The BSD Conference 2023
About the Conference
The Conference will be held at County Hall, Worcester (shown below), which is the headquarters of Worcestershire County Council. It is located right next to Worcester Wood Country Park, 93 acres of woodland and open spaces comprising many trails. In addition to the Council chamber, we have use of a number of smaller break-out rooms in the park area, suitable for workshops.
Altogether the venue offers a comfortable venue with modern facilities, within a rural setting, but still close to the city centre.
The event will be held over the weekend of Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August.
On both days there is a full schedule of mixed talks and workshops, full details of which you will find listed below. Refreshments and a appetizing lunch are included in the attendance fee.
On Saturday evening, there is the option to attend a group dinner, from approximately 7.30 to 9.30, to be held in a separate venue nearer the city centre. For those wishing to attend, this will involve an additional cost.
We strongly encourage you to attend the event. Then, not only will you appreciate the full benefits of this in-person event, but you will assist the Society provide similar events into the future.
However, for those unable to attend, there is an option to watch a live broadcast of part of both days’ proceedings. This is subject to a viewing fee, details of which you will find in the ‘Tickets’ section below.
For more information about the speakers, and how to get to the venue, suggestions for accommodation and how to purchase tickets, please see below.
Programme of events
Saturday 23rd August
9.00 Registration begins
9.45-10.00 Welcome
10.00-11.00 Elizabeth Brown – Happy 90th: We’ve Come a Long Way Baby!
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.30 Christian Kyriacou – The Epigenetic Consciousness Matrix of Buildings – Genetic Architecture®
12.30-1.30 Lunch
1.30-2.30 Workshops (1h):
• Joan Harthan – dowsing your dreams
• Peter Taylor – Using Fibonacci Numbers to identify Power Points in the land to help heal the human body
• John Baker– helping practical dowsers improve their success rate Q&A
• Sue Pine – Making the Most of your Ch’i
2.30-2.45 Break
2.45-3.45 Repeat workshops
3.45-4.15 Break
4.15-5.15 Jonathon Mitchell – The science of magnetism (and how it relates to dowsing)
5.15 President Richard Fry to close
Sunday 24th August
9.15 Registration
9.30-10.30 Workshops (1h):
• Margaret Koolman – How to discover your intuitive abilities through Astrology
• Christian Kyriacou – Discovering your Relationship with the Heart of Home
• Penny Quest – Detecting energies to create a safer living environment
• Cecilia Edwards– Autumn Equinox Sound Bath
10.30-11.00 Coffee break 30mins
11.00-12.00 Workshops repeated (except M. Koolman – question and answers session about astrology).
12.00-1.00 Lunch
1.00-1.30 Book signing
1.30-2.30 Trish Mills – Sacred Geometry made simple
2.30-2.45 Break
2.45-3.45 Elizabeth Brown – Nutrition: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly — and the Downright Dangerous
3.45-4 Tea break
4.00 Cake for 90th birthday celebration
4.00-5.00 Nick Haywood – When you put the idea into people’s head that anything goes, it does! Curious incidents from 90 years of dowsing
5.00 President Richard Fry to close
Below you will find more information about each participant’s talk and workshop, together with a short biography.
John Baker
WORKSHOP: Helping practical dowsers improve their success rate – a Question & Answer session
John will field your questions on practical dowsing.
BIOGRAPHY
A stalwart of the British Society of Dowsers for many years, John discovered the ability to dowse in 1993, quite by chance and embarked on a great new adventure initially working with local archaeologists as I needed proof that that what I was ‘picking up’, did in fact exist and was not the result of feverish imagination. It wasn’t!! He then progressed to water divining, which he has practiced for over 20 years.
He has been involved in T.V. programme and has authored an autobiography, ‘Adventures of a 21st. He runs regular dowsing courses and runs the London Dowsers group
www.johnh2obaker.co.uk
Elizabeth Brown
TALK: Happy 90th: We’ve Come a Long Way Baby!
