On Ethics and Permissions

Glastonbury leys
Glastonbury ley map by Palden Jenkins

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 actively creating a psychic link to that person or place through the information field, the astral plane, collective unconscious or whatever you want to call it. This connection is very real on a psychic level, and it is a two-way connection. In some cases, this can unleash a psychic backlash on the dowser that he or she may not be prepared for.

To take a more mundane analogy, it’s like going up to a complete stranger in the street and telling them that you don’ t like the way they are dressed, or that their tattoos are offensive. It is arrogant, offensive and just plain rude – you simply wouldn’t do that without expecting some repercussions, and things are no different on a psychic level. It is psychically invasive to presume that you have the right to dowse information about someone without having their express permission to do so. You are only pandering to your own ego by trying to impress them with your dowsing skill. This is also completely against the BSD Code of Ethics, which clearly states, “Do not dowse for information about other people or their concerns without their permission, unless it is clearly in the interest of the highest common good to do so, and do not make unsolicited comments about other people or their concerns based on your dowsing.”

But what if it is clearly in the interest of the highest common good to dowse for the information? Surely this applies in the case of the lost airliner?

In the case of the missing flight MH370, or any other case involving missing persons (such as the Madeline McCann case), unless the dowser is specifically asked by the family or someone else in appropriate authority, I don’t think that clear permission to dowse can be established and the dowser is only feeding his or hers own ego. If one of the family members had asked, or if the Malaysian authorities had asked for a dowser, then such a request can be taken as permission. But even with the highest of good intent, to dowse such an event without a clear line of permission is not only arrogant and rude, but may actively hinder any investigations by diverting resources to pursue leads that may or may not be correct. In the Madeline McCann case for instance, the BSD office received many calls from dowsers anxious to help find her; yet there was surprisingly little correlation between findings, other than those who said that she was dead. As much as we would all love to believe that our dowsing is 100% accurate all the time, the statistics show that whenever several dowsers are involved dowsing the same thing, there are invariably several competing answers. Even though some of them might be correct, the ‘noise’ of the incorrect answers masks the ‘signal’; and the more people that dowse it, the muddier the signal becomes.

Passing on such information to the authorities presents them with additional workload to investigate all the leads, and would conceivably cause them to overlook some more tangible piece of evidence. This is demonstrably not in the ‘interests of the highest common good’.

What about healing the ley lines? Surely that’s OK?

Montague Keen was a member of the Society for Psychical Research and a founder of the ‘Scole Experiment’, a long-running exploration into the world of séance. He passed in 2004, but messages from him are allegedly being channelled by his widow Veronica and disseminated on various ‘light worker’ blogs. Basically, ‘they’ are calling for helpers to channel healing energy to the Earth’s ley system to ‘raise the vibration’ of the global energy grid. The point that was targeted on Feb. 2 this year (Imbolc), was – surprise, surprise – Glastonbury Tor.

The main issue here is more to do with ethics. One could argue that it is in the ‘interests of the highest common good’ to heal the leys; but the question that I would first ask is, ‘how do we know they need healing?” Surely it is arrogant of us to presume that we know what’s best for the planet and her leys. I am humble enough to admit that I simply don’t know enough about how the whole system works to be confident meddling with it.

When I work on a property as a geomancer, I am careful to only manipulate things as far as I need to in order to heal the property in question – I do not presume to know what’s best for the well-being of all the beings in the larger landscape. Only on rare occasions have I needed to engage with things at a larger level, and I do that only after a prolonged period of interaction with the landscape on both physical and metaphysical levels. I have come across particularly ‘dark’ leys that did not have a particularly healthy feeling, and yet it was clear that they were performing a specific function in ‘draining’ detrimental energies from the area. Even energetic systems need their sewers.

That brings me to the secondary issue – this clarion call went out to anyone on the internet who happened to come across it, asking all and sundry to participate, regardless of knowledge or ability. Yet there was precious little in the way of instruction offered, other than a simple written meditation and some half-baked cobbled together information on the best times to perform it. Bearing in mind my earlier admonition about psychic backlash, is it wise to invite completely inexperienced novices to join in this sort of venture? There are dowsers with years of experience in the BSD who would think twice about this sort of indiscriminate dabbling.

I am also surprised by the number of people not resident in the UK who think it is OK to remotely work on UK sites like Glastonbury Tor, despite this area having probably the highest concentration of resident light-workers anywhere in the world. Not only is this a slight on the prowess of the locals who live there, but surely there are areas of the planet more deserving of such attention? What about Syria or Afghanistan for instance, or any of the other areas where humans are abusing the planet and each other?

My only consolation is that Gaia is much more sensible than some of her inhabitants and will easily self-regulate any imbalances created in this venture. If only the same could be said for some of the participants.

Grahame Gardner
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9 thoughts on “On Ethics and Permissions

  1. very interesting article Grahame.From all the research on the subject it seems its a golden rule to always ask for permission when dowsing ,sadly not always adhered to.

  2. Well said, Grahame. In my humble opinion, just because you think you can does not mean you should. Far too often ego gets in the way of correct action.
    Peace and blessings
    Annie

  3. I’m thanking to find your article, thinking to re-viewing own life localy. I move back to Fife cottage, now it’s time for myself to cleaning life after look after my mother in Japan for while. have a good Easter.
    Keiko

  4. My friend Stefan just shared a link to your dowsing article and I feel so happy to have read it.

    Am not a dowser, would love to learn, but have years and years of experience working in the intuitive realm. Your distinction between noise and signal is spot on. And permissions. In the past several years have become a huge fan of getting explicit permission before opening up to give or receive, probably even too conservative that way.

    Love what you said about groups dabbling outside their own home. Lots to say about that.

    Anyway, thank you for your fantastic, refreshing post!! I look forward to reading more of them.

  5. Excellent stuff Grahame
    There are too many so called dowsers that clag up the authorities when disasters occur trying to make a name for themselves.
    With regard to the Great Earth mother. Leave her alone, unless you know what you’re doing. It’s so easy to send the wrong message to her and upset any balance we have managed to achieve so far.

    Blessed be

  6. Great article Grahame. I think egos often run away with people at the expense of common sense, respect and good manners. Like you I am reassured by the fact that Gaia is much more sensible than her human inhabitants. /l\
    Barbara

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