Dowsing

Maden kehanet ve bu, gömülü metaller ve cevherleri, değerli taşlar, petrol, gravesites, zemin suyu bulmak için [1] ve diğer pek çok nesne ve malzemeleri gibi çok güçlü olduğu iddia edilen bir türüdür denilen "toprak radyasyon akımları" , bilimsel cihazları kullanmadan. Dowsing is also known as divining (especially in reference to interpretation of results), [ 2 ] doodlebugging (in the US), or (when searching specifically for water) water finding or water witching . Maden de divining sonuçlarının yorumlanması için referans (özellikle) de, bilinen [2] doodlebugging (ABD), veya (zaman özellikle su ararken) su bulma ya da su çekici.

A Y- or L-shaped twig or rod, called a dowsing rod , divining rod (Latin: virgula divina or baculus divinatorius ) or witching rod is sometimes used during dowsing, although some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at all. Bazı dowsers tüm diğer ekipman veya ekipman kullanımı Y-veya L-dal veya çubuk şeklinde,, (Latince: virgula divina veya değnek divinatorius) veya çekici çubuk bazen maden sırasında kullanılır, çubuk divining bir maden çubuk denir.

Dowsing appears to arise in the context of Renaissance magic in Germany , and it remains popular among believers in Forteana or radiesthesia [ 3 ] although there is no accepted scientific rationale behind the concept and no scientific evidence that it is effective. Maden Rönesans büyü çerçevesinde Almanya da ortaya görünüyor ve bu Forteana veya Radyestezi de müminler arasında popüler olmaya devam etmektedir [3] olmamasına rağmen ve hiçbir bilimsel kanıt etkili olduğu kavramı arkasında bilimsel gerekçeleri kabul edilir. Uygulanan bugün maden Almanya da 15. yüzyıl boyunca, zaman metaller bulmak için kullanılan kökenli olabilir. As early as 1518 Martin Luther listed dowsing for metals as an act that broke the first commandment (ie, as occultism ). [ citation needed ] The 1550 edition of Sebastian Münster 's Cosmographia contains a woodcut of a dowser with forked rod in hand walking over a cutaway image of a mining operation. 1.518 Martin Luther gibi erken bir yöneltici olarak da (yani ilk emir kırdı eylemi, olarak metaller için maden listelenen) gibi. [Değiştir] Sebastian Münster ile 1.550 baskı 'Cosmographia ler elinde çatal çubuk bir çubukla maden arayan kimse bir gravür yürüme içerir maden işlemin bir kesit görüntü üzerinde. The rod is labelled "Virgula Divina – Glück rüt" (Latin: divine rod; German: fortunate rod or stick), but there is no text accompanying the woodcut. Çubuk "Virgula Divina etiketli olduğunu - Glück rut" (Latince: ilahi çubuk; Almanca: şanslı çubuk veya çubuk), ama hiçbir metin gravür eşlik ediyor. By 1556 Georgius Agricola 's treatment of mining and smelting of ore, De Re Metallica , included a detailed description of dowsing for metal ore. [ 4 ] Tarafından 1.556 Georgius Agricola 'madencilik ve cevher eritme tedavisi s De Re Metallica, metal cevheri maden için ayrıntılı bir açıklama yer. [4]

In 1662 dowsing was declared to be "superstitious, or rather satanic " by a Jesuit , Gaspar Schott , though he later noted that he wasn't sure that the devil was always responsible for the movement of the rod. [ 5 ] Rağmen daha sonra o şeytan her zaman Çubuk hareketi sorumlu olduğundan emin olmadığını kaydetti maden 1662 yılında "batıl, daha doğrusu şeytani" bir Cizvit, Gaspar Schott, tarafından olduğu ilan edildi. [5]

An epigram by Samuel Sheppard, from Epigrams theological, philosophical, and romantick (1651) runs thus: Epigrams teolojik, felsefi gelen Samuel Sheppard tarafından bir nükte, ve romantick (1651) böylece çalışır:

    Virgula divina . Virgula Divina.
    "Some Sorcerers do boast they have a Rod, "Bazı büyücüler bir Rod varsa, övünme yapmak
    Gather'd with Vowes and Sacrifice, Gather'd Vowes ve Kurban ile,
    And (borne about) will strangely nod Ve (yaklaşık) olacak garip nod kaynaklı
    To hidden Treasure where it lies; Gizli Hazine için burada yatıyor;
    Mankind is (sure) that Rod divine, İnsanoğlu () bu Rod ilahi, emin
    For to the Wealthiest (ever) they incline." Zengin için (hiç) onlar eğilmek için. "

The use of divining rods was a popular branch of folk magic in early 19th century New England . Çubuklar divining kullanımı halk sihirli popüler bir dalı 19. yüzyıl New England da vardı. The early leaders in Mormonism , a religion that erupted out of that environment, were not exempt. Oliver Cowdery , the Book of Mormon scribe and "Second Elder" of the Church , used a divining rod for revelatory purposes. [ 6 ] In a revelation given to Joseph Smith through his seer stone , God affirmed Cowdery's use of "working with the rod", and said that it was a divine gift through which Cowdery could learn the "mysteries of God". [ 6 ] This gift later became known in the revelation as "the gift of Aaron", referencing Moses ' brother Aaron 's use of a rod in the Old Testament . [ citation needed ] [ 6 ] Mormonism içinde erken liderleri, bu çevrenin dışında patlak veren bir din, muaf değil. Oliver Cowdery, Mormon kâtip ve "İkinci Elder" Church of, revelatory amacıyla divining çubuk kullanılan bir Kitap. [6] bir vahiy olarak vardı Joseph Smith için onun gören taş üzerinden verilen, Tanrım, "çubuk" ile çalışma Cowdery kullanımı doğruladı ve hangi üzerinden Cowdery "Tanrı'nın" gizemleri öğrenebilirler ilahi bir hediye olduğunu söyledi. [6] Bu hediye sonra bilinen oldu "Aaron", bir hediye olarak vahiy referans Musa'nın kardeşi Aaron 'Eski Ahit bir çubuk kullanımı var. [değiştir] [6]

In the late 1960s during the Vietnam War , some United States Marines used dowsing to attempt to locate weapons and tunnels. [ 7 ] An extensive book on the history of dowsing was published by Christopher Bird in 1979 under the title of The Divining Hand . James Randi 's 1982 book Flim-Flam! devotes 19 pages to comprehensive double-blind tests done in Italy which yielded results no better than chance. Vietnam Savaşı sırasında bazı ABD Deniz Piyadeleri silah ve tünelleri bulmak girişimi için kullanılan maden 1960'ların sonunda, içinde. [7] maden ve tarihi üzerine kapsamlı bir kitap Christopher Bird tarafından 1979 yılında Divining Hand başlığı altında yayımlandı. James Randi 'Flim 1.982 kitabı-Flam! kapsamlı çift kör testleri İtalya'da yapılan hangi sonuçları şansı daha iyi kazandıran 19 sayfa ayırıyor. Geleneksel, en yaygın maden çubuk bir çatal (Y-şekilli) bir ağaç veya çalı gelen şube. Some dowsers prefer branches from particular trees, and some prefer the branches to be freshly cut. Hazel twigs in Europe and witch-hazel in the United States are traditionally commonly chosen, as are branches from willow or peach trees . Bazı dowsers özellikle ağaçlardan dal tercih ve bazı taze kesilmiş olması dalları tercih ederler. Avrupa ve cadı ABD de fındık yılında Hazel twigs geleneksel yaygın seçilir gibi söğüt ya da şeftali ağaçları dan dalları vardır. The two ends on the forked side are held one in each hand with the third (the stem of the "Y") pointing straight ahead. Çatal tarafında iki ucu her biri elinde "Y") ileriye işaret (kök üçüncü ile düzenlenmektedir. Often the branches are grasped palms down. Sık sık dalları aşağı avuç içi kavramış bulunmaktadır. The dowser then walks slowly over the places where he suspects the target (for example, minerals or water) may be, and the dowsing rod supposedly dips, inclines or twitches when a discovery is made. Çubukla maden arayan kimse daha sonra yavaş yavaş yerler üzerinde nerede olabilir hedef (örneğin, mineraller veya su) şüpheli ve maden çubuk sözde Dips, inclines veya twitches bir keşif yapılır yürüyor. This method is sometimes known as "Willow Witching." Bu yöntem bazen Willow Witching "olarak bilinir."Birçok dowsers bugün basit L bir çift metal çubuklar şeklinde kullanın. One rod is held in each hand, with the short arm of the L held upright, and the long arm pointing forward. Bir çubuk her el, L kısa kol ile dik tutulan ve uzun kol ileriye dönük düzenlenmektedir. When something is found, the rods cross over one another making an "X" over the found object. Bir şey bulunursa, çubuklar birbirlerine "bulundu nesnenin üzerine" X yapım üzerinde çapraz. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the rods will point in opposite directions, showing its orientation. Eğer nesne uzun ve düz bir su borusu gibi çubuklar ters yönde, onun yönünü gösteren işaret eder. Some dowsers claim best success with rods made of particular metals, commonly brass , although others think that the material is irrelevant if it is the human body itself that does the detecting. [ 8 ] The rods are sometimes fashioned from wire coat hangers, and glass or plastic rods have also been accepted. Ancak diğerleri eğer insan vücudunun kendisi tespit. [8 yok] çubuklar bazen tel Vestiyer gelen moda, ve cam olduğunu malzeme alakasız olduğunu düşünüyorum Bazı dowsers, çubuklar özellikle metaller, genellikle pirinçten yapılmış en iyi başarı iddia veya plastik çubuklar da kabul edilmiştir. Straight rods are also sometimes used for the same purposes, and were not uncommon in early 19th century New England . Düz çubuklar bazen aynı amaçlar için, ve 19. yüzyılın başlarında New England görülmedik değildi kullanılır.

