Quest for answers

Quest for answers
February 3, 2009
By Carole Rooney
100 Mile House Free Press

nyone who has heard of dowsing and wants to learn more about it does not have to go far; there is now a South Cariboo Chapter of the Canadian Society of Questers (CSQ).

Questers practice the ancient art of dowsing, or divining, to initiate contact with the energies and knowledge that they feel make us an integral part of the universe. The CSQ organization says they are dedicated to the growth in knowledge and understanding of its members. They believe that each individual is on a quest for personal harmony with themselves, other people and the complete universe around us, with enlightenment gained through investigating what is often considered mysterious or paranormal.

For several years, 100 Mile House has been the chosen location of the society’s three-day fall conference and AGM. Hundreds of people have travelled to our community for the annual conference to see the various speakers and presentations, including both CSQ members and others curious to learn more about the metaphysical beliefs and practices of this group.

Now, Carmen Starbuck and Robert Nichol have organized a local CSQ chapter and say they are getting set up for monthly meetings, information sessions and film nights that will be organized as soon as possible. The 100 Mile chapter of CSQ is currently looking for volunteers to help with the metrics of putting on these and other events.

“Questers are an interesting group that seeks to expand our awareness of things metaphysical,” says Nichol. “There are chapters worldwide and a quarterly journal filled with ideas and concepts that challenge contemporary thought.”

The information sessions are intended to provide more details about Questers and to learn or practice dowsing. Monthly meetings will be held for members, with membership open to anyone who has an inquiring mind, will share their growth experiences and is willing to hear and investigate the experiences of others. Movie nights will explore various metaphysical film productions and will be organized by Robert Nichol, who is an award-winning filmmaker in his own right. Some of the movies shown in the past include Star-Dreams, a documentary directed by Nichol about the mystery of crop circles.

Questers say that the art of dowsing involves much more than just a search for water. Starbuck and Nichol say they found their home by dowsing and that it is used to search out answers to many of life’s mysteries, including minerals, health, character, emotions and many other metaphysical energies.

“Pushing the boundaries beyond so-called ‘consensual reality,’ many are now coming into the fold as seekers and knowers of greater realities,” says Nichol. “The society seeks to encourage, assist and instruct those who seek a fuller understanding of the metaphysical, parapsychological and paranormal aspects of life.”

This includes something they call geopathic stress, or the study of energies that are harmful to humans and most other living creatures. The Hartmann Grid is a kind of map of gridlines that questers believe encompass the earth and affect many aspects of our lives and health, including increasing risk of diseases such as cancer. They say that the abundance of electricity on our planet compounds the danger through electromagnetic energy and, similar to the Chinese art of Fung Shui, the point is to align your living strategically and avoid certain dangerous energy lines such as where you build your home or place your bed.

Dowsing is intended to identify these energy gridlines and typically uses instruments such as copper-coated welding rods, pendulums and necklaces. Charts are also used for dowsing, and questers say these allow them to get answers to life questions with yes-or-no responses or sometimes a point in between. Starbuck’s example of this was the question “is this a good medicine for me to take for my health condition?,” which she says might return a response of perhaps 80 per cent “yes.”

Guest speakers at the September 2008 conference came from around the country and England, and spoke on topics including tools for healing, holistic medicine, secrets and laws learned from sacred sites and crop circles, afterlife and near-death experiences, native shamanism, acupressure, vibrational medicine and the UFO-ET controversy and other species in the universe. There was also a course held in dowsing for beginners.

More information on the Canadian Society of Questers is available on their website at www.questers.ca/index.html; for the 100 Mile chapter information, click Chapters or visit www.questers.ca/chapters.html.