dowsers
Forked stick users
Dowsers are practitioners of dowsing, a folk method of locating underground water, minerals, or other hidden substances using a forked stick, pendulum, or bent rods.
The dowser walks until the instrument supposedly moves on its own, indicating something below.
Despite no scientific evidence supporting the practice, dowsers remain employed in some rural areas: The farmer hired dowsers to find a spot for the new well.
Water in underground rock
- aquiferGroundwater-bearing geological formation
- wellsExcavated water sources
- springsCoils, sources, or leaps
- mineralsInorganic natural solids
oil · graves · utilities · treasure · gold · ore · subterranean · watershed
Suspended swinging weight
Instinctive immediate understanding
- sensitivityResponsiveness to stimuli
- giftItem given freely
- vibrationsRapid oscillating motions
- attunementHarmonious receptive connection
receptivity · geomancy · instinct · perception · extrasensory
Research conducted on location
- walkingLocomotion on foot
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- prospectingSearching for mineral wealth
- sensingDetecting through perception
detecting · locating · exploration · quest · searching · on-site · practitioners · traditionalists
groundwater
Water in underground rock
- aquiferGroundwater-bearing geological formation
- wellsExcavated water sources
- springsCoils, sources, or leaps
minerals · oil · graves · utilities · treasure · gold · ore · subterranean · watershed
pendulum
Suspended swinging weight
intuition
Instinctive immediate understanding
- sensitivityResponsiveness to stimuli
- giftItem given freely
- vibrationsRapid oscillating motions
attunement · receptivity · geomancy · instinct · perception · extrasensory
fieldwork
Research conducted on location
- walkingLocomotion on foot
- surveyingMeasuring and charting terrain
- prospectingSearching for mineral wealth
sensing · detecting · locating · exploration · quest · searching · on-site · practitioners · traditionalists
pseudoscience
Bogus methodology posing as factual
folklore · superstition · unproven · anecdotal · coincidence
- seekersseekers, seeker, treasure hunters, searcher, fortune seekers
- psychicspsychic, psychics, fortune teller, clairvoyant, clairvoyants
- fringe believerstruthers, conspiracy theorists, flat earthers, QAnon, moon landing deniers
dowsersgeologists
Rock and mineral researchers
hydrologists · hydrogeologists · geophysicists · surveyors · seismologists
dowsersskeptics
Those who doubt claims
debunkers · empiricists · rationalists · materialists · scientists