Abstract

STROBEL DEL MORAL, Héctor. Dowsing in New Spain. Practice, Apology and Ridicule. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2019, vol.40, n.160, pp.123-153.  Epub Nov 19, 2020. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v40i160.602.

Dowsing was practiced in the New Spain by the popular classes. Instances of this activity were recorded in the 17th and 18th centuries in accusations brought before the Inquisition. Although it had some adepts, it was often considered ridiculous. What is interesting, however, is the fact that this widespread opinion coexisted with a religious view that conceived dowsing as a sin. Evidence suggests, nonetheless, that the first point of view prevailed over the second, such that dowsers were often objects of mockery but never punished. This article seeks to explain the phenomenon of dowsing in this context and to reconstruct and interpret the ways in which that “secret and science” was practiced.

Keywords : Dowsing; radiesthesia; Inquisition; divination; ridicule.

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