The Dowsing Kit

Dowsing and divining are basically one and the same thing.  Dowsing is the interpretation of signs, symbols or movement of a dowsing object to.  There are different types of dowsing/divining ranging from tarot, I Ching to the use of L-rods or a pendulum.

In paranormal terms, dowsing rods (L-rods) and/or pendulums are used to either locate things or to ask questions and get a yes/no type of answer.

The dowsing kit that I have is by Sig Lonegrem and has everything you could ever need to begin dowsing:

Learning to dowse is a lot simpler than you might think and in the next week or so I will give you a brief insight in how to begin dowsing.  Even though I will tell you how to get started, I still recommend that you get hold of a proper dowsing kit (like the one I have) to get you started as the book(s) that come with it go in to a bit more detail than I will and have a lot of dowsing charts that you may find usefull...

Do Fairies live at the bottom of your garden?

Maybe not anymore, but a recent discovery would suggest that they probably did. What appear to be the mummified remains of a fairy have been discovered in the Derbyshire countryside.

The 8 inch remains complete with wings; skin, teeth and flowing red hair have been examined by anthropologists and forensic experts who can confirm that the body is genuine. X-rays of the 'fairy' reveal an anatomically identical skeleton to that of a child. The bones however, are hollow like those of a bird making them particularly light. The puzzling presence of a navel even suggests that the beings reproduce the same as humans despite the absense of reproductive organs.

The remains were discovered by a local man, who wishes to remain anonymous, while walking his dog along an old Roman road situated between the villages of Duffield and Belper.

Wrest Park Investigation

Date: 19th July 2007
Location: Wrest Park, Bedfordshire
Equipment Used: Digital Camera, Digital Dictaphone & IR Digital Laser Thermometer


Location History

Wrest Park has been with the de Grey family for over 700 years.  The original house is long gone but a much newer house is still there today.  The gardens are quite large with plenty of statues, peculiar buildings and relics.

The Petit Trianon, Dogs Cemetary, The Pavillion and Bath House to name but a few...

During WWI, Wrest Park was used as a military hospital.  In 1917 the 8th Baron Lucas was killed in action so his sister inherited the park who later sold it to J G Murray.

J G Murray felled a lot of trees and began to sell a lot of the monuments that were found around the gardens.  Wrest Park was then purchased by the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works who leased it to the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering who began the restoration of the park.

The successor to the NIAE was the Silsoe Research Institute who today work with English Heritage to repair and maintain the gardens.


Preliminary Investigation

On two previous occasions strange anomalies in photographs have appeared in or on the buildings next to the Petit Trianon (which strangely enough is not shown on the map available at the shop/entrance) and The Pavilion.

If you look at the second photograph (which is a close up of the window of the first photograph) you can see what looks like a face with its tongue hanging out.

The third photograph was taken at the same time as me asking if there was anyone there.  The fourth and final photograph shows what appears to be a sheet like formation in the window.

Investigation Notes

Starting at The Pavillion due to the high background noise near the Petit Trianon of someone on a tractor mower, mowing the lawn.

On the way to The Pavilion I was drawn towards the Bowling Green House.  There is a microlight overhead causing loud background noise on the dictaphone so waited for it to vacate the area before beginning.

There was a strange musty kind of smell in the Bowling Green House.  I began taking a few photographs at random to see if anything showed up.  I then began some EVP and asked a selection of questions.

I then left the Bowling Green House and headed off to The Pavilion as originally planned.  On approaching the entrance it became instantly clear that the sheet in the window is nothing more than a trick of the light and is simply a reflection of the light coming in from outside.

I took a wander upstairs to what I believe to be one of the two bed chambers.  On entering the room my legs became quite heavy.  Using a digital thermometer I tested the temparature of the room throught the EVP questioning that followed.  The temparature remained between 19 and 20 degrees with little or no variation.  I then took a few photographs to see if anything would show up.

In the large basement the temparature remained between 14 and 15 degrees.  Photographs were taken and EVP questioning undertaken.

After a spot of lunch near the Chinese Bridge I wandered towards the wooden building next to the Petit Trianon...

The temparature around the wooden building remained between 17.4 and 22 degrees.  On closer inspection the windows were covered in cobwebs with plent of (very) large spiders to boot!

I took photographs at various angles.  I then took a photograph from roughly the same area beside the tree stump as before.

I then went around the back of the building.  The rear wall is covered in small cobwebs.  EVP and a selection of questions were asked here too.

Conclusions

I shall start the conclusion with the EVP recordings I made.  On playback pretty much all of them are simply of me wandering around Wrest Park asking a few random questions with nothing more than the standard background noise, apart from the one where I am in the basement of The Pavilion...

When I asked "if there is anyone here give me a sign", immediately after asking this question a click can be heard.  This same sound can be heard a few times later on in the recording.

This clicking sound does not occur in any of the other EVP recordings and I was alone in The Pavilion at the time (that's the beauty of going during the week, hardly anyone is there).  I did not hear any noises at the time and certainly did not hear this click.  During most of the EVP recordings I was taking photographs so it is possible that the click is from the camera flash but if it was the camera flash making this noise, surely it would be in most of the EVP recordings I made?

Exactly what this click is I do not know at this stage as this is my first paranormal investigation so I shall wait and see if it appears in any future EVP recordings before I come to any conclusions.

In the preliminary investigation a couple of orbs were seen in the photographs I took in the same location I got these clicks from.  Coincindence?  Maybe, maybe not...

With regards to the photographs taken in The Pavilion, as you will have clearly seen from the investigation photographs the sheet like formation is nothing more than a reflection of the light.  After posting the photograph on a paranormal forum (before undertaking this investigation) someone reported seeing something like a statue in the sheet like formation, which was a fantastic observation as there is a statue of William III just outside of the door which would be reflecting in the window in this shot.

Despite this, there still maybe something in the basement of The Pavilion.  In my preliminary investigation orbs were seen when I asked if anyone was there, although no orbs were seen when I conducted the final investigation, an unexplained clicking noise was heard several times via an EVP recording.

With regards to the wooden building next to the Petit Trianon, I was successfully able to recreate a face in the window from roughly the same spot, although this time one that looks different.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  Reflection?  Most likely...

Hypnogogic & Hypnopompic Hallucinations

You know that feeling when you are just dropping off to sleep, when you're not quite asleep but not quite awake? This is what is known as a hypnogogic state.

A similar feeling can occur when you are just waking up and this is known as a hypnopompic state.

During these states it is not uncommon for certain 'sensations' or 'experiences' to occur including the feeling of another presence next to your or even temporary paralysis!

Some may say that some of the reported 'experiences' are down to ghostly and paranormal goings on, others simply that it is a hypnogogic or hypnopompic hallucination, you decide...