People swear by it. Science sees no evidence in tests. What’s really going on? Can dousers find where water is on a piece of land? Or is it all just a hoax, wishful thinking, phony baloney. Dr. Earle provides a third view outside the debate and outside the box.
Substance of Presentation
- The debate
- What may be going on: a shamanic perspective: in human socio-biological evolution, the shaman arose as the first wise one, a healer, able to see things others did not see, and make sense of them, someone deeply embedded in the culture. Shamans are the ancestors of medical doctors, therapists and psychiatrists, priests and ministers, and social workers. We should consider dousers as well.
- Not the instrument, but the witcher. The shamanic operates intuitively, transfers to object tiny movements emanating from the hand. Not the stick. Practiced dousers “know” their landscape, ecosystem, geography, have a “feel” for their art—turn into the trick of the trembling stick (or whatever).
- Randomization. Even aside from intuitive talent and channeling subtle cues from the landscape, the ground, to the body outside of consciousness, the removal from the logical world of human concerns and randomizing has merit. Shamanic data shows how this gives adaptive advantage, by going outside the box of human interest, and rolling the dice.
- Conclude: all about the douser, how well they “feel” their landscape, and how their intuitive side may show to be non-random, in a good way. There are many ways of knowing.
Dr. Duncan Earle
