Walrus Whisperer
Hope in chains...
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?display=rednews/2004/09/03/build/state/40-dowser.inc
Fair use for discussion purposes only:
Dowser 'can't tell you why' he senses water
By LINDA HALSTEAD-ACHARYA
Of The Gazette Staff
Joliet rancher Carl Hansen, 82, paces across his barnyard with an L-shaped steel rod in one hand. As he crosses his water line, the rod swings firmly to the left.
"I can show you how this works, but I can't tell you why," he said, grinning as he demonstrated the ancient practice of dowsing.
Theories about how dowsing works run the gamut from auras to electromagnetic fields. Some doubt that it works at all, while others say it's a normal sensory perception - the same sense that tells birds where to migrate - a sense that allowed early humans to survive.
"Nobody understands," Hansen said. "Nobody yet has come up with a theory why it works and why it works for some people and why it doesn't."
For 60 years Hansen has "witched" countless wells across five states. He started so long ago he hardly remembers how he learned the technique. He does, however, remember why.
"Back in the 1940s, I had a drilling rig," he said. "At that time you didn't get paid by the foot. If you hit water you got paid. If not, you didn't. I couldn't afford those dry holes. If you wanted to stay in business, you better know where water is before you start drilling."
Hansen said he'd heard about dowsing - also known as divining, doodle bugging or water witching - and decided to give it a try. He discovered what worked for him and refined it over the years.
Today, when he heads out in search of water, he notes the first indication of a pull on his rod. To verify the underground vein and pinpoint its location, he recrosses the point from another direction. Hansen said it's not so hard finding a vein of water as it is figuring how deep it runs. He bases his method on a system he picked up during his drilling days, when he paced off the width of the vein and compared his count to the depth he had to drill to find water.
Hansen explains that the deeper the vein, the less pull on his rod. Likewise, the deeper the vein, the narrower its path for detection. One of the deepest sources he discovered – 516 feet deep - measured only two steps across.
"I don't have any of it down on paper. It's just up here," he said, pointing to his head. "I don't know how to translate it."
Hansen has, however, been able to share his expertise with four or five other well drillers. He also imparted his know-how to daughter Mickey McMillan of Lewistown, who, like her father, has a natural ability to dowse.
Hansen questioned his teaching when McMillan came up 10 feet short while witching a well.
"I didn't take into account her steps were shorter than mine," he laughed.
While some dowsers quote gallons per minute, Hansen is reluctant to do so. Sometimes he gets a stronger pull or his wire vibrates up and down. Those signs indicate a stronger underground current, he said.
Dowsing, for Hansen, doesn't require a specific rod or fancy tools. Unlike many dowsers, who rely on willow branches, pendulums and pairs of rods, Hansen typically uses just one rod, an L-shaped steel piece cut from a galvanized fence panel. But he can also find water with an axe, a hammer or a hatchet.
"They'll all work," he said.
One time, he was handed an 8-foot-long railroad bar, the kind used to pull spikes and lift rails.
When Hansen crossed an underground vein with the heavy bar in his grasp, it was all he could do to hang onto it. The bar's size seemed to magnify the reading.
"It vibrated until it felt like it was going to pull my shoulder out," he said.
Dowsing has both believers and skeptics. Doubters quote scientific studies proving there's no statistical difference between dowsing and chance selection. Others argue that dowsers and their believers are more likely to remember hits than misses, particularly when each success confirms the hypothesis they want to be true.
John Obert of Roberts counts himself a believer, but he admits he's seen varied results among dowsers. He considers Hansen to be one of the best.
"He's not just lucky. He hits too many of them," Obert said of Hansen.
Once, when Obert was in need of a stock well, he called on Hansen and two other dowsers for corroboration.
"Carl was right on," he said. "He found me a dandy stock well."
Not only was Hansen able to locate a vein, he followed it for over a mile and a half until it passed under a power line. The extra effort provided Obert a source of power for a pump.
"I don't think it's magic," Obert said. "They've got something about their chemistry. I don't know how he could possibly do this, but he's coming up with the right answers."
Hansen got the call, too, when the community of Roberts needed to replace its old water supply several years ago. He witched a new vein above town, one that ran by gravity flow.
"They haven't been out of water since," he said.
