When in doubt, dowse.
/For some the neglect afforded to St. Matilda is at least partially excused because it was not certain that its grounds held a burial place. The gravestone placed there was certainly moved there years after the death of Margaret Hughes. That of itself doesn’t resolve the issue.
On a fine day in September, 2005, a good Christian walked repeatedly back and forth, south to north, over the little meadow west of the ruins of St. Matilda. The sun shone on the flat stone nearby that marked the landing of the old wooden bridge that teetered across the river, once bringing worshippers over from the village. His guide was another good Christian and both had faith in his findings.
Dowsing for water seems anecdotally to work. Indeed, to have worked for centuries. Some dowsers claim to find not just water but minerals, even animals. But is it reasonable to think we can not only number the buried dead, but determine their gender and a rough age? It is a complex universe and one where greater mysteries are accepted, not just by witches, but by the reverent alike.
Some consider dowsing another potential source of knowledge in that complex universe. For others it is the sort of witchcraft for which burning at the stake was righteously prescribed.
Whatever your thoughts the results on St. Matilda’s little church seem to, roughly at least, match the rediscovered truths. It was all scrupulously set out in the dowsers’ plans. Seven burials in the first right hand row, ten burials in the second right hand row; two burials in the second left hand row, ten burials in the second left hand row. The next day white crosses were reverently placed in each position.
Not long after the crosses were all gone.
One of the biggest frustrations in genealogy, is being unable to locate the burial site of an ancestor. Although we may have an idea of where this ancestor is buried, we have no proof. Grave dowsing cannot give us the name of the person buried in any un-marked grave, but it can identify the locations of unmarked graves within a cemetery or lot and also provide some clues to their gender and age. (Brenda Marble, Cass County Historical & Genealogy Society)
Hoffman-La Roche, the huge multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, has been employing dowsers on the company’s payroll since 1944. The dowsers are used in seeking water for the company’s operations. When interviewed as to the unscientific nature of dowsing, a company spokesperson replied as follows: “Roche uses methods that are profitable, whether they are scientific or not. The dowsing method pays….”2 But so do prostitution and selling crack cocaine — in the short run. The question remains: should dowsing be used if it is really a method of occultic divination? John Weldon Christian Research Institute
Wayne VanVolkenburg wrote: Some of the members of the Stuckey family, my wife's ancestors, claimed land that was granted under “The Homestead Act” near the current village of Whitestone. After clearing the land, and trying to establish a farm circa 1885, they found that the land would not sustain them. Unfortunately, they lost two children to this harsh land. They then moved on to Alberta.
The children were buried on the farm property in a fenced in area. Over time, the fence rotted away, leaving only pieces of the metal gate frame. There remained two depressions in the soil that were located with the help of a longtime local resident.
After speaking to a member of the local historical foundation, I learned that there was a person who would “witch” for buried bodies. We met him at the grave site and had him try to provide us with any useful information. Without any prior knowledge, he was able to confirm that there were two graves, and that one was a baby. He also pointed out which direction the graves were facing.
The children were in fact, a newborn baby, and a nineteen year old boy. There was no mention of the sex of these children. This allowed us, with the current owner's permission, to erect a wooden grave marker. Remarkably, the original log cabin is still standing nearby.
