Witching, or dowsing, or diving rods, are 2 pieces, some forked sticks or metal hangers, used to search for underground water, minerals, and lost objects. It’s an old art thought to be thousands of years old.
Most common is wood – willow, hazel, and dogwood are popular because their branches are flexible and easy to work with. The shape is important. The fork should be symmetrical, and the branches of equal length. The rods should be well-balanced to easily rotate in the dowser’s hands. Some dowsers prefer to cut their rods from live trees, others prefer to use dead wood. Some dowsers bury them in the ground or soaking them in water to season the rods.
There is no scientific evidence to support the use of witching rods. However, many people swear by them. Theories are they work by detecting subtle changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, or people tap into their intuition.