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Water Witching U.S.A.

Second Edition

With a new Preface
Despite advanced technology, the practice of water witching—using a forked stick to indicate an underground source of water—persists in both rural and urban areas. Water Witching U.S.A. is a lively look at "dowsing," full of personal accounts, historical background, and data from controlled experiments and a nationwide survey. This study includes a collection of photographs, drawings, and historical woodcuts showing the tools, techniques, and early instances of dowsing, as well as cross-sectional views contrasting the dowser’s explanation of groundwater with the geologist’s.

304 pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 | © 2000

Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology

Table of Contents

Preface, 2000
Preface to the Phoenix Edition
Preface
1. Why Water Witching?
2. The Family Tree
3. Does It Work? Case Histories and Field Tests
4. Does It Work? Controlled Experiments
5. From Talking Horses to Talking Twigs
6. Why Does the Rod Move?
7. Who’s Who in Witching
8. For Whom the Witch Tells
9. Water Witching as Magical Divination
Postscript 1978
Appendix I. Letter of Explanation and Dowsing Questionnaire Mailed to County Agricultural Extension Agents
Appendix II. Water—Well Location by Scientific Divination. By H.E. Thomas
Bibliography

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