In all cases, the device is in a state of unstable equilibrium from which slight movements may be amplified. [ 9 ] Her durumda, cihaz hangi hafif hareketleri güçlendirilmiş olabilir kararsız denge durumundadır. [9] Maden yanında, divining çubuklar da revelatory cihazlar olarak kullanılmıştır. Sometimes a rod would be held up in the air, and the rodman would ask a question. Bazen bir çubuk havada ve yukarı doğru yapılacak Rodman bir soru sormak istiyorsunuz. If the rod moved, the answer was "yes". Eğer çubuk taşındı, cevap "evet" oldu. If it did not move, the answer was "no". Eğer kıpırdamadı, cevap "olarak hayır". The source for this was believed to be either magical spirits or God ; sometimes these types of rods were referred to as a "Mosaic rod" or "rod of Aaron", referencing the Old Testament prophet Moses and his brother Aaron , who both used rods (presumably straight ones). Bunun için kaynak ya büyülü ruhlar veya Tanrı; bazen çubuklar bu tür bir "Mozaik çubuk" ya da Harun'un "çubuk" olarak anılacaktır edildi olduğuna inanılıyor, referans Eski Ahit peygamber Musa ve kardeşi Aaron, hem çubuklar olan kullanılan (muhtemelen düz olanlar).Kristal, metal veya diğer malzemelerin bir zincir üzerinde asılı bir sarkaç bazen kehanet ve maden kullanılır. In one approach the user first determines which direction (left-right, up-down) will indicate "yes" and which "no" before proceeding to ask the pendulum specific questions, or else another person may pose questions to the person holding the pendulum. Kullanıcının ilk olarak hangi yönünü belirleyen bir yaklaşımda (sağ-sol, yukarı-aşağı) "evet" gösterir ve "hayır" Devam etmeden önce belirli sorulara, yoksa başka bir kişi kişi sarkaç tutarak soru oluşturabilir sarkaç sormak . The pendulum may also be used over a pad or cloth with "yes" and "no" written on it and perhaps other words written in a circle. Sarkaç bir yastık veya kumaş üzerine "evet" ve "hayır" üzerinde ve belki de başka bir deyişle bir dairenin içinde yazılı yazılı kullanılabilir. The person holding the pendulum aims to hold it as steadily as possible over the center and its movements are held to indicate answers to the questions. Kişi tutarak sarkaç gibi sürekli mümkün merkezi üzerinden ve tutmak için hareketlerini soruların yanıtlarını göstermek için tutulur amaçlamaktadır. In the practice of radiesthesia , a pendulum is used for medical diagnosis. Radyestezi ve pratikte, bir sarkaç tıbbi tanı için kullanılıMaden bilimsel bir açıklama ilk çabalar nosyonunu divining çubuk fiziksel mekanlar maddelerden emanations etkilendi dayalı idi. The following explanation is from William Pryce's 1778 Mineralogia Cornubiensis : Aşağıdaki açıklama William Pryce's 1.778 Mineralogia Cornubiensis alınmıştır:

