Los Lunas resident uses extra sense in ancient practice

In a future when the population explodes, and fresh, potable water becomes increasingly rare, the dowser will not be without friends. Gary Plapp has been a dowser for more than 30 years and it has taken him all over the world, from the sands of Egypt to the ruins of the Yucatan. Plapp said the practice goes back thousands of years, and hieroglyphics in Egypt seem to depict its practice. Dowsing is alluded to in the Bible. There are about 300 members of the Los Lunas chapter of the American Society of Dowsers. It is the only active chapter in the state, as far as Plapp knows. About 50 people will show up to monthly meetings, some from as far away as Ciudad Juarez. There are more than 5,000 members nationally. Plapp teaches the practice as it was taught to him more than 30 years ago by a dowser named Bill Cox. "He taught me basic dowsing, and I got hooked," he said. Dowsing is best known as a way to find water. Water is life, and finding it meant survival to ancient peoples. Plapp believes modern people still possess these abilities, but don't use them...more