Theresa Cheung - The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World - The Ultimate A–Z of Spirits, Mysteries and the Paranormal

In Russian folklore the domovik is a spiritwith a grey beard that typically lives behind the stove in every home. He is always referred to as the grandfather or he - never by his personal name. Traditionally it is the spirit of the ancestor that founded the family and it moves with the family from house to house. The domovik is believed to watch over the family, keep evil spirits away and occasionally help out around the house. If, however, family members do something that displeases the domovik it is said to resort to poltergeistactivity, and that can include burning down the house!

As a universal symbolof opening and new possibilities it’s not surprising that there are many superstitionsconcerning doors and spirits. Most of these superstitions are concerned with keeping ghostsfrom entering homes or letting ghosts escape to the afterlife. For example, it is widely thought unlucky to enter a house via the back door, as traditionally corpses are carried out the back door. Opening doors and windows when there has been a death in the house is thought to help the spirit leave the corpse. A circle chalked on a door is believed to prevent evil spirits from entering, and slamming a door several times during a row is believed to trap a ghost between the frame and the door and force it to leave.

The appearance of a double of a living person, thought to be a death omen, or bilocation- the astral bodyof someone having an out-of-body experience. ‘Dop-pelgänger’ comes from the German, meaning ‘double walker’.

The belief in the spirit or soulexisting in a double is ancient and widespread. The ancient Egyptians said the soul had a double or Ka, and a special kind of tomb, called the house of Ka, was reserved for the double. Doubles are said to be exact copies of the living person and are usually seen at a location distant from them.

As a death omen there are reports of seeing doubles just as the individual in question is about to die. The double usually appears real but has a ghostly, filmy look about them and can sometimes act mechanically. In some rare cases, such as that of the poet Shelley who saw his own double before drowning, the double appears to the dying individual him or herself. As well as being a death omen, many psychical researchers who have examined cases of doppelgängers believe they are projections of consciousnessthat somehow take on a form resembling reality. This can happen involuntarily or it can be accomplished at will. English medium Eileen Garrettsuggested that the double is a clairvoyantprojection that can be manipulated to develop supernaturalpowers.

The hero of the Battle of Britain Air Chief Marshall Lord Hugh Dowding claimed on numerous occasions to be in contact with the spiritsof the dead, especially airmen who had served with him or under him in both world wars. Dowding was a prominent member of the London Ghost Cluband took an active part in many investigations of allegedly haunted locations with the organization.

Also known as divining, rhabdomancy and water witching dowsing is a form of divinationperformed using a forked stick, pendulumor rods to find hidden things, in particular underground water, minerals and oil. Today it is used to locate lost objects, buried treasure, mineral deposits and water wells, and to diagnose illness.

Dowsing is an ancient practice with unknown origins, however it is thought to date back at least 8,000 years. Wall paintings, estimated to be about 8,000 years old, discovered in the Tassili Caves of North Africa show tribesmen surrounding a man with a forked stick, possibly dowsing for water.

Ancient Chinese and Egyptian artwork depicts people using forked tools in possible dowsing activities. Dowsing may have been mentioned in the Bible, although not by name, when Moses and Aaron used a ‘rod’ to locate water. It was in the Middle Ages, however, that the first unambiguous written accounts of dowsing come, when it was used to find coal deposits. In seventeenth-century France, there are records of a man called Jacques Vernay a stonemason by trade, who used his dowsing talents to successfully track criminals. However, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, dowsers were often thought to be practitioners of evil. Martin Luther described dowsing as ‘the work of devil’ -hence the term ‘water witching’.

How the dowsing technique was first discovered and how dowsing works is unknown, yet those who practise it are convinced that it does work. Dowsing is still very much in use today in archaeological digs, searching for minerals and missing persons and in alternative healing, when the dowser swings a pendulum over the patient’s body to determine the location and cause of illness. It is not widely known but petrochemical companies employ dowsers to confirm underground sources of oil and gas, and dowsers have also made a contribution towards the understanding of mysterious earth energies, such as those represented by ley lines. The American Society of Dowsers estimates there may be as many as 30,000 dowsers in the United States, but despite this, dowsing still struggles to be regarded as a legitimate field.

How you can dowse

Dowsers say that anyone can have a go at dowsing because, like psychic ability, it is a hidden power that all humans possess. And, like any other ability, such as learning a musical instrument, the more you practise and learn your strengths the more you will define your abilities. Here are some steps for a do-it-yourself dowsing test.

1 Decide which dowsing tool you want to use: Forked stick: This is a Y-shaped tree branch (most often from a willow). The dowser holds the branch parallel to the ground at the top of the Y shape, and then starts to walk. If he or she passes over the hidden object the end of the branch is pulled down, pointing to the correct spot. L-shaped metal rods: For this method two L-shaped metal rods (easily made from a pair of coat hangers) are held in each hand parallel to the floor, and if the dowser passes over the hidden object the rods swing apart or cross each other. Pendulum: Some dowsers believe it is sufficient to hold a pendulum overa map is sufficient.If the pendulum begins to move in a circle or back and forth they know they have located the hidden object. Pendulums are also used for diagnosing illness. Your bare hands: Some exceptionally skilled dowers seem to be able to dowse without a tool, claiming that they feel a resisting force when they locate the hidden object.

2 Ask someone to bury a metal object or bottle of water in the garden just a few inches below the surface.

3 Before starting, mentally ask your dowsing tool to indicate to you when you are passing over the hidden object.

4 Walk slowly in any direction you like, concentrating on the object and trying to remain open and sensitive to the movements of the dowsing tool.

5 If your dowsing tool reacts or you simply ‘get a feeling’ that helps you make a decision about the location of the object, stop and see if the spot indicated is correct. If not, keep trying at different times of the day to see if you have ability for dowsing.

Dowsing has attracted some well-known names from history, including Leonardo de Vinci, Robert Boyle (considered the father of modern chemistry) and Charles Richet (a Nobel Prize winner). Albert Einstein was also convinced of the authenticity of dowsing: