Convention 2003
The following review of our Convention held in late June is written by CSD past-president Joan De New.
Check our the photographs at the end of the review.... thanks to David Stanger (CSD member and former CSD President).
Click here to see details of our June 2003 Convention Program
Click here to see details of our June 2003 Convention Presenters
Click here to see details of our June 2003 Convention Pre- and Post-Workshops
Click here to see details of our June 2003 Convention Basic and Advanced Dowsing Schools
Dowsing - A Way of Life!
CSD's 16th annual convention was held for a second year at York University, Toronto, June 20-22. Though we had expected Walt Woods to be the keynote speaker, when he found that he was unable to come to Toronto at that time, Dr. Barbara Mallory agreed to take on that responsibility. Barbara is an energy psychologist who practises on Vancouver Island See a write-up of Dr. Mallory's talk below. Last year, just prior to speaking at the CSQ Convention, she published an excellent resource book, Divining Health, which explains various dowsing techniques as well as listing the dowsing questions which she uses with her clients to help them get in touch with emotional difficulties they are seeking to resolve. A more detailed write-up of her keynote presentation can be found in a separate article. Congratulations to Convention Coordinator Susan Collins for organizing such an interesting program and successfully working out the logistics of a complex event with the university.
Saturday's speakers included Raymon Grace, who found at the last minute that he was able to attend; Evelyn Rattray, an esteemed Tahltan elder and healer from Fort St. John, BC; past president Gary Skillen; and Larry Huszczo and Karen Embree, both CSD Board members.
In the evening, Pat Prevost provided a most interesting account of how she created her Seashell Oracle, and encouraged us to develop our own with the help of dowsing. While some folks retired to a campus pub, others enjoyed Maggie Gildner's leadership in circle dance before turning in for the night.
On Saturday afternoon, Joan De New introduced the CSD to "Open Space." Nourishing our Growing Edges was the general theme for the experiment, and people were invited to name a topic that would be of interest to them to present or to learn about. Eleven of these were posted. Topic proposers specified which of the two Sunday morning time slots they wanted. People then went to the "bulletin board" wall and signed up for the topics of greatest personal interest. Two people combined with other topics. One, which was a request for Raymon Grace to energize bottled water for healing lakes and rivers, was arranged for a specific time and was done at a distance by Raymon.
The topics presented included: Soul Retrieval and the Inner Child; Cairn construction on power spots; How to construct a labyrinth; Helping people using Learning Path Techniques; Sacred Geometry; Clearing blockages from conception to present day; Working with the Cathedral Lightbrary Crystals; Tree Hugging, and Soul Singing. The topic proposers were responsible to send a brief summary of each workshop to become part of a composite report that was mailed to all Open Space participants following the Convention. The report gives an idea of what went on in all the workshops, and also provides contact information for people to continue networking on topics of personal interest. The Board will likely find many good ideas within the report which will help it with future planning.
The Annual Meeting was held on Sunday afternoon following lunch. Doug Gray and Diane Marcotte were elected Honorary Life Members in light of their important contributions to the life of CSD. Thanks were extended to the outgoing Board. Members leaving the Board included president Joan De New; membership development coordinator and webmaster Diane Marcotte; member-at-large Maggie Gildner; and member-at-large/Quester editor Ian Doig. (At the post-convention Board meeting, Ian and Diane were reappointed as editor and webmaster respectively.)
The new Board consists of seven elected directors, who were all acclaimed to their positions. Larry Huszczo is the new president; Susan Collins, vice president; Karen Embree, secretary; Eva Janecek-Rucker, treasurer. Members-at-large include Bev Gaal, Glen Halina, and Ruth Oldham. Joan De New will serve ex-officio for one year as past president. Books and certificates were presented to several convention volunteers.
Barbara Mallory gave the final presentation on her specialty, Divining emotional health, while the closing prayer to Creator was offered by Doug Gray.
Thanks go to Sharon Howarth-Russell and several of her talented musical friends for providing special "ambience" in the plenary room. Pat Prevost dowsed several different times for the sound frequencies which would contribute to group energy in our plenary sessions. These would then be toned and improvised upon by our guests and our members. Bright coloured fabrics dressed up the walls, tables and platform. Salt lamps, decorative candles, tinsel and sparkles added a festive touch. Fresh pansies in a teapot decorated the podium table, and a multicoloured kite converted the overhead projector stand into a visually appealing focus. One special platform guest was "Lady Butterfly," a welded sculpture made from scrap metal by Michael Irvine, and loaned for the occasion. Michael, who is a Reiki and IET Master, as well as a dowser and quality control welder, infuses his creations with healing energy as he makes them, and the Board dowsed that "she" would be an asset to our gathering. At the moment, she is on loan to a CSD member in Scarborough.
The Marketplace in the foyer and hallways outside the plenary room were popular. Products and services ranged from short healing treatments, aura photography, books, pendulums and other dowsing tools, genesa rings, and essences to rock fertilizers. Many thanks to our exhibitors. They also made generous lucky draw contributions for the WaterCan project which David Stanger promoted. Close to $200 was raised for this work which provides needed wells in Third World countries.
Outside nearby on campus were a labyrinth built under Neil Anderson's supervision, and three of Walter Huszczo's welded 3-D geometric shapes for people to experiment with. This year, bagpiper Guy Nadeau led a procession through the labyrinth.
