What If We’re Looking for the Wrong Thing?
On dowsing, consciousness, and a changing relationship with the living Earth
[ I’m beginning a new book, and I don’t yet know exactly where it’s going. But I know the questions I’m asking-and some of the experiences that have brought me here. I’m going to share pieces of that journey here as the book takes shape.]
Sitting in a hair salon this afternoon, I’m juggling a 700-page book on consciousness (both physically and mentally!) while the rest of the room is chatting about the struggles and burdens of their everyday lives. You know what I mean?
But it felt so surreal when — trying my best to concentrate on this rather dense, complex, and brilliant material — I had an epiphany.
Well, not so much an epiphany, but an insight that has spent some months circulating in my mind seemed to finally land.
Before I can share what landed for me, let me first explain what dowsing is and what my work has been in these last couple of years.
What is Dowsing and My Work?
Dowsing is a technique developed over thousands of years ago we presume to locate underground water suitable for wells. In fact, it is still used to this day for that purpose, but there are a number of other uses for dowsing, which includes locating other hidden underground things, such as pipes, electrical wires, and water mains, spiritual dowsing for guidance of a divine nature, and to locate areas with harmful earth energies, known as geopathic stress.
Geopathic stress has roots in ancient Chinese traditions and is sometimes incorporated into modern feng shui site evaluations. Since the post-World War II era in Germany, the concept has also been associated with claims that certain earth energies may contribute to cancer and other physical illnesses.
After more than twenty years of dowsing for client projects, identifying geopathic stress on sites, and clearing it, I’ve recently begun to question whether this concept-which has been foundational to my work-still reflects who I am becoming and how I experience Mother Earth.
I believe that consciousness is shifting, not only for humanity but for the Earth herself. And because I see our environment as a mirror of our inner world, I believe the two are intimately interconnected, each reflecting and informing the other.
Back to the Insight…
So in the hair salon, while waiting for my hair color to set (perhaps activating my crown chakra), I read this paragraph:
“Physicalism [the concept that reality is nothing more than physical matter]…is hypothesized to be partly motivated by the neurotic endeavor to project onto the world attributes that help one avoid confronting unacknowledged aspects of one’s own inner life.” So, logically I thought, what if working to resolve geopathic stress is just an abstraction from dealing with our own shit?
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Quantum physics has revealed that the building blocks of our world behave in surprising ways. They can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties, existing in a range of possibilities until a measurement is made. The act of measuring can influence what we observe-a phenomenon known as the “observer effect.” In other words, the way we observe something can affect what we see.
For the last year, I’ve realized that this observer effect is also taking place in my dowsing projects, too.
What if, after twenty years of identifying and clearing geopathic stress, I needed to question not only what I was finding, but the framework through which I was interpreting it?
But I realize that the focus on negative energies or trauma on the land comes with all the baggage associated with those labels, or this negative proclamation about the land. It can feed into our fear and anxiety about how the land may be harming us. It can also reinforce our human tendency to blame some outer external force and not to take responsibility for our own thoughts and energy.
When we approach a place looking for what is wrong, we naturally organize our attention around disturbances, imbalances, and what needs to be fixed. We map the problems, name them, and set about clearing them. And while that approach may have felt meaningful and useful to me for many years, I’ve begun to wonder what it leaves out.
What happens when I approach a place not by asking what is wrong with it, but by becoming curious about what is alive, flourishing, and wanting to emerge?
I’m not claiming that my attention creates the land’s energies, or that everything I perceived in the past was imaginary. Rather, I’m questioning how my expectations and beliefs may have shaped my experience and understanding of those energies.
Perhaps the shift isn’t about declaring the land free of disturbance. It’s about moving beyond a framework that places disturbance at the center of our relationship with the Earth-and opening ourselves to a more expansive way of listening.
By opening to that more expansive way of listening, I have discovered that there is much more positive, high frequency energy in my projects than ever before.
What changed?
Is it that new projects have higher energy land? Is it that the land itself is shifting? Or is it me who has shifted?
On reflection, I believe all the above is true to some extent. I have witnessed a big shift in all of my dowsing projects, including clients that I’ve worked with for several years. I see that the Earth is indeed upgrading consciousness, as we are, too.
It came to me that when we go to a medical doctor with symptoms, the doctor will look for signs of illness, which they will find and name. Suddenly we have X, and start to identify with X and all that is associated with it in the human collective. This reinforces that X is the problem, but not the root cause, which is way deeper and remains unexplored.
But if we look for beauty, health, and love, we will find it. We will name it. And that label, in turn, and all the comes with it from our collective consciousness reinforces the beauty and love.
Thank you for reading.
If this piece sparked something in you, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Do you have a story where you experienced light as awareness? As awakening? As love? Feel free to share-and if you enjoyed this, consider subscribing or forwarding to a fellow light-seeker. Check out my podcast “ The Enchanted Earth Podcast,” where you’ll hear stories of profound connection to nature. Also, you may be interested in my newest book, The Enchanted Earth: Embracing the Power of Nature to Discover the Wild in You (Books That Save Lives, 2024). I do one-on-one spiritual mentoring and offer online courses in feng shui, earth energy healing, biophilic design, and spirituality. Discover 🌿 Your Enchanted Archetype with this quiz! With reverence and Earth blessings,
Maureen
🌍 Host of The Enchanted Earth Podcast
🌿 Earth Energy Practitioner & Teacher
Originally published at https://maureencalamia.substack.com on October 16, 2026.
