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| Holding a dowsing rod |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
During our Southwest Ireland walking tour, our Go Ireland guide, Frank Walsh, introduced us to Adolf Packeiser, a harpist and a dowser. We met in a grassy park in Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry.
Also spelled Cahirciveen, the town's Irish/Gaelic name, Cathair Saidhbhin, means Sabina's Fort.
How to make dowsing rods
Adolf Packeiser distributed metal dowsing rods, which he had made from the inner sections of old windshield wiper blades. After folding the windshield wiper parts in half, he bent the ends out at 90-degree angles, so they were easy to grip.
He then gave us lessons in how to dowse for water, find ley lines and energy fields. Lining up behind Packeiser, with dowsing rods in hand, we followed him across the park, looking for negative left-turning electrical energy and positive right-turning energy fields. Our results, not surprisingly for beginners, were ambiguous.
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| Adolf Packeiser shows group how to use dowsing rods to find ley lines. |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Earth energy
Still sceptical, we followed the dowser to Caher Siveen, an earthen ring fort overlooking the Fertha River, on the outskirts of Cahersiveen. "People called these fairy forts, when they built them in Southwest Ireland up to 1,000 years ago," he said.
"They also built ring forts, standing stones, temples and churches in power spots with earth energy. Ireland once had 30,000 to 40,000 ring forts."
Dowsing rods in hand, we tried to find ley lines that Packeiser had discovered earlier. After numerous attempts at ley hunting, one member of our group shouted: "I got it!" as his dowsing rod flipped up. "Now let's go the pub for a beer!"
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| Dowsing for ley lines in Caher Siveen fort with Fertha River behind in County Kerry, Ireland |
| Photo © Barb & Ron Kroll |
Find ley lines
The rest of us concluded that we needed more practice. As for Adolf Packeiser, he was planning a one-week Ireland trip with a group of German dowsers.
Their goal? To visit more Irish ring forts and standing stones to determine if ley lines had dictated their locations.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Tourism Ireland: www.discoverireland.com
More things to see and do in Ireland:
Abbey Island - Derrynane National Park - Co. Kerry Ireland
Irish Breakfasts at Ireland B&Bs
Dublin Ireland - National Leprechaun Museum
