Drought-hit Californians enlist 'water witch'

[Grahame]

Holding a V-shaped branch point down, David Sagouspe examines the cracked soil of a California farm. Under the blazing sun, he takes a breath and sets off, mechanically turning the branch five times towards the sky and five times towards the ground.

He stops, marks the spot with a pink flag and nods. "People would pay a lot of money for that strata right there," he says, referring to underground water.

For more than 40 years, Sagouspe has worked as a dowser, also known as a "water witch," offering to help the largest farmers in central California find groundwater.

Proudly claiming to live in "America's orchard" but desperate in the face of increasingly extreme droughts, farmers are turning to him more and more.

For full story: Click Here

Two things intrigue me about this story; first, why is it reported by France 24? Second, Sagouspe favours using an olive-wood forked twig, wrapped in black tape, because, 'Willow is too fast-reacting for me'. I thought we'd all moved past the idea that particular woods were better than others, but it seems some water dowsers still cling to these old shibboleths.

[mike]

Sounds like a good medium to try willow for dowsing, I’m always on the lookout for something better, horses for courses !!

[Grahame]

Here's another report about water dowsing in California, this time featuring ASD member and all-round nice guy Rob Thompson.

Water witches in high demand amid California drought
ORANGE COVE, Calif. — Standing in the middle of a 400-acre ranch, Rob Thompson pulled out two L-shaped steel rods and held them perpendicular to the ground.

“I’m grounding,” he said. “It’s kind of like rebooting the computer.”
Thompson then lifted them up and began rotating in a circle, waiting for them to cross.

“See that? Now that’s a keeper,” he said.

Thompson is a water witch who says he can find underground reservoirs and even pinpoint how far down to drill.

“To me, it’s like magnetism,” he said. “It’s like the energy between two magnets when they just pull you together.”

Water witching, also known as dowsing or divining, dates back to the Middle Ages. The American Society of Dowsers says it has about 2,000 members, many of them are working water witches. And while there is no science to back it up, it hasn’t stopped many of California’s top farmers and wineries from shelling out big bucks for their services.

Full story: Click Here.

[Grahame]

More California news, this time featuring dowser and winemaker Marc Mondavi, whose 'Divining Rod' wine is pretty...err, divine!
He certainly uses some big rods! I've not seen the unusual bent ones in the bottom picture before, they look interesting though. https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2022/08 ... ding-water

[mike]

Really good report Graham and the rods are different for sure, my friend Kevin sometimes used 6 feet dowsing rods at the Rollrights, but never dared try that. I have dowsed while hurting for years now with my legs and scared lower back, and with my shoes on, but have to agree emotion plays a big part in good dowsing. Every time we lose a family pet I cannot dowse, or if I am thinking of passed loved ones or friends that are no longer here it’s the same, I just cannot reach the level where dowsing can work, it’s just not possible, well for me.