As I mentioned back in October, we are currently looking for lands for the future home of Hedge Witch Farms— a rather consuming process, as there is so much to research! (Never did I imagine I’d become so invested in zoning laws and soil reports!) As we work with our real estate agent, it feels there is a daunting amount of paperwork and endless financial and legal jargon. Maybe it was due to this near-coma-inducing state I found myself in as I reviewed the draft of a prospective offer that a contingency caught my attention: Witching.
will be scheduled within TBD days after the acceptance of this offer. If the test proves unsatisfactory to the BUYER’s written
notice will be given to the Sellers within 3 business days of such finding or this contingency will be removed.’
Water witching, also known as dowsing or divining, is a practice used to locate underground water sources, minerals, or other hidden substances using a tool like a forked stick or a pendulum. Practitioners, called dowsers, hold the tool and walk over an area, waiting for a movement or reaction that supposedly indicates the presence of water.
While water witching has been practiced for centuries, there is no scientific evidence proving its effectiveness beyond chance or natural intuition. Farmers’ Almanac references an unnamed study “conducted by the German government in the 1990s” that found high levels of accuracy (source), but the practice is widely seen as a pseudoscience, without factual basis (source).
In fact, I was amused to discover that the US government has been trying to debunk the practice for over a century! A 1917 report from the Department of the Interior Geological Survey entitled “The Diving Rod: A History of Water Witching” (available here) proved to be a surprisingly interesting read, chronicling a history of the practice, which they go so far as to describe as a “delusion” practiced by charlatans.
Given the controversy surrounding the practice, I was very surprised to find its inclusion in a contemporary legal document!
Do you practice water witching, or have you ever seen it performed? What are your thoughts on the practice? Share in the comments!
