Chapter Four: Drinking and Finding Water
In his Gospel of Peace of Jesus Christ, the disciple John records these words of his teacher:
After the angel of air, seek the angel of water. Put off your shoes and your clothing and suffer the angel of water to embrace all your body. Cast yourselves wholly into his unfolding arms and as often as you move the air with your breath, move with your body the water also. I tell you truly, the angel of water shall cast out of your body all uncleanesses that defiled it without and within. And all unclean and evil-smelling things shall flow out of you, even as the uncleannesses of garments washed in water flow away and are lost in the stream of the river. I tell you truly, holy is the angel of water who cleanses all that is unclean and makes all evil-smelling things of a sweet odor. No man may come before the face of God whom the angel of water lets not pass, in very truth, all must be born again of water and truth, for your body bathes in the river of earthly life, and your spirit bathes in the river of life everlasting. For you receive your blood from our earthly mother and the truth from our heavenly father. [London: RH UK, 2004]
However toxic and adulterated much of our current food remains, it is necessary to drink, and we are all familiar with the catastrophes that follow on the heels of the removal of woods and hedges and forests (for example the Sahara), for as we saw earlier, the soil creates the climate.
Chateaubriand wrote: “The forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them.” A sad reality! Our egotism has made us incapable of seeing truly. We often hear people say: “After us the flood”—when it is parents speaking, we know they procreated only for their own selfish reasons.
Trees attract water like a magnet draws iron filings, and a lover, love and fertility. There where love no longer exists, solitude is born; there where there are no more trees, the desert is born.
Water is a substance that consists of two molecules of hydrogen for every molecule of oxygen, and which is liquid in ordinary temperatures. It is a colorless liquid, one that some say has no flavor! They must be talking about distilled water, for the water from the Jurassic cascades of Auvergne in France does not taste anything like the spring water in Provence.
Water freezes at 32° Fahrenheit and boils at 212° (0° and 100° Celsius respectively). It is one of the rare substances whose density as a solid is lower than its liquid density. It is considered a highly stable substance.
The human body consists of 70% water, and it has been shown that with proper nutrition, there is never any need to drink. One of my friends on a raw food diet has only drunk one glass of water in the last twenty years. The best drink for the human being is the vital, living fluid contained in fresh, natural fruits and vegetables. Thirst is the result of a process triggered by malnutrition (the absorption of nutrients we are not designed to eat: meat, fish, alcohol … or because of those killed by cooking: broth, jams, cooked vegetables …) or by insufficient chewing (for more, see the introduction to the chapter on cooking). The accumulation of wastes produced by this malnutrition requires fluid to drain them as our bodies have been transformed into the Aegean stables patiently or impatiently awaiting the arrival of a Hercules or some purifying illness to clean them. Hence the considerable success of thermal or medicinal waters that are overly laden with some specific salt or gas.
Rainwater contains 30 to 50 cm3 of dissolved gas, and seawater around 35 grams of soluble mineral salts—hence its catalytic revitalizing properties (see the section on “salt” in the Cooking chapter).
Spring water contains numerous mineral salts (such as calcium and magnesium carbonates), which have been naturally extracted from the terrains through which they travel—chlorides and nitrates, gas, and organic materials—and it also possesses one more characteristic: It is living, hence it is vivifying.
The radiovitality of a human being in good health sits at around 7000 angstroms, and an individual should never eat foods that cannot nourish them properly; that is to say, those that possess less radiovitality: dead animals, vegetables and fruits killed by boiling.
The bio-electrical quality of an element (pH-rH ration or acid alkaline balance; see chapter 6.1 in Cooking), offers us the perfect consistency of our physiological auto-immunities.
Spring water, though not pure, as long as it is potable and vivifying, possesses an excellent pH (like natural honey and wheat) and a radiovitality reading somewhere between 8,000 and 12,500 angstroms, which is to say it possesses exceptional revitalizing properties that are lost gradually but rapidly, like those of a picked fruit, once it has been removed from the perpetual movement of the spring.
I have noticed during extended fasts that the individuals purified by autolysis due to their abstention from physical foods become extremely sensitive to subtle, essential forms of nourishment and to the impalpable vibrations offered by the air, song, creativity … and water.
One patient, during a moment of weakness on his twenty-second day of fasting, when he had a pressure of 8/7, after spending an hour under a waterfall, without drinking, returned with a pressure of 13/7 and felt the need to saw wood for two hours.
This is extremely variable and is based on nutrition, activities, season, climate, mental state, the possibilities of full immersion in air or pure water in which humidity is absorbed by capillary action, metabolism, breath rate, and so forth.
I earlier mentioned my friend who is a frugivore-raw food dieter, Doctor Tomatis, who went twenty years while living in Paris drinking only one glass of water. A malnourished individual (dead foods, alcohol, coffee, chocolate …) performing a standard urban job can ingest one to two quarts of liquid a day. During long fasts (twenty-one to twenty-eight days), I have noticed that the daily pure water ration of the faster is on average one to two quarts—when this is, so to speak, his or her only solid food.
Water, Cancer, and Bio-electricity by Louis-Claude Vincent
Cancer is primarily a disease of civilizations because civilizations use, more and more, water that has been made “officially” potable through a variety of treatments.
What is “officially” potable water?
It is primarily water that has no germs, especially colibacillus. For officials, potable water means sterilized, in other words, dead water, water in which all life has been killed. To achieve this aim, it is sterilized with the help of more or less strong doses of chlorine gas, hypochlorites, or ozone, which are all powerful oxidants and thereby carcinogenic.
Thus people in most population centers are given water that is physically clear (its limpidity is measured in terms of suspended particles per million), but chemically, it contains its original electrolytes plus the chemicals that have been added to it. Unlike some countries, there are no standards for mineralization, which if over 500 mg per liter offers a horrifying bonus for the spread of cancer.
The water is completely sterilized of all bacteria. It so happens that such water is chemically charged with electrolytes, and thus has high osmotic pressure with weak electrical resistivity. In terms of ionization, it is alkaline (as a result of the alkaline sterilizing agents). It is positively charged, hence it is strongly oxidized (the result of sterilizing oxidants).
Generally speaking, this is ideal water for feeding cancers. We know from the thousands of bio-electronic blood tests made on cancer sufferers that this blood is always:
Alkaline (pH higher than 7.4 instead of 7.2);
Oxidized (rH2, higher than 25 instead of 22);
Has weak electrical resistivity (lower than Ω/cm/cm2, instead of 180–200), hence charged with electrolytes.
This state of akalinization, oxidation, and electrolytical clogging is also encouraged by a host of other influences of civilization, which all cause the same kind of disruption: chemical fertilizers, pesticides, pasteurization, canned food, vaccines, antibiotics, X-rays, metal cooking utensils, overuse of electricity and insulated clothing made from synthetics, living in Faraday Cages …
When it comes to survival, the primary concern is finding a dependable supply of drinking water, especially if fruits are not available for providing some defense against dehydration. Our ancestors recognized water’s potability through its abilities to cook vegetables well or to easily dissolve soap.
HOW TO RAPIDLY MAKE WATER DRINKABLE Turbid water or water that smells bad is not good to ingest. But clear water might also contain germs or dangerous substances. So, especially in emergency situations where scientific analysis of the water is not possible, it is prudent to boil water for fifteen minutes before drinking it, if you have any doubts about how safe it is.
RAINWATER Springs: rainwater will infiltrate the soil and travel through a variety of terrains before coming back to the surface by means of a spring. If the terrains it passes through are sandy, the water’s impurities will be removed. The sand acts as a filter and there is a high likelihood that this water will be potable.
If, on the contrary, the water travels through cracked terrains of granite or limestone, they can be contaminated far from the spring and will not be drinkable.
Wells: the water circulating in the ground is sometimes arrested by an impermeable layer of clay. By punching a well through this layer (see section 4.2), you can reach an underground body of water that is cool and pleasant to drink. But attention needs to be paid for possible sources of contamination: drainage ditches, factory wastes, stables, and so forth, should be placed as far away from the well as possible.
FILTERS There are several kinds of filters, but their efficacy is debatable, because while they remove suspended particles, they do not filter out germs.
The Chamberland Filter: This is a candle-shaped cylinder that is only open at one end. It is made from unglazed porcelain, so it is porous. It is necessary to clean this cylinder every four or five days with a stiff brush, and to sterilize it.
