Dowsing isn't just about tracking down a hidden spring, according to Maryfaith Goessling, who has practiced the age-old technique for 20 years. "I'm in the city, and I don't really care about finding water," she said.
She uses a pendulum for a range of everyday tasks, from deciding on an over-the-counter cough and cold medicine to selecting vibrational gems and flower essences for clients of her Energies from Source Healing Center.
Dowsing is associated with an L- or Y-shaped rod, usually called a "divining rod," held loosely in one hand to gather information some say is otherwise not readily available. The practice has historical ties to coal mines and courtrooms and has drawn scrutiny from scientists.
These days, rather than water, Goessling hopes to find fellow dowsers.
The JP resident started an Urban Dowsers chapter about a year ago to help like-minded locals share ideas. Goessling, who has lived in the neighborhood for most of the last decade, started the group out of her apartment because she couldn't make the monthly chapter meetings for the American Society of Dowsers in Bedford.
To become an official chapter, 13 members have to join and register through the national organization. Though the local group had some initial setbacks getting off the ground, she said, its second meeting is next Sunday.
Goessling, 51, who said she recently started working as a case manager for Head Start, knows about 30 people in the area who practice dowsing, as well as another two dozen from national conventions. "If your intention is to find water, you will," she said, "and if your intention is to focus in on the energy and to connect your energy, you will."
For information, e-mail imoveenergy@yahoo.com.
RICHARD THOMPSON
