Dowsing as a link between natural and supernatural. Folkloristic reflections on water veins, Earth radiation and dowsing practice
Date
2016-05-11
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Abstract
Vitsa kasutamine on väga lai teema, mis hõlmab kaevude, majade ja eluruumide planeerimist; taimekasvu, looduslike vormide ning tervisega seotud küsimusi, nii praktilise elukorralduse, kultuurigeograafia kui laiema loodusliku ja kosmoloogilise korrastatuse üle mõtisklemist. Neid teemasid ühendab veendumus, et maas peituvad veesooned, geoloogilise aluspõhja iseärasused või looduses peituv tundmatu kiirgus või energia mõjutab elutegevust olulisel viisil, ent mida füüsika, inseneriteadus ja meditsiin märkide ja argumentidena arvesse ega tõsiselt ei võta.
Töös kasutatav materjal pärineb erinevatest allikatest. Oluline roll on nõiavitsa kasutamise ajalool kaevandustehnika arengu ja valgustusaegsete ideaalide leviku kontekstis. Töös kasutatud kaasaegne materjal põhineb intervjuudel ning maaenergiatega seotud ühiskondliku tegevuse jälgimisel ning selles osalemisel (Kirna mõis, Geopaatia selts).
Nii nagu 17.-18. sajandil Saksamaal ja Prantsusmaal avaldatud ülevaated ja raportid, kajastavad ka 20. sajandi alguses Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiivi talletatud viited kaevuotsijate tegevuse ja võtete kohta selle meetodi sotsiaalset vastuolulisust. Ajaloolised vaated kinnitavad eristuva vitsatraditsiooni olemasolu, selle analüüs näitab traditsiooni sõltuvust majanduslikest, poliitilistest ja eriti teaduspoliitilistest mõjudest.
Käesoleva töö raamistikuks on folkloristlik vaade, mis paigutab nähtuse rahvausundi valdkonda. Maaväljade ja -kiirguste uurimisega on seotud iseäralik diskursustevaheline konflikt, kus nii teaduse, religiooni, psüholoogia ja meditsiini meetodid ei tunnista kas tõendeid veenvaks või nähtusi uurimiskõlbulikuks, samas kui rahvapärane vaade seostab nähtust eelkõige tundmatu loodusliku jõuga, millega arvestamine hõlbustab elu hulgas praktilistes küsimustes. Energia kontseptsiooni lai kasutus ning tähenduste varieeruvus viitab sellele kui erinevate suhete tähistajale. Seega moodustub praktika ja kogemuse abil keskse mõtte ümber lugudest justkui gravitatsiooniväli, milles arutletakse loomuliku ja üleloomuliku maailma piiride, tervise, heaolutunde ja tasakaaluka eksistentsi üle, mis on samas kontseptuaalselt avatud ja rahvapäraselt loov (me ei tunne kõiki looduses toimivaid jõude ja elu määratlev printsiip on peidetud või valesti tõlgendatud).
This dissertation concentrates on the various usages of the pendulum and the dowsing rod in revealing of the presence of underground water, earth energy or radiation. Dowsing is a wide subject that includes prospecting for well sites, planning residential areas and houses and taking notice of particular natural forms and vegetation, as well as issues related to health and wellbeing. It also touches on understandings of particular geographical patterns as important historical settlements, as well as churches, are reportedly situated on the crossings of the energy lines. The uniting principle of these fields is the concept of earth energy. This concept proposes emanations of energy from the surface and is part of a wider dynamic concept of concealed connections between different areas and bodies. Early Modern sources, used in this work, reveal the socially polemic position of dowsing within the theology, early geology and working ethics of experienced miners. At the same time these early Modern sources include the distinctive dowsing tradition of Central Europe within the treasure legends and traditional skills of ore prospectors. The rationalising principles about the working of the rods accord with the early theories of consistence of surface and generation of ore bodies. The fieldwork material for the dissertation was collected through interviews with dowsing practitioners and participation in social activity in the Estonian Geopathic Association, as well as at Kirna manor, which is famous for its strong energy columns. In the articles of the dissertation, besides introducing the fieldwork material, I examine three of central cocepts in dowsing tradition: energy, anomaly and information, that bridge the understandings of materialistic nature with the open vernacular field of supernatural. Dowsing for water veins or energy lines enables to see how the alternative worldview challenges the social authority of science, medicine, religion or history. Exploring the concealed energies supports the individual’s accessibility to the life-forming powers in the intimate contact with the environment. In this process the dowsing helps to feel and define the orders between natural and supernatural.
This dissertation concentrates on the various usages of the pendulum and the dowsing rod in revealing of the presence of underground water, earth energy or radiation. Dowsing is a wide subject that includes prospecting for well sites, planning residential areas and houses and taking notice of particular natural forms and vegetation, as well as issues related to health and wellbeing. It also touches on understandings of particular geographical patterns as important historical settlements, as well as churches, are reportedly situated on the crossings of the energy lines. The uniting principle of these fields is the concept of earth energy. This concept proposes emanations of energy from the surface and is part of a wider dynamic concept of concealed connections between different areas and bodies. Early Modern sources, used in this work, reveal the socially polemic position of dowsing within the theology, early geology and working ethics of experienced miners. At the same time these early Modern sources include the distinctive dowsing tradition of Central Europe within the treasure legends and traditional skills of ore prospectors. The rationalising principles about the working of the rods accord with the early theories of consistence of surface and generation of ore bodies. The fieldwork material for the dissertation was collected through interviews with dowsing practitioners and participation in social activity in the Estonian Geopathic Association, as well as at Kirna manor, which is famous for its strong energy columns. In the articles of the dissertation, besides introducing the fieldwork material, I examine three of central cocepts in dowsing tradition: energy, anomaly and information, that bridge the understandings of materialistic nature with the open vernacular field of supernatural. Dowsing for water veins or energy lines enables to see how the alternative worldview challenges the social authority of science, medicine, religion or history. Exploring the concealed energies supports the individual’s accessibility to the life-forming powers in the intimate contact with the environment. In this process the dowsing helps to feel and define the orders between natural and supernatural.
Description
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Keywords
folkloristika, pilda, veesooned, maakiirgus, looduslikud pühapaigad, rahvapärimus, eesti, folkloristics, dowsing-rod, water veins, Earth radiation, sacred natural sites, folk stories, Estonia