For me, learning to use dowsing tools to find water came as complete surprise. In Maine, the Auto and home heating fuel prices were approaching four dollars and my Commercial Real Estate Business in Florida was sinking like a rock. I decided to get back into a previous career & love of mine- Electronic Technology. I wanted to get into business helping others use alternate energies, solar panels, wind energies, etc.
In Maine, there are many antique book stores and I felt that if I researched some older sciences, I might succeed where others were seemingly failing in the quest for inexpensive alternate energies.
Dowsing came as a compete surprise. In some of the older books I purchased, there were discussions concerning Dowsing. I made two L RODS out of coat hangers and went out in the yard, my arms stretched out holding the L RODS. I walked around the yard...asking my mind to detect water.
Of course I was skeptical of such an idea as walking around with a tool and finding water. But ...there is was in black and white in the the older books I had read. I have always been a determined curious kind of guy and I wanted to see if I could understand the nature of this force in order to help with my understanding and search of unknown alternate energies.
In a word...the L RODS indicated water as I was randomly walking around the front and back yard. I was still not convinced. Luckily for me I had a well in the front yard and also a small pump house covering the underground pump. I theorised that the underground stream must run under both and I should be able to track it.
Well it worked and I went to tracking the underground stream right on down the hill to a 100 plus year old artisan well in the swampy land below. It was an antique looking thing, stone walls about eight feet by eight feet. The house I was living in was built in the 1800's. This was the original well used 100 years ago. It was very educational and surprising.