Filtering cartridges are supplied with chemicals that ensure good water sterilization, but do not last indefinitely, and do represent drawbacks for the individual’s health specifically because of those chemicals. But as a stopgap measure when nothing better is available …
Where is it still possible to benefit from water from an underground source or pure spring water? Most waterways across the globe have become terribly polluted and we are compelled to sterilize their water in order to make it drinkable. The device I present here for this purpose is quite simple to put together. It requires the following materials:
A fifty-gallon metal container (with good heat resistance) with a hole for filling on the top and a faucet (1.8 cm in diameter);
A funnel with a filter;
Heat-resistant bricks (the number depends on the size of the container);
A metal plate for regulating the fireplace draw;
A bag of cement and sand to make the mortar for sealing the device and for the foundation of the fireplace;
A connector to serve as an outlet (5 cm in length and 1.8 cm in diameter)
The fireplace should be oriented in the direction of the prevailing wind and the draw will be regulated by the metal plate. The wood to be burned is placed directly beneath the container. The water should boil for at least fifteen minutes and the hole at its top should be left open to allow the steam to escape. Let at least two quarts of water run out of the faucet before collecting the rest.
Water can also be made potable through filtration.
THE THREE-CONTAINER FILTER Place the container holding the water on a chest or table in such a way that the faucet to let the water out is above a sand-filled box, which is also equipped with a faucet, or pierced with small holes on the bottom. This box will be above another container (wash boiler, jar, metal can) to catch the filtered water.
TWO-CONTAINER FILTER An eighty-gallon capacity of water is offered by this filter if you can find:
Two fifty-gallon drums
A cover
A hole on the top with a plug or cap
Pebbles, gravel, and sand.
This filter is built as follows:
Each of the barrels should have a bottom and no cover.
Pierce holes in the bottom of barrel A so it can act as a sieve.
Attach a faucet to the lower part of barrel B.
Place a plug or stopper under barrel B.
Place barrel A on top of barrel B, with the holed part on the bottom, and solder them together.
Build a wooden base on which to place the barrels that will allow pails or bowls to be filled.
Build a second base that can be climbed on for filling barrel A with water to filter.
Place 2 to 2¼ inches of clean pebbles on the bottom of barrel A.
Cover the pebbles with a three-inch layer of clean gravel.
Cover the gravel with a layer of clean sand about two feet thick.
Fill the top barrel with water to be treated and wait thirteen hours for it to filter down into barrel B.
Clean it periodically by removing and replacing the top two inches of the sand. To completely change the filter, replace all the sand.
Construct a drainage ditch beneath the faucet to prevent the creation of mud.
CISTERN FILTER
1. Reservoirs filled with sand surrounding the cistern completely.
2. Central cistern receiving filtered water.
3. Unfiltered water intake.
4. Openings at the bottom that allow the filtered water to enter the cistern.
Our Earth is improperly named; logically speaking, we should call it the sea, as our oceans cover seven-tenths of its surface. It is the evaporation of its waters that form the clouds whose beneficial rains—with sunlight—create our planet’s fertility. Or created, because the pollution that our species has released over the last half-century and more are momentarily but irreversibly making our planet bald.
The waterways on whose banks we have built our houses, hamlets, villages and cities—because they were the source of life—have become, through the unending stream of waste we have created, sources of death.
The supersensitive chaos that is water can still be found in potable form on the mid and upper altitudes and in underground lakes and rivers, on the condition that the ground that conceals them consists of minerals that prevent the surface pollutions from reaching them, in the cases where they are not filtered out by layers of sediment (this is currently the case for Volvic mineral water in France, whose only threat of pollution is the air where it emerges from the Earth).
In any event, it is essential for farming to have water, and a draining and irrigation system can prove a huge benefit.
Water that circulates is life. Water that stagnates is death.
Without water, the plant that needs to absorb soluble fertilized elements cannot feed itself and dies. But care must be taken that the soil does not become waterlogged, as this will prevent light and heat from entering, which will slow down microbial life.
SOILS THAT REQUIRE DRAINAGE A soil is waterlogged when water remains in the footprints made by livestock (horses and cows) or in holes separated by intervals of six feet. Traces of water will remain in them for two to three days after the rain.
DRAINAGE METHOD Channels furrow the land slope in prairies that lead into a ditch dug at the bottom, with an outflow toward a stream or river. For farming purposes, these channels need to be filled. The bottom of these ditches can be covered with sticks, stones, or unglazed pottery shards.