There are few occupations in this world more pilloried than dowsing… we’ve been accused of witchcraft and the work of the devil, burnt at the stake, drowned on ducking stools, imprisoned, condemned by religious dogma, laughed at, persecuted, denounced and misinterpreted. Some of us have even had a fatwa put on us.
And yet… and yet… dowsing is in total accord with the evolution of humankind, the vast shifts in consciousness of the planet. It is a tangible expression of our non-local connection to each other, the field of consciousness and the Universe as a whole. It is training wheels for our spiritual development and a way to access guidance. On a more practical level it is a means of access to precious resources enabling survival and saving lives, a way to optimise our health, and a way to fathom the energies of our home and our planet, understand our past and solve mysteries. And at its most elegant it is a beautiful way to talk to the Universe.
And now, with the advent of the changing consciousness of the planet, dare we hope for a shift in acceptance?
In this presentation we discuss where we’ve been, where we are — and where we are going. Elizabeth illustrates her talk with personal stories and shares what the enlightened scientists and thinkers are saying and why it is so important — individually and collectively — for us to continue our dowsing quest.
WORKSHOP: NUTRITION: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly — and the Downright Dangerous
Do we really need nutritional supplements? Doctors say we don’t need them; pharmaceutical companies say they don’t work; and the media say they’re a waste of money. So why do people die of malnutrition? And where does the truth lie…?
Did you know that most of the worlds nutritional supplements are manufactured in China? That many are partly or wholly made in laboratories from petrochemicals or from genetically modified ingredients? That taking synthetic vitamins can be extremely harmful to health — and actually cause deficiencies? That many of the more recognised nutritional brands are owned by pharmaceutical companies and multinational food conglomerates?
In this workshop you will learn: the truths and lies about nutritional supplementation; if we really need it, and why; how the media and pharmaceutical companies deliberately mislead the public; where these ‘healthy’ supplements come from; how to distinguish between natural and synthetic nutrition; the curse of isolates; how to determine optimal dosage; how to accurately asses the quality of vitamins and minerals; the essential dowsing questions to ask; and how you can optimise your personal nutrition — and therefore your health — with dowsing.
Author of DOWSING – The Ultimate Guide For the 21st Century, Elizabeth has been a dowser for 35 years. She has spent more than 40 years researching health and 20 years working in the field of health with her Causative Diagnosis® protocol. More about her work can be found on her website: www.causativediagnosis.com
BIOGRAPHY
After experiencing, first-hand, the debilitating effects of electromagnetic pollution in an office environment, Elizabeth co-founded and ran a successful geopathic stress consultancy and became an internationally renowned Causative Diagnostician. In addition to working directly with private clients in several countries, she supports doctors, dentists, clinics, therapists and consultants in identifying causative factors behind illness – particularly cancer, ME, skin conditions, all forms of allergies, and sets of symptoms that have no allopathic label.
Over 35 years of interest in holistic disciplines, including studying Feng Shui, astrology, remote viewing, dowsing and nutrition, stand her in good stead. Her teachers have been as diverse as a Hopi Medicine Woman to two former presidents of the British Society of Dowsers. Her great-grandfather was a water dowser, and Elizabeth is a master dowser and has been a member of the British Society of Dowsers for many years.
In addition, Elizabeth is a Personal Development trainer, a regular guest speaker at seminars, webinars and conferences, runs her own workshops and has made media appearances.
Cecilia Edwards
WORKSHOP: Autumn Equinix sound bath
Sound Meditation is often referred to as a ‘Sound Bath’ as participants are bathed in the Gong’s sound waves. These waves or vibrations allow the mind & body to become more relaxed, helping support the body’s own healing ability. The only water involved is on the inside – our bodies are made of 70% or more water which is a great conductor of sound! As you become immersed in the vibrations of the sound bath it creates inner ripples, like a sonic massage, cleansing the body and mind. Cecilia guides you and holds the space throughout so that you can let go and receive the benefits.
The Power of the Gong
For thousands of years, throughout cultures and religions, legends and myths have been told about sound being the basic creative force, bringing the universe into being. Sound is energy, information and one of the greatest healing forces.
