The Folklore of Dowsing, aka Water Witching

The Folklore of Dowsing, aka Water Witching

Dowsing is a fascinating form of divination since it is often used to find water, minerals, or even lost items. While other forms of divination like tarot or botanomancy seek to provide information, here the information is often of a tangible sort. Rather than telling a fortune, or providing a prophetic dream that must be interpreted, dowsing appears to relate information about the presence of something the dowser is looking for.

Given dowsing can be used to find a whole range of things, this article will focus on the use of dowsing to locate water. After all, this comprises much of the discussion about dowsing within folklore. This form of dowsing also enjoyed other names, including water witching, well witching, water divining, or rhabdomancy.

While dowsing can also be performed using a pendulum, sometimes held over a map when dowsing for water, this article will also focus on the use of rods, since this appears more frequently in folklore. Let's find out more about dowsing in this week’s episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/folklore-of-dowsing/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore

Enjoyed this episode and want to show your appreciation? Buy Icy a coffee to say 'thanks' at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop

Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7

Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social

Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick

Episoder(426)

The Legends and Folklore of Beer: Remedies, Witches & Saints

The Legends and Folklore of Beer: Remedies, Witches & Saints

Beer is a popular drink in many parts of the world. In the US, it's the most popular alcoholic beverage. Throughout the centuries, beer becomes the drink of choice in eras and places where drinking wa...

2 Apr 202220min

The Lily and the Lady: Plants of Purity and Protection

The Lily and the Lady: Plants of Purity and Protection

There are few flowers quite as recognisable as the lily. Yet despite its beauty, the lily is a toxic plant. In some ways, this goes to show the contradictory nature of the flower, used in both bridal ...

26 Mar 202218min

Lavender Folklore: The Tales Behind The Calming Plant

Lavender Folklore: The Tales Behind The Calming Plant

From cleaning wounds to repelling plague, lavender has had a myriad of uses throughout the centuries. It’s come to represent devotion, purity, luck, cleanliness, compassion, constancy, faith, humility...

19 Mar 202217min

From Medicine to Murder: How the Apothecary Garden Found Its Dark Side

From Medicine to Murder: How the Apothecary Garden Found Its Dark Side

The Alnwick Poison Garden is the modern descendant of the medieval apothecary garden. Find out how these healing gardens found their dark side—and explore some poisonous plant folklore—in this week'...

12 Mar 202218min

The Victorian Language of Flowers: Hiding Secret Messages in Plain Sight

The Victorian Language of Flowers: Hiding Secret Messages in Plain Sight

If a bouquet of flowers arrives at our door, we’re more interested in who sent them. The Victorians were more concerned with what it meant. The Victorian language of flowers, also known as floriogra...

5 Mar 202215min

The Not So Holy Ghost: England's Haunted Churches

The Not So Holy Ghost: England's Haunted Churches

Churches in England are often portrayed as quaint, picturesque centres of their community. But given they're also often one of the oldest buildings in a town or village, it's hardly surprising that we...

26 Feb 202219min

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Folklore of Churches and Churchyards

For Whom the Bell Tolls: Folklore of Churches and Churchyards

Churches used to be a centre for the community. They were open to all classes of society, and through their association with births, marriages, and deaths, often had links to each stage in an individu...

19 Feb 202218min

Interview with Rich Blackett, chair of Asatru UK

Interview with Rich Blackett, chair of Asatru UK

In this third interview-based episode of Fabulous Folklore, I chat to fellow northern Rich Blackett, chair of Asatru UK! We talk about what heathenry can often look like (because it's more flexible t...

16 Feb 20221h 3min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
wolfgang-wee-uncut
alt-fortalt
grenselos
synnve-og-vanessa
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
min-barneoppdragelse
rss-dannet-uten-piano
fladseth
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg