DOWSING, RADIONICS, WATER WITCHING, AND RELATED PRACTICES -2A chapter from the book “Dowsing – An Exposé of Hidden Occult Forces”, by Ben G. Hester Asking
God vs. Asking Satan The
consideration here of prayer versus the occult as a means of satisfying
our needs and wants deserves a little more reflection. Why are results
from prayer so uncommon, and why are results from requests to the occult
power source so immediate, satisfactory, and attractive? The answer is
found in history. Through the eyes of history the present-day problem is
suddenly clarified. Our
illustration starts with the early Hebrews. The descendants of Abraham
(the" children of Israel") as pictured in the Old Testament,
made a covenant with God. The dictionary defines covenant as "a
binding and solemn agreement". In this historic covenant the people
agreed to keep the" commandments" of God, and in return God
agreed to keep the people safe, provide a home in the garden land of the
world (in what is today barren desert), and keep them healthy and
prosperous. This covenant was for a purpose. These people were to be
the earth's leaders, guided by God. What could be more ideal? Yet for
some hard-to-understand reason the people broke this covenant time after
time. On the surface it would appear that these "chosen
people" were so stupid as to be unable to exercise good judgment.
However this was not the case. Even today, after many hundreds of years
away from their original broken covenant Jews are quietly ensconced in
the leadership of science, politics, banking, art, music, and all human
endeavor in the world. Why did they fail? First,
there must be some understanding of the reality of the supernatural in
this people-to-God relationship. Not only was the miraculous almost
commonplace, there was almost direct contact with God through their
religious leaders. It seems to us today that this would have been
something impossible to turn from. However, there is evidence that
there were also miraculous happenings in the pagan world surrounding
these people. There is evidence in the biblical references to the other
gods, that there was an ongoing Satanic attempt to match the miraculous
happenings of the true God relationship. However,
there was one vast difference, and this is the key—then and today. God
demanded right living, morality, and justice of his people. It was in
the covenant. Paganism made no such demands. it fostered unbelievable
immorality, licentiousness and freedom from any restraint. A perusal of
their religious rites shows a picture of such unbelievable. brutality,
lasciviousness and gore to be mind-numbing to our present-day morality.
This no-restraint society plus what must have been an impressive display
of occult manifestations and the use to which people could put them,
appealed to these strong, virile, headstrong men of the man oriented
society. There were the continually tempting no-restraint religions
just a step across the border. The
standards Moses set up reflect how barbarous the world of that day
really was. His requirement that all the people in a neighborhood take
active part in the execution of a neighbor who broke the law, and the
custom of an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth was undoubtedly the
only means possible of getting through to them. This is clearly seen in
a thoughtful reading of the Old Testament. The headlong wallowing in
paganism marked their behavior for years after a return to the true God.
Even such a strong figure as King Solomon built temples to the pagan
gods to please his women, even while worshipping the true God, and his
paganistic leanings are plainly seen. The
principle of the difference in religions is still with us today. The
fact that we do not see the extremes or the overt supernatural
manifestations today is not germane to our problem. The opposing forces
are still there, and the same offer of benefits from the supernatural
without any prerequisite of right living is the same old temptation to
paganism. To come before God and be heard still requires repentance,
confession, and obedience. It includes a willingness to accept
responsibility and a giving over of the will to God. So much of the
teaching we are given today is sort of a total immersion in a gigantic
love blob they call God, without any mention of responsibility
following conversion. It certainly shows up when answer to prayer is
demanded. The reality is so different from the emotional theory.
"Thy will be done" is the most difficult prayer to learn. None
of this is a problem in approaching the occult for favors. No right
living, no change of character, not even the intention to do good is
required. And it is all buttered over with friendliness and good will.
