Geopathic Stress
or "Earth Radiation"

It is a new idea that location can be a factor in disease. There seem to be certain spot on the Earth’s surface that are unhealthy. People who live in the countryside have known for centuries that there are places in which cattle and other livestock sicken and die inexplicably. If there were dangerous ‘Earth currents’ running, these places would be as harmful to humans as they’d been to animals.

In 1990 a significant study was carried out by Christopher MacNaney of the People’s Research Centre in Cumbria. Assisted by his wife Sheila and five interviewers, he surveyed approximately 750 families of gypsies at the Appleby Horse Fair. It was found that the incidence of cancer among ‘travelling’ families was a startling 0.6 per cent – lowest in the Western world. Yet the survey also showed their lifestyle – smoking, drinking, etc. – was no healthier than that of the rest of the population. Moreover, of the families with one or more members who had contracted cancer, all had succumbed in the two years after settling down in a static location.

We call this proposed phenomenon geopathic stress. No one as yet know what the danger factor is but it seems very likely to be a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field.

The problem is definitely not  radon gas, which affects granite areas. In any case, unusual geographical distributions of disease do not necessarily indicate radiation. Areas where bracken contaminates water supplies have a well-documented high incidence of cancer. In some areas of Wales farmers are advised to wear masks. Professor Jim Taylor of Aberystwyth university is reported as saying ‘I regard bracken as a present-day Triffid.’

In my view, geological aspects of terrain could also be an important factor. I refer to the writings of George Lakhowsky and others. Lakhowsky surveyed Paris in the 1930s and discovered interesting geopraphical variations in the prevalence of cancer. Areas where the incidence was high (Auteuil, Javel, Grenelle and St Lambert) were sited on clay; areas where the incidence was low (Port Dauphine, Champs – Elysees and La Muette) were on sand and sandy limestone.

The disturbance phenomenon may account for ‘cold’ spots in houses, which as many people are aware do not always relate to draughts. The positive or ‘friendly’ side of this gives rise to the idea of ‘good’ places, and dowsing shows that many ancient buildings, such as churches and temples, were built on positively-charged zones, as if the builders were aware of safe, enhancing radiation present in the locality.

Modern evaluation of the hazards of Earth radiation began with experiments in 1929 by the German baron, Gustav Freiherr won Pohl. He was an expert dowser and dowsed a town called Vilsbiburg. He used an arbitrary scale of 0 to 16 and reckoned anything at 9 or over was potentially a cancer hazard. He marked all the zones of this dangerous radiation he could find, then went to the town hall to check the records for everyone who had died of cancer in the town, and found, remarkably, that every single person who had died of cancer, without exception, had been living over one of the radiation lines.

Some doctors were astounded by this discovery; others remained skeptical and asked von Pohl to repeat the experiment in another town. He did and the results were exactly the same.

Dr Hager, in Stettin, president of the local Medical Scientific Association, tried it the other way around. He took the records of over 5,300 cancer victims and dowsed their homes. He found that in every single case there were dangerous radiation sport. Even more startlingly, some buildings turned out to be extremely dangerous: five houses had resulted in over 120 cancer deaths.

Another German physician, Manfred Curry, also a dowser, took along impartial witnesses to his experiments and showed that he was able, by dowsing a person’s sleeping place, to say with accuracy which part of his or her body was affected. His predictions were right every time, to the astonishment of the onlookers. One bed which he said was ‘dangerous in the pelvic area’ had seen two successive women with cancer of the uterus.

Dr Viktor Rambeau also dowsed; the results of one of his surveys in 1934 is shown in the Figure above. Note that he dowsed the danger zones before investigating where the cancer beds lay. Convincing? I think so.

The modern-day leading exponent of dowsing is Kathe Bachler, an Austrian teacher. She became interested in how Earth radiation might be affecting the health of her pupils and causing behavioural and study problems. She wrote a book called Earth Radiation: The Startling Discoveries of a Dowser, which became a bestseller in Austria and Germany and started a health revolution.

Her work was so respected that she was given a grant by the authorities to carry her studies further. Ultimately Bachler dowsed 11,000 cases in 3,000 homes in 14 different countries, and has made a phenomenal contribution to this field of study. Her files show case after case of Earth radiation, particularly affecting the sleeping place, making people ill with such diverse conditions as arthritis, cancer, allergies and mental illness.

The use of sophisticated electronic detector equipment is just emerging as an alternative to traditional dowsing skills. It is possible to show that body resistance and other biological parameters change when individuals are sited over hot spots. Professor Hugo Hubacek has invented a machine for measuring electrical changes in the body and correlation with the findings of dowsers is remarkably high – almost 100 per cent.

WHAT IS EARTH RADIATION?
There seems little doubt that an earth radiation phenomenon exists, but what is it? It’s possible it may be a distortion of the Earth’s own magnetic field; underground caverns may diminish it and underground ridges and streams intensify it.

Corroborative evidence for the harmful result of interfering with the Earth’s own magnetic field comes from the problems experienced by early astronauts. They become inexplicably sick out in space. Eventually it was realized they were lacking the Earth’s magnetism. When an artificial field was placed in the rockets their sickness disappeared. We were naïve to assume the Earth’s magnetism was so weak as to be insignificant or that its effects only applied to migrating birds and animals.
 

