You all know what dowsing is: the use of a mechanical movement to amplify a (presumably psychic) signal in order to answer a question or locate an object. The movement in question usually involves of some kind of device, such as a pendulum or a pair of rods or the famous forked stick. Some people use the movement of a finger, considering it to be more convenient or less conspicuous.
Dowsing is an important component of psionic medicine and of radionics. Most people who practice psionics use some form of dowsing from time to time.
That said, you will find that there are dowsers who are quite indignant about the idea that their art and science would be associated with psychic or psionic activity. The very idea offends them.
Be aware, therefore, that you might encounter some unflattering and possibly heated commentary if you hang out on dowsing sites or with dowsing societies, and your colleagues there find out about your psionic practices. That said, there are many very nice and very knowledgeable folks on those sites and in those societies. And, there are many excellent books devoted exclusively to the finer points of dowsing.
In any event, I’ve found that such disagreements are usually more polite and restrained than the squabbling that erupts periodically between online psionics communities. So, it isn’t anything to actually worry about. Just be aware of it.
Two of the excellent and useful books about dowsing are The Art of Dowsing and The Diviner’s Handbook. Both of these novel-length books start with very basic concepts and methods, and work their way through to practical applications. They discuss some theories about how dowsing might function. Several chapters are devoted to common uses of dowsing: archaeology, finding good locations for wells, locating underground pipes and cables, and finding oil and other minerals.
Another, much shorter, introduction to dowsing is the friendly “Letter to Robin” which is freely available in several languages at the LetterToRobin.org website. http://www.lettertorobin.org/Home.html
Title: The Art of Dowsing
Author: Richard Webster
Publisher: Castle Books
City: Edison, NJ
Year: 2001
ISBN: 0-7858-1430-2
Format: hardback book Reprinted from Dowsing for Beginners published by Llewellyn Publications of St. Paul, MN in 1996
Title: The Diviner’s Handbook
Author: Tom Graves
Publisher: Warner Books
City: New York
Year: 1976
ISBN: 0-446-89402-8