Patrick MacManaway
Taking the Pharma out of Farming
Sacred Sites, Earth Energies, and Landscape Fertility
How to increase germination, health and yield in crops and animals
at home, on the farm and in the surrounding landscape.
A Zoom presentation by Dr Patrick MacManaway
To the Tamar, Devon and Trencrom dowsing groups.
In the midst of social and political conflict, climate change and coronavirus, this talk by one of the dowsing community’s senior statesmen was a veritable, and very welcome, shot in the arm. Even for those of us who have heard Dr Patrick MacManaway speak on previous occasions, there is still something startling about the sheer depth and breadth of the catalogue of his recorded successes in the field - quite literally, out in the field.
Delivering the talk in his measured manner and trademark gentle, east coast, ecossene lilt from his home in Vermont, there was little impression of listening to a man whose groundbreaking dowsing exploits have led him to participate in practical agricultural projects across the globe. In recent years, he has been working with farmers on the east coast of Australia - and while parts of the antipodes may be quite accepting of dowsing, and especially of water divining, farming practices there are often large scale and not very respectful of the natural environment. So, for even some of them to turn to a land healer with the outlook of Patrick MacManaway really is a hopeful straw in the wind.
It is also striking just how many of his well-documented agricultural projects derive from cooperation with farmers who only came to him because of local difficulties, and after the traditional techniques had been exhausted. As we find with so much dowsing activity, people tend to try the accepted and obvious methods first, and only bring in the dowser when all else has failed. But Patrick has always played the long game. Rescue interventions may have become his stock-in-trade, but his philosophy is very much land and landscape fertility and fecundity in harmony with nature and with Gaia.
It is notable that, in common with the late Christopher Strong, he seems to be willing to help anyone. The humble householder with an organically tended pot-plant and the grudgingly reluctant conventional agribusnessman are approached in much the same way. No doubt the language he uses would be different, but the positive intent to assist all and sundry underpins his whole ethos, whether he is working with a wealthy client or a penniless appellant. While making a living of sorts may be a necessary evil, it’s not the fundamental object of his exercise.
Those hearing him speak for the first time must have been astonished at the variety of his practical achievements in the realm of horticulture and agriculture. I asked him quietly after the presentation as to why, if he had been so successful for so long over such a diverse series of metrically measured applications, the whole world wasn’t using his (our) techniques to investigate and manage empathetic improvements to crop yields and land fertility. But Patrick just sighs. He takes the long view, the deep appreciation. He feels his work, and that of numerous unsung others, is spreading the word, slowly but surely. A new generation of growers is quietly picking up on his ideas, and that over time the mood of the moment will change. He cites in particular the implementation of ‘yogic farming’ in India, now encouraged by the national government, which promotes nurturing the earth in a more traditional way, alongside conventional farming practices.
For those of us whose appreciation of the machinations of modern farming are somewhat tangential, PM’s insight into the nature of dowsing is even more fundamental. In a sense, his agricultural expertise is something of an output of his upbringing; whereas his appreciation of how the subtle realms interact with the here and now is what actually drives his direction of travel.
His presentation started with a brief introduction as to how he sees the subtle structure of the world - really quite materialist, but with a makeover from the language and phraseology of emerging physics. But time, even for a dowser, is against him, and he breezes through this vast canon of unfolding academia as so much established groundwork. Schuman waves, toroidal structures, the significance of the vesica piscis, earth energies, leys, the resonance of individuals with other entities, sound vibrations, the macrocosm encapsulated in the microcosm, as above, so below - but more on this another day, maybe.
The real implications of this rationalist background material to the case in hand were explained in a response to a question from TD/DD member Ali Denham. She asked the question that many would have been wondering about, but probably felt they might just have missed something important along the way. What did PM mean precisely, when he referred to nature spirits in almost the same breath as his description of planetary physics? What was the connection? His response was like the finding of that elusive piece of the jigsaw from behind the sofa.
The waves, currents - earth energies if you like - form structures in ‘the ether’. For most of us, trying to comprehend how such structures can be sensed, let alone engaging with, is at the fraying edge of our abilities. So it’s more useful both for ourselves personally, and when explaining them to others, if we give them names and co-create personas - which most prefer to call divas and nature spirits. It takes away none of the magic, but adds realism to the experience - what you sense is something of a ‘scientific’ expression. Another link in the chain, voilà!
Patrick’s well-tested talk made deep inroads into some very wide ranging subject matter. And, while there were no doubt plenty of questions that could have kept him chatting over a whisky into the early hours, the overall impression was of a man for all seasons, who had thought things through thoroughly, and put the fruits of those musings and meditations into practice for the benefit of all comers, and especially for those in the farming community.
From the online remarks, and the comments on the ‘chat’ facility, it was apparent that his presentation had really hit the nail on the head for many participants. I have a feeling that newcomers and novices encountering him for the first time (and I know there were several in the ‘audience’) were probably a bit overwhelmed by the implications of his discourse. But for Patrick himself, it was just another amicable exchange with like-minded friends, old and new, albeit in somewhat strange circumstances.
My experience of having been fortunate enough to have occasionally rubbed shoulders with the great and the good is that those with something significant to say do so quietly and with great humility. When you have taken on board the implications of the interconnectedness of all things, making a noise about it must seem pretty futile. We are all stardust, we are all golden, we are all one.
Many thanks indeed to Dr Patrick MacManaway for taking time out from a busy, if locationally restricted, schedule to talk to us on a windy westcountry evening, but a sunny American afternoon.
Thanks too, and as ever, to Gwynn Paulett for hosting this zoom.
Nigel Twinn
November 2020
Those interested in following up on some of the themes raised and discussed by Patrick can find more information on his website: