FEATURE
JUST ADD
WATER
by June Elford
Water Divining is not what most people
consider to be a hobby, however for Tim
Markovits it has become not only a hobby
as he now helps land owners tap into what is
now becoming an expensive natural resource.
We discover how Tim embarked on this
unusual hobby...
Scrabbling up the steep bank, I grabbed the hazel
bush and snipped off a forked twig with a pair
of secateurs. Hazel can be used to search for
water and as my water butt was almost empty
and there was an intriguing patch of green grass
in an otherwise dried up lawn, I planned to use
the twig to look for a spring or an old well in my
cottage garden.
I’d already done some groundwork and phoned
the water board to find out how I stood if I found
water. They passed me on to the Environmental
Agency where my initial enthusiasm was slightly
dampened when they told me I would need their
permission to use the water and I could only draw
20 cubic metres per day.
Twenty cubic metres is enough to fill two
baths but my scant knowledge on how to do
water divining, or dowsing, wouldn’t fill an egg
cup. I only knew that the ancient art has been
used in different countries for over 2,000 years
and originally witch hazel was utilised to make
the rods, probably the reason for dowsing being
called ‘water witching’ in America and associated
with the occult worldwide.
Luckily someone had told me about Tim
Markovits who lives in Wroxall and is a
professional member of the Society of Dowsers
and besides dowsing for sources of underground
water and lost objects, Tim also specialises in
Geopathic stress. I visited Tim at his home where
he gave me a quick run-down on the sort of work
he does. Then he produced a pair of ‘L’ shaped
copper rods. “You can use hazel for dowsing but
try these,” he said, “Arms firmly at your sides and
Island Life - www.isleofwight.net
hold the rods loosely.” He told me that once the
rod decides to move nothing will stop it.
So how does the phenomena work? How does a
dowser find what they call ‘that which is hidden’?
Whilst certain people are more sensitive, it’s
also possible to acquire the ability to use a rod,
basically a piece of wood or metal which comes to
life as the body tunes into disturbances radiated
to the surface by und W&w&