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The list of speakers booked for next season is now almost complete and is on the back of the journal as usual. I’m sure that you will agree that they look extremely interesting – I think Shaun has excelled himself.
In last month’s journal we asked for volunteers to join the committee, and are delighted that Gill Haskins and Chris Hinton have volunteered for the two vacant places. A big thanks to you both, and welcome aboard,
Has anybody got access to a notice board in an appropriate place to display a list of the society’s meetings and events? We already get them into several information centres, health shops, therapy clinics, etc., but could print off a few more if anyone can help.
The meeting was held on the last Monday of the month in October as that was when Billy Gawn, the speaker, was in England. This was confusing for some of the Salsa dancers who normally use the venue at this time, and had not realised that they were meeting on a different night! Hopefully none of our members got it wrong and turned up at the Salsa session.
Billy gave a fascinating talk on the way that earth energies behave at ancient sites, and how that they could be affected by the presence and behaviour of underground water. He also explained some of his theories of why some of the ancient monuments were built at particular locations.
He showed animations of blind springs forming, down-shafts and underground streams, and showed how these could produce detrimental energy. He found a volunteer to stand on a site of detrimental energy in the room and gave a demonstration of muscle-testing, which is a very good method of checking for the proximity of detrimental energy.
One of Billy’s theories is that stone circles may have been located in sites where they could block detrimental energy or block it in some way
They are extremely varied as to size, exact shape,-some being oval –and another of Billy’s theories is that each group of stones was designed to deal with known energies or underground water, and that each stone was placed upon the exact spot at which it would be most effective. This would answer the often asked query about why some circles have stones which are irregularly spaced.
Billy has been involved in the construction and design of a number of modern stone circles and places the stones by meticulously dowsing the area for water, aerial and underground energies.
Another experiment he is involved in is a modern “chambered Tomb” which he has been building close to his home in Northern Ireland. The pictures he showed recorded the construction and subsequent development of the structure it has been covered in earth and he tells casual enquirers that it is a rockery! Saves a lot of tedious explanations, I expect. He has included a small “light-box” aperture at the end where the sun rises and has put in a piece of quartz to block this “light-box just as the one at Newgrange was made. His belief is that this piece of quartz may have been used to block radiation from the sun’s rays. This is interesting, as if his theory is right it suggests that not only did our ancestors know about radiation, but that they used techniques to control it.
Hopefully Billy will make his findings know at a later date, as this is the first modern construction of its type that I have come across, and it sounds fascinating.
This year’s “last field-trip of the season” event was held at a different location this year, as Barbara and Adrian Crocker, our usual hosts, are doing drainage work at their farm, delayed by the colossal rain this summer. Gill and Paul Haskins kindly stepped in and offered the use of a field at their farm near Faringdon.
Paul constructed a fire of stupendous proportions which was welcome given that the foggy conditions made the evening rather chilly once the darkness fell. He and Gill had made a smaller “plan B” fire nearer the house just in case of rain, but it stayed dry and we used the better site, a beautiful spot at the edge of the River Thames.
A couple of large gazebo tents held a “pot-luck” buffet, with contributions from the members, the setting being enhanced by Paul’s multi-coloured lights.
During the period of daylight we dowsed the filed, finding a number of curly energies coming off the side of the river. The old pump-house for the water supply is nearby, so it was possible to dowse the underground streams supplying it. Also nearby is a hump in the ground which was once the site of a mill, which may have been there in Saxon times.
Later on, after it was too dark to dowse, we ate, lit sparklers, and Shaun thanked every one for coming and got everybody to hold hands in a circle for a short ceremony, which was led by Pete.
More food, more sparklers, then it was time to thank Paul and Gill for their hospitality and head for home, [once we had located the gate in the ever-thickening fog!] I suppose we should have dowsed for it. S.C.
Bonfires, eternal flames and ritual fires have played an important part throughout history, continuing up to the present, as symbols of purification, cleansing and celebration and protection.
Ritual fires were used by many of the major religions and is still used by the Zoroastrian Parsis who view it as the earthly symbol of heavenly light, a great purifier.
Many monuments contain eternal flames to honour those who died in war, or to honour national heroes. It is believed that burning a Yule log at Christmas is a survival of a pagan custom.
In some places fire-wheels were constructed of wooden wheels with straw tied to them, which would be set on fire then rolled down a hill. It is believed that these were meant to symbolise the sun, and that their use would ensure fertile fields. Some Easter celebrations still include this ancient custom.
Candles and lamps are also used as ritual tools in religious ceremonies around the world, and it is possible that this custom started using simple fires, before such luxuries as candles and lamps became easily available. Nowadays these are often electric instead of real flame, but this seems to me to spoil the effect – if a candle symbolises a fire, then an electric candle must symbolise a symbol, and I personally don’t reckon it has the same effect. S.C.
The long-weekend trip will most likely be to the area in Hereford that we had intended to visit this year, but had to cancel due to the floods.
The next standard Sunday trip will be in January, the Sunday after the monthly meeting, as usual. As it may be inclement weather at this time of year, the trip will be relatively near civilisation, to a couple of very old and interesting churches, where we can get under cover if need be. The churches are at Alton Priors and Alton Barnes, with lots of interesting dowsing at both. We have run trips there several times before but not for several years, so it will be interesting to check for alterations in the energies since the last visit about four years ago.
The best part of this trip, for me is the ancient Yew tree, so big that several people can get inside it.
Lunch will probably be at the Woodbridge, and any after-lunch dowsing will be impromptu, depending on how much daylight there is left.
Due to the very short days at this time of year we plan to start a little earlier than usual in order to have a decent amount of time at each church.
Venue details at back of journal.
Here is another article from the past. This appeared in the August 1995 newsletter.
By the late Dennis Wheatley
Dowsing, as we are all aware, is a matter of ‘Frame of Mind’ which all who took the college dowsing course understand. For those who didn’t attend a course, this involves the following basic precepts which should be mastered until they become ‘second nature’!
Before attempting a dowsing pass get into the correct ‘Frame of Mind’
(1) Relax bodily, and mentally, and take a few deep relaxing breaths;
(2) Clear the mind of all butterfly thoughts;
(3)Visualise your dowsing target. Hamish Miller believes that with high visualisation the scope of dowsing is infinite;
(4) Eliminate wishful thinking or the ‘feeling’ that you know what the rods or pendulum will do. The rod and pendulum will react to your wishful thinking with alacrity;
(5) Eliminate all other forms of autosuggestion as they create ‘self-delusion’;
(6) Be a totally unbiased observer, disinterested completely in how the dowsing instruments will react;
(7) Be quietly confident in your ability but avoid ‘over-confidence’ as this will invite spurious results;
8) Concentrate quietly on the dowsing object but avoid, at all costs, ‘over-concentration’ as this, too, will produce spurious results;
(9) Simultaneous relaxation and concentration appear to be contradictory. ‘Relaxed concentration’ is the trick;
(10) Eliminate your ego and let the ‘self’, the ‘atman’, do the dowsing;
(11) In making a dowsing pass, dowse like a TV action replay;
(12) Take a tip from the snooker, tennis and golf professionals. Note before they make a strike how much time they spend getting into the correct ‘frame of mind’; they visualise their body movements and what the ball will do after the strike.
(13) If your sustained concentration is broken by conversation, a passing car, or helicopter, for example, cease the dowsing pass and start again;
(14) Don’t dowse if fatigued;
(15) Dowse in five minute bursts with ample relaxation in between;
(16) Always check your ‘yes/no’ programme prior to dowsing;
(17) Use the Sig Longegren ‘spiritual dowsing’ technique - “Can I? May I? Should I?”
If you get three ‘yes’ reactions, proceed.
(18) If your dowsing instruments react with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ response don’t accept the response as ‘gospel truth’. Pendulums, or rods, often act capriciously and with chicanery. Tom Graves calls this the Hermes Response after the Greek God, Hermes, whose many attributes included ‘trickery’. Always ask ‘Was that a Hermes response?’ Note the answer often is ‘yes’.
