Dowsing Wisdom

Most people (including Webster) think only of dowsing for water, i.e., "water witching". But, dowsing can be very useful when you need to find your car keys, or answer everyday questions, such as, "Is this a good vitamin for me to take today?" or, "Should I go left, or right, at this juncture?" There are numerous mundane uses for dowsing; but, the fun begins when we use it to access our intuition and expand our wisdom.

Motto of dowsing: "There are no limits."

Dowsing is an infallible method for accessing your inner truth. It can eliminate confusion and give you a new, powerful, sense of self-confidence and wisdom.

Gayla has been dowsing for over forty years. She is a member of The American Society of Dowsers and the Santa Rosa chapter of ASD. She gives private seminars and teaches "Feng Shui & Dowsing" annually at the American Society of Dowsers' West Coast Conference, at The University of California, Santa Cruz.

Following is a true story that illustrates the power of dowsing for the benefit of Feng Shui:

Mary's life was dramatically transformed by the Amazing! Feng Shui I did for her home in Santa Rosa, California. So, when she purchased a condo in Kaua'i, Hawaii, she decided to fly me over to bless her new home with the profound rituals that balance, harmonize and align Qi (vital, life-force energy) at a frequency that resonates with the client's greatest good and highest purpose.

The condo was on the ground floor of a charming old building with the ocean sparkling just a few yards beyond the grassy terrace. The view was spectacular. The condo's interior was still in the process of being renovated, so the space was still empty of furniture.

When I walked in, I assumed that this gorgeous, empty space was going to be a simple assignment. I anticipated determining the Power Spots, Commanding Positions, making suggestions regarding the The Art of Placement for major pieces of furniture, color consulting, and a Shamanic Blessing Ceremony, to dispel any old "sticky" energy left behind from former residents, so that Mary would instantly feel at home and feel like she had roots there.

With the ocean view and the tropical Hawaiian breezes wafting through, Mary's new condo looked and felt fabulous! But, knowing that appearances can be deceiving, I routinely pulled out my golden "Aura Meter" (dowsing rod) to check the quality of subtle Qi energy.

I always begin dowsing with three traditional permission statements: "Can I, may I, should I do this dowsing now?" followed by a request for the golden rod to respond to any noxious Qi. Noxious Qi is any disruptive energetic that would be detrimental to the inhabitants of the environment. I am alerted to such situations if the rod of my Aura Meter bends, or if I feel a heavy tug or drag on it, as though I'm pulling it through water.

I started at the front door and traced the perimeter of each room with my trusty golden Aura Meter. Just as I expected, the energy was nice and smooth all around the place, room after room... until, much to my surprise, when I opened the door of a closet in the living room my dowsing rod began spinning wildly, twisting and bending back on itself. Such a severe reaction only happens when something is terribly wrong.

Mary saw the rod's erratic behavior and was noticeably concerned. She told me that this closet used to be outside on the patio. In the remodel, she had the exterior living room wall moved forward to include the patio, so as to create more interior space. She said the upstairs balcony, still outdoors and directly over the closet, had leaked in the past; so perhaps, she suggested, my rod could be picking up a leakage problem. Based on that information, my first question to the Aura Meter was, "What is this negative energy? Is it something relating to water?" The dowsing rod bent sharply to the left, clearly indicating a "No" answer.

Then I asked, "Is it anything electromagnetic?"
Again, it bent sharply left:
"No."
"Is it anything to do with electricity?"
"No."
"Is it something geopathic?"
"No."
"Is it geothermal?"
"No."

I didn't have any idea where to go from here with my questions. So, just to be flippant, I said, "What, was there a dead body in here?"Much to my surprise the Aura Meter suddenly bent sharply over to the right, strongly indicating a "Yes!" Instantaneously, I got a clear picture in my mind of the closet when it was outside on the patio: I saw rakes, brooms and garden hoses... but no dead body.

However, then the next question instantaneously popped into my mind:
"Is it something in the building materials?" The answer was a strong bend to the right: "Yes!"
"Is it something in the cement?"
"Yes!"
"Is it something in the sand?"
"Yes!"
"Hmm... Can I, may I, should I clear it?"
"Yes!" 
(I said a silent, "Thank goodness!")

So, with a strong, clear positive intention to dispel any and all noxious energy, I set about doing my shamanic clearing rituals.

