There are variations on the construction of dowsing rods. ... Some even claim to be able to dowse using a map from the other side of the world. Dowsers claim to be able to find all sorts of things ranging from water to gold and even your lost car keys. Dowsing for water is the most common.

What do dowsing rods detect?

In water divining, dowsers use two rods or a single forked stick to detect underground water sources. They believe that when they walk over a water source, the rods will spontaneously cross or the stick will suddenly jerk downward.

How are dowsing rods supposed to work?

The dowsing rods do indeed move, but not in response to anything underground. They are simply responding to the random movements of the person holding the rods. The rods are typically held in a position of unstable equilibrium, so that a small movement gets amplified into a big movement.