Hansen is the first to admit he's made a few bad calls. Once, while drilling, he said he "lost" all his water. In place of the vein of water, he discovered a large underground crevasse.
"They'll witch the same as water will," he said. "That's why , when I witch, I go a quarter mile in each direction so I know it's not a crevasse in the ground."
Hansen's gift is not limited to finding water. He can locate pipes and cables, as well. Years ago, he remembered, he passed a crew digging along the roadside to locate a gas line. When he stopped to help out, he witched the line and found it on the opposite side of the road.
"They said the blueprint said it's over here, but half an hour later, they'd dug down on the other side and had the pipeline," he said.
Hansen also knows another water-finding trick that doesn't involve dowsing.
"Every prairie dog town, there's one hole in it that goes to water," he said. "Just look for the biggest mound."
That knowledge came in handy when he was asked to locate water in the Malta area. Flying in, he asked the pilot to land when he noticed a prairie dog town from the air. In quick order he located water there, then did the same at two other prairie dog towns.
"We flew back to Billings and everyone was happy," he said.
If anyone doubts Hansen's gift, there's no question about his intent. He enjoys sharing his talent and it's not unusual for him to do it gratis.
"If I feel like they can afford it, I charge them a little to cover gas," he said. He doesn't charge for his time.
"What's time? I felt the good Lord put me here to help people," he said.
______________________________
Another part under the article:
A long history to an uncertain science
Some call it "witchery," hence "water witching." Others refer to it as "divining," based on the belief that locating water is aided by a divine hand. Whether it's viewed as science or folklore, dowsing has been around for centuries. According to one source, dowsing was depicted as early as 8,000 years ago, in cave drawings in Iraq. The same report maintains that dowsing tools were discovered in King Tut's pyramid. A second account lists Leonardo DeVinci, Albert Einstein and General Patton among the many who have demonstrated the ability to divine water.
Whatever the explanation, one dowser likens the "power" to Thomas Edison's discovery of electricity. When asked what electricity is, Edison is reported to have said: "I don't know either, but it's there, so let's use it."
Fair use for discussion purposes only:
Dowser 'can't tell you why' he senses water
By LINDA HALSTEAD-ACHARYA
Of The Gazette Staff
Joliet rancher Carl Hansen, 82, paces across his barnyard with an L-shaped steel rod in one hand. As he crosses his water line, the rod swings firmly to the left.
"I can show you how this works, but I can't tell you why," he said, grinning as he demonstrated the ancient practice of dowsing.
Theories about how dowsing works run the gamut from auras to electromagnetic fields. Some doubt that it works at all, while others say it's a normal sensory perception - the same sense that tells birds where to migrate - a sense that allowed early humans to survive.
"Nobody understands," Hansen said. "Nobody yet has come up with a theory why it works and why it works for some people and why it doesn't."
For 60 years Hansen has "witched" countless wells across five states. He started so long ago he hardly remembers how he learned the technique. He does, however, remember why.
"Back in the 1940s, I had a drilling rig," he said. "At that time you didn't get paid by the foot. If you hit water you got paid. If not, you didn't. I couldn't afford those dry holes. If you wanted to stay in business, you better know where water is before you start drilling."
Hansen said he'd heard about dowsing - also known as divining, doodle bugging or water witching - and decided to give it a try. He discovered what worked for him and refined it over the years.
Today, when he heads out in search of water, he notes the first indication of a pull on his rod. To verify the underground vein and pinpoint its location, he recrosses the point from another direction. Hansen said it's not so hard finding a vein of water as it is figuring how deep it runs. He bases his method on a system he picked up during his drilling days, when he paced off the width of the vein and compared his count to the depth he had to drill to find water.
Hansen explains that the deeper the vein, the less pull on his rod. Likewise, the deeper the vein, the narrower its path for detection. One of the deepest sources he discovered – 516 feet deep - measured only two steps across.
"I don't have any of it down on paper. It's just up here," he said, pointing to his head. "I don't know how to translate it."
Hansen has, however, been able to share his expertise with four or five other well drillers. He also imparted his know-how to daughter Mickey McMillan of Lewistown, who, like her father, has a natural ability to dowse.
Hansen questioned his teaching when McMillan came up 10 feet short while witching a well.
"I didn't take into account her steps were shorter than mine," he laughed.