I use my voice to create powerful shamanic sounds, as a medium to carry profound intentions on intense vibrational frequencies directed to the quantum level of environmental matter. Just as a spoon will easily bend from the "force" of mind intention, Qi will shift to resonate with the higher frequencies of clear, mindful, intentional, shamanic sounds. I visualized healthy, harmonious, healing Qi, first permeating and filling the closet, and then spilling out into every nook and cranny of the home.

After completing the shamanic rituals, I dowsed every room again and this time everything, including the closet, was smooth as silk. Mary was tremendously happy and relieved by the shift she felt in the atmosphere. She said, "I don't know what it was, but I'm sure glad you found it and cleared it -- the difference feels amazing!"

Without that detection and correction, the consequences could have been grave. While spending time in that area of the living room, a person might have experienced headaches from being subjected to the strong, low vibrational frequencies that made my rod spin. Or, because "Like attracts like!" those frequencies could attract, like a magnet, entities with similar low frequencies, such as ghosts, or dangerous low vibrational creatures, like centipedes. In fact, I was later told, that the construction workers had already found one centipede in the closet! Hawaiian centipedes are huge and extremely poisonous --definitely "noxious!"

The next morning, Mary invited me to breakfast with some of her friends. Of course, she was excited to tell them the story about how my dowsing had revealed the problem in the closet, the questions it had led me to, and the answers I'd gotten.

Natalie, a woman who's lived on Kaua'i for thirty years said, "Oh-h-h! They must have gotten the sand from Maha'ulepu! The name means 'Dark And Bloody Ground.' There were so many battles fought there that you can still find bits of human bone in the dunes. Many Hawaiians believe it's sacred land that should never be disturbed. They call it 'Kapu', [taboo] but many contractors use Maha'ulepu as a major quarry for the sand they use to make cement."

Long ago, I learned to trust my dowsing answers implicitly, even when they do not make perfect sense to my conscious mind. But, it isn't every day that "way out of the ordinary" answers, like "bones in the sand," get verified so quickly and so explicitly!

This is why dowsing is so vitally important to Feng Shui:
When I walked into Mary's new condo, it was clean, light and bright; with dazzling  views and tropical breezes. It looked, smelled and felt like a perfect home in paradise! Who would suspect that anything could be amiss in such an idyllic environment? And who would ever think to look for trouble in a closet? Yet, noxious energies were lurking there. Thanks to Dowsing, we found it out! And, thanks to Amazing! Feng Shui Shamanic Rituals, it was eradicated --like compost into the Universe!

For many decades, Dowsing has made significant contributions to my Amazing! Feng Shui, yet I am still continuously amazed by it!

Maha'ulepu Beach - History:

Archaeological sites show evidence of extensive native Hawaiian settlements at Maha'ulepu. A large heiau exists below a modern day quarry. Burial remains are found in sand dunes, caves, and lava tubes. The concentration of burial remains in Maha'ulepu's sand dunes and an ancient legend have led some to believe that this was the site of a great land and sea battle between the ruling chief of Kaua'i and a conquering chief from the island of Hawai'i.

Gayla Yates
Presenting at the
WEST COAST ASD DOWSING CONFERENCE

Upcoming Date To Be Announced

at College VII of The University Of California, Santa Cruz

The Joy of Dowsing
How To Laugh Your Way To Answers You Can Trust!

•  Imagine finding a magic key, which could unlock your highest intuition – beyond the constraints of time, space and preconceived notions.

•  Imagine dispelling all your worries and self-doubt.

•  Imagine dowsing with total self-confidence and consistently getting answers you can trust.

•  Imagine how you’d feel, if you had “Inspired Certainty!”

What if the "magic key" is as simple and available as a hearty belly laugh! - What if we can dowse to prove it to you!

Come and see for yourself! - Come and discover the Joy of Dowsing!
–with laughter guaranteed!

Gayla Yates, A.K.A., Minister of Mirth, began Dowsing in 1968. She teaches Dowsing Wisdom, Amazing Feng Shui, and “How and Why To Laugh, Even When ‘It’s No Laughing Matter.’” Gayla is a Master Feng Shui Shaman & Consultant who says, “I always begin every Amazing Feng Shui consultation with Dowsing, to determine any positive and/ or negative Qi (energies) in the environment. Read the remarkable Dowsing story, MAHA’ULEPU (above). Gayla is the author of “How to Eliminate Your Clutter with Feng Shui and Dowsing, CD; The Joy of Laughing, CD; and Amazing Feng Shui In Action, DVD. She teaches and consults in No. CA, and by Telephone.