(19) In ‘Information Dowsing’ keep questions short and crystal clear. Woolly questions produce woolly answers.
1. Never use dowsing for evil, selfish gain, or self aggrandisement.
2. Always dowse for the good of all concerned.
3. Dowsing is a gift to treasure and share with like-minded people.
4. Don’t attempt to diagnose or give medical advice or treatment of any kind, unless you are practised and qualified to do so.
5. Always keep a completely ‘open mind’ to new ideas and concepts that can improve your dowsing ability.
6. Keep your dowsing simple.
7. When dowsing at ancient sites, burial long barrows and churchyards, use psychic protection to avoid absorbing undesirable energies.
8. Do not interfere with the privacy of others.
During the recent fire-festival at Paul and Gill’s farm, Paul pointed out a very large old ash tree that He said ash trees were often grown on farms as the coppiced wood made excellent handles for axes and other agricultural tools.
On looking up ash trees I found that they have a myriad of lore and traditions surrounding them. For instance, the Norse god Odin found two ash trunks on the sea-shore and turned them into the first man and woman.
The Yggdrasil, the world tree of Scandinavian mythology was an ash, and it united Heaven, Earth and Hell. After the death of the old gods, its wood would give rise to a new race of men.
An ash tree symbolises stability as it was believed that its roots extended as far into the earth as its branches did into the air. The sap of the tree was believed to have magic powers and in Scotland it was given to new babies as the first drink.
A sycamore and an ash tree planted together at the side of a road was a method of warning coachmen and other travellers that they were approaching a crossroads.
The ash was also a weather indicator, as it was believed that if the ash came into leaf before the oak, then we were in for a wet summer, whereas if the oak leafed up first then it would be dry. Can anybody remember what order they were in this year?
Dowsers looking for underground copper lodes used forked ash twigs as the tool of choice and ash was also used in divination, particularly by young women when husband-hunting.
One of the most frequently asked questions I get asked when on field trips is about why I, and other dowsers, sometimes dowse without using rods or other tools.
Although dowsing without using rods, forked twig, pendulums etc. is not always as accurate as when using them, it can be very useful in some situations. For instance, when dowsing in a very crowded place where rods might be considered unsafe, in churches or other religious buildings where the practise might be regarded with suspicion, or when you wish to dowse but just don’t have a suitable implement to hand.
Practise is needed and you need to be extra careful when identifying your body’s responses. Remember that angle-rods, for example are only amplifiers of subtle signals given by your body, since it is your body that dowses, not the rods. Until you have learned to distinguish these subtle dowsing responses from normal twitches, itches, etc. it is best to double-check your findings with a rod or pendulum or whatever you normally feel confident with. Don’t forget that you still need to be able to identify your yes’s and no’s, as with standard dowsing.
There are many methods for device-less dowsing but here are a few simple ones. Good Luck.
1. Hold out your hands, palms down, forearms parallel to the ground, upper arms hanging straight down and relaxed. This is the search position. Move forward towards the target but do not look at your hands and stay relaxed. As you get near the target your hands will tend to rise a few inches. As you pass over the target and move away the hands will return to their original position. This depends of course, on whether you have ascertained that upwards is your positive response and downward is your negative. If upwards is your negative, then you will expect a downward movement when over the target.
2. Hold the hands in front of the body in a very relaxed position with the palms facing each other a few inches apart, with forearms horizontal and upper arms straight down. Keep the target in mind and move forward, keeping the eyes on the ground a little way ahead. When reaching the target the palms move closer together until they almost touch, then move away again as the target is left behind. Concentrate on the target rather than your hands.
3. Funny walks. This method is less obvious to the passer-by – ideal for use in supermarkets and other busy places. Walk slowly along, towards the target, with your weight slightly concentrated at the toes so that you are in a slightly unstable walking position . As you reach the target you should notice that your body twitches slightly to the left or right. For me, a left-hand twitch is yes, or positive, while aright-hand reaction means no or negative. I find that if there is a very strong reaction that the twitch is more of a lurch and can lead to some funny looks from passers-by.