In Cornwall, the divining-rod is still employed by miners to
discover the presence of mineral wealth ; in Lancashire and Cumberland,
the belief in the powers of the magic wand is widely
spread; and in Wiltshire, it is used for detecting water. The
Virgula divinatoria is also frequently in requisition both in Italy and
France. Experts will tell you that, in order to ensure success,
certain mystic rites must be performed at the cutting of the
rod: this must be done after sunset and before sunrise, and
only on certain special nights, among which are those of Good
Friday, Epiphany, Shrove-Tuesday, and St. John’s Day, the first
night of a new moon, or that preceding it. In cutting the divining-
rod, the operator must face the East, so that it shall be one which
catches the first rays of the morning sun, or it will be valueless.
These_ conditions, it will be found, are similar to those contained in
the Hindu Vedas, and still enforced by the Chinese. Some English
experts are of opinion that a twig of an Apple-tree may be used
as successfully a s‘a Hazel wand—but it must be of twelve months’
growth. The seventh son of a seventh son is considered to be the
most fitting person to use the rod. In operating, the small ends,
being crooked, are to be held in the hands in a position flat or
parallel to t J horizon, and the upper part at an elevation having
an angle to it of about seventy degrees. The rod must be grasped
strongly and steadily, and then the operator walks over the
ground : when he crosses a lode, its bending is supposed to indicate
the presence thereof. According to Vallemont, the author of
a treatise on the divining-rod, published towards the end of the
seventeenth century, its use was not merely confined to indicate
metal or water, but it was also employed in tracking criminals;
and an extraordinary story is told of a Frenchman who, guided
by his rod, “ pursued a murderer, by land, for a distance exceeding
forty-five leagues,_ besides thirty leagues more by water.”
From an article in the ‘ Quarterly Review,’ No. 44, the statements
in which were vouched by the Editor, it would seem that a
Lady Noel possessed the faculty of using the divining-rod. In
operating, this lady “ took a thin forked Hazel-twig, about sixteen
inches long, and held it by the end, the joint pointing downwards.
When she came to the place where the water was under the
ground, the twig immediately bent; and the motion was more or
less rapid as she approached or withdrew from the spring. When
just over it, the twig turned so quick as to snap, breaking near the
fingers, which, by pressing it, were indented and heated, and
almost blistered ; a degree of agitation was also visible in her face.
The exercise of the faculty is independent of any volition,”
In Germany, the divining-rod is often called the wishing-rod,
and as it is by preference cut from the Blackthorn, that tree is
known also as the Wishing Thorn. In Prussia, the Hazel rod must
be cut in Spring to have its magical qualities thoroughly developed.
When the first thunderstorm is seen to be approaching.
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a cross is made with the _ rod over every heap of grain, in order
that the Corn so distinguished may keep good for many a month.
In Bohemia, the magic rod is thought to cure fever; it is necessary,
however, when purchasing one, not to raise an objection to the
price. In Ireland, if anyone dreams of buried money, there is a
prescribed formula to be employed when digging for it—a portion
of which is the marking upon a Hazel wand three crosses, and the
recital of certain words, of a blasphemous character, over it.
Sir Thomas Browne tells us that, in his time, the divining-rod
was called Moses R o d ; and he thinks, with Agricola, that this rod is
of Pagan origin:—“ The ground whereof were the magical rods in
poets, that of Pallas in Homer, that of Mercury that charmed
Argus, and that of Circe which transformed the followers of
Ulysses. Too boldy usurping the name of Moses’ Rod, from which
jtw ithstan din g, and that of Aaron, were probably occasioned the
fables of all the rest. For that of Moses must needs be famous,
unto the Egyptians, and that of Aaron unto many other nations
as being preserved in the Ark until the destruction of the Temple
built by Solomon.” The Rabbis tell us that the rod of Moses
was, originally, carved by Adam out of a tree which grew in the
Garden of Eden ; that Noah, who took it into the Ark with him,
bequeathed it to Shem; that it descended to Abraham ; that Isaac
gave it to Ja c o b ; that, during his sojourn in Egypt, he gave it to
Joseph ; and that finally it became the property of Moses.