Dowsing and Divining

Dowsing: "an old Cornish word meaning 'striking'"? Not according to the OED, which offers this under 'divining':
dowsing-rod.

1656 Cowley Pindar. Odes, To Mr. Hobs iii, With fond Divining-Wands, We search among the dead For Treasures buried.
1656 Cowley Pindar. Odes, To Mr. Hobs Note, Virgula Divina; or a Divining-Wand is a two-forked branch of an Hazel-Tree..used for the finding out either of Veins, or hidden Treasures of Gold or Silver; and being carryed about, bends downwards (or rather is said to do so) when
(see also dowse entry).

Crop circles, psychics, Noah's Ark, ghosts, crystals, Earth Awareness, Nostradamus, the paranormal... is that all there is to it?

American Society of Dowsers Bookstore

www.dowsing.com ("...all about dowsing and pyramids")

A list of dowsing sites

"Divining is a delusion and must be recognized as such" (Australian Sceptics Divining Test)

"Divining rods and all common dowsing devices, are the simplest forms of electroscopes"

Urban New Agers have taken over the art of dowsing (Smithsonian Magazine)

Science & Dowsing (groundwater.com --link to Unconventional Water Detection ["the Betz Study"] and other scientific studies, and to their Dowsing FAQ)

American Society of Dowsers Virginia contact information