While some dowsers quote gallons per minute, Hansen is reluctant to do so. Sometimes he gets a stronger pull or his wire vibrates up and down. Those signs indicate a stronger underground current, he said.
Dowsing, for Hansen, doesn't require a specific rod or fancy tools. Unlike many dowsers, who rely on willow branches, pendulums and pairs of rods, Hansen typically uses just one rod, an L-shaped steel piece cut from a galvanized fence panel. But he can also find water with an axe, a hammer or a hatchet.
"They'll all work," he said.
One time, he was handed an 8-foot-long railroad bar, the kind used to pull spikes and lift rails.
When Hansen crossed an underground vein with the heavy bar in his grasp, it was all he could do to hang onto it. The bar's size seemed to magnify the reading.
"It vibrated until it felt like it was going to pull my shoulder out," he said.
Dowsing has both believers and skeptics. Doubters quote scientific studies proving there's no statistical difference between dowsing and chance selection. Others argue that dowsers and their believers are more likely to remember hits than misses, particularly when each success confirms the hypothesis they want to be true.
John Obert of Roberts counts himself a believer, but he admits he's seen varied results among dowsers. He considers Hansen to be one of the best.
"He's not just lucky. He hits too many of them," Obert said of Hansen.
Once, when Obert was in need of a stock well, he called on Hansen and two other dowsers for corroboration.
"Carl was right on," he said. "He found me a dandy stock well."
Not only was Hansen able to locate a vein, he followed it for over a mile and a half until it passed under a power line. The extra effort provided Obert a source of power for a pump.
"I don't think it's magic," Obert said. "They've got something about their chemistry. I don't know how he could possibly do this, but he's coming up with the right answers."
Hansen got the call, too, when the community of Roberts needed to replace its old water supply several years ago. He witched a new vein above town, one that ran by gravity flow.
"They haven't been out of water since," he said.
Hansen is the first to admit he's made a few bad calls. Once, while drilling, he said he "lost" all his water. In place of the vein of water, he discovered a large underground crevasse.
"They'll witch the same as water will," he said. "That's why , when I witch, I go a quarter mile in each direction so I know it's not a crevasse in the ground."
Hansen's gift is not limited to finding water. He can locate pipes and cables, as well. Years ago, he remembered, he passed a crew digging along the roadside to locate a gas line. When he stopped to help out, he witched the line and found it on the opposite side of the road.
"They said the blueprint said it's over here, but half an hour later, they'd dug down on the other side and had the pipeline," he said.
Hansen also knows another water-finding trick that doesn't involve dowsing.
"Every prairie dog town, there's one hole in it that goes to water," he said. "Just look for the biggest mound."
That knowledge came in handy when he was asked to locate water in the Malta area. Flying in, he asked the pilot to land when he noticed a prairie dog town from the air. In quick order he located water there, then did the same at two other prairie dog towns.
"We flew back to Billings and everyone was happy," he said.
If anyone doubts Hansen's gift, there's no question about his intent. He enjoys sharing his talent and it's not unusual for him to do it gratis.
"If I feel like they can afford it, I charge them a little to cover gas," he said. He doesn't charge for his time.
"What's time? I felt the good Lord put me here to help people," he said.
______________________________
Another part under the article:
A long history to an uncertain science
Some call it "witchery," hence "water witching." Others refer to it as "divining," based on the belief that locating water is aided by a divine hand. Whether it's viewed as science or folklore, dowsing has been around for centuries. According to one source, dowsing was depicted as early as 8,000 years ago, in cave drawings in Iraq. The same report maintains that dowsing tools were discovered in King Tut's pyramid. A second account lists Leonardo DeVinci, Albert Einstein and General Patton among the many who have demonstrated the ability to divine water.
Whatever the explanation, one dowser likens the "power" to Thomas Edison's discovery of electricity. When asked what electricity is, Edison is reported to have said: "I don't know either, but it's there, so let's use it."
My Dad prefers an iron rod, but willow works for him also. I think the tradition to witch water, etc. runs in families because we learn from people we respect that it actually works. My Dad learned from his Mom's brother and so it goes. It's weird, 'cause I am trained and am paid to think as a scientist, so don't hold with a lot of the woo-woo stuff that one hears about, but I do know that something is bending that stick down, no matter how hard I try to hold it straight. It's a very interesting experience!