Gayla reveals the secrets of successful dowsing in talks and seminars:
" Secrets of Feng Shui & Dowsing"
"Pendulum Power = Inner Truth = Personal Power"
(BTW, you don't need a pendulum to do Dowsing!)

Gayla is also available for Amazing! Feng Shui talks, seminars and consultations in
Los Angeles and San Diego, California and in Hawaii.
Information: 707.573.1133

Here's a new and comprehensive article, by Master Dowser, Pete Warburton
June 30, 2011

THE SCIENCE OF DOWSING and THE DOWSING OF SCIENCE

Science today cannot explain dowsing because physics cannot yet measure the magnetic and space/time energies involved. A future unified science should explain all aspects of dowsing (physical/biological/psychological/social).

Empirical Metaphysics. Dowsing phenomena do not fit into today's physics, so we take a "metaphysical" view. In the history of science, such speculations are known as "empirical metaphysics". William Berkson (1974) recounts how physicists, from Faraday in 1819 to Einstein in 1919, used Fields of Force as a model for guiding scientific investigation, a model lacking empirical support at the time. Such models are metaphysical because they are used by experimental scientists despite incomplete and conflicting evidence. Some metaphysical models fail: phlogiston theory of heat, Newton's alchemy (Dobbs 1975), Goethe's theory of colors. Faraday's model was successful, for it led to Maxwell's equations, Hertz's waves, today's electronic technology. Today's empirical metaphysics can be found in Searle (2010), Lipton (2005), Baxter (2003), Tiller (2001), Narby (1998), Wilson (1998), Targ (1998), Arp (1998), Yam (1997), Albert (1994), Bird (1990), Motoyama (1981), Puharich (1962), Tromp (1949), Reichenbach (1852).

In 1864, Maxwell derived the speed of light from the electric and magnetic constants. But with relativity theory in 1905, the speed of light became basic and the magnetic constant derived (Feynman, 1964, p II-18-8). But then Feynman (1964, p II-37-13) goes on to say that we don't understand magnetism. Magnetic energies are probably a function of magnetic monopoles (Tiller 2001, 1997). Maxwell's equations are invariant under relativity, so probably electromagnetism is more fundamental to physics than Newton's mechanical energies, which are variant under Einstein's relativity.

Disunity of physics. A major problem of physics is that in quantum theory, space/time are independent variables, but in general relativity theory, space/time are dependent variables. Einstein failed to unify relativity with Maxwell's equations, so probably he was wrong that the speed of light is a basic constant. Bell's theorem and entanglement imply something goes faster than the speed of light (d'Espagnat 1979). Bohr was wrong that an electron has only the properties physics says it has (Copenhagen interpretation).

Electrons, as Einstein said, exist independently of physics, and it is up to physics to discover (not invent) the properties of electrons. Future of physics. Electric and magnetic energies seem to be finite and quantizable, but probably today's push to "quantize" space/time will fail because space/time is continuous. My dowsing experience leads me to believe that space and time are energies in their own right, not just a coordinate system, as in current physics. Geometry is full of non-quantizable/irrational numbers (√2, π, ø, etc). Electrical/magnetic forms exhibit finite

Fibonacci numbers to reduce surface stress (Li 2005), but growth in space/time may involve transfinite numbers (ø, Lawlor 1982, p 67). The principles of space and time are the subject of descriptive geometry (Lawlor 1982). If we think of time as two dimensional (past/present/future, and duration/specious present, at right angles; Broad 1959, p 769), then we can construct temporal right triangles and the progressions (arithmetic/geometric/harmonic) described by Lawlor (1982). Space/time energies may be noncommutatative (Connes 2006). Probably, general relativity should be recast in five dimensional space-time, with time having two dimensions.

If we write the Pythagorean theorem as a2 + b2 - c2 = 0, it can be interpreted as a conservation principle (even if we are not sure what is conserved: length? space? energy? etc?). In mathematical physics, + and - indicate conservationprinciples, divide indicates a ratio, multiply indicates an inverse ratio.

The Pythagorean theorem has been generalized across solid geometry, curved surfaces, and relativity theory. Thus, geometric conservation principles constrain a physics of space/time continuous energy. Shu offers an interesting cosmology of general relativity.http://www.arxiv.org/abs/1007.1750 What is the relation of discreet energies to continuous energies? Any field theory gives a relationship (quantum field theory, general relativity, Maxwell's equations, Newtonian potential energy, etc). Einstein (1950) says Newtonian energies (mass, etc) relate to space/time as a symmetrical tensor, and Maxwell's equations as skew-symmetric.

I propose that a future physics may be constructed by:
- group together the laws/principles that give the relationships among discreet/finite electric/magnetic energies;
- group together the geometric laws/principles that give relationships among continuous space/time energies;
- relate the two types of energies with symmetric, skew-symmetric, etc, relations among them.

Consciousness

Quantum physics went wrong in holding consciousness basic, not a product of biological evolution. Eddington (1928) describes "two tables", the solid table we see/touch, and the table of physics: electrons/protons/empty space. He concludes the first is real, but the second table is a mathematical fiction invented by physicists to account for their observations. Searle (2007) drew the opposite conclusion: that the electrons/protons are real, and that the table we see is a construction of the mind (Freeman 2000, p 90). Some scientist claim quantum physics solves the free will problem. Some scientists claim a quantum computer is possible. The last place that we want free will is in a computer, it seems to me; seems to be a logical disconnect.

Bertrand Russell (1927, p 383) claimed that when a neurophysiologist looks at your brain, what he sees is in his own brain, not your brain. Russell's claim was build upon physics. Electrons, wavelengths, etc, are not colored, so colors cannot be in the external world. Also, colors cannot be in the eyes, optic nerve, or visual cortex because those are just electrons, etc. Thus the brain/mind builds a picture (colors/shapes/etc) of the world, and projects it on the world; and our experience corrects the model over time, just as Buddhists have said for centuries.

Today, it is common knowledge among psychologists and neurophysiologists that the mind/brain does not directly connect with the external world, but builds a model and projects it on the world (Freeman 2000 p90). How far down the evolutionary chain does consciousness go? Probably as far as there is non-coding junk dna. There is a bacterium lacking "junk dna": probably a robot, no consciousness. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/309/5738/1242.abstract?sid=a44e18fe-96b1-40dd-9886-4bb57c38442a

From my dowsing experience, I have become convinced that space and time are energies in their own right (morphogenic fields, Sheldrake 1981), not just a coordinate system (as in current physics), and that the field of consciousness (Searle 2007 p 5) is temporal/spatial.

That is, the stream of consciousness of our experience is a temporal energy, and the content of conscious experience (including emotions) is spatial energy (pictures/maps/etc).

Tiller (2001) describes electronic devices imprinted by human meditation, which affect the pH of water, enzymes (in vitro), fruit fly growth (in vivo), and "conditions" space. Tiller's book is mostly technical physics, with consciousness joined to biology (not physics). Also relevant to the physics of time is the psychology of precognition, which seems not to be a literal foreseeing of the future, but a "remembering of one's own future mind" (Targ 1998, p 127).

Precognition and dowsing involve our intentions about the future. John Searle (2007) does not have a solution to the free will/determinism problem, but I suggest that the brain appears deterministic because it is made of (finite/discreet/quantizable) electromagnetic energy which seems deterministic because it is constrained by conservation (energy, charge, spin, etc) laws. I propose the mind has free will because it is made of (transfinite/continuous/non-quantizable) space/time, which is constrained only by the laws of geometry (Lawlor 1982). As Searle (2007, p 75-76) points out, quantum physics is of no help with the free will problem, because the mind is no more random than it is deterministic.

It is said that the quantum the wave equation contains all possibilities; but in practice, the wave equation usually has a 50-50 random probability of only two possibilities. Henry Stapp (UC Berkeley) is so convinced that consciousness is a function of quantum mechanics, that he introduces causality back into quantum physics to explain the causality of human perception and volition.

This is ironic, since Bohr and Heisenberg kicked causality out of quantum physics, inorder to get consciousness into quantum physics. "Intentionality" is a technical term used by philosophers for meaning (or aboutness) in analyzing how words or symbols can mean, or be about, something (or entail something, e.g., lightning means thunder). Most philosophers seem to believe that meaning is purely linguistic or semantic (i.e., "es regnet" in German means "it is raining" in English because both play the same role in their respective languages; the viewpoint of functionalism). Searle (2007, p 6-7) thinks intentionality is a psychological function outside language (extra-linguistic), and that meaning in language presupposes intentionality, which he analyses in terms of "satisfaction".

