Messages from the Wisdom Keepers
A presentation by Sue Wallace and Peter Knight
to the Tamar Dowsers at North Hill Village Hall
Dowsing journeys take many forms. The old adage about there ‘being many paths up the mountain, but only one mountain’ comes to mind.
Peter Knight and Sue Wallace have gradually morphed from earth energy enthusiasts to spiritual landscape environmentalists. It has been a long and winding road, but their direction of travel has always been apparent.
This presentation concerned their latest project - and arguably their most ambitious yet - which has drawn the great and the good from the world of dowsing/awareness together into one stunning, yet highly accessible, body of work entitled Sensing the Earth.
This event, like the worldwide events happening concurrently, comes at a time when the ghosts of the past seem to be telescoping into an uncertain future. It is a period when the clouds on the horizon seem ever-darkening and the wisdom available though intuition is becoming ever more critical.
People have been singing about ‘living in the last days’ since I was a teenager - and it seemed pretty real then. Today, the inter-related twin threats of climate change and geo-political instability make it appear even more evident.
Perhaps as a consequence, the voices of Sue and Peter - The Stoneseekers - have also become more resonant.
I have always felt privileged to have collaborated with some of the finest and most insightful thinkers of my own time - and to do so one-at-a-time has been a pure joy. In compiling their new offering, Sensing the Earth, the authors/editors have sourced the input of fifty of the most significant contributors to the field of the last few decades. A quite remarkable achievement.
Those providing essays and pieces to this book include established heavyweights of the dowsing world, such as Paul Devereux, David Cowan and Grahame Gardner; zoom favourites like Patrick MacManaway, Gary Biltcliffe and Caitlin Matthews; but also the emerging dowsing celebrities Maria Wheatley and Rory Duff. However, this book reaches beyond that far horizon to include seriously big-picture environmental campaigners - in the shape of George Monbiot and Greta Thunberg. From the westcountry, there is a section by Cheryl Straffon - and even Hamish Miller makes a posthumous contribution, in a manner that I’m sure he would have appreciated. To obtain the input from this raft of significantia is astonishing in itself - and what they have written, individually and collectively, will be of great value and succour to both those in the dowsing community and far beyond it.
While some of the pieces are taken from pre-existing texts, with the approval of the writers and/or publishers, most are new essays specific to this project. The whole work combines to form a tapestry of themes and ideas about how the world beyond the five senses forms both a backcloth and a seedbed for our current understanding of reality.
Each contribution is a little masterpiece in its own right, and the editors have done well to find such an integrated set of writings to develop and expand upon their core theme. It is really encouraging to appreciate that this diverse, but dedicated, group of inspiring individuals is (for the most part) still active - and still motivated to provide waymarkers to a more meaningful future in these troubled times.
The Stoneseekers illustrated their talk with images from around the UK, including many from Devon and Cornwall, which emphasised our connection to the land. They spoke of the need to listen to, to sense and be at one with the planet on which we live. It was heartfelt stuff, and clearly touched many of those attending.
They talked of the benefits of visiting sacred sites - and especially those less-well-known - to experience nature without the relentless and pitiless entourage of commercial and technological associations. It is less of a rejection of the comforts and benefits of modern life, but more a willingness to be open to a simpler and more centred worldview.
Even today, nature is all around us, and indeed we are an integral part of it. Yet, by building the society the way we have, we have sought to sever the link between the here-and-now and the perennial past and its potential futures, of which this moment really is the blink of the cosmic eye - a snapshot of eternity.
Sue and Peter described their personal experiences of water features, and in particular waterfalls; of trees, especially ancient leviathans that have lived through the lifetimes of many generations of our own direct ancestors; and of caves where the presence of Gaia is so much more tangible. The outings and field trips run by The Stoneseekers have, doubtless, enabled many to enliven that awareness - but here in the south west, we only have to venture a little way out into the countryside to get a sense of their message.
When Peter and Sue embarked on this part of their journey a decade or more ago, their talks were always interesting and always nice-to-hear. Today they sound so much more relevant and immediate. Dowsing is the portal through which so much else has come to light for so many of us. While our branches have diverged, and our leaves absorbed the oxygen of information in different ways, our roots are still firmly planted in the access to the source through our intuition.
Can we bring this priceless revelation to the attention of the powers-that-be in the temporary physical realm? The ageless ancients know - and, in a time beyond time, so shall we.
For the benefit of anyone reading this in years to come, this first live talk for some while was an event planned months in advance that happened to coincide with the tragic, and quite unnecessary, war in the Ukraine. Prior to the talk, an emotionally powerful peace vigil had been held at the Hurlers - nearby on Bodmin Moor - fronted by friends of the TDs Marcus Mason and Sue Weaver.
At the start of the North Hill presentation, Peter enabled a group meditation in the hall, which sent peace, love and healing to those affected by the conflict - in whatever capacity. It was a moving few minutes, which clearly had a profound effect on many in the room.
Many thanks to Sue and Peter for returning to the Tamar Valley once again to give us this most enjoyable and very timely presentation.
Nigel Twinn
Tamar Dowsers
March 2022
Sensing the Earth can be obtained direct from the authors via:
Details of their annual Convention of Alternative Archaeology and Earth Mysteries, to be held in the Bouverie Hall, Pewsey on Sunday October 2nd can be found at: