Dowsing from the Late Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century: The Practices, Uses and Interpretations of an Element of European Magic

Abstract

Dowsing was an element of European folk magic. With the help of simple wooden rods persons with special magical abilities were supposed to be able to find hidden objects, from buried treasures to subterranean springs. The rise of dowsing can be traced to its use in the emerging mining centres of Central Europe around 1500. However, dowsers soon claimed nearly universal magical knowledge. Even though dowsing encountered strong scepticism, a number of early modern scholars and scientists tried to explain the alleged efficacy of the rod in a number of different ways, ranging from demonological arguments to the atom theory, and the idea of an all-encompassing world spirit. From the eighteenth century onwards, scientific mining techniques marginalized dowsing. However, the practice lingers on to the present day, mostly in the forms of water-witching and pseudo-medicinal diagnostics. The key to the continued popularity of dowsing is its cheapness and its simplicity. Insofar as it promises quick success without formal education, it is the very opposite of science. Dowsing is an example of the successful adaptation of magic with medieval roots to the esotericism that flourishes on the margins of Europe’s supposedly rational worldview.