In perception, the term "yellow station-wagon" is satisfied by a yellow station-wagon (if it exists), a "mind-to-world" fit/satisfaction. In volition, "I intend to buy a necktie" is satisfied by my buying a necktie, a "world-to-mind" fit/satisfaction. Wilfrid Sellars (1981) proposed that the colors we see are in the mind, and are both physical and continuous (non-quantizable). That makes colors a spatial energy, in my sense. Sellars proposed that colors exist as part of an act of perception. I propose that colors, in this sense, have intentionality and the act of perception is temporal. A color in the mind is intentional (pre-linguistic) and is "satisfied by" whatever it is about. I believe Sellars' account of colors can be extended to emotional experience. There is meaning, or intentionality, in perception, beliefs and language.

I believe intentionality starts with perception, and goes from there, into beliefs and language. Hence, for Buddha, to release your suffering, please detach from your dysfunctional misperceptions. To account for social behavior, Searle (2007, 2010) introduces the concept of a Status Function: X counts as Y in context C. For instance, a piece of paper in my wallet (X) counts as $1 (Y) in the US economy (C), because we all accept the status function of money (and other social conventions: marriage/president/etc). In self-healing, Joe Wippich's harmony/disharmony ties back to Searle's satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and dis-ease ties back to a 'self-status-function': dysfunctional emotional response (X) counts as dysfunctional behavior pattern (Y) in that, cells in prolonged defensive/protective mode (Lipton 2005) bring about dis-ease (C). Thus self-healing depends upon releasing disharmony and dysfunctional behavior patterns.

Reincarnation and Past/Future Lives

If body and personality are built by dna, then science has no account of how anything survives death of the body. Kelleher (1999) proposes that dna creates a light body that "ascends"; dna may "condition" space/time (Tiller 2001). My dowsing experience leads me to believe that dna guides the creation of body and psychic structure (page 15, poles 1-18, rows a-h.). Searle (2007, p 33) claims the Self "… is conscious, rational, capable of reflection and capable of decision and action, and therefore of assuming responsibility." Searle denies that any part of a human survives death, but I suspect this Self (poles 9-18 rows a-d) survives as a space-time energy. If the soul is earthbound, an astral body may survive (for awhile, may be fear-driven). There is scientific evidence for human reincarnation (Stevenson 2000), though reincarnation would mean the dna of two persons in one body (hence problems of multiple personalities/walk-ins/walk-outs/etc); but run-of-the-mill past-life stories seem problematic, and seem to be a distortion of past/present/future time. Even so, past life stories are at least symbolically true (like a dream), and are important in self-healing.

Problems with dowsed past-life stories:

1) When a past life trauma is resolved, it can no longer be dowsed. Did the past change?
2) People can resolve traumas with family members within a single life time. We are not so inept as to need 10,000 years experience with the same persons over and over in order to resolve problems, as so often happens in past life stories.
3) Past/future lives seem to occur as a "set of lives" related to a present life trauma, all cleared with the trauma.
4) Dowsing a person's traumas over a period of time, past lives seem to be overlapping in time, not sequential. Perhaps the lives are concurrent, or perhaps past lives are mirrors of today's life (rather than today's life being a consequence of past karma).

Earth Energies

Dowsing overlaps with Geomancy and Feng Shui, covering a broad range of topics, from geopathic zones to sacred sites (Graves 1978/1986, Swan 1990, http://www.sedonanomalies.com/, http://www.jeffreykeen.co.uk/). Earth energies seem to be a composite of physical and biological. Yin and yang seem to be magnetic/physical, but also masculine and feminine (dna), which we then project back onto earth and sky. Shlain (1998, pp 1-44) describes the feminine right/spatial brain and left side of body, and the masculine left brain/temporal and right side of body. The Biological effects of earth energies are another challenging puzzle. Alex Champion (2001) proposes that mazes (Cretan, Chartres, etc) have two basic geometrical patterns: the meander pattern (electrical/magnetic energies?), and the 180 degree circular or spiral pattern (space/time energies?). A three-dimensional earth maze also has a sine wave pattern: the mound above, and the path below, earth level. Many growth patterns are geometric, so 2-dimensional time seems to be part of the world, and not just a mental feeling of duration.

