We purchased land for Green Hope Farm in 1986 from David Benson. He was a very handsome gentleman in his eighties who had been farming on the land since the hurricane of 1938. At the time of the sale, David kept a parcel of the farm with his house and barns on it, so our land was just pasture and overgrown pasture gone to pines and wild apples.
Though I had no idea what I would be growing here, from the beginning, there was a great deal of focus on finding the best water the property had to offer. David insisted we get a dowser to check for water before we signed the papers. I had heard a bit about “water witches” but knew nothing more than that they usually used a stick to find water in some mysterious but effective process. David repeatedly said he didn’t want to saddle us with land that had no water. There was some reason to worry about this as across the street from the farm the neighbors had drilled over 400 feet yet still got less than a gallon a minute of water. David noted that they had not gotten a dowser in before drilling.
I knew with my whole heart and being we were meant to live on this land, and there would be water for us. Somehow I convinced farmer David to let the sale go through in the late fall before dowsers checked it out. I promised to get a dowser to the property come spring. In the meantime, David decided to take me under his wing and teach me a thing or two about farming.
David was the first person who believed I was serious about farming. During that first winter when the deed had changed hands but we hadn’t yet started building, David took me to many farm meetings all over New Hampshire. What an unlikely duo we made at these meetings of crusty old granite state farmers. We had fun, but it was hard to miss how regressive farming was in the New Hampshire of the 1980’s.
I remember one meeting where Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farms tried to explain branding to a group of us. I was the youngest person in the room by at least fifty years. I think Gary probably had more luck talking to his cows about branding than to this crowd. It has always struck me as strange that while Gary failed through no fault of his own to light any fires of change in New Hampshire, just across the Connecticut River, Vermont farmers caught the fever to brilliantly brand themselves, their state and its agricultural products. Meanwhile David and I sat in on meetings where the brakes were applied with vigor to any new ideas.
This stuck quality of farming in New Hampshire didn’t stop me, and one group of people that helped me go full steam ahead were DOWSERS. Some of them even lived in New Hampshire though all meetings were in Vermont.
How did I first connect with the lively dowsing community in these parts? Before we broke ground for our farmhouse, I broke ground for gardens. My rototiller guy was named Jerry Burt, and he was a well known dowser. Jerry was happy to dowse the property. In fact, after he dowsed it, he had six other dowsers come dowse the property as well. The spot he chose for our well was marked by small rock. No other dowser knew this. In an open field of 7 acres, every dowser picked the exact same spot to put the well.
My husband Jim was mystified by this, so Jerry grabbed him a Y shaped branch from an apple tree on the property and taught him how to dowse. Jim proved a natural dowser. The stick in his hands just about ripped his hands apart on its downward pull as he walked over “the spot”. This opened things up for Jim to dowse other places for other people.
With that magical synchronicity of dowsers all in agreement, the site for the well was chosen. When we drilled, the water proved abundant and refreshing in its taste. David Benson could finally sigh a sigh of relief!
Dowsers have a deep connection with the Elemental kingdom. Heck, some of them probably ARE Elementals! In any case, I’m sure the Elementals here encouraged and celebrated as these dowsers tuned into the unseen realities of this land. I am grateful to the Elementals and the Dowsers who found the right spot to drill. They helped ensure that millions of bottles of Flower Essences would have the best water possible.
The gifts from the dowsing community continued after the well was dug. Dowsers are fantastic networkers. Before the internet, they connected people with common interests with astounding precision and generosity. As I got gardening with the Angels and Elementals, the local dowsers took a great interest in what was happening. They visited and then they shared news of what we were doing here with other dowsers.
Soon I was invited to speak at the monthly meetings of the American Dowser’s Society which is headquartered in Danville, Vermont. My early years here, I asked the Angels and Elementals for answers with body kinesiology. Many dowser’s recognize this as body dowsing so they welcomed me into their community. As the gardens grew, dowsers would come through with their own dowsing tools to check out what was happening here and how the energies of the land were shifting. This co-creative endeavor really caught their fancy.
Fast forwarding to 1993, the one summer we were open, dowsers worked hand in glove with the Elementals here to get the word out to possible visitors. While we only put up a couple dozen posters advertising we were open (and again, there was no internet or even mailings done) thanks to the Elementals and Dowsers we had thousands visit the gardens.
The Dowsers also invited me to speak at the annual convention where I met so many interested and interesting folk. They also got me to write about my experiences at the farm and the creation of our Flower Essences for their American Society of Dowsers quarterly journal. It was amazing how many people heard about us from a two page article in this journal. The dowsers took exceptional care of all things Green Hope Farm. To this day I smile just thinking of the warm welcome I received from dowsers in a world that was not all that ready for what I was doing.
Lately I’ve been called back to further gratitude for the dowsing community. It’s hard to miss how many dowsers are doing innovative work to protect us from EMFs and all the technology that have flooded our world since the 80’s and 90’s. I am not surprised only thankful for the innovative vibrational tools that current dowsers are inventing to protect us from this technology. Our Golden Armor has become one tool amongst others thanks to dowsers.
Dowsers have always helpied make the unseen seen. They create tools and techniques to bring the unseen into our awareness in measurable and apparent ways. Water dowsing reveals the location of unseen currents and reservoirs of water, but dowsers are tuning into so much more than water. Back in the day when I first spoke at the Danville meeting house, there was always a dowser on call. They helped in so many ways. For example, they would help find missing cats or find underground piping before bulldozers did. Not only do they reveal what is, but dowsers help us creatively deal with what is when it’s problematic. Now they are helping us neutralize all the unseen energies bombarding us from cell phones, cell towers, routers, ad infinitum.
Recalling all the incredibly helpful and kind things dowsers have done for Green Hope Farm, I am so delighted to see them turn their innovative but grounded skills to problems we face now. While some feel I am silly in my hope, the dowsers empowering solutions to problems that have left others wringing their hands make me know my hope is justified. Dowsers with their bottomless curiosity and complete dedication to understanding and solving energetic earth concerns make hope a sensible choice. Gratitude too.