    The corpuscles ... Cisimciklerini ... that rise from the Minerals, entering the rod, determine it to bow down, in order to render it parallel to the vertical lines which the effluvia describe in their rise. amacıyla kılacak Mineraller dan yükselen, çubuk girerken, o bow down için belirlemek o effluvia onların yükselişi olan tarif dikey çizgiler paralel. In effect the Mineral particles seem to be emitted from the earth; now the Virgula [rod], being of a light porous wood, gives an easy passage to these particles, which are also very fine and subtle; the effluvia then driven forwards by those that follow them, and pressed at the same time by the atmosphere incumbent on them, are forced to enter the little interstices between the fibres of the wood, and by that effort they oblige it to incline, or dip down perpendicularly, to become parallel with the little columns which those vapours form in their rise. Aslında Mineral parçacıklar yerden yayılan gibi görünüyor, şimdi Virgula [çubuk], hafif gözenekli ahşap, olmak da çok ince ve ince parçacıklar bu, kolay bir geçit verir; effluvia sonra iletir bu tarafından tahrik Bu, onları izleyin ve atmosfer onlara görevdeki tarafından aynı anda basıldığında, ağaç lifleri arasında küçük interstices girmek zorunda kalan ve bunun, eğilmek ya da dik, paralel olmak aşağı atmak zorunda bırakmak bu çabaların tarafından küçük sütun onların yükselişi o buharlar oluşturur.

Such explanations have no modern scientific basis. Bu tür açıklamaları hiçbir modern bilimsel temeli var.

A 1986 article in Nature included dowsing in a list of "effects which until recently were claimed to be paranormal but which can now be explained from within orthodox science." [ 10 ] Specifically, dowsing could be explained in terms of sensory cues, expectancy effects and probability . [ 10 ] Doğanın bir 1.986 makale "etkileri listesi olan kadar son iddia edildi, fakat paranormal olmak artık ortodoks bilim içinden açıklanabilir maden dahil." [10] Özellikle, duyusal ipuçları, beklentisi etkileri açısından açıklanabilir maden ve olasılık. [10]

Skeptics and some supporters believe that dowsing apparatus has no power of its own but merely amplifies slight movements of the hands caused by a phenomenon known as the ideomotor effect : people's subconscious minds may influence their bodies without their consciously deciding to take action. Skeptics ve bazı destekçileri maden cihazlar ama kendi gücü vardır sadece ellerini bir fenomen ideomotor etkisi olarak bilinen: insanların bilinçaltı kafasında onların bilinçli işlem yapmaya karar vermeden vücutları etkileyebilir kaynaklanan hafif hareketleri güçlendirir inanıyoruz. This would make the dowsing rods a conduit for the diviner's subconscious knowledge or perception. Bu maden çubuklar kâhin's bilinçaltı bilgi veya algı için bir araç olur.

