Review of Peter Naylor's Video Learn to Dowse, by Julie Bunting
This review is by Julie Bunting, and was published originally in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 10th March 2003, and is reproduced with Julie's kind permission.
LEARN TO DOWSE
with Peter Naylor
There is a saying that we're all looking for something. If it happens to
be an underground water course, pipes or cables - or just a fascinating
new hobby - 'Learn to Dowse' may be the video for you. Just to make it
clear, many people are more familiar with the term 'divining', generally
in connection with a search for water, though here in the Peak the skill
was known to lead miners searching for veins of lead ore.
Peter Naylor is a professional dowser and also a highly qualified
engineer with a keen interest in metal mining. He has taught over a
thousand people to dowse and his dowsing services have been used over
many years by miners, farmers and building contractors. In 1980, long
before the days of video, Peter wrote a teach-yourself manual
'Discovering Dowsing and Divining' (Shire Publications) and this classic
handbook has been reprinted every few years up to the present.
He affirms that all people have the ability to dowse, not just a few
with some mysterious gift. All a novice needs is an attitude of 'light
hearted seriousness' and some dowsing rods. And he dispels the myth that
dowsing works only with hazel twigs. Personally I can vouch for rods
made from two strips of whalebone from a pair of old-fashioned corsets
(don't ask!)
The video starts a beginner off from scratch, with instructions on how
to cut a suitable branch straight from the tree or to make a dowsing rod
from a metal coat hanger. What cheaper hobby is there than that? A
separate advice sheet includes a revealing question and answer section,
e.g. Have learned bodies researched dowsing? Peter goes on to reveal how
US Marines have reduced their casualty rates from land mines by means of
dowsing, and how during the Second World War RAF personnel found water
in the Sahara Desert by using dowsing twigs. He also gives a chart to
suit the needs of those using a pendulum for dowsing, another method
featured on the video.
Produced locally by Highfield Studios, the Learn to Dowse video costs
£9.50, or with the book £13 (and well worth the small extra sum), both
including p&p from Watnay Publishing, PO Box 6350, Matlock, DE4 3ZS.
(Cheques etc to Watnay Publishing).
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[Created 15 Mar 2003. Last updated 24 Oct 2008 - 11:02 by Rosemary Lockie]