It is easy, immediate and inviting. Come
and talk to the spirits with us. Come join our humanism. Come practice
sorcery (dowsing) with us. Come join us in our pagan religions. We are
such friendly people. We are your brothers. This invitation is as old
as mankind. This is why, no matter if you are a good or evil man, you
can practice divination (dowse) successfully. This is not our paranoid
fantasy. The whole story of dowsing and other aspects of the occult
contain these facts. Do
Favors Accepted Constitute a Pact? We
must say it again; involvement in the dowsing scene is a matter of
choosing whom you will serve. The idea of choosing to dowse as being a
pact with Satan is ridiculed by the liberal Christian as well as the
non-Christian. It is a fact, nevertheless, that any involvement with the
occult implies required loyalty. If these are not elements of a pact,
perhaps we are only hung up on semantics. This
whole idea is no longer a nightmare of the middle ages. The Faustian
idea of selling oneself to Satan for success is popular among the youth
again today. Whether it started as a gesture of braggadocio or was a
serious effort is not known, but once the gesture was made, and a
spiritistic response was experienced, the reality of this 'old wives
tale' became a working pact. Witchcraft is with us again (or yet?) and
the participants are proud and public about it. It is blatantly present
in the rock scene with stars confessing spirit instructions, dictation
of words, music and inspiration. The average rock listener ridicules
this "superstitious" stuff, but those who have been in the
professional scene and have had enough and have gotten out, tell it as
it is. The dowsing pact, though much less implicit is no less an
agreement because of the acceptance of occult favors. We
know of people involved in the occult who are the most happy, loving,
carefree, successful persons one could hope to find. They are walking
advertisements for the desirability of such a life. They are valuable
to Satan, and may continue to be so for some time to come. However, they
are subject to sudden abandonment and any attempt to welch, cheat, or
escape is dealt with mercilessly. The incidence of insanity and/or
suicide runs high among those attempting such foolishness. This
writer is no armchair philosopher, savoring the taste of these stories
and ideas, and spitting them out for your entertainment (or disgust). We
have been there personally and have survived the hell of escape. We were
reduced eventually to the level of an animal trying to hide and enduring
the panic of finding no hiding place. Then someone suggested prayer in
the name of Jesus Christ and it was tried as a drowning man grasps a
thrown rope, and that release and escape was effected has been the
subject of daily thanksgiving during the ensuing years. Dowsing
as a First Step Into the Occult It
must be clearly understood. We are not suggesting that picking up the
dowsing rod or calling in a witcher to locate a water well will
certainly result in suicide or insanity. We do say it is the first step
in the wrong direction. The
uncertainty of it is that one can never rest assured when the next step
(temptation) will be presented, and just how tempting it will be. The
certainty of it is that the next step will be presented sooner or later.
The Christian is indoctrinated in the rule of "As ye sow, so shall
ye reap." This is the one unchangeable aspect of the least
involvement with the occult. We
have referred several times to dowsing as the first step, and in several
different ways. The following steps are not always experienced in the
order we list them, but generally there is a logical order, one building
on the last. At least these are the steps that have actually been
experienced: 1.
Dowsing, using a Ouija Board, going to a 'reader', etc. 2.
An opportunity that can be seized only through further occult means. For
instance, if one happens to be in need of further information that
cannot be gotten in the yes and no answers of the dowsing device, it may
be suggested that a visit to a medium will provide an answer. By this
time, that extra bit of information has become so necessary, this step
is almost impossible to refuse. 3.
After having experienced steps one and two, this important and most
attractive new possibility to get information and advice is almost
impossible to turn away from. This results in more active participation
in mediumism, psychometry, or other exciting psi activities. 4.
Some occult ability will suddenly be received. It may be telepathy,
retro-cognition or precognition, and one is suddenly an active
participant in occult manifestations. 5.
The final step will be the preparation or indoctrination to receive a
"control" or "guide" or "familiar spirit".
This may start through vivid and unusual dreams, unexpected and alien
(important) ideas, a distinct mental impression (astonishingly different
from the usual), and finally, the awareness of something or someone (a
presence) nearby, generally at the right hand side. Eventually, after a
time of introduction, the guide will establish an acceptable and
recognizable method of communication. 6.
