On Ethics and Permissions

A couple of recent events have led me to ponder some of the ethical dilemmas that we are sometimes presented with when dowsing. One was the disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370, and the other was the internet ‘call to arms’ by the Montague Keen Foundation asking everyone/anyone to heal the ley system. Both raise questions about our right as dowsers to use our skills in such situations, not just in terms of our ability to be of use, but the larger area of having permission to do so. When we commence dowsing about a remote place or person, we are … Continue reading On Ethics and Permissions

A Labyrinth For Glasgow

(and a stone circle too!) There have been some considerable developments to Glasgow City Council’s plan to redevelop Sighthill park into an athlete’s village for the 2018 Youth Olympics. Having lost their bid to host the event, the athlete’s village idea has been abandoned but the Council are still planning to proceed with a housing development in the area, necessitating the removal of the stone circle. However, largely as a result of pressure from the community and discussions between circle builder Duncan Lunan and the Council, a compromise agreement has been reached whereby the circle will be removed and reconstructed … Continue reading A Labyrinth For Glasgow

Forgotten Footsteps

I have covered this before, but a recent change in the Google Maps API rendered my previous post on Harry Bell’s ‘Glasgow Network of Aligned Sites’ and ‘Forgotten Footsteps’ inoperative. After a bit of searching, I found an alternative maps plug-in that seems to work; however to make things easier it seems wise to make a separate post about Harry’s 1977 book Forgotten Footsteps, a work which now seems to have completely disappeared from the internet, apart from a couple of references on the Wayback Machine. Harry died in 2o01, and from what I can gather his descendants are not … Continue reading Forgotten Footsteps

The Devil’s Plantation – the movie!

Following the success of her interactive BAFTA award-winning web project on The Devil’s Plantation, and the subsequent IOS app, film-maker May Miles Thomas created a 93-minute film of the project earlier this year, cutting together her 60+ short clips of evocative black and white imagery and 800+ music and sound segments into a coherent whole, skilfully woven together with paired narratives from Kate Dickie and Gary Lewis telling the story of Mary Ross’s wanderings and Harry Bells’ research into the Glasgow Network of Aligned Sites. “In the 1980s archaeologist Harry Bell came to believe that Glasgow – a city built … Continue reading The Devil’s Plantation – the movie!

Autumn events

Apologies if you have been trying to access the site over the last few days, we’ve been offline due to some WordPress update that went awry. Many thanks to our hosts at Seven Internet for getting us back up and running. I have just updated the events page with details of my forthcoming talks and events this autumn. As usual I am dashing around the country a lot, with the British Society of Dowsers’ Conference on 20-22 September in Cirencester, followed by a trip to Cornwall to give a talk to Trencrom Dowsers on 1 October. Then back to Glasgow … Continue reading Autumn events

Labyrinth in Vermont

Here’s a picture from my day workshop in labyrinths held at the American Society of Dowsers, convention in Lyndonville, where I am a guest speaker and workshop leader. This shows 3 people walking ‘Gardner’s Double Appleton’ in the labyrinth. The lady in the centre is guiding the two men, who are walking into the labyrinth with their eyes closed. She is actually walking out of the labyrinth. This is a wonderful way to enhance the other senses and really ‘feel’ the energies of the labyrinth as you walk. Continue reading Labyrinth in Vermont

Dowsing Labyrinths at Comrie

Saturday May 4th 2013 was World Labyrinth Day, followed by International Dowsing Day on May 5, so I had decided to combine two of my favourite activities into a ‘Dowsing and Labyrinths’ day, which was held at Comrie in Perthshire. Although the weather wasn’t as sunny as anticipated, we had 16 people attending, a much better turnout than I had anticipated. I bravely decided to expose my legs for the first time this year in a pair of shorts. After an indoor session learning the basics of dowsing using pendulums, we adjourned outside to practise with L-rods and soon located … Continue reading Dowsing Labyrinths at Comrie

Dowsing Magic

Review: Dowsing Magic – Book One by Grahame Gardner Reviewed by Simon Wheeler Over the years I have prepared and given – and been subjected to – many PowerPoint lectures/presentations. When you know your subject well it is tricky knowing how much detail to go into, what assumptions to make about the audience, what handouts you should have to distribute, how much to say when diverted by an interesting question, and when to stop. No matter how well you have prepared, no matter how often you give the same presentation, each one will be different. Which is probably how it … Continue reading Dowsing Magic

Touchstones for Today

Touchstones for Today – Designing for Earth Harmony with Stone Arrangements by Alanna Moore The subtitle of this new book by Alanna Moore is ‘Designing for Earth Harmony with Stone Arrangements’, but it could equally well be ‘Everything You Need to Know About Stones’, such is the range of the subject matter. This is an updated and greatly expanded version of her 2005 book ‘The Magic of Menhirs & Circles of Stone’. The first part of the book looks at the traditional uses of stones and stone formations in cultures around the world, from the healing (and cursing) stones and … Continue reading Touchstones for Today