The gong has been used throughout history as a ceremonial and healing instrument. It is believed to have been around for up to 5000 years, since the beginning of the Bronze Age.
The gong induces a holistic resonance in the body and a spontaneous meditative state in the mind, resulting in a sense of expanded awareness and wholeness, and an intense sense of letting go.
What are healing sounds? Can sound really heal you?
Healing sounds are used to calm the mind and body and facilitate an expansion of consciousness, as opposed to the intrusive or jarring sounds we might be exposed to in our everyday environments. Healing with sound frequencies takes place as an interaction between your energies and the energy of the sound, guided by your intention. Sound healing works on a deep, cellular level. For instance, if there are any emotional blockages or physical pain or injuries, the sound of the gong, as it travels around the body, will connect with those blockages and start to work on removing them, allowing for the energy to flow more easily.
About the workshop; Sound baths are a meditative experience where you are laying down (or sitting), warm and relaxed to receive the healing vibrations of gongs and other therapeutic instruments. Cecilia will give an introduction to Gongs and Sound Healings, outlining some of the benefits before leading participants on a Sound Journey of gongs and other instruments. She will be playing up to three gongs, along with crystal bowls and other therapeutic instruments.
BIOGRAPHY
Cecilia is a fully insured and certified Sound therapist based in Herefordshire, who has trained with the College of Sound Healing, and offers group sound sessions (locally and online), 1-2-1 treatments, holistic weekend retreats and all-night Gong Pujas for a deeper sound immersion experience. She works with high quality small to large scale Gongs, Crystal and Tibetan bowls as well as other therapeutic instruments. She loves to share and spread positive, healing vibrations which can help relieve stress and anxiety, and bring about mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.
https://csoundspace.com
Joan Harthan
WORKSHOP: Dowsing your dreams
In her workshop, Joan will initially talk about how you can find meaning in your dreams, which she refers to as Dowsing Your Dreams because it’s rather like that, the only difference is that your dowsing tool isn’t a pair of rods or a pendulum, it’s your intellect and intuition working together.
We will also be looking at dreams that seem to have a trans-personal quality to illustrate that not everything in a dream is necessarily a projection from the unconscious mind of the dreamer.
We will then look at how you can use your dreams to help you do the sort of dowsing you are more familiar with, by incubating a dream with a specific intention of finding something.
BIOGRAPHY
Joan worked as a lecturer/educational consultant for many years before retiring from academia in order to concentrate on writing fiction.
She has run courses on dream analysis since 1995 and has been dream journaling for over twenty-five years. As a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), she is a regular contributor to the IASD magazine Dreamtime and has made presentations at international conferences in Europe and America. She is a published author of both works on creative writing and on dream analysis. Also she is trained in the Harner method of Shamanic Counselling.
For more information on the work she does with dreams, visit her dedicated website at www.docdreamuk.com where you’ll find useful information on the meaning of dreams, including how to use dreams as a resource for creative writing.
Nick Haywood
TALK: When you put the idea into people’s heads that anything goes, it does! Curious incidents from 90 years of dowsing
To mark the 90th birthday of the society, we take a look back over the society’s journal, a veritable treasure trove of members’ experiences, their thoughts and reflections on dowsing.
http://www.dowsing-research.net
BIOGRAPHY
Long-time member and former trustee of the society, Dr Nick Haywood’s curiosity about the nature of dowsing has taken him on a fascinating journey. He now understands that there is a deeper reality than the materialistic one, widely accepted by many, and he believes that it is through the study of the lived experiences of dowsers, that insights into this deeper reality may be gained. He is well acquainted with the society’s remarkable 90-year archive of dowsing experiences, and his aim to enhance this with an additional video archive, capturing the activities and thoughts of today’s dowsers.
Margaret Koolman
WORKSHOP 1: a demonstration of how to discover your intuitive abilities through Astrology.
This she will do by reading the charts of two participants attending the workshop.
WORKSHOP 2: a general question and answers session about astrology.
This is a great opportunity to ask all those questions which you have always been afraid to ask.Margaret will be offering two workshops on Astrology.