Geopathic stress crossings

THE GRIDS
In addition to geophysical influences such as streams and rock strata, there have been defined a number of grids detectable only to dowsers. The Hartmann Net (described by Dr Ernst Hartmann) consists of a grid of north-to-south lines, crossed by east-to-west, alternatively charged positive and negative. The grid lines are 2-3 m (6-9ft) apart and some 15-20 cm (6-8in). The Curry Grid (described by Manfred Curry) runs diagonal to the Hartmann Net at approximately 3 ½ m (7ft) apart and 80cm (2 ½ ft) wide, but unlike the Hartmann Net it doesn’t vary. There are the same positive and negative bands and, where positive intersects with positive or negative with negative, these are particularly dangerous spots known as nodes. If these fall over underground water, they are said to be even more dangerous.

PLANTS AND ANIMALS
Plants and animals are sensitive to geopathic stress: stunted trees with peculiar growths are often shown to be growing over areas of geopathic stress. It is as if their branches are trying to get out of the way of the harmful ‘rays’. Horses, dogs, cows, sheep, pigs and mice would not willingly settle over areas of geopathic stress, so if the dog has a favourite spot in your house, it can be identified as safe zone.

On the other hand, certain plants seem to like geopathic ‘stress’, particularly oak trees, firs, elderberry, peach, cherry and mistletoe. Studies in woodland areas show that lightning is far more likely to strike oak trees than, say, beech, which is known to hate geopathic stress zones. Is this telling us these areas are electrically polarized? Von Pohl is emphatic that lightning only strikes at underground water crossings.

Cats too like disturbance zones; so if the cat likes sleeping with you, better move! Some insects such as ants, wasps and beetles thrive over geopathic stress areas; look for ants’ nests along the outer walls of your home. Finally, bacteria and viruses also seem to like affected zones.

DISEASES
Probably any disease can result when the body is put under any kind of stress. Geopathic disturbance is just another kind of stress. Allergics will obviously be interested in the effects of this stress on the immune system. The great fear is cancer which, although it has many predisposing factors, may only come to fruition in the presence of geopathic disturbance.

Probably the most common single finding on a geopathically stressed individual is that he or she is resistant to other forms of treatment. Either there will be partial success followed by a relapse, or treatment will fail completely until the individual is removed from the source of stress.

The sleeping place is particularly important; most of the trouble seems to come when the bed lies on a dangerous spot, and although there are theories about protective devices such as amulets, iron bars outside the house, etc., there is little doubt that Kathe Bachler’s advice is best: simply move from the danger zone.

A number of artifacts have appeared on the market supposedly designed to protect from Earth currents. Some I consider frankly fraudulent. If you cannot relocate your bed to a safer place however, try a Biophoton Mat, developed by R. Wiggenhauser GmbH, Multipolaris (see Useful Addresses) or the Geolphil Mat developed by Professor Hugo Hubacek and marketed by Sanoway International (see Useful Addresses).

SCHUMANN WAVES
A phenomenon closely related to that of geopathic stress is that of Schumann waves. These run vertically from the Earth’s surface. They are diminished by tall buildings and virtually absent in city areas with tall buildings, such as New York’s Wall Street. Yet authenticated scientific data shows that they are important to us.
Experiments are continuing with systems designed to supply missing Schumann waves. 

THE ARCHITECTURAL MOVEMENT
Safe siting of houses and buildings is now no longer the province of the Chinese ‘dragon men’, as traditional dowsers were called (‘dragon’s breath’ being a Chinese mane for good influences). Western architects have begun to take the matter very seriously.

The Ecological Design Association is a consortium of architects interested in furthering knowledge about geopathic stress. Gaia Environments Ltd is a commercial organization with the same end in view. Safe House is a UK mail-order firm dealing in products for an ecologically better way of life.

UK:

Powerwatch http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/

Coghill Labs (Electrical hazards) http://www.cogreslab.co.uk/

Alf Riggs (Recommended for electrical & earth radiation hazards), 33 Parvills, Parkland Estate, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1QG. 01992719735

Ron Perry (Recommended for earth radiation), The Court, Kerry, Newtown, Powys.Tel: 01686 670 644 

Environmental Harmony, PO Box 3912, London NW11 6AZ. Tel: 0181 455 7912. Fax: 0181 458 1108

Manchester Dowsers: Gillian Collins, 5 Sunnymede Vale, Holcombe Brook, Bury.Tel: 0204 883 482.

British Society of Dowsers: Sycamore Barn, Ashford, Kent, TN25 5HW. Tel: 0233 750253.

Kinesiologist: Jane Thurnell-Read, 12 Castle St, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 2AX. Tel: 01736 64800.

USA:

American Society of Dowsers, Danville, Vermont 05828. Tel: 802 684 3417 http://www.newhampshire.com/dowsers.org/

Christopher Bird http://www.io.com/~hambone/web/cbird.html author of The Divining Hand, EP Dutton, 1979 and The Persecution and Trial of Gaston Naessens, HJ Kramer, 1991