THE EFFECTS OF DRAINAGE
Aerates and rewarms the soil, activates nitrification.
Makes the ground easier to work.
Encourages rapid and consistent germination.
Helps get rid of water-loving weeds.
WATER CHOICES The water from running water is preferable because it is constantly moving and hence aerated. Spring water is generally too cold to be suitable, as is stagnant water, which is often acidic thanks to the decomposing organic remains it contains.
PRACTICE Irrigation can be created by streaming, infiltration, or submersion.
In the first case, water is brought to the highest point through a by-channel, and then distributed through furrows. Clumps of grass ensure the water will overflow these channels.
With infiltration (market gardening), the water is left in the bottom of the furrows to gradually enter the soil.
Irrigation through submersion consists of ensuring the artificial overflow of the canals and furrows through the opening and closing of dams and sluice gates.
Just like animals and men, soils have their good qualities and their flaws. Depending on whether you are dealing with clay, limestone, sand, or humus, the ground you are working with is clayey, chalky, sandy, or humus-bearing.
IMPERMEABLE CLAY SOILS These soils make a paste when brought into contact with water. They have a porridge-like consistence in winter but harden and crack during the summer. They are therefore difficult to work, poorly aerated, heavy, and cold: vegetation grows more slowly in them.
OVERLY PERMEABLE CHALKY SOILS These dry out quickly during the summer and are prone to becoming pasty in the rain. Frost causes them to swell, which can break the roots of plants. For cultivation, these soils must be packed down with a roller.
SANDY SOILS, VERY PERMEABLE AND AERATED This kind of soil dries out quickly (and can feel burning-hot to the touch) but it is easy to work—the dirt is light. Plants grow and develop quickly in this soil.
HUMUS-BEARING SOILS Dark and spongy in appearance, these soils are impermeable, poorly aerated, and cold. They form swamps and peat bogs, and are generally poor for farming.
FALLOW LANDS Much land cannot be classified in any of these four groups, as it consists of balanced mixtures of several or all of these types. They are appropriate for all farming.
A good dowser will always be able to simplify his work if he is also a scholar of geology and pedology, meaning he also possesses knowledge of the sub-layers of the earth and the origin of the surface soils that are created out of the combined influences of climates, plant life, animal life, and human intervention (humus, dams, water diversion, irrigation…). This will allow him or her to avoid extensive search on a terrain whose deeper strata he or she can recognize by means of the superficial strata; he or she can also gauge the possibility of this terrain revealing water at a given depth and what its likely output will be. These first steps can even be made with only large-scale geological maps.
The dowser’s domain is somewhat akin to that of the spelunker, to the extent that the presence of permeable rocks resting on impermeable soil will necessarily inform him of the presence of groundwater or underground springs. Water is an essential factor in the genesis of soil as an agent of hydrolysis and as a dispersal agent; its chemical action on rocks is due to the presence of carbon dioxide and it has a mechanical action on them through its ability to carry them in accordance with gravity: surface water naturally seeks sea level and water that seeps into the ground seeks to go deeper and deeper.
You don’t need to be a scientist to recognize the landscapes that are characteristic of underground water activity in a limestone region. The absence of water on the heights and its presence in the valleys necessarily requires an underground transport of precipitation from the sky.
On the other hand, on steep, impermeable slopes, these zones have little capacity for water retention; small, gently sloping mountain chains and hills, covered by forests and meadows, form a natural reservoir of large capacity; the foliage of the trees provides a protective cover for the ground, and there is little risk of the water washing away the excess dirt held back by the roots. The ground absorbs water like a sponge and lets it flow slowly toward the bottom. Such areas are called catchment zones because they provide a consistent supply of water to the rivers that feed the flat lands below.
UNDERGROUND WATERS The bulk of subterranean waters are formed from the infiltration of rainwater or streams and waters running through permeable rock (sand, porous sandstone, chalk …) or in the fissures of different rocks (such as diaclases in limestone). They can also originate in juvenile (or magmatic) waters from the depths of the Earth’s crust (thermal springs, geysers …)
AQUIFERS OR UNDERGROUND WATER TABLES Their level depends on how the underground waters are divvied up. They can be found around forty feet or more beneath the surface in temperate regions. They are much deeper in arid zones, but rarely lower than 2,000 feet.
