dowsing

thumb|right|A dowser, from an 18th-century French book about superstitions

Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate many types of object and material without the use of a technical equipment or scientific apparatus. It can be applied to seek for ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, claimed radiations (radiesthesia), gravesites, or malign "earth vibrations". It is also known as divining (especially in water divining), doodlebugging (particularly in the United States, in searching for petroleum or treasure) or water finding, or water witching (in the United States).