consulted the other side!"

He responded, "So.... you didn't consult the devil about this one, eh?" I was amazed that the man understood immediately. I was somewhat acquainted with him, and had no reason to believe he was a Christian.

By the way, a good flow of water was struck at 25 feet down.

Post by **_Mort_Coyle** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:22 pm

When I was a teenager I worked one Summer for my brother-in-law, who was the groundskeeper of a golf course. He taught me how to dowse. I would cut two pieces of baling wire about 18" long and bend it in an "L" shape and then hold one in each hand, the way you hold a gun only very loosely. I would hold my hands out, sort of the way you would hold a steering wheel (at 9 and 3 o'clock) and then walk slowly forward. As I passed over an underground water source, the wires would slowly turn inwards and cross.

We used this method to locate buried water pipes and sprinkler lines on the golf course prior to digging. We didn't attach any spirituality to it and I have no idea how it worked, but it did.