ARTESIAN WELLS These wells can be found in terrain in which the aquifer’s permeable layer is covered by waterproof layers. The water will gush out on its own pressure if the outcrop of the well is lower than the water table that feeds it.
SPRINGS Springs emerge where the water table meets the ground surface, on condition that it snakes over an impermeable layer. Some springs exist intermittently: they are dependent on rainfall and other precipitation, and the nature of the terrain.
SOIL PROFILE The profile consists of a vertical cross-section of the terrain formed by successive horizons, almost always formed from the parent rock. This profile is used to define very simple conventional signs:
Vegetation and Soil Characteristics
Depending on the nutritional needs of the plants, every terrain type, whether it contains this or that mineral, will support this or that form of plant life. These evaluations must take into consideration the modifications caused by human activity, which are sometimes superficial and sometimes profound: humus, irrigation, compost, synthetic fertilizers, dams …
IMPERMEABLE, WET SOILS Clay, sandy loam, granite, granulite, gneiss, porphyry, schist, and mica-schist are indicated by forests, dense woods, woody countrysides, and meadows. Poplar trees mark the waterline.
DRY PERMEABLE SOILS Limestone, sand, sandstone, trachyte, andesite, and lava are indicated by scattered bushes, dry moors, grazing lands, and gorse … Blackthorn, sainfoin, and alfalfa indicate the presence of lime in the soil. Box trees, rowan, white beam, and dogwood are evidence of a chalky soil. Wheat, oats, and barley all reveal earth that is rich in chalk, potassium, and phosphorus.
DEFINITION This is the art of detecting the radiation given off by all bodies, using a pendulum or wand. An expert dowser will no longer need these antennae, which are extensions of his sensitivity. He can work using only his bare hands, like a faith healer.
Dowsing is based on the binary method: the instrument can only respond with a yes or no to the question it is asked.
HUNTING FOR WATER The dowser walks over a terrain that is likely to house a water table or underground waterway. The idea is to think water, and if the “water wizard” is really “plugged in,” the wand will answer yes by going up, or the pendulum by moving from right to left. I should note that the direction of the wand or pendulum here is purely conventional and it is up to the operator to decide if no is up or down, right to left or left to right.
The binary method is a selective one. To illustrate this more clearly, I will create an imaginary dialogue between the dowser and his instrument:
Water?
Yes.
The operator must then decide if it is a waterway or a water table. He will draw out the course of the one or the boundaries of the other by walking over the ground asking: “Water?” until he obtains a positive response. His next step is to determine the depth:
Between 6 and 125 feet?
Yes
Between 6 and 60 feet?
Yes.
Between 6 and 15 feet?
No.
Between 6 and 27 feet?
Yes.
Is it 25 feet?
Yes.
If it is a waterway, he should then learn if it is permanent or seasonal, and what its output is in cubic feet per second.
It is fairly obvious that the dowser should possess geological knowledge, as some kinds of terrains are utterly incapable of having any kind of underground lake or waterway. Others are apt to cause deviations in the radiations emitted by the movement of the underground water, and this phenomenon will distort the reading of the square ruler used by the dowser to make his calculations completely precise (the nature of these “deviant” terrains can be gneiss, mica-schist, irruptions of granite or limestone, clay layers over limestone, and so forth).
I will provide a quick summary of this truly miraculous art known as dowsing. It can be used not only for finding water but to diagnose illnesses, work out a good diet, or find someone who is lost … In addition, it is an excellent exercise in concentration that allows us to quiet our noisy ego: a good water wizard needs to attain the same empty state within that inspired artists and saints in communion have both reached.
On a completely practical and agrarian level, I helped at the planting of saplings half of which were stuck in the ground at random and the other half planted after the solar axis was determined with the help of a pendulum. Two years later, those planted in accordance with the dowsing readings were twice as high and twice as bushy as the others.
It is my most heartfelt wish for each of us to become an excellent dowser.
THE WAND This instrument is a forked branch about twelve to twenty inches long with a diameter of around 1½ to three inches. The undivided end of the branch should ideally be one to 2½ inches long. The wood most commonly used for this purpose is hazel (Corylus avellama) but any wood can be counted on to perform this task. Some wands are made of metal or other substances and the two stems are then connected by a tight binding around one to two inches long.