Margaret’s talks at dowsing groups have always been well received by members.
BIOGRAPHY
Margaret is an international astrologer and author with 40 years’ experience. She specialises in Soul Astrology, focusing on everyday life from the soul’s perspective, while tuning in to your individual guidance. This way she can help open an individual’s personality for them to see how it works, and how to work with themselves more skilfully.
She has been developing her brand of astrological reading for over forty years, practising internationally. Her work consists mainly of interpreting birth charts for individuals, couples and families, as well as business partners, and their businesses. To assist people with their personal growth and better relationships, and to find and maintain a satisfying contact with one’s spiritual path. She has published a number of books about her work.
https://soulastrology.com/
Christian Kyriacou
TALK: The Epigenetic Consciousness Matrix of Buildings – Genetic Architecture®
Exploring how buildings and our environment influence and shape our lives. An integrative approach to decoding and understanding buildings as vibrant, healthy spaces. Fusing ancient knowledge into contemporary design for building and living.
Earth energies are to be understood and respected, not got rid of. Love, not fear. Experience how Unity Consciousness dissolves duality allowing harmony to flow in the land and our homes.
Designing to principles of nature to support life force chi for raising consciousness and enhancing physical nourishment. Considering the energetic factors which influence the quality of space – the Heart and Soul of buildings.
WORKSHOP: Discovering your Relationship with the Heart of Home
Do you feel at home where you live?
Did you choose your home’ or did it choose you?
Did you choose your home to match their life story and even activate sabotage patterns?
Your home is the Mirror of your soul.
An experiential visualisation workshop to take us into deeper levels of awareness of our home which is a reflection of our ‘inner’ home. A simple yet powerful psychotherapeutic process showing us aspects of our lives and of our soul journey in this lifetime of which we may not have been aware.
Christian will explain the concept of our soul connection to where we live, why we are drawn to a particular place, and how to identify issues that are impacting our lives.
Be prepared to think of where you live in unexpected ways!
BIOGRAPHY
Christian Kyriacou is an Architect, House Whisperer, Author, Geomancer and Feng Shui Consultant and other wide-ranging interests.
His psychotherapeutic approach involves reading and understanding the consciousness of buildings, reading the invisible energies of spaces, which in turn affects the relationship of people to their homes and workplaces.
Encouraging self-responsibility, he guides people to make simple yet powerful changes which lead to resolving many life issues.
He has appeared on international television and radio since 1993 as an inspirational speaker on topics such as the relationship of sound and sacred space, architectural harmonics and music, geomancy and Feng Shui. And as a member of the British Society of Dowsers, he has given well received talks on his work.
In 2016, Christian established The House Whispering Academy, taking people through 24 Modules of in-depth subjects leading to becoming Certified House Whispering Practitioners.
Trish Mills
TALK: Sacred Geometry Made Simple
Trish Mills sweeps us along with some of the most extraordinary revelations you’ve never heard. With a light touch and a sprinkling of humour, she reminds us of a few basics, and then shares the inner workings of sacred geometry in nature. She shows examples of how we have copied and adapted it to achieve harmony and balance in architecture, art, genetics, and much more. As Trish says, when she was researching all this, she felt she was discovering the secrets of the Universe. Come with an open mind – this talk could knock your socks off!
BIOGRAPHY
Most of Trish Mills’ career was in publishing and she has been a dowser since 2006. She lived in America for 10 years during the 1980s, and was a leading light at Slimbridge Dowsing Group until 2018, retiring when her partner was diagnosed with cancer. She has published several books for dowsing’s brightest and best, and the BSD’s Dowsing Today magazine throughout 2022 to much acclaim. Since then she has started a U3A Dowsing Group, and continues giving talks, both on Zoom and in person.
Jonathan Mitchell
TALK: The science of magnetism (and how it relates to dowsing)
Through his work with beekeeping, Jonathan became curious to understand ‘how bees really function?’
His subsequent research has led him to the science of magnetism. He has gained some fascinating insights into the nature of bees, how they travel and where they site their hives, using the electromagnetic fields around them.