Many members took advantage of the basic and advanced schools held during the day on Friday, with teachers Gary Skillen, Barry Johnson, Richard Roy , Alan Reed, and Pat Prevost. A Friday workshop on Managing Probable Futures - a combination of dowsing and journey work - was led by Larry Huszczo and Karen Embree. The Monday workshop was directed by Evelyn Rattray, assisted by Larry and Karen, and Raymon Grace and his helper, Kim.
While attendance was noticeably lower than in 2002 - possibly because of the Toronto SARS situation - enthusiasm was generally high, and information and motivation were plentifully supplied. Thanks to all whose contribution helped to create a successful gathering. Plans are already under way for the 2004 Convention. Hasta la vista!
Psychologist views dowsing as a way of life
Reported by Joan De New, then President of the CSD
Dr. Barbara Mallory, PhD, an energy psychologist from Parksville, BC, was the keynote speaker at the CSDs 16th Annual Convention in Toronto, June 20-22, 2003. She began her presentation on our theme, Dowsing – a Way of Life, by stating, “I live my life by dowsing.” She believes that personal dowsing opens the way to an intuitively guided life, and stated that as dowsers, we have to be “out of our minds.” Normally we see our minds as handling cognitive reasoning. To dowse, we must willingly suspend our disbelief in order to expand and broaden our minds. We need to think of our minds very differently. We need to see them more holistically and inclusively, extending beyond us. We need to expand our ideas of the subconscious, the unconscious and the superconscious: maybe there are even more levels!
She noted that in Letter to Robin, Walt Woods states that dowsing is related to the subconscious mind. From her training, Barbara mentioned that the subconscious mind is a resource used by hypnotherapists. Barbara is an energy psychologist who now finds herself championing dowsing in the field of energy psychology. She uses dowsing to get useful information, and also to treat difficulties. Responses can be measured by dowsing. Dr. Mallory describes the body as the mind’s divining rod. We can check on subconscious beliefs and determine what actions to take. Energy follows intention. It is very important to set our intentions carefully and clearly.
With the pendulum, we can help people identify resistance. Dale Olsen, in his 1996 book, The Pendulum – Bridge to Infinite Knowledge, states that there is a bridge between the conscious self and infinite wisdom. The subconscious, which we can access through dowsing, connects to the superconscious.
Barbara reminded us of the Backster effect, in which plants were shown to respond to human emotions. There is a universal mind lattice of information patterns. Spirit connects to spirit. Everything interacts with everything else. She illustrated this concept with artistic visions of Alex Grey on the overhead projector.
Barbara acknowledged Raymon Grace’s presence in the audience as she quoted him about how working with our spirit guides expands our dowsing possibilities. She also reminded people of the virtual tools which Harold McCoy described and demonstrated at the previous year’s convention and workshop. She recommended a book, Creative Energy Therapy, by Dr. Mary “Mo” Wheeler, published in 2001. Dr. Wheeler believes that we all have our own personal helpers.
Barbara Ann Brennan, a pioneer in energy work, assesses clients with pendulums. When we finally realize that we can consciously work with these energies – working knowingly with Nature and with our guides, our power to make a difference is greatly magnified, and our spiritual evolution is speeded up. She reminded us of another former Convention keynote speaker, Joey Korn, who stated that dowsing leads to spiritual growth in his book, Dowsing: A Path to Enlightenment.
We’re connected to All That Is. With no blocks, we can be radiantly ourselves.
In the Biology of Belief, Dr. Bruce Lipton, a cellular biologist, indicates that genes do not have the ability to turn on and off by themselves. Electromagnetic fields can affect cell physiology and biological behaviour can be controlled by thought. Our intentions are very powerful influences on physical health.
What can we do? Barbara reminded us of the research showing the effects of thought on water molecules, which Dr. Emoto has revealed to the world. We are about 80% water. Think of how our own thoughts affect the water in our own bodies! We can start with ourselves.
She noted that Dr. David Hawkins’ book, Power vs Force, provides a useful scale for evaluating things like the reading material we choose, concepts we hold, feelings we may experience. Through muscle testing on over 10,000 subjects of varying ages, sexes, nationalities, etc. he developed a consistent logarithmic scale for rating energy levels. She reminded us that we radiate our own frequencies, and thus contribute to the energy level of the planet. If we concentrate on raising our own frequencies by focusing less on anger, more on love, less on resentment, more on encouragement of others, etc. we are at the same time helping to raise the world’s frequency. Dowsing is a spiritually evolutionary way of life.
We have choices. How we think about things makes a difference. A way of life is a way of living. Each one of us is making a difference every time we dowse. Our ability to dowse is like an inborn compass. We are rediscovering that if we are aligned with “heaven”, we grow strong. Our bodies are divining rods whose responses dowsing tools amplify. Dowsing is indeed a way of life. Barbara provided us with a challenging vision of what is possible whenever we choose to follow it.
Dr. Barbara Mallory can be reached at 250-954-1130 or by email at bmallory@feelingfree.net. Her recent 58-page spiral-bound manual, Divining Health, a dowsing approach to emotional freedom, is an excellent introduction to both dowsing and techniques which she uses with her clients and teaches them to use for self-healing. Order directly from Barbara. (Note: Joan De New has a few in Hamilton, ON as well: 905-549-7956)
