If I have placed this in the wrong place, can someone tell me how to put it elsewhere. Thank you. Jeff.
2.Dowsing graves and cemeteries.
When I began dowsing all those years ago (1993) I was interested in dowsing historic sites and the like and it was only later that I tried dowsing for pipes and the like. As I became more proficient, I specialized in what might lie underground and began dowsing for graves. This was easier than I had thought. I had regularly visit\ed cemeteries, OLD ones rather than new ones which I kept away from. I discovered graves more by accident than design. I well recall the very first cemetery that I dowsed over 25 years ago. It was in St Aidan's church in Bamburgh. Founded around 635 A.D.
I visited this site on every holiday we had for over 25 odd years. I spent many, many hours dowsing this and the surrounding area and as we holidayed there every year it was handy and I came to know it well.
Walking among the gravestones, I had long read and seen many of these before. They generally gave names and dates, some centuries old. However, this time, on a whim, I decided to try dowsing around the gravestones as I had my dowsing rods with me. I carried them throughout my research and once I began to understand what the movements meant, I got better and better at "reading sign". Old graves are no longer "mounds" as in old graves and most these days are flat and grassed over to allow lawn mowers access to the entire area. All relatives would have died many centuries ago. These days one sees people walking all over grave sites especially to read the grave stones. I prefer not to walk on any type out of respect but do not need to anyway as my target is the edges of the grave itself.
On the first occasion, I held my "L" rods up in the position (Like a cowboy in a western holding them pointing straight out) and walked toward a solitary grave. Before I got to it the rods moved across my chest and formed a line which apparently corresponded with the edge of the grave. I turned sideways and walked along the long side of the grave and the rod (I only needed to use one. I am left-handed but can dowse equally well with either hand) turned to the left where I assumed the foot of the grave was. It turned again about 3 ft from the corner and pointed toward the top of the grave. As I approached the top of the grave, It turned again and crossed over the grave INSIDE the stone's position and I came back to where I had started. I had a roughly 6ft x 3ft "oblong" site "marked" where I had walked! I KNEW that this must be the hole itself. I was very excited as this seemed to prove that the rods could and did find and mark a grave. The grave pointed E-W, the standard orientation for a christian burial. This was referencing the rising Sun. At one time ALL new churches had the congregation facing the Sun Inside an old church (And modern one too, but not always) The priest would face west toward the congregation who always faced the Sun. The priest would eventually turn his back on the congregation and face the Sun. In modern times, the pope stopped this (Mainly). It was apparently pagan in origin.
If one goes to a place not known, then a tourist can look at the cemetery and figure out which way the gravestones are pointing and be able to tell East from West. Over the intervening years I have dowsed many grave sites and actually discovered several "cemeteries", perhaps 15 or so, some of which are known of, others not. Corbridge in Northumberland was a good dowse. I dowsed many "graves" outside the church itself (Holy Cross? It was a long time ago) and followed them across the road into the Public House opposite where I found that they actually continued inside and headed farther away from the church.
Now, the strange bit. Many of the grave sites that I later found were oriented "North-South" and NOT the usual "East-West". I was able to find evidence that some people know about these sites but am unaware that the archaeologists are familar with them. I had put a lot of effort into dowsing these sites. It was well worth it though. I had not envisioned that I would discover ancient graves\cemeteries. One favourite site in this respect was found by myself again incidentally. I was tracking a tunnel from St Aidan's church in Bamburgh and had tracked it West and followed it "through" the vicar's house that lies some distance to the East from the church. I followed it across the road and up the drive of a bungalow. I knocked on the door and a lady shouted "I am in the back garden" so I walked down the side and met her in the back garden.
I told her what I was doing and she was extremely interested. Most people are I have found. How many times would you come across a chap “dowsing for graves” or anything else come to that. Following the dowse into her back garden, I immediately noticed a VERY large building that looked rather like an old monastery. The rods were pointing directly at a large window on the side wall. Immediately beneath the window where the rods were pointing directly at it was a distinct area that looked like fresh pointing. It covered the width of the dowse. I look for signs like that as I dowse. Many of my dowses show signs of collapse which have been pointed, a dead giveaway of a tunnel beneath! I have found MANY sites which show similar evidence of collapse. No-one would look twice at such sign. I do. I have a good few photographs of such signs.
I dowsed all around the old Monastery, which is in “Dugdale’s Monasticon” (Look it up if you are interested) and actually dowsed over some “grave” sites in the car park! Again, East-West orientation). I later spoke to a resident of the old monastery, now a housing renovation, and told him of my find and he told me that archaeologists had dug the area up some time before and discovered several skeletons! I am xpretty surex that these would have been of monks who had died and were buried there. There was NO evidence of a burial of any kind.
I have evidence of such sites in my home town of Newcastle. Obviously, in olden times, incumbents of ALL nunneries\monasteries eventually died and would be buried outside in suitable sites. If one goes to such sites then it is apparent that such “graves” would be found. Some of the grave sites that I have found were close to religious sites. In the local Bishop’s “House” I was given permission to dowse around in the garden and found “graves” outside the house and garden (Large property) near a well-known ancient row of trees. I followed them out of the wooded area where they were and into the Bishop’s garden. They were still going until I reached the “House”. I was rather perturbed to find in one spot in this “cemetery” a surprise. Although many of the graves there were around 6’x 3’, I found one that was much smaller, maybe half size. I realised with a bit of a start that this must be the grave site of a small child. I have not told many of this find as I felt a little protective of it, but time goes on and it must be centuries old. A church was said to be on that site. No doubt there are many burials too.
2.Dowsing graves and cemeteries.