He believes that when we dowse, we connect to the magnetic fields around the Earth and during his talk, he will explain how a better understanding of the magnetic sciences will benefit us all.
BIOGRAPHY
Jonathan, a dowser for almost 50 years, has been using dowsing in a number of very interesting ways, including working with various agencies to help find missing people. During this time, he has also worked in agriculture, maintaining an active interest in natural history, archaeology and beekeeping. It is his belief that the behaviour of bees has a very real bearing on dowsing
Sue Pine
WORKSHOP: Making the Most of your Ch’i
Ch’i is the Chinese term for the life-force of the universe, which flows through everything and unifies it in holistic connection. As dowsers, we detect many aspects of ch’i. We know that a healthy ch’i flow through the body and home is vital for good health. This workshop will give you some practical tips and techniques for improving your own ch’i flow, avoiding blockages and making a better connection with the healthy energies in the world around us. It’s a further step towards to device-less dowsing.
BIOGRAPHY
Sue Pine is a dowser and chairs the Norfolk and Suffolk Dowsers in the UK. But she is also a teacher of philosophy and as such cab approach subjects with much interest and present different angles of thought.
Sue has been working with the Chinese system for well over thirty years, initially as a martial artist. She is a qualified teacher of medical Ch’i Kung, with roots in Chinese medicine and philosophy, this is a system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training.
Penelope Quest
WORKSHOP: Detecting energies to create a safer living environment
A workshop on creating a safer, healthier living environment – you as detective, using your dowsing skills to identify negative and positive energies in your home and surroundings. For example, how close are your neighbours and can their auras affect you, moving your bed/favourite chair out of negative curry lines, using feng shui for better energy flow, clearing negative energies in corners with sound etc. Intertwined throughout, stories of my own experience on teaching energy awareness.
BIOGRAPHY
Penelope Quest is an internationally renowned Reiki Master, spiritual teacher and renowned author on Reiki.
As well as her considerable knowledge and experience of teaching all levels of Reiki for more than 22 years, she is a qualified teacher (FE/HE Cert,Ed) and her academic qualifications include a BA in Psychology and Education, and an MSc in Health and Healing Science. In addition, she trained as a Native American Shaman and studied Celtic Shamanism, sound healing and meditation, plus Penny has taught hundreds of people to dowse to detect energies, has led courses and workshops on Feng Shui, Kinesiology, energy cleansing, geopathic stress, as well as ley lines and other earth energies at some amazing prehistoric sites such as Avebury in Wiltshire, Castlerigg in Cumbria, and the vast ancient spiritual landscape in Orkney.
She is a member of the Society of Authors, the Guild of Health Writers, the British Society of Dowsers, and is a lay preacher for the free-thinking Unitarian church. She is an award-winning author of five best-selling books on Reiki, published by Piatkus/Little Brown Books in the UK, and by Tarcher/Penguin Random House in the USA.
Her latest writing contribution is Chapter 5, “An Earth Spirit Perspective” in the book “Cherishing the Earth – Nourishing the Spirit” edited by Maria Curtis, published in April 2023 by Lindsey Press.
Peter Taylor
WORKSHOP: Using Fibonacci Numbers to identify Power Points in the land to help
heal the human body.
Peter will be giving a practical demonstration on how he uses the numbers of the Fibonacci Code to find the location of Power Points in the land. This is following on from a video presentation on the theory of the Fibonacci Codes, that all participants of the workshop should watch prior to attending. The video may be viewed here:
https://britishdowsers.vids.io/videos/4d9fd5b81d1ae6c0c4/peter-taylor-fibonacci-numbers-video
BIOGRAPHY
Peter Taylor is a master dowser. His interests are wide, encompassing water divining, dowsing for minerals, oil and gas, healing sick buildings and dealing with geopathic stress and a keen interest in archaeology. He is another long-time members of the British Society of Dowsers. He passes on his wide knowledge through his teaching and media. Although a dowser for more than 35 years, he is not afraid to embrace new techniques that will help his quests.