A fisherman who trained as a dowser to protect his local river has now built a 34-year career in the trade. He now says he can use Google Earth to discover water, gas, and gold by waving objects near a computer screen, adding that those who are skeptical of his techniques “just do not know.”
Since 1989, Peter Taylor, 82, of Mold, North Wales, has used his divination skills to comb the globe seeking water, rare stones, precious metals, and even shipwrecks. He claims to have struck the bullseye nearly all the time, only missing a few occasions.
Dowsing, a type of divination that seeks to locate where water or valuable materials are buried, has been practised for centuries, although it was banned by the Catholic Church – and cannot be used to reveal lottery numbers, according to Peter.
While Peter is convinced that he has passed on ‘the gift’ of divination to his four children Jane, Jackie, Stephen and Peter, there is no scientific evidence to prove that dowsing actually works.
Dowsers often rely on a variety of tools to help them allegedly sense where buried treasure is located, such as pendulums, wooden wands and dowsing rods, which can be Y or L shaped. Peter was a keen fisherman when he first heard about the mysterious practice on a television programme and decided he would try dowsing rods.
‘Ralph Whitlock – author of Water Divining And Other Dowsing: A Practical Guide, was on TV demonstrating how to find water, both remotely and at the site,’ says Peter, who was in his 40s at the time. ‘I saw the water coming up out of the ground and that’s how I got hooked.’
‘The water in the River Aeron where I fished was being depleted, so I tried copying what they did and found the rods worked for me.’
Peter’s dowsing technique first involves holding a pendulum containing whatever material he is looking for over a map.
When looking for gold, Peter will place a gold ring inside the pendulum, or if he has been asked to find oil and gas, then he uses an oil sample.
‘If I move it across the map while touching the map with my finger at the same time, it creates a connection to that place in the world, wherever it may be,’ says Peter.
Professional dowsing
The practice of dowsing has been discredited scientifically, but as of January this year two of the UK’s 12 water companies were still using the technique to find leaks in the system – down from ten in 2017.
He then observes how the pendulum reacts, and depending on whether it starts spinning clockwise or anti-clockwise, says he can determine whether he’s getting close to the source.
‘You have to learn what means yes and no, which can take learning and time,” he says. ‘It’s difficult to explain, but for me anti-clockwise means yes and clockwise is a no. That way, you can get answers to your questions.’
While in the past Peter has relied on paper maps to start conducting his search, today technology has made his job a lot easier.
‘In the old days I used survey maps, but thanks to technology, I can now use Google Earth to pinpoint the location,’ he says. ‘You can virtually look for anything, diamonds, gold, silver, copper, zinc… even shipwrecks.’
Once the pendulum has homed in on an area where a resource could be located, Peter arranges a site visit and uses his rods to determine where to start digging or drilling.
‘A remote survey gives you a rough idea of where it is within 20 or 30 feet,’ he says. ‘So it’s not very accurate, but it gives you a good guide from where to start your search.’
Peter’s dowsing career has taken him all over the world, including Africa, America, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, where he claims to have located a water source in the middle of the desert.
‘I didn’t think there would be that much water in the desert,’ he said. ‘You could see the water gushing up – I think it was something like 184 gallons a minute.’
While some people might be tempted to use dowsing for their own personal gain, they will not strike gold, says Peter.
‘I can help others find the oil or the water, but not for myself,’ he said. ‘Just like you can’t use it to find the lottery numbers or gambling.’
That said, Peter has managed to make a living out of dowsing, working for clients of all sizes, from local farmers who are hoping to find water on their land, to multi-national petrol companies. Over the past three decades, Peter claims to have located more than 1,000 boreholes, wells and natural springs.
He charges a minimum fee of £100 to conduct a remote survey of an area, but prices can vary depending on how much time a search takes.
Asked what he says to those who are sceptical of his abilities, he says: ‘You have to show them official references to back up what you are saying, and that’s something I can do.
‘A lot of people are really sceptical and then even when you show them that you can do it, they still don’t believe you.
‘Of course, I have sometimes failed to locate things, maybe four or five times in my lifetime.’
Many theories have been put forward to explain dowsing, with some saying it comes down to the individual making unconscious decisions about geography – however, none have proven to be conclusive.
Peter, whose wife died from breast cancer over two years ago, is concerned that the ancient practice could soon be no more as there are fewer ‘masters’ alive to teach the next generation of dowsers.
‘Dowsing is not straightforward and it takes years to learn,’ he says.
Although he is semi-retired and enjoys a quiet life at his home in Mold, Peter continues to dowse around the UK.
‘I have travelled the world or at least quite a bit of the world,’ he says. ‘Obviously now I’m 82, so I don’t travel as much, but I’m still working on potential borehole locations here in the UK.’
To his knowledge, Peter is the first member of his family to become a dowser, but he believes his four children also have ‘the gift’. His daughters Jane and Jackie work for the council, while his youngest son, Stephen, works in forestry and his other child Peter is retired.
‘I’ve shown them how to do it, but they are far too busy,’ he says. ‘It would nice to see it being carried on because there are so few of us left.
‘It’s essential that we get these young ones following through.’