Discovery of Richard III documentary

[hmj]

Did anyone else notice the reference to "divining" in the Channel 4 documentary about the discovery and identification of Richard III last night. Phillipa Langley of the Richard III Society made a passing reference to the use of "divining" to discover stuff (accompanied by appropriate hand gestures). Wonder if she tried using it on site? There does appear to be something slightly unusal about the whole thing!!

HMJ

[Helen-Healing]

Yes, I did!! I was watching it on 4seven last night.
It was an extremely interesting docu. I missed the first 15 minutes or so, and so didn't quite understand why they started digging in the carpark in the first place - perhaps this explains it! I was a bit bemused at why she got so emotional about it all!

[arthur hamlin]

Yes I also heard her mention the word Divining and also remarking that a large letter `R` painted on the tarmac where presumably a car standing would be could be an oman.
All through the Programme I noticed how emotional she was as if she knew something important was about to occur.
That kind of sensitivity dowsers have and it is quite possible she had this kind of sensory ability plus a possible intuition for the dig.
The determination to continue and to find the remains in such a short time from breaking through the tarmac is also interesting.

[Ian Pegler]

didn't quite understand why they started digging in the carpark in the first place

They were acting on a hunch !!!! Excellent !!

Ian

[arthur hamlin]

A Hunch will be born out of something feaseable or something unearthed in a library or private collection etc.
There are also those that have a sensing which goes beyond the materialistic information available and believe Phillipa Langley may have just that .

[Ian Pegler]

A Hunch will be born out of something feaseable or something unearthed in a library or private collection etc.
There are also those that have a sensing which goes beyond the materialistic information available and believe Phillipa Langley may have just that .

The English language and natural languages in general have words which are overloaded with different meanings. Dowsers tend to use the word "intuition" in a different sense to non-dowsers - as you suggest here.

HOWEVER - I think that when you dowse, you can access information via ALL available routes. (c.f. Tom Graves "neural net" analogy):

1) Conscious knowledge (dowsing a set of car-keys that you've dropped on the ground, which you can actually see)
2) Unconscious knowledge (materialist definition of intuition, subconscious cues in the environment which you don't necessarily notice at the time etc.)
3) Spiritual/metaphysical/Information field, call it what you will. (a dowser's understanding of intuition)

I think when you dowse you don't necessarily know where the answer is coming from, so it becomes a continuum. I therefore reassert my right to use the word "hunch" for both case 2 AND case 3.

Ian

[ledgehammer]

Thanks

I missed it so will take a look,

Glad to see that semantics are still the "flavour" of the month

Best

Tom

[Ian Pegler]

Here's the link to the Channel 4 on demand web-page. It's quite long.

CLICK HERE

Ian

[Ian Pegler]

The website of the dig, from the University of Leicester (of all places)

The search for Richard III - completed

In August 2012, the University of Leicester in collaboration with the Richard III Society and Leicester City Council, began one of the most ambitious archaeological projects ever attempted: no less than a search for the lost grave of King Richard III.

CLICK HERE for the web-page.

Ian

[ledgehammer]

Here's the link to the Channel 4 on demand web-page. It's quite long.

CLICK HERE

Ian

Ian,

indeed, may have to wait till next month now :-)

Tom

[arthur hamlin]

I think when you dowse you don't necessarily know where the answer is coming from, so it becomes a continuum. I therefore reassert my right to use the word "hunch" for both case 2 AND case 3.

I would say that depends on the Dowser and his/her sensing.
I also reassert my right to use the terminology as already stated.

Edited by I.P. 8.2.13 - put quote in mark-up

[Ian Pegler]

from the Telegraph...

Richard III: public could pay respects

The public could be able to pay their respects to a closed casket containing the remains of Richard III, under plans being considered by church officials.

CLICK HERE to read the article.

Ian

[skysurfer]

Here's some information which might add to speculation re dowsing.

As well as the mention of dowsing by Philippa she reveals in some reports that she went looking first at another car park where Richard it was thought might be buried. But she felt this place was 'dead' and instead snooped around a private car park nearby where she felt cold and instinctively knew when she walked over Richard's grave.

Some of this is confirmed in the docu but there are references to it in these two reports:

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-02- ... a-car-park

The project has been driven by Philippa Langley, an Edinburgh based screenwriter and secretary of the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society, “ who, four years ago, was researching a screenplay about ‘the real Richard’ (“not at all” she points out, “the brutal, ruthless tyrant that is given to us by most historians”).

Historical record points to the removal of Richard III’s body after his fatal wounding at the Battle of Bosworth (1485) to Leicester’s Grey Friars (the friary was subsequently razed in Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries). As part of her research Langley visited the car park which had been pointed out as the most likely site of the royal interment.

“I walked that car park and I just knew there was nothing there. It was ‘dead’.

"As I walked away, I saw another, private car park over to the right. I know how mad this sounds, but I snuck under the barrier and, on a very particular spot, I had the strongest sensation that I was walking on Richard’s grave. On a subsequent visit, I found a little white ‘R’ painted on the exact same spot. Of course it was ‘R’ for ‘reserved’, not ‘R’ for Richard but from that moment on, I was on a mission.”

And here also:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/0 ... 5K20130208

[Lynnie]

Yes, my ears pricked up when she mentioned divining and I really wanted her to say more about it. But the feeling I got was that it was felt (by the producers etc) that it would have taken away from the scientific approach of the document. It is good to see the additional info here.

[Ian Pegler]

from the BBC...

Richard III wounds match medieval Welsh poem description

An expert believes a Welsh poem about Richard III's death can be seen as an accurate description of how he died now the king's skeleton has been found.

CLICK HERE to read the article.

Ian