The dowser needs to establish the most sensitive relationship with the wand he or she possibly can, and its length should be based on the size of the individual: for example the wand of an individual who is five feet ten inches should be between fifteen and sixteen inches.
The most important condition is first and foremost the wand’s elasticity. One should be able to bend its branches without any effort, and they should easily return to their natural position.
The wand is held between the palm and the bottom of the thumb in each hand. When the palms are facing the ground, the tips should extend about ¾ inch. When the palms are turned toward the sky, the fingers should close around the wand; with the back of the hands facing the ground, the wand angle should be at a forward angle of 45° high. Work with your wrists by slightly varying the separation of the hands to bring the wand to its resting point, where it should rest without any effort but remain capable of striking upward or downward with great ease. Practicing over flat terrain in the beginning is preferable: you can practice by following the course of a waterway.
THE PENDULUM This instrument consists of a four- to 6-inch-long chain from which hangs any kind of spherical object (generally made of steel) with a weight of 1¼ to 3½ ounces. A key chain with keys can also work as a pendulum. The little chain or string is held between the thumb and index finger of the right hand (if you are right-handed—lefties will use their left hand) around eight inches from the chest. You move slowly while keeping the pendulum still. You can intentionally swing the pendulum from right to left and left to right to study its sensitivity and your own.
Note: The best exercise to begin using your pendulum is over an aerial photo of land with an underground spring, the course of which is unknown to the operator but is known to a third party, who will reveal it to him or her after they have drawn the radiesthetic specter of the movement of the underground waterway.
It is often necessary to hunt for water beneath the ground surface or from a waterway that runs below the spot where the water is needed. If the depth is not too large, there are two basic pumping principles:
THE ASPIRATING PUMP The first strokes of the pump expel air from the cylinder and the aspirating pipe. As air is expelled, it is replaced by water, which will gradually rise through the pipe until it reaches the body of the pump: the pump is now primed. If we continue working the pump, water will be expelled to be replaced by air.
THE PRESS PUMP As this pump is immersed in the liquid to be raised, the filling of the pump body is achieved through openings set into the upper part of the cylinder.
If you do not have a mechanical driller, you will need to rely on a shovel, a pick, and your own hands.
IN DIRT Dig a hole of the smallest possible diameter, making only enough space for the digger to handle his shovel easily. The dirt should be removed using pails and ropes once it gets deep enough. For supports, pile, starting from the top, concrete rings or timbers atop one another, then dig beneath the lowest one. It will slide down under the weight of those piled on top of it.
IN SAND Use the pilings method: stick boards that have one end carved into a point upright into the level beneath where you are digging; these stays will remain in place as they are cleared of sand.
IN ROCK If you have no explosives, the rock can be broken through contraction by causing its surface to break apart. This can be done by building a very hot fire then quickly extinguishing it by pouring water on it repeatedly until the desired results have occurred.
A pump with water jars also makes bringing water up in a well that is three hundred feet deep fairly easy.
BUILDING THE WELL To bring the water up to the surface without too much effort, a winch is useful. If the length of the crank handle is three times larger than the post around which the rope is coiled, it is necessary to exert five kilos of force to bring up a fifteen-kilo pail of water.
During times of drought or catastrophes (a shipwreck, refugee flight) many people have extended their lives by licking cloths, veils, sheets, and so on, that have been loosely draped in such a way to collect morning and evening dew.
Rainwater can also be collected in the largest containers available or in large impermeable pieces of cloth that have been loosely stretched out to act as receptacles.
In the context of a traditional home, rainwater can also be collected by means of rain gutters and cisterns. But when it comes to consuming this water, keep in mind that while rainwater contains no dissolved minerals and is therefore extremely pure, at the beginning of the shower, it will carry suspended particles taken from the air and whatever it washes from the roof.
During his sea crossing, Doctor Alain Bombard would sometimes drink up to a half quart of pure seawater, or else immerse himself in the sea in order to absorb water through capillary action. He was also able to get extra water from the tissues of freshly caught fish using a lemon squeezer.
Many desert travelers owe their lives to their mount, the camel, which they slaughtered so they could open its pouch and benefit from the water it contained.
In arid and semi-arid regions, cacti are often a good source of potable water. This water can be extracted by cutting into the cactus.