Richard Feather Anderson (1995) writes that there are eight "Patterns of Life", dynamic space/time patterns to guide the energies of change and growth: Spiral, Alternation, Meander, Spheroids, Helix, Close-packing, Branching, Explosion-radial. Probably all of these patterns exist in crop circles. Emotional traumas that unground dna may distort the right angles among spatial polarities, and disharmonize growth processes by distorting the temporal progressions among the Patterns of Life. The work with geopathic zones raises the question whether these zones are pathological by nature, or because of our limited understanding of the phenomena, or because of "pollution" by disharmonious people, animals, spirits, etc.

I am inclined to feel that earth energies in-and-of themselves are neutral between good and bad, healthy and unhealthy (except for problems such as hot sulfurous volcanoes, etc). What seems to be the case is that disharmoneous people can pollute their environment, and the environment then pollutes people who are stressed. Global and local grid lines seem, for the most part, to be negative energies in need of cleansing.

Ancient religion ceremonies may have evolved to cleanup the environment, and to help people to heal themselves. Perhaps Stonehenge was built for such ceremonies. Walking a labyrinth may unground people, causing them to confuse ungrounding with spirituality.

Biology

Environmental factors account for 70% to 90% of disease risk, including such items as: radiation, stress, life style,infections, drugs, diet, pollution, internal chemical environment of the body, metals, endocrine disrupters, immune modulators, receptor-binding proteins, etc. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6003/460.summary These factors effect the body by way of dna and epigenetics (developmental, heritable, environmental, and behavioral). This epigenetic research seems to be on the right track.

From my experience with self-healing, my guess is that researchers will find that most illness stems from stress, and mostly from emotional factors. DNA is an excellent receiver/transmitter of vibrations of all kinds (including psychic energies) that harmonize all DNA in all cells. Given communication among cells and conscious minds (Baxter 2003), we have an explanation of how dowsing and mental intention can bring about self-healing. Lipton (2005) describes epigenetic changes due to environmental effects.

Also electromagnetic effects are transmitted faster than chemical effects, so vibrational healing (accupuncture, homeopathic, etc) can be more effective than western medicine. The body uses the same chemicals for different effects in different parts of the body, so drugs (hitting all parts of the body) may have serious side-effects. Positive beliefs may heal you, negative beliefs sicken you. His book is the best account yet of how self-healing works. His criticism of Darwin for emphasizing competition is more about "social darwinism" than evolution, and he does not see morality as part of evolution.

There is a story from psychic archeology that indicates souls may be earth-bound for as long as four hundred years (Schwartz 1978, chap 1). If we get a new theory of magnetics, we may also get a device to talk with earth-bound souls, and our culture may be revolutionized.

Ed Stillman (1997, 1998, 1999) reports that dowsers (while dowsing) have an unusual brain pattern: strong coherence on brain right and left sides, across all four types of waves (delta, theta, alpha, beta). People who meditate get into three or four of these brain-wave/brain-states, but are more interested in the experience than dowsers, who are interested in information (yes/no answers) rather than the experience. So meditators may take a few minutes to get into this brain state, whereas dowsers go in and out of the state, to get an answer, in a fraction of a second. There have been suggestions that alpha/beta are for exploring the external world, theta/delta for exploring the internal world; and that to go primarily alpha/beta results in experiencing one's body as external (out of body), to go primarily theta/delta results in experiencing the world as internal (unified oceanic feeling).

The human body is sensitive to biomagnetic energies, which are a function of earthly linear paramagnetic energies and stellar nonlinear diamagnetic energies. Two thousand years ago the earth was entering the Pisces constellation, and now it is moving on to Aquarius.

The sun cycles through the 12 constellations of the Zodiac in about 26,000 years (Shlain 1998, p. 227), which may be a basis for astrology, and for numerology based on birth dates. In biology, there is a dispute as to whether microbes are monomorphic (single form), or pleomorphic (form changing, Bird 1990, ch 1), which has implications for dowsing and self-healing. Freeman (2000) gives an excellent account of how the brain functions, which seems basically correct. He gives a functional account of human consciousness (ch 6), but he does not account for sensuous qualities (qualia).

