Witching

The phenomenon of mind- body interaction is mysterious. When the pianist and I bought our piece of ground on Lotus Island the first job was to look for water. We had use of a jointly owned well but we needed a backup plan. We hired a witcher. There is a reason it is called witching. Moreover, I had seen, " Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House." The dowser came with a witching rod of willow and dowsed in the most likely of places. I expected the process to be amusing and primitive. Sure enough, his dowser dipped and water was found near the surface. Actually, too near the surface to be of use other than a cribbed shallow well for watering the plants. We never bothered to crib it. However I was intrigued and started to dowse myself. I tried forked willow, forked vine maple and a wire coat hanger. If I approached a likely part of the lot where water was possible, all of my witching tools would dip easily and strongly. What was this phenomenon? I do not know. As a scientist it is easy to be skeptical, particularly about other people's inexplicable experiences.One can say,"What benefit will accrue to this person if they are convincing, and is it worth their while to fudge the truth?" Or, one can say, "Is this person sincere but credulous?" Or one can accept that there is a realm of phenomena that appear for which we have no logical explanation. Speculation is not a substitute for explanation. It may be like the Ouija board. A mind-body phenomenon. I am convinced that though my mind said this was nonsense, the body responded as if it wasn't. Cognitive dissonance!