Dowsing the Dimensions

© Brian Allan 2003

Word count: 2,320

Currently, there are many elaborate, theoretical explanations demonstrating through the mathematical probabilities of quantum physics, the existence of parallel universes and continuums existing alongside our own. These propositions include, 'Supergravity' and 'Superstring theory', 'Membrane' or 'M-Theory', and the 'Many Worlds Hypothesis' plus a host of others. Debate over the existence these additional dimensions is not new and has been speculated on for millennia fuelled by the unearthly contacts and insights perceived by psychic mediums, shamans and other sensitive, gifted people. Sometimes these contacts are established involuntarily as a result of NDE's (Near Death Experiences) and OOBE's (Out of Body Experiences), both are essentially the same in that consciousness becomes remote from the body, but the trigger mechanism creating the 'psychic split' is different. NDE's are self-explanatory and are frequently reported during surgical procedures when the patients' vital signs become marginal. It is possible that the NDE is an automatic neurological response created by the brain reacting to subtle, subliminal signals from the body indicating that it may be about to permanently shut down. In effect, the NDE may be a deliberate attempt by the mind/body interface to preserve its unique identity remote from its host.

This conclusion appears to have a measure of credibility about it given that recent research work indicates that once created, consciousness is not merely an abstract concept, but consists of subatomic particles. On the other hand, OBE's regularly occur in contemplative and meditative states, but mainly during sleep induced dreaming. Contact established via mediums is normally through messages alleged to originate from family and friends who have died, but occasionally these contacts are from beings and entities that do not necessarily appear human. Until now, mediums have attributed their messages entirely to 'spirit' and automatically linked the phenomenon to a quasi-religious mindset based loosely on biblical and therefore broadly acceptable precedents. While this explanation serves the purpose, it is not necessarily true and is perhaps the result of millennia of blissful ignorance of certain, subtle, unseen, but very real forces that ebb and flow around them.

Although traditionally there are obvious differences between mediums and shamans in the methods employed to obtain transcendence, essentially, the end results are the same. Whether through self-induced trance, meditation or ingestion of natural hallucinogens, it does not matter one jot how the altered state of consciousness is obtained providing the desired result is obtained. In terms of measurable, physical changes, there are alterations to respiration and blood pressure, coupled with changes to brain function showing increased alpha-wave activity and it is within the neural labyrinths of the brain that contact is achieved. However, there is no real method to quantify consciousness and none at all to independently measure or record the dimension of mind. According to the rationalist interpretation, all that can be said with any certainty is that mind, ergo consciousness, is purely a by-product of brain function, it is rooted in and remains in the brain and nothing more. This still does not explain precisely how the phenomenon functions, but the rationalist paradigm has no room for non-tangible truths and wilfully chooses to ignore the vast stores of fully corroborated data proving psi abilities.

Into the Multiverse

It has been argued that rather than some nebulous, ethereal worlds inhabited by the immortal souls of the dead, these encounters take place with disembodied energy in the form of consciousness. The fundamental law concerning energy, i.e. that energy cannot be created or destroyed but merely change in form appears to hold true here. It can be argued quite plausibly that since we are in effect little more than collections of focussed energy at the molecular level and are also created from energy, then we are all part of a greater whole. If this is true then there should be no surprise that we can interact with energy that is not resident in a human host, the ubiquitous 'spirit'. The cosmos, we are told, consists entirely of energy in the form of probability waves that do not become particles until they are observed; this is a fundamental truth of quantum physics. Recently, a physicist Michio Kaku, provided a truly elegant description of this phenomenon when, referring to 'Superstring Theory' he said, 'The universe is a symphony, and the laws of physics and the harmonies of a superstring'. Nikola Tesla, one of the founding fathers of modern electrical theory when asked if there was a fundamental secret of the universe is also credited as saying 'Vibration, resonance and frequency'. Another, even more pragmatic analogy, suggests that reality exists in layers, rather like the gigantic keyboard of a musical instrument and each individual reality is proscribed within its own discrete octave of existence. Once again there is reference to frequency hinting at other 'octaves' containing distinct realities existing at alternate frequencies both higher and lower than ours. This particular argument appears to encompass the idea that perhaps other forms of existence are present both above and below the frames of reference available to our human senses in the ultraviolet and the infrared. While still a distinct possibility, perhaps this only means that our 'octave of existence' is wider than we think and the other 'octaves' also contain invisible upper and lower ends relative to their primary bandwidth.

Plumbing the Depths

However, outwith the esoteric world of quantum physics there is another, more fundamental and pragmatic 'proof' of the existence of separate levels of existence. In the 1950's, a Cambridge don, the archaeologist T. C. Lethbridge, a tireless researcher and champion of dowsing and other associated mysteries, conducted a series of experiments. He was already fully aware that dowsing rods could be used to locate more then water, but when he began using a pendulum he found the results truly remarkable. One of the advantages of using a pendulum was its ability to be 'tuned' to specific items while discriminating against others. Lethbridge used an extremely simple but effective means of tuning the device; he first attached the pendulum to a piece eof string then attached the sting to a pencil. He paid out the string as he held the pendulum over different substances and found there was a natural movement ratio between length and individual substance i.e. as the string lengthened he discovered that the pendulum would move back and forth of it's own accord depending on the nature of the article. He found that 30 ½ inches was the length for copper, silver was 22 inches, gold 29 inches, tin 28 inches, and surprisingly, even truffles produced a reaction at 17 inches. Following a 'tuning' exercise, he could take the pendulum into the countryside and search for previously hidden objects and the pendulum unfailingly reacted to the specific item, ignoring other pieces of a different material. This ability is replicated on modern electronic metal detectors fitted with 'discriminator circuits' that can be adjusted to ignore certain types of metal.

