I suspect that witching for water was probably a widespread practice for a very long time. My father was born and raised Texan and so was his father. Half of their family roots were in Canada and the other half in TN. I have no idea from which half of the roots my father learned his witching skills. When I was a child, I watched my father witch for water successfully. However, I do seem to recall that he said it did not work for everybody. He could not explain why it worked and he could not explain why a few people never had success with it. For him it worked. You don't have to believe it Paul. What you believe does not alter the facts. You can call it voo doo if it makes you feel better; it still works. You might put it under the heading of pragmatism rather than academics. Loretta