Then, although the recipient is not only unaware of the danger, and
will not turn back even if warned, the trouble starts. The guide starts
giving advice. This
advice is valuable, resulting in all sorts of advantages and good
things. Then, if the advice is not taken, the guide pushes a little for
compliance. Then the advice changes to demands-all for the 'good' of the
recipient. The demands become stronger and instructions are given as
though they must be followed. The person may resist, become angry, and
demand to be left alone. It does absolutely no good, because although
the guide will back off, it returns again and again endlessly and there
is no way to escape. It ends by demanding control of every decision,
action, thought and wish. The
person who has had no brush with spiritism will find these details
impossible to accept as reality. To this person, what we have written on
this subject may easily seem to be ridiculous imagination. However,
there is one type of reader who will recognize every detail, for it will
be as though we recounted his personal experience. This
is not all. The rest of the picture we have witnessed personally. The
person so afflicted begins to lose his own personality, and the change
is noticeable to the horror of his relatives and friends. The person
withdraws more and more from old associations because he or she
recognizes what is happening and cannot control it. A different personality
emerges and fear lives with him day and night. At
any time during this whole process a person, in desperation, may
successfully turn to God for escape, but the further one goes into the
occult, the mQre awful hell one experiences in the fight and the longer
it takes. The spirit will be expelled only to return the moment the
person's faith wavers, and it must be done all over again. Obviously,
the whole thing can, and sometimes does, end in total 'possession' and
the person becomes a thing, a zombie, inhabited by an evil spirit that
is sadistic and absolutely merciless. If
the reader feels that this is a cheap attempt to frighten, he is half
right. It is not cheap, however, for reality never is. This is no
witch's tale. It is the absolute truth. We only write it because we are
driven by actuality, and with the help and daily protection of God. What
we cannot say strongly enough is do not take that first step, and if you
have already, wherever you are, turn to God again quickly! The
Blindness of Occult Victims It
would seem that the victim of this hoax might recognize his peril at an
early stage and escape, but he does not. He is so enthralled by the
excitement and the new experience, no warning seems to reach him. A
psychic we know admitted that he had to "get rid of her" (his
control) because she was becoming so demanding she wanted to order his
every thought and action. She was with him to instruct every minute of
his waking time. We asked how he got rid of her. "I just told her
to get out," he replied. We asked if she ever came back. "Oh
yes," he rejoined, "I let her come back sometimes on Sunday
mornings just to play around." This
man's control was a 'she', which appealed to his ego, and made it more
exciting to take on such a thing. During the acquaintance time, the
personality of the control comes through friendly, personable, and
generally identifying itself as either male or female, depending on
which will be more enjoyable or acceptable to the psychic. Quite often
one learns to talk to it as if it were a real person standing there. As
this becomes a habit it may prove embarrassing. We sat in a public
lecture by a nationally known telepath. The man was a marvel. He left us
breathless. During his lecture he made a statement to a man in the
audience who contradicted him—told him he was not right. The telepath
was nonplussed. He
hesitated, and then turning toward his right (there was no one there) he
said sotto voce, "Well, I thought you said—well, if that's true
then—Oh, I see, thank you!" and turning back to the man in the
audience he corrected himself and the man was satisfied. The audience
seemed not to have noticed what had just happened, or its significance.
We wondered if there really was such a thing as telepathy, or if it
was just another mediumistic trick, for this man was nothing more than a
medium! This
fact of a spirit control dictating the actions, decisions and thoughts
of a person who allows it, is becoming commonplace and it is
frightening. It may be as old as mediumism, but we were made aware of it
in the 1960s when writers began to write of the joys of such a
companionship. The ways of getting in touch with a "control",
"guide", "companion" (or the biblical 'familiar
spirit') were described in detail with the admonition to have patience
and keep trying until an answer is received. No warning was ever given
that once the contact was made, the control immediately started pushing
for more and more authority. All that is ever told is that one will be
healthier, happier and more successful. Dowsers who are aware that they
contact an 'entity' say the same. The contact would be made first thing
in the morning every day, and the spirit control would order the day for
the person. The
Birth of the New Age of Aquarius The
next time we heard of this thing going public was on receipt of the
brochures of the Findhorn Foundation University of Light, 1977 Autumn
Conferences. One of the subjects to be presented in seminar was
"Birth of a New Age." The New Age way of life is based on
David Spangler's book, Revelation: The Birth of a New Age. It is
entirely spirit oriented and controlled. They teach "planetary
transformation" to start with "a true European spiritual
community". It all sounds like The Kingdom established on earth,
but it is based on total spirit control of the individual with an icing
of loving Brotherhood Of Man. This did not die a-borning as a crackpot
idea. It has become a powerful, and growing community. Findhorn,
Scotland is its center and Findhorn started with a miracle, which has
left the world open-mouthed. The wife of an airman stationed in the
bleak, windswept, cold east coast of Scotland was a medium. She was
shown that she, her husband and friends should purchase land on the spit
of land forming one side of Findhorn Bay. It was an area of gravel and
sand so desolate that the gorse was stunted. She was shown how they
should make "compost" of what was on hand. This small group
started a commune and were suddenly in the midst of a horticultural
miracle that had the horticultural experts of the world beating a path
to their door. Things grew more lush there than in a tropical forest A
few years ago, a reporter for a newspaper went there to visit and
report. He wrote that as he entered the area he saw two men struggling
under a huge green plant they were attempting to carry. It turned out to
be what was left of a single broccoli plant after the heads were
harvested. They were taking it to the compost pit. This is another face
of the hoax. One sees the miracle and thereafter believes everything
told. Horticulturists have tested the soil, compost and method, and have
concluded it must be something supernatural that causes such growth. It
is not a natural happening. In
1979, Jacques Vallee wrote Messengers of Deception, UFO Contacts and
Cults. (We will comment on his findings at some length in the next
chapter.) One of the premises of the growing UFO cults is that man must
become the "instrument" for Ufonaut control. (Spirit control.)
Man must give up his intellectual independence and become a tool of the
spirit world, thinking and acting on spirit instructions only. One
Bible commentator wrote that "spiritualism is about to take the
world captive", and it appears that it is quite possible unless the
Christian world wakes up. Dowsing
For More Than Water You
will notice that we have concentrated on the most pedestrian of the
dowsing acts, simple witching, or the finding of water. If it is made
clear that this simple act is occult, the rest is easy. Of course, many
Christian dowsers insist there is no hint of the occult, and so take
their "first step". The other elements of dowsing are
certainly more overtly occult, more easily proven so, and we would like
to consider them too. Returning
to the findings of Dr. Kurt Koch, who has written more than a dozen
books on various activities in the occult world and, although elderly
and admittedly tired, he wrote us that he had completed one last volume
over which he had suffered unbelievable spirit harrassment. Much of his
writing is in the form of case histories or examples, and his books
devote some space (and some a great deal) to dowsing, and as we
mentioned before, to pendulum dowsing. Many who have become victims of
psychic or spirit harrassment as the result of pendulum diagnosis have
come to him for help. His case histories should be read by everyone
tempted to dowse. His books here in the U. S. are in paperback* and are
not expensive. However do not read them to be titillated only. One will
find that occult harrassment as the result of the dowsing contact is a
frightening thing. His books are a very valuable if bitter dose of facts
for the Christian who is tempted to play with dowsing. *Kregel
Publications. P,O, Box 2607. Gran Rapids. Michigan 49501 The
medical dowser is certainly one of the occult miracle men of modern
medicine. Since World War II he has been diagnosing and prescribing with
a success that has stunned the medical world. Although it is true that
he has not yet been recognized by the medical societies, the astounding
stories of his work occasionally make the news. The
circumstance that renders the stories the more unbelievable is that so
often the medical dowser is consulted as the last resort. He gets the
hopeless cases, the terminal cases, those that have gone through all the
tests and have been officially diagnosed inoperable or cause unknown,
yet he calmly causes cures that stir the emotions of not only the
intimately involved, but of the general public. Who
would dare find fault with what he is doing. Yet the accounts of those
who do Christian counselling are consistently full of case histories of
serious psychic disruption after even one such treatment Dr. Koch's
books are replete with them, and he warns that the Christian, under no
circumstances, can allow himself to be so treated. He tells of case
after case where the physical illness was cured only to have the patient
become ill with psychic disturbances that are most difficult to cure.
This places the loved ones of a sick person in a very difficult and
unenviable position. The more serious the illness, the more difficult
the choice. The
Question of Predictions Any
monologue on dowsing from the Christian standpoint must consider the
ability of the dowsing device to answer questions about the future. The
Bible teaches that only God knows the end from the beginning, yet
something is wrong somewhere. Psychic predictions about the future have
been with us since the dawn of history, and precognition is a recognized
psi phenomenon. It is true the predictions of the psychics do not have
a phenomenal success incidence, but they are correct often enough to be
un-nerving. Some
psychics claim their insight is from God, others prattle about the
Universal Mind, and yet others are simply and admittedly mediums,
tapping the spirit world. Dowsers are taught to use their devices for
every type of precognition from forecasting the weather to foretelling
future events. It all seems to be another contradiction of the Bible we
have learned to accept and live with. Yet, there is a positive
explanation. First,
it is necessary to analyze predictions. There are different kinds: 1.
Foretelling the pattern of events. This is easily done if one has a
'behind-the-scenes' knowledge of causes—which of course, the spirit
world can witness. 2.
Predictions of happenings from natural causes. An
instance would be the prediction of the death of a well-known public
figure. Even the close relatives could be entirely ignorant of an
internal condition that the spirit world can easily see. From this
knowledge, a fairly accurate prediction of death can be made. 3.
Foretelling anything that can be the result of spirit manipulation.
These are often tragedies involving more than one person. The spirit
manipulation can be of living things or of physical objects. For
instance, a man attempts to assassinate the President. When caught and
arrested, he cannot give a reason for his action. If a psychic has
predicted this (and it has happened), there is reason to suspect spirit
manipulation. A person already spirit oppressed, possessed, or
mentally ill is a prime candidate for such manipulation. Evidence of
spirit manipulation of physical objects is seen going on almost
anywhere in the world. This includes everything from spoon bending (Uri
Gellar has admitted that an entity standing beside him does this), to
the actions of the poltergeists. A Ufonaut predicted the collapse of the
'silver bridge' at Point Pleasant, West Virginia during the UFO flap
there in 1967. Collapse it did just before Christmas eve when the bridge
was crowded with cars full of Christmas shoppers returning home. This
was obviously a case either of knowledge about a severely weakened
bridge member, or actual spirit manipulation. Finally,
there is the possibility of a combination of any of the above. This adds
up to an impressive array of causes from which reasonably accurate
predictions can be made. Most of these predictions are tragedies. It is
only necessary to look at the predictions of Jeane Dixon that have
actually happened to see this. Aside from her predictions about the
infidelities, vagaries, and dissolution of famous people, most of them
that happen are catastrophic or at least unfortunate. Do
not imagine that it is too difficult to get this sort of information
from a dowsing device if the dowser has imagination, is quick thinking
and persistent. The "yes" and "no" answers of the
device are no real deterrent. However, as we have illustrated, dowsing
and mediumism (in the sense of obtaining a visual message) often go hand
in hand. It might be added here that the psychic who talks in riddles or
obscure meanings (Nostradamus) is the most safe and probably the most
famous because these predictions can only be evaluated after the event.
Then the subsequent predictions become a matter of interest,
excitement or concern, depending upon the emotions of the reader. Now,
we can return to an evaluation of the apparent contradiction of the
statement that only God knows the beginning from the end. There is a
vast difference in knowing the outcome without manipulation to cause it
to be so, and that of manipulating events so that what is predicted will
occur! One of the important themes of the bible story is the attempt of
Satan to discredit everything God said or did. God said only He knows
what will transpire from beginning to end in this world. Satan's reply
to this is to set up an elaborate hoax of planned (manipulated) or trick
incidents to show to the unthinking (or casual) observer that his spirit
world also knows the beginning from the end and that God lied again. A
Letter From a Dowser It
might be fitting to end this chapter with a letter that illustrates not
only the dowsing mind, but the nearly impossible problem of
communicating with that mind. This letter is from a Christian dowser who
took umbrage at the 'stupidity' of our stand and wrote us so. This
dowser has an excellent university background and is accepted as an
intellectual. His letter is quite long and remonstrative, so we will
address ourselves only to the five reasons he gives that would cause him
to admit dowsing is anything less than a physical phenomenon. He was
restrictive (safe) in what he would consider as dowsing, in the type of
answers he would accept, in the terminology, and in sources from which
he would allow us to quote. In other words, he was a typical modern, yet
Christian dowser. We may be somewhat arbitrary in our total acceptance
of these restrictions, but we will attempt to make intelligent reply. At
the outset he stated that he would consider simple witching only, and he
refers to it correctly as the search for underground water. However,
since he maintains it is a physical phenomenon, we must point out that
other Christian dowsers who are interested in finding minerals rather
than water also claim that dowsing for ores is a purely physical
phenomenon. Reason
No.1: "You
could show me a prohibition against finding water with a forked stick in
the scriptures." Answer
No.1: This
man is an excellent Bible student, and he knows full well that "the
scriptures" do not mention either water dowsing or the forked stick
device. We also believe he is begging the question, for the Bible does
mention the dowsing device of that time and it has come down to us
through history what it was used for. We repeat a footnote we supplied
in chapter I: The
"wand" is listed in Cruden's Complete Concordance as one of
the divining devices. In the International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia, Volume I on page 973 under the heading of Divination, paragraph
F, it states, "While the use of a rod or staff for a variety of
magico-religious purposes is not uncommon in the OT (cf. Ex. 4:4,17;
17:19, the rod of Moses; 7:19, the rod of Aaron), the use of the rod for
purposes of divination is referred to in the OT only in Hosea 4:12: 'My
people inquire of a thing of wood, and their staff gives them oracles.'