There is disputed evidence that dowsers have subliminal sensitivity to the environment (through electroception , magnetoception , telluric currents or otherwise) or other paranormal faculties. [ citation needed ] Soviet geologists have made claims for the abilities of dowsers, [ 11 ] which are difficult to account for in terms of the reception of normal sensory cues. Dair kanıtlar dowsers değiştir çevreye electroception, magnetoception, tellürik akımları veya başka türlü () veya diğer paranormal fakülteleri aracılığıyla bilinçaltı hassasiyeti var. [] Sovyet jeologlar, dowsers ve yetenekleri için talepler yaptık [11 tartışmalı olduğunu] hangi zor Normal duyusal ipuçları alınmasına açısından sorumludur. Some authors suggest that these abilities may be explained by postulating human sensitivity to small magnetic field gradient changes. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Bazı yazarlar bu yeteneklerini küçük manyetik alan gradyan değişiklikleri insan hassasiyeti postulating açıklanabilir olabileceğini düşündürmektedir. [12] [13] [14] A 1.948 çalışmada 58 dowsers yeteneğini su algılamak için test edilmiştir. None of them was more reliable than chance. [ 15 ] A 1979 review examined many controlled studies of dowsing for water, and found that none of them showed better than chance results. [ 16 ] Hiçbiri daha şans daha güvenilir oldu. [15] A 1.979 eleştiri, maden suyu için çok kontrollü çalışmalar incelendiğinde ve bunların hiçbirinin sonuç bulundu şans daha iyi gösterdi. [16]

In a study in Munich 1987-1988 by Hans-Dieter Betz and other scientists, 500 dowsers were initially tested for their "skill" and the experimenters selected the best 43 among them for further tests. Hans-Dieter Betz ve diğer bilim adamları tarafından Münih 1987-1988 bir çalışmada, 500 dowsers başlangıçta "beceri" açısından test edilmiştir ve en iyi 43 Onlardan ileri tetkikler için seçilen denemecileri. Water was pumped through a pipe on the ground floor of a two-storey barn. Su iki katlı ambarın zemin katında bir boru vasıtasıyla pompalanır oldu. Before each test the pipe was moved in a direction perpendicular to the water flow. Önce her test borusu su akış yönüne dik olarak taşındı. On the upper floor each dowser was asked to determine the position of the pipe. Her çubukla maden arayan kimse boru konumunu belirlemek istendi üst katta. Over two years the dowsers performed 843 such tests. Dowsers 843 gibi testleri iki yıl boyunca. Of the 43 pre-selected and extensively tested candidates at least 37 showed no dowsing ability. 43 öncesi ve seçilmiş yoğun adayların en az 37 test yer maden yeteneğini gösterdi. The results from the remaining 6 were said to be better than chance, resulting in the experimenters' conclusion that some dowsers "in particular tasks, showed an extraordinarily high rate of success, which can scarcely if at all be explained as due to chance ... a real core of dowser-phenomena can be regarded as empirically proven." [ 17 ] Kalan 6 dan sonuçları şans daha deneyci 'Sonuç olarak belirli görevler bazı dowsers "olan pek olabilir ancak bütün şansa .. bağlı olarak açıklanabilir başarı olağanüstü yüksek oran, gösterdi sonuç daha iyi olduğu söylendi . çubukla maden arayan kimse gerçek bir çekirdek olayların ampirik kanıtlanmış olarak kabul edilebilir. "[17]

Five years after the Munich study was published Jim T. Enright , a professor of physiology and a leading skeptic who emphasised correct data analysis procedure, contended that the study's results are merely consistent with statistical fluctuations and not significant. Beş yıl sonra Münih çalışma Jim T. Enright, fizyoloji profesörü ve önde gelen kim doğru veri analizi prosedürü vurguladı kuşkucu, yayımlanan bu çalışmanın sonuçları sadece istatistiksel dalgalanmalar ve önemli değil tutarlı contended. He believed the experiments provided "the most convincing disproof imaginable that dowsers can do what they claim", [ 18 ] stating that the data analysis was "special, unconventional and customized" and replacing it with "more ordinary analyses". [ 19 ] He noted that the best tester was on average 4 millimeters out of 10 meters closer to a mid-line guess, an advantage of 0.0004%. O sağlanan "en inandırıcı olduğu dowsers ne iddia" yapabileceğini hayal, çürütmek [18] Bu veri analizi ", sıradışı özel ve özel" ve "sıradan analizleri" ile yerini belirten. [19 deneyler inanıyordu] O en iyi test ortalama 4 milimetre üzerinde 10 metre orta hat tahmin 0.0004% bir avantaj daha yakın dışında olduğunu kaydetti. The study's authors responded, saying "on what grounds could Enright come to entirely different conclusions? Apparently his data analysis was too crude, even illegitimate." [ 20 ] The findings of the Munich study were also confirmed in a paper by Dr. S. Ertel, [ 21 ] a German psychologist who had previously intervened in the statistical controversy surrounding the " Mars effect ", but Enright remained unconvinced. [ 22 ] 's Çalışmada yazar, "zemin Enright tamamen farklı sonuçlara ne gelebilir Doğum söyleyerek yanıt verdi? Anlaşılan onun veri analizi çok bile gayri meşru ham oldu." [20] Münih çalışmanın bulguları da bir kağıt Dr S. tarafından doğrulandı; Ertel, [21] daha önce istatistik tartışmalara "Mars etkisi" çevreleyen müdahale eden bir Alman psikolog, ama Enright ikna kaldı. [22]

More recently a study [ 23 ] was undertaken in Kassel , Germany under the direction of the Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) [Society for the Scientific Investigation of the Parasciences]. Daha yakın bir çalışma [23] Kassel yılında, Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) başkanlığında Almanya yapıldı [Toplum Bilimsel Araştırma Parasciences için]. The three-day test of some 30 dowsers involved plastic pipes through which water flow could be controlled and directed. Üç yaklaşık 30 dowsers, üzerinden su akışı kontrollü olabilir ve yönetti plastik borular dahil günlük test edin. The pipes were buried 50 centimeters under a level field, the position of each marked on the surface with a colored strip. Borular bir seviyeye alanının altındaki 50 santimetre toprağa verildi, her renkli bir şerit ile yüzey üzerinde işaretlenen konum. The dowsers had to tell whether water was running through each pipe. Dowsers olup su her boru içinden olduğunu söylemek zorunda kaldı. All the dowsers signed a statement agreeing this was a fair test of their abilities and that they expected a 100 percent success rate, however the results were no better than chance. Tüm dowsers ve bir bildiri bu yeteneklerini ve adil bir sınav olduğunu kabul imzaladılar bir yüzde 100 başarı oranı beklenen şansı daha iyi, ancak sonuç vardı.

Some researchers have investigated possible physical or geophysical explanations for alleged dowsing abilities. Bazı araştırmacılar iddia edilen maden yetenekleri için olası fiziksel veya jeofizik açıklamalar araştırdık. One study concluded that dowsers "respond" to a 60 Hz electromagnetic field, but this response does not occur if the kidney area or head are shielded. [ 24 ] Bir çalışmada dowsers "bir 60 Hz elektromanyetik alan yanıt, ama sonucuna eğer böbrek alan veya kafa korumalı bu yanıt oluşmaz. [24]
[/quote][quote author=havacı link=topic=10730.msg56212#msg56212 date=1263596855]
Dowsing is a type of divination that is claimed to be able to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites,[1] and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called "currents of earth radiation", without the use of scientific apparatus. Dowsing is also known as divining (especially in reference to interpretation of results),[2] doodlebugging (in the US), or (when searching specifically for water) water finding or water witching.

A Y- or L-shaped twig or rod, called a dowsing rod, divining rod (Latin: virgula divina or baculus divinatorius) or witching rod is sometimes used during dowsing, although some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at all.

Dowsing appears to arise in the context of Renaissance magic in Germany, and it remains popular among believers in Forteana or radiesthesia[3] although there is no accepted scientific rationale behind the concept and no scientific evidence that it is effective.
Dowsing as practiced today may have originated in Germany during the 15th century, when it was used to find metals. As early as 1518 Martin Luther listed dowsing for metals as an act that broke the first commandment (i.e., as occultism).[citation needed] The 1550 edition of Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia contains a woodcut of a dowser with forked rod in hand walking over a cutaway image of a mining operation. The rod is labelled "Virgula Divina – Glück rüt" (Latin: divine rod; German: fortunate rod or stick), but there is no text accompanying the woodcut. By 1556 Georgius Agricola's treatment of mining and smelting of ore, De Re Metallica, included a detailed description of dowsing for metal ore.[4]

In 1662 dowsing was declared to be "superstitious, or rather satanic" by a Jesuit, Gaspar Schott, though he later noted that he wasn't sure that the devil was always responsible for the movement of the rod.[5]

An epigram by Samuel Sheppard, from Epigrams theological, philosophical, and romantick (1651) runs thus:

    Virgula divina.
    "Some Sorcerers do boast they have a Rod,
    Gather'd with Vowes and Sacrifice,
    And (borne about) will strangely nod
    To hidden Treasure where it lies;
    Mankind is (sure) that Rod divine,
    For to the Wealthiest (ever) they incline."

The use of divining rods was a popular branch of folk magic in early 19th century New England. The early leaders in Mormonism, a religion that erupted out of that environment, were not exempt. Oliver Cowdery, the Book of Mormon scribe and "Second Elder" of the Church, used a divining rod for revelatory purposes.[6] In a revelation given to Joseph Smith through his seer stone, God affirmed Cowdery's use of "working with the rod", and said that it was a divine gift through which Cowdery could learn the "mysteries of God".[6] This gift later became known in the revelation as "the gift of Aaron", referencing Moses' brother Aaron's use of a rod in the Old Testament.[citation needed][6]

In the late 1960s during the Vietnam War, some United States Marines used dowsing to attempt to locate weapons and tunnels.[7] An extensive book on the history of dowsing was published by Christopher Bird in 1979 under the title of The Divining Hand. James Randi’s 1982 book Flim-Flam! devotes 19 pages to comprehensive double-blind tests done in Italy which yielded results no better than chance.
Traditionally, the most common dowsing rod is a forked (Y-shaped) branch from a tree or bush. Some dowsers prefer branches from particular trees, and some prefer the branches to be freshly cut. Hazel twigs in Europe and witch-hazel in the United States are traditionally commonly chosen, as are branches from willow or peach trees. The two ends on the forked side are held one in each hand with the third (the stem of the "Y") pointing straight ahead. Often the branches are grasped palms down. The dowser then walks slowly over the places where he suspects the target (for example, minerals or water) may be, and the dowsing rod supposedly dips, inclines or twitches when a discovery is made. This method is sometimes known as "Willow Witching."
Many dowsers today use a pair of simple L-shaped metal rods. One rod is held in each hand, with the short arm of the L held upright, and the long arm pointing forward. When something is found, the rods cross over one another making an "X" over the found object. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the rods will point in opposite directions, showing its orientation. Some dowsers claim best success with rods made of particular metals, commonly brass, although others think that the material is irrelevant if it is the human body itself that does the detecting.[8] The rods are sometimes fashioned from wire coat hangers, and glass or plastic rods have also been accepted. Straight rods are also sometimes used for the same purposes, and were not uncommon in early 19th century New England.

In all cases, the device is in a state of unstable equilibrium from which slight movements may be amplified.[9]Besides dowsing, divining rods were also used as revelatory devices. Sometimes a rod would be held up in the air, and the rodman would ask a question. If the rod moved, the answer was "yes". If it did not move, the answer was "no". The source for this was believed to be either magical spirits or God; sometimes these types of rods were referred to as a "Mosaic rod" or "rod of Aaron", referencing the Old Testament prophet Moses and his brother Aaron, who both used rods (presumably straight ones).A pendulum of crystal, metal or other materials suspended on a chain is sometimes used in divination and dowsing. In one approach the user first determines which direction (left-right, up-down) will indicate "yes" and which "no" before proceeding to ask the pendulum specific questions, or else another person may pose questions to the person holding the pendulum. The pendulum may also be used over a pad or cloth with "yes" and "no" written on it and perhaps other words written in a circle. The person holding the pendulum aims to hold it as steadily as possible over the center and its movements are held to indicate answers to the questions. In the practice of radiesthesia, a pendulum is used for medical diagnosis.Early attempts at a scientific explanation of dowsing were based on the notion that the divining rod was physically affected by emanations from substances of interest. The following explanation is from William Pryce's 1778 Mineralogia Cornubiensis:

    The corpuscles ... that rise from the Minerals, entering the rod, determine it to bow down, in order to render it parallel to the vertical lines which the effluvia describe in their rise. In effect the Mineral particles seem to be emitted from the earth; now the Virgula [rod], being of a light porous wood, gives an easy passage to these particles, which are also very fine and subtle; the effluvia then driven forwards by those that follow them, and pressed at the same time by the atmosphere incumbent on them, are forced to enter the little interstices between the fibres of the wood, and by that effort they oblige it to incline, or dip down perpendicularly, to become parallel with the little columns which those vapours form in their rise.

