An old occult art known as dousing is enjoying a resurgence in drought-stricken California as more and more farmers reach out to “water witches” to help them find water.

Yahoo.com is reporting on the sudden boom in business being enjoyed by a 76 year-old grandfather and dowser named Vern Tassey. Located in the middle of California’s parched Central Valley, he says farmers are calling him “day and night”, some from as far away as San Francisco and other states, seeking his help in “divining” the location of hidden underground sources of water.

Professional dowsers or “water witches” like Tassey claim to have a “gift” from God – a special intuition, if you will - that allows them to use a rod or stick to locate water hidden in the ground. They typically walk across a stretch of land with the dowsing stick in their hand and wait for it to be forcefully thrust downward when it has located water. As this blog explains, dowsers believe their gift lends them a natural sensitivity to alleged earth magnetism, water “radiations,” or some other natural phenomenon.

A typical dowser like Tassey will take his divining rod - a Y-shaped stick and begin to walk across a section of land where water is being sought.

Jody Wollenman, a believer in the practice, told Yahoo that the stick “will start bouncing. When he hits the aquifer, it will start moving. It tells you the width of the aquifer by the strength of the bounce.”

Does it work?

Of course! And science knows why.

Graham Fogg, a hydrologist at the University of California, Davis, told Yahoo that the reason dowsers appear so successful is that “groundwater is ubiquitous” – so prevalent, in fact, anybody with a basic knowledge of an aquifer could tap into something just about anywhere.

“Groundwater occurs virtually everywhere at some depth beneath the surface of the earth, so regardless of where you drill, you will virtually always hit the water table at some depth,” Fogg said.

But there are plenty of “believers” out there who think this is a magical art that comes to certain “gifted” people in the form of special powers and abilities.

It was precisely this belief that got Tassey into a bit of trouble with his local church. It happened after a local television interview in which the reporter asked him if he dabbled in witchcraft or worshiped the devil. Tassey said no, but this was enough for the elders of his church to take him aside and question him about whether or not he was dabbling in the dark arts. He assured them that he was not.

For many dowsers, they don’t know where the “gift” comes from. Some Christians claim it comes from God and is sourced in the Bible but this claim has been disputed by Scripture scholars.

The people of California are suffering through a drought of epic proportions and need our prayers. While some are turning to diviners and shamans, many of the faithful are calling upon the Lord for help. Let’s join our prayers to theirs and ask God to refurbish this parched land with the dew of His mercy!