Not content with this, he tried concentrating on colours and basic emotions such as love, anger and even death, which produced a reaction at forty inches; over forty inches there were no obvious reactions. Still curious, he used forty inches as his zero point and added the existing lengths that had previously produced results. To his surprise he found that the results were identical and he wondered is this implied a form of existence beyond the physical. He repeated the experiments this time using eighty inches as his zero and the results repeated. Both of these experiments with the length on the cord produced one curious effect, while the pendulum swung as expected, it was slightly to one side of the target object, and each successive addition of forty inches to the length required that the pendulum be moved to a slightly different position in relation to the target object. Eventually Lethbridge came to realise that perhaps the different position of the dowsing pendulum was due to each item being replicated in an alternate reality alongside his own. The single common factor that had allowed their presence to be detected was the precise length of the cord; does this indicate individual frequency responses with the string acting as an antenna? Or is it perhaps the mind of the dowser producing unconscious and involuntary muscle responses? Before looking at the additional possibility of locating extra dimensions, this raises a fundamental question regarding the nature of the dowsing phenomenon, how does it work?

The Dowsing Enigma

Conventional wisdom suggests that the action of the dowsing rod, be it a piece of forked hazel wood or a thin, right angled metal rod, is due to involuntary reflexive motor movement in the muscles in the dowsers forearms and wrists as his own magnetic field reacts with that of the target. On the other hand, when a dowser walks through a natural increase of the earth's magnetic field with the rods held in the dowsing position, the action of his movement again reacts with the ambient field producing involuntary motor action in the forearms and wrists. As previously mentioned, the normal function of dowsing is the location of water and is done in a similar manner. The water creates an ionising stream as it moves through the rock strata, which in turn produces an increase in local field strength. The dowser, who, through experience unconsciously recognises it as a reaction to the presence of water, detects this and his muscles react accordingly. The means by which the dowser picks up on subtle changes to the earth's magnetic field must originate within the brain where these minute fluctuations in magnetic field strength react with the electromagnetic fields within the brain itself.

Although primarily used for locating water, it is not uncommon for oil companies to employ the services of dowsers to locate oil and in many instances this is done, not in the field, but from a map. The technique has also been used with variable success to locate missing persons and sometimes items of jewellery. Just how this is achieved is not clear, nor is there much evidence to indicate just how successful this technique is, but nevertheless the method is still employed. Why the action of dowsing appears to work on maps may be related to the mechanism behind 'Remote Viewing', where people can allegedly be trained to locate and describe locations solely from map references. During the Cold War, remote viewing was taken very seriously by both Russian and American intelligence agencies who set up state funded projects to exploit any possible advantage from the use of this technique.

The eventual outcome of both projects is, not surprisingly, classified, but it is generally understood that despite some excellent 'hits', the results were too unreliable and the projects were shut down, at least officially. This once again suggests that somehow, mind is able to interact and interface with an information field that surrounds us. Prof. Rupert Sheldrake has theorised about this phenomenon both in print and through experimentation in the laboratory and the concept is at the very heart of his theory of 'Morphic Resonance'. Why should the use of a dowsing pendulum indicate additional dimensions? Since we are told that these extra continuums exist at a range of different frequency from out own, perhaps as with tuned aerials for specific radio frequencies, it is a factor relative to the length of the cord. However, dowsing is not a purely automatic function inherent in the dowsing indicator, therefore it goes without saying that there has to be a human element as well. Since we are basically creatures of frequency as well, perhaps the cord, and indeed the traditional forked hazel twig, does serve as an antenna. It may be equally arguable that the pendulum and the twig are totally unnecessary and serve much the same purpose as the crystal ball, cards and runes of fortune-tellers, viz. a focal point and prop for the practitioner.

Conclusion

Ultimately however, we are still left with the enigmatic results of Lethbridges' experiments using a dowsing pendulum; with hindsight it does appear that there is a clear link between the length of the cord and various target items. The inclusion of emotions and colours appears to be a different but equally valid phenomenon. The bizarre results of using multiples of forty inches as successive zero points and adding the additional tested lengths does appear to indicate the presence of 'ghost 'items, particularly since the pendulum had to be positioned in a slightly different location relative to the object. This appears to indicate two options; either the individual items are only present in one reality but radiate in multiple frequencies, or, they exist simultaneously in different realities. Irrespective of which explanation is correct, the determining factor appears to be the length of the pendulum cord acting like an antenna to detect them, both explanations would account for the curious effects. The one missing piece in this jigsaw is the presence of a human agency, without this addition there would be no result, the pendulum and the forked stick cannot and would not function independently.

In a sense this line of reasoning becomes circular, because we are now dealing, once again, with the unaccountable abilities of mediums, psychics and shamans who all exploit this inherent, invisible, human 'X' factor. We are told that this ability is present in all human being but in most of us, apart from a few brief flickers, it lies dormant and we have allowed this to happen. Perhaps the gentle nudging of New Age ideas will help rekindle our birthright, it is increasingly obvious from recent television programmes like the 'Crossing Over' series, 'Most Haunted' (now in its second series) and Ghost Detectives' that there is ready public acceptance of the paranormal. As quantum physics probes ever deeper into the nature of reality, the proof of what Lethbridge discovered by accident edges closer to wider acceptance, the truth is indeed 'out there'.