Modern day dowsers seem to concentrate much of their work on what are variously termed “Earth energies”. These come in various forms, having various names, but generally are thought of as lines of “influence” (if simplified, rather like the dowsing line above an underground stream). They seem to be only detectable by dowsing, although there has been some suggestion that some instruments, such as scintillation counters, or magnetometers also respond to them. Much has been written about these energies, because there is a concern about the effects of them on people’s health. The general idea is that long exposure to them, is associated with a variety of both physical and mental health complaints. For instance, such prolonged exposure might occur if one’s bed is located over. Therefore, many dowsers concern themselves with the detection of these energies, on behalf of other people, so that some intervention can be made to prevent, or at least alleviate, the harmful effects. It is a very big subject, which we can only touch upon.
Some dowsers claim that people have had an understanding of Earth energies from prehistoric times. The current day interest appears to stem from the work by a German dowser named Freiherr von Pohl, who was active in the 1930s. He described the effects of these Earth energies on plants and animals. From all these observations he considered that they would be harmful to humans. He then made a study of a town named Vilsbiburg, which was considered to have a high incidence of cancer deaths. Von Pohl dowsed the town and postulated an association between cancer deaths and subterranean water. His results were published in his book in 1932. This link shows some of his results.
http://www.dowsing-research.net/blog_extracts/vilsbiburg.jpg
His work is reviewed along with a good review of the European approach to Earth energies is given by Ilse Pope, in an article entitled “A view of Earth energies from continental Europe”
See:
http://www.dowsing-research.net/blog_extracts/BSD_No217_1987_p130.pdf
He was followed by Dr. Manfred Curry, a Doctor, who did similar research in Southern Germany between 1935 and 1953. He deduced that the Earth energies formed a regularly spaced net, running from South/West to North/East, now termed the “Curry Net”. If a person was unfortunate enough to reside under a crossing point on this net, their health would suffer.
This work was followed soon after by a Dr Hartmann, who also discovered an regularly spaced “energy” net, this time running east-west, later termed the “Hartmann net”. He published his results in a book. The effects of which were thought not to be as harmful as either the Curry net of underground streams.
The article also describes the results of extensive work conducted by Kaethe Bachler, who has written extensively about many cases, in which using dowsing, the causes of various illnesses and mental disorders have been found to be associated with either the Curry grid, or underground streams, or a combination of the two acting together.
A review of her book – “Earth Radiation. The startling discoveries of a dowser” – is given here:
http://www.dowsing-research.net/blog_extracts/BSD_No225_1989_p545.pdf
Finally, as a point of interest, an article appeared in a BSD Journal in 1988 (No221, p317), which reviews some of the various Earth energies, including the fore-mentioned grids, (and “black streams” , commonly found by English dowsers, and thought to induce poor health. Interestingly, the author states.
English dowsers will find black energies, earth energies or ley lines depending on their experience and personal viewpoint. They do not find Curry grids or Hartmann grids. Continental dowsers do not find these energies at all. They find Curry grids and Hartmann grids. Different dowsers will find different grids.
See: “Noxious energiers and health”, by R.J.Pope:
http://www.dowsing-research.net/blog_extracts/BSD_No221_1988_p317.pdf