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European Ghosts and Dreamtime Energies

Dowsing, in the 'European' sense, is known to date to at least the 5th century BCE - and probably, via the Egyptians and Sumerians, to an even greater antiquity.

In Australia, Aboriginal people have developed a (mainly oral) story-telling tradition over the last 20,000 years, elements of which make the itinerant dowser sit bolt upright and pay attention. They may be expressed in very different idioms, but the descriptions of dowsable earth energy patterns are as plain as a pikestaff.

It is understood that there was no significant contact between European and Aboriginal people until about 200 years ago and we are therefore looking at two discrete and ancient ways of sensing - and making sense of - subtle energies.

Having really only come to Australia to dowse the solar eclipse, I was about as prepared for the energy impact at Uluru (Ayers Rock) as I would be for a spaceship landing on the lawn. On a postcard it looks like an orangey wart on a beach, which does it no justice at all. Uluru is a seriously large and emotionally exciting feature in a truly vast landscape.

Geologically it is fascinating, both in evolution and antiquity. As a massive living sculpture, you would have to be nearly dead not to be affected by the ever-changing colour, texture, shadow and form of this natural masterpiece. From a dowsing perspective, it is as close to the centre of the comprehensible universe as it is possible to reach. Even respecting the Aboriginal Authority's request not to climb the rock itself, where doubtless many of the energy streams merge, this is a seriously energetic place.

Our tour bus parked north-west of the rock, to let us wander up the well-trodden path and look at some rock paintings. A couple of steps off the bus, however, my rods were telling me the real action was half a mile down the route that encircles the base of the rock - in the opposite direction. So, with time at a premium, in considerable heat and attended by numerous inquisitive insects, my wife, Ros, and I set off to search for some of the world's major energy lines - with two halves of an aluminium coat-hanger. How very English!

Just as indicated, we found two strong energy streams - one male, one female - with a powerful ley running between them. The lines seemed to be converging as they ascended (or entered?) the rock. The comparison with the findings of Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst at Delphi was striking. But while Delphi - or even St Michael's Mount or Mont St. Michel - are modest structures, this is a massive rock platform, 6km in circumference, set in a flat landscape stretching out to the horizon. The energy is apparent right across the spectrum, from the visual to the intuitive, and it made my coat-hanger seem a strangely understated measuring instrument. However, given the lack of preparation, and the scale of the surprise, it was a truly remarkable piece of appropriate technology.

We made it back just in time to scuttle up the intended path in the midday heat, to glimpse the rock paintings and to find a beautifully calm spot under a rock overhang. We could have stayed there for several hours to digest our discoveries, but there was serious sight-seeing to be done!

As we toured round the rest of Uluru, the rods waved about with gay abandon, indicating the presence of numerous other energy lines, of various strengths and polarities, all pointing to or from the rock. The summit must be a truly remarkable confluence of subtle forces - and it is not difficult to understand, given the experience of the clash of cultures in this area, why the locals would not want irreverent tourists cavorting on their high altar.

About 30 km to the north west of Uluru, just on the horizon at ground level, stands another gigantic rock outcrop known as Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). As this site is both larger and visually even more varied, at first sight, it is surprising that this is not the prime location. However, the rods indicated that although the same ley that runs through Uluru was also present here (which I was able to check during another whistle-stop stop), the other energy lines were running much further apart - and too far away for me to find during a short stop. This place is energetically powerful too, but rather less concentrated than Uluru itself.

On a whim, I asked if the energy lines we found at Uluru and Kata Tjuta were the same ones we know in Europe as the 'Athena' and 'Apollo' lines. I received a straight 'yes', but I would love to hear from any Antipodean dowser, who has asked that same question whilst standing on the European section of the lines. It is difficult to be entirely detached, when you could be standing on an energy line that might be flowing all the way round the world from Cornwall to Central Australia. Incidentally, the presence of so many Cornish names on the lists of early miners in this area, adds yet another dimension to the story.

Interestingly, the same question asked about that ley line produced a straight 'no'. Could it be that leys do only reach to the horizon, and that once off the landmass and over the Indian Ocean, there has never been anyone with sufficient inclination to set one up? But now I'm really speculating!

In the attractively low-key National Park visitor centre, we read some of the ancient stories concerning the Dreamtime. Some of these related to the paths taken to Uluru by ancestral beings. My western liberal mind leaped to the conclusion that these were earth energy lines used in ancient (or not so ancient) times as Aboriginal navigation routes. I asked if I could trace some of these, but met with such a strong 'no' reaction, I knew it was time to back off. It was a bit like encountering a computer virus scanner and being told to log off immediately - glad I asked!

Just off the road, to the north of Alice Springs, lies another Aboriginal sacred site, known to Europeans as the Devil's Marbles. These are extremely old and extremely weathered lumps of granite, reduced over the aeons to gigantic, almost spherical, lumps of red-surfaced rock. This whole area is criss-crossed by strong energy lines, with numerous resulting spirals and doubtless special locations. No need for the powerful defensive force-field here - the searing heat and the Outback flies drive the over-inquisitive dowser back onto the tour bus well within the allotted time. It was a pity, because this was another place you could spend days just taking in.

One last thought. As all the churches and other places of European-inspired worship in Australia post-date the Reformation by a very long way, I had assumed the sites they occupied would be more or less randomly chosen. Certainly, the oldest church in Alice Springs had no apparent earth-energy presence.

However, the RC Cathedral in Adelaide was more tantalising. A couple of energy lines seem to meander across the site, with little regard for the architectural layout, but the building is crossed by a large ley, which, according to my coat-hanger, was known to the builders. This was, apparently, also a former Aboriginal sacred site and could be yet another example of one set of beliefs being superimposed on another, such as we have seen in the Celtic world and elsewhere.

My wife, Ros, picked up strong negative energy presence outside the west door of the Cathedral, which I was able to confirm, but was too jet-lagged to do anything about. Could this be the remnant of a past conflict here - or have I made that up too?

The trail of greed and enterprise now time-capsuled and name-tagged as an exhibit entitled colonialism has left much to repent, and even more to explain to future generations.

The received wisdom is that to judge the invaders of the past by today's standards is unfair - and perhaps that's true. Even so, how one group could have the arrogance to attempt to obliterate the entire way of thinking of another, much older, culture is beyond my understanding. In that respect, we in the West - sadly - seem to have learnt very little.

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking both the Aboriginal and the European custodians of the various sites for allowing me to undertake my dowsing - which I trust I did with all due respect.

I would also like to throw an open invitation to Australian dowsers - either of European or Aboriginal descent - to confirm, clarify or indeed refute my findings.

With kind regards to all of the Australians who helped us on our journey.

Nigel Twinn
Tamar Dowsers
December 2002