Such explanations have no modern scientific basis.

A 1986 article in Nature included dowsing in a list of "effects which until recently were claimed to be paranormal but which can now be explained from within orthodox science."[10] Specifically, dowsing could be explained in terms of sensory cues, expectancy effects and probability.[10]

Skeptics and some supporters believe that dowsing apparatus has no power of its own but merely amplifies slight movements of the hands caused by a phenomenon known as the ideomotor effect: people's subconscious minds may influence their bodies without their consciously deciding to take action. This would make the dowsing rods a conduit for the diviner's subconscious knowledge or perception.

There is disputed evidence that dowsers have subliminal sensitivity to the environment (through electroception, magnetoception, telluric currents or otherwise) or other paranormal faculties.[citation needed] Soviet geologists have made claims for the abilities of dowsers,[11] which are difficult to account for in terms of the reception of normal sensory cues. Some authors suggest that these abilities may be explained by postulating human sensitivity to small magnetic field gradient changes.[12][13][14]A 1948 study tested 58 dowsers' ability to detect water. None of them was more reliable than chance.[15] A 1979 review examined many controlled studies of dowsing for water, and found that none of them showed better than chance results. [16]

In a study in Munich 1987-1988 by Hans-Dieter Betz and other scientists, 500 dowsers were initially tested for their "skill" and the experimenters selected the best 43 among them for further tests. Water was pumped through a pipe on the ground floor of a two-storey barn. Before each test the pipe was moved in a direction perpendicular to the water flow. On the upper floor each dowser was asked to determine the position of the pipe. Over two years the dowsers performed 843 such tests. Of the 43 pre-selected and extensively tested candidates at least 37 showed no dowsing ability. The results from the remaining 6 were said to be better than chance, resulting in the experimenters' conclusion that some dowsers "in particular tasks, showed an extraordinarily high rate of success, which can scarcely if at all be explained as due to chance ... a real core of dowser-phenomena can be regarded as empirically proven."[17]

Five years after the Munich study was published Jim T. Enright, a professor of physiology and a leading skeptic who emphasised correct data analysis procedure, contended that the study's results are merely consistent with statistical fluctuations and not significant. He believed the experiments provided "the most convincing disproof imaginable that dowsers can do what they claim",[18] stating that the data analysis was "special, unconventional and customized" and replacing it with "more ordinary analyses".[19] He noted that the best tester was on average 4 millimeters out of 10 meters closer to a mid-line guess, an advantage of 0.0004%. The study's authors responded, saying "on what grounds could Enright come to entirely different conclusions? Apparently his data analysis was too crude, even illegitimate."[20] The findings of the Munich study were also confirmed in a paper by Dr. S. Ertel,[21] a German psychologist who had previously intervened in the statistical controversy surrounding the "Mars effect", but Enright remained unconvinced.[22]

More recently a study[23] was undertaken in Kassel, Germany under the direction of the Gesellschaft zur Wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) [Society for the Scientific Investigation of the Parasciences]. The three-day test of some 30 dowsers involved plastic pipes through which water flow could be controlled and directed. The pipes were buried 50 centimeters under a level field, the position of each marked on the surface with a colored strip. The dowsers had to tell whether water was running through each pipe. All the dowsers signed a statement agreeing this was a fair test of their abilities and that they expected a 100 percent success rate, however the results were no better than chance.

Some researchers have investigated possible physical or geophysical explanations for alleged dowsing abilities. One study concluded that dowsers "respond" to a 60 Hz electromagnetic field, but this response does not occur if the kidney area or head are shielded.[24]