Here the 'thing of wood' may refer to the Asherah that was a cult object
found in all Canaanite sanctuaries of Baal; the 'staff undoubtedly
refers to the practice of rhabdomancy, although the precise technique of
this form of divination is not known. It is clear, however, that Hosea
condemns such practices." The dictionary definition of rhabdomancy
is divination by means of a rod or wand especially in discovering ores,
springs of water, etc. In
addition to the above stated, "It is clear, however, that Hosea
condemns such practices" we refer you again to Cruden's Complete
Concordance for their extensive discourse on divination, in which they
state positively that one who practiced divination was called a
wizard, and the sentence for practicing wizardry was death! Reason
No.2: "You
could demonstrate a relationship between water forking and devil worship
or demon possession by showing that there have been significant cases
where one has led to another. I do not want warmed-over 'proofs' that
you have taken undigested from someone else." Answer
No. 2: From
the restrictions placed on an acceptable answer here, we presume he
wants first- hand knowledge of significant cases where there is no doubt
that water witching resulted in the two cases of extreme Satanic
involvement. No, we have never personally witnessed this. Observation: We
believe he is making this problem much too simple. The time and circumstances
between water witching (presuming this was truly the introduction to
the occult) and demon possession, or the decision to worship Satan is
so great, this question is almost ridiculous. One would have to start
backwards and trace all actions, decisions, and happenings for, maybe,
years to the "first step" to form a case history. Dr. Hobart
E. Freeman does state that this has happened, but he gives no
corroborative details or evidence. * He simply states that a case of
insanity was traceable to "this ancient method of divination."
He made it clear that he referred to water witching. That there is often
almost immediate intrusion into the life by Satanic forces is a matter
of record. Dr. Kurt Koch relates a case history of a "well known
Christian dowser." He was so successful he was well paid for his
work. Dr. Koch sums up his condition, "He told me, however, when I
talked with him, that when he searches for water, he cannot pray
properly for days. During this time if he wants to read the Bible he
gets spots before his eyes. If he hears a person preaching the word of
God, he cannot concentrate at all, however hard he tries."** Dr.
Freeman also commented on this. He stated that one Christian dowser had
difficulty with a "serious problem over which he could not
achieve victory", and another suffered from a resistance to
scriptural teaching concerning the Holy Spirit. They were both water
witchers. *Hobart
E. Freeman, DELIVERANCE FROM OCCULT OPPRESSION AND SUBJECTION. p. 24.
Faith Ministries, P.O. Box 1156, Warsaw, Indiana 46580. Publishers. **Kurt
Koch, DEMONOLOGY PAST AND PRESENT, pp. 65, 66. Reason
No. 3: "You
could demonstrate that the action of the rod was blocked by
prayer." Answer
No. 3: If
the word" demonstrate" means personal experience, again we
have to say "No." If it means known instances, we give two
case histories from Dr. Koch's records. Kurt Koch, DEMONOLOGY PAST AND
PRESENT, pp. 67, 71. Case
History No.1 The
brother of a man in Gebweiler, France, called in a dowser to find water
on the man's residence property. The man was a Christian. He discovered
his brother's action when the dowser appeared on his property and
began to dowse. He went into his house and knelt down to pray,
"Lord, if this man's power is not from You, then stop it working.
If, on the other hand, You've given him his ability, then let him be
successful in looking for water." After his prayer he went out into
the garden and heard the man swearing, " . . . What's wrong with
it? I found water here a moment ago, and now it won't work" Dr.
Koch goes on to say that a power that can be blocked by prayer is
certainly not from God. Case
History No. 2 Two
Christian missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. McElheran were stationed in the
interior of Africa where there was a great need for water. Mrs.
McElheran learned that she had the ability to dowse. She found many
wells in the area, but she found, as time passed, that she was becoming
more and more upset and on edge. This became so severe that it was the
cause of an earlier return home than had been planned. She grew worse
and was finally confined to her bed although the doctor failed to find
anything from which to form a diagnosis. One day a friend brought her
one of Dr. Koch's books to read and she was amazed at what she read on
the divining rod. Getting out of bed, she found her dowsing rod, walked
out into the garden and dowsed until she got the reaction of water. Then
she stood and prayed, "Lord, if this ability is not from you, then
take it away!" From that moment on the rod would not work. Breaking
it in pieces she prayed for forgiveness, and asked God to heal her.
She was no longer ill. Case
History No. 3 A
Christian man wanted to find if there was a water source in his garden.
A dowser found two places where he said there was water. When they dug
there, no water was found. The dowser was dumbfounded, claiming that
this had never happened to him before. The man confessed he had prayed
about the matter beforehand because he was not certain a Christian
should be using a dowser. The dowser replied, "Well, that's why! Of
course it wouldn't work!" (Kurt Koch, BETWEEN CHRIST AND SATAN, p.
39. Ex. 31.) However,
it must be pointed out again that there are circumstances where prayer
has proven ineffective. One is the prayer to prove to the onlooker
that there is nothing wrong with dowsing. This prayer is by the dowser
whose mind is made up beforehand that it is not a wrong act. Another
prayer that has proven ineffective is one prayed during the heat of a
dowsing argument in an effort to prove a point. We believe no further
comment is necessary, except that these two unanswered prayers tell some
interesting things about praying. Reason
No. 4: "You
could show that the act of finding water was inherently evil, or
detrimental to the health and well-being of the finder or the
beneficiary." Answer
No. 4: We
believe that it is self evident that the fact the action of the rod in
water witching can be blocked by sincere prayer truly labels it
"inherently evil". That it is detrimental to the health of the
dowser is a matter of record. Dr. Hobart E. Freeman in the section on
"Water Divining" of his book Every Wind of Doctrine, writes,
"Dowsers speak of experiencing such things as dizziness, nausea,
convulsive pains, increased pulse rate and heart beat, muscle spasms,
fainting and headaches both during and after dowsing." He goes on
to point out that the non-Christian dowser exhibits the same opposition
to Christianity as do other occult practitioners, and Christian dowsers
frequently show resistance to biblical truths. he ends the seven and a
half pages on the examination of water divining by observing,
"Dowsers frequently show evidence of psychic disturbances, and
mental or physical illnesses, as well as other forms of occult
oppression or subjection. In view of all these facts it should be clear
that the practice of water witching, or the use of the rod or pendulum
for any reason, places an individual under the influence and control of
the forces of darkness and is in disobedience to the prohibitions
against divination in the word of God."* As we pointed out before,
the case histories of Dr. Kurt Koch are also illustrative of the
psychic, psychological and spiritual disturbances. There is much
evidence of the ill effects on the "beneficiary" in other
types of dowsing, but we have heard no report of this in water witching.
This is not to say it does not happen. *Hobart
E. Freeman, EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, pp. 256,257. Faith Ministries. P. O.
Box 1156, Warsaw Indiana 46580, Publisher. Reason
No. 5: "You could show that the forked stick itself has occult
associations." Answer
No. 5: We
believe that everything we have presented here shows that the forked
stick or any other dowsing device has nothing but occult associations. We
chose this letter from among others to illustrate our dilemma. This
man is, as we stated earlier, an intellectual, and as such, he would be
horrified if someone at his level of education would make statements in
his field of knowledge that illustrates such a lack of digging out facts
that are there for anyone to see. In this case his arbitrary demand to
exclude all elements of dowsing except water witching, and his refusal
to accept any text not specifying "water forking" or water
divining, all of which are fundamental and historical, is like entering
a discussion about peanuts only to discover the restriction that
only the shell may be discussed, We
can be no more positive than to state that dowsing is making contact
with the spirit world just as certainly as using the Ouija Board. The
spirit world contacted is the world of evil spirits or angels under the
leadership of Satan. The Christian who dowses removes himself from the
protection of God if he has the least doubt about it or if he has been
warned, After all, we do have responsibility toward ourselves. It is
pure presumption to suspect or know and yet to try to pray for
protection. Finally, a word or two to the non-Christian or the liberal Christian dowsing addict who has read this far and laughs in ridicule. We say "Stop it!" You are the last one who has the right to ridicule the conservative Christian viewpoint of the occult. Our view of the reality of the unknown is every bit as good as yours, and is certainly more conclusive! This book is available from— HARVESTIME BOOKSPO. BOX 300ALTAMONT TN. 37301- CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY- (Voice) (931) 692-2777 -or- (Fax) (931) 692-3574 |