Psychology

Science today has no explanation of sensory experience, of how we experience colors, shapes, emotions of love/fear, etc. Searle (2007) explores the issues, and the lack of scientific theory. Consciousness may be a field with conservation of space/time, but no electromagnetic mass/energy (so a feeling of free will). The brain/mind is plastic. People wore periscopes that turned the visual field upside down (or reversed right/left), but two weeks later vision was normal. When they took off the periscopes, the visual field again was upside down (or reversed right/left), but two weeks later was normal (Dolezal 1982). We need a theory of how that is possible.

Today's psychological theories of perception involve the mind in building models of the world, projecting the model onto the world (Freeman 2000, p. 90), and then correcting the model in light of feedback from the world and people in it. So it seems that our mind constructs our conscious experience (colors, emotions, intuitions, etc). In _The Tibetan Book of the Dead_, the point of chanting over the deceased for seven weeks is to assure the soul that whatever heaven or hell it experiences, is of its own making.

So our dowsing experiences are created by our minds in response to energies from the world. Dowsing makes sense as another mode of mental creation based upon external energies. It may be that retrotransposon DNA "conditions" space (Tiller 2001, ch 6) so that a psychic structure can exist in time/space long after the DNA that created it has disintegrated with the death of the body. We do not have a scientific theory of human sexual energy, which seems to be involved with UFOs/ETs (Vallee 1988).

Probably masculine is magnetic/sky (north/east), feminine magnetic/earth (south/west). The left-brain processes temporal information, the right brain spatial information (Shlain 1998 pp 1-44). Human thinking involves abstractions, created when we sort items of our experience into categories. Wilson (1998, p 153) describes the human "dyadic instinct": the tendency to sort phenomena into two-part classifications, such as day-night, masculine-feminine, block-white. etc.

Then we refine these dyadic with refinements, dawn, twilight, etc. In dowsing, this shows up in distinguishing yin-yang, ego-soul, mind-body, but then not really knowing what yin, yang, ego, soul, mind, and body really are; but only in knowing that one is different from the other. Abstractions, such as numbers, are not outside the mind (Casti 1996). Narby (1998) explores, in his superb research, how shamen learn which herb heals what, from talking to plants. They see a "cosmic serpent" or a ladder, which Narby thinks is dna.

His work suggests ways that a mind may comprehend and cause self-healing by way of dna, and lends support to Walt Woods' (1994) suggestion that dowsing techniques can repair "broken" dna. If mind affects dna and dna affects evolution, evolution may not be mere random mutation, but partly mind-driven (Narby ch 10).http://www.sciencemag.org/content/303/5664/1626.abstract?sid=f2ac7356-7388-4f44-820c-47e875e7028f

Engel (2002) points out ways in which chimps know how to use local plants for self-medication. One wonders if apes also communicate with the dna of plants to determine which plant is good for which ailment. Who knows, maybe chimps are dowsers. In theories of dreams, we have Freud's theory that dreams arise from the subconscious, but mainstream neurochemistry claims that dreams are random results of brain chemistry during non-REM and REM sleep. I suspect both are true: that brain chemistry contains the 18 polarities of the psyche/body, so dreams result from both chemistry and the subconscious.

The Social Sciences

Deepak Chopra tells an interesting story of his two-week training to be ordained as a Buddhist monk in 2010.http://deepakchopra.com/2010/07/a-monks-journey/ These monks are meditating 20 hours a day, including 4 hours of self-examination. The abbots, of the ashrams he attended, are probably very enlightened meditators, to guide their monks through deep mediation, releasing all personal hangups. I would think this is a continual and challenging effort to the abbot and his monks. How can it be that the villagers are willing to trade food for blessings from the monks, each day? My guess is that over the generations, the villagers have found that the monks radiate such harmony and healing, that the villagers are happier and healthier, for the daily trade. We stressed-out westerners may have something to learn from them.

Dowsing and self-healing are part of a much larger picture. Morgan (1994) sketches how a pre-industrial people use dowsing and healing in their daily life. She describes how the Australian native people set out on a desert trek each day, and dowse for water and food on their way (a feat we "moderns" find hard to fathom). She also describes various healing techniques of the native culture. The healing traditions of Shamanism are widely documented (see references in Narby 1998).

The shaman tradition combines dowsing, geomancy, and much more. Shamanic drumming seems to release traumas and to stimulate unconditional love and harmony in all parts of the body. The shaman has the power to control spirits, at least to prevent harm to her/himself and clients, at most to gain help from spirits to heal clients. Merely to hear and speak with spirits, without controlling them, is a sign of madness, not a sign of being a shaman.

For the shaman, control of spirits and psychic energies plays the role that predictability and control play for scientists, engineers, and dowsers. Eliade (1951) recounts a healing by an Eskimo shaman, which has recurred for years, and several generations: There comes a time when the fish and mammals of the sea no longer come to the people's fishing grounds, and starvation looms.

The shaman, in trance, journeys to the bottom of the sea to plead with a goddess to release the fish and mammals she has penned up because of her anger at the people. When the shaman awakens from trance, he does not immediately tell of his journey. Instead, he tells the people of the anger of the goddess. The people begin to confess their misdeeds, there is a communal catharsis, then the shaman says the goddess has agreed to release the fish and mammals because the people have repented. I suppose there are many ways to understand this event.

What comes through to me is that human misdeeds may so pollute the environment that the animals cannot live there, and a group meditation can cleanse the earth. Perhaps Stonehenge was built for such ceremonies.

The Frontiers of Science and Religion

Dowsing takes us not only to the frontiers of science, but also to the frontiers of religion. As our knowledge progresses, we may have to shift both religious and scientific views.

Traditionally, possession by demons, spirits, etc., has been a spiritual concern. If dowsing is a matter of natural energies, then possession may be a matter of energies and psychological traumas. The ancient Tibetan Buddhist beliefs may be true after all: the soul survives the death of the body, and god(s) are part and parcel of the natural world just as living human beings and disembodied human spirits are (Evans-Wentz 1927). Targ and Katra (1998, 1999) explore the relation of spirituality to healing. Sometimes science moves slowly. Physicists took 250 years (1600-1850) to figure out that a thermometer measures units of heat per unit volume. It took 100 years to settle the foundations of mathematics. By 1900-10, Frege and Russell had found the basic problems. In 2008-10, Feferman published his constructivist/naturalistic account of the foundations of mathematics. http://math.stanford.edu/~feferman/papers/Conceptual_Structuralism.pdfhttp://math.stanford.edu/~feferman/papers/Continuum-I.pdf Biology and psychology are putting human capabilities into an evolutionary perspective. Waal (1996) extends evolutionary theory to account for non-human primate morality and culture. Deacon (1997) extends evolutionary theory to account for human language and social development.

The evolution of epigenetic rules (Wilson 1998) may account for differences in cultural behavior (Benedict 1934, ch 5 on the Trobianders and the Dobu). In the future, political and economic behavior (Diamond 2005, Warburton 2003) may also fall under evolutionary theory.

The capability of humans to learn language and morality is nature, but which language and which morality, is nurture. When capabilities have survival value, they may become genetic (Deacon 1997). Culture, if stable over 100 generations, becomes part of the environment to which humans genetically adapt. Some biologists have doubts about Darwinian evolution, but the doubt seems to be mainly about whether mutations are truly random, or have (unknown) causes. Londa Schiebinger (2004) explores "scientific ignorance".

In the 1700s, botanists in the West Indies knew that the peacock flower induced abortion (as did the native peoples), and shared their knowledge of medicinal plants with European naturalists, who published much about herbs and healing, but not this particular fact. The plant, with flaming red and yellow flowers, was well-known to European gardeners, but not it's abortion power. Neither the peacock flower nor any other West Indian abortifacient was ever mentioned in any published pharmacopoeia. Apparently, European (male) scientists had an ideological slant to believe that the human population should expand, and were not interested in anything that might limit human numbers (nor interested in women's rights).

We have the same problems today, "scientific ignorance" of dowsing is certainly holding up all branches of science, from physics to the social sciences. One wonders if for the past eighty years, ideology-based scientific ignorance in physics (e.g., Eddington's mistaken two-tables opinion, Einstein's emphasis on mechanics over electomagnetics, Bohr's insistence on his Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics), has held up the unification of Relativity Theory and Quantum physics, and kept the Big Bang theory alive.

There were other hold-ups, of course. In psychology, Godel's so-called theorem (a variation of the liar's paradox) held up the theory of mind for 40 years until Quine (1969) announced the "naturalization of epistemology". In the social sciences, G E Moore's so-called "naturalistic fallacy" (Wilson 1998 p 249) held up moral theory for 60 years until Searle (1969 ch 8) showed how to derive "ought" from "is".

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