by Rod & Pendulum © Copyright, Michael Guest
This article first appeared in the July 2003 issue (#133) of the Rod & Pendulum newsletter.
Introduction
In early April I had a phone call from a Mrs M.S. Her son R was staying in Paris but had completely disappeared. To make things worse, although his physical age was almost 21, his mental age was nearer 14. Could I put her in contact with someone who could dowse for his whereabouts?
The lady, well educated and very sensible, was clearly under great strain but was composed and focused totally on the task of finding her son. I said that this was one of the most difficult of dowsing tasks and the only person I would recommend was Patrick Leonard of Moulton, Northampton, England. But before putting her in contact with him, I rang him to enquire if he would undertake the task. His reply being very positive I was able to make the introduction.
Patrick Leonard was a member of West Midland Dowsers right from its inception and contributed many articles to Rod & Pendulum. He and a group of friends from Northampton used to come to meetings at Wootton Wawen but after a time there were so many that they decided to form a separate group, Northamptonshire Dowsers, in which Patrick still plays a significant role. Patrick’s skill in distant dowsing has been proved many times and he seemed the ideal person to help now.
Patrick Leonard’s Story
After you rang me on the morning of 5th April, to see if I would take on the search for R, her son, Mrs M. S. rang a short while later and then came over with what I had asked for: a map of Paris, a photo of R. her son. She also brought a necktie he often wears, as well as a sample of his handwriting. While she was here I spent about an hour dowsing the map. What came out was that R was alive and physically well, considering the circumstances, but the poor lad was just wandering, and very lost. At that moment in time he was on the east side of the city, in an area I marked on the map.
The boy had not been seen since 4.30 p.m. on the Friday afternoon. On Saturday afternoon, Mrs M.S. and her husband flew to Paris, met up with a teacher from the College, and set about their search, starting with the given area. I continued trying to track R on the map on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, but could only find movements into other areas, but still on the East side of the city. I still found he was alive and reasonably fit. All areas searched failed to find him.
On the Sunday afternoon of the 6th April, we had a N.D. meeting. So, the map and other items were taken along, and members were asked if they would like to try their hand in searching for a missing person. This was something new for all present. What did surprise me was that a number came up with the east side of the city, but not the same locations. Every few hours I passed back whatever information I could.
Monday morning was the same, another location on the east side. By Monday afternoon, I had a “rethink” about all the dowsing I had done up to that point. If my dowsing was correct, then I was finding where he was at the moment, or where he had previously been. And, if I was correct, he was constantly moving. No wonder they were having difficulty finding him. So, I had to jump “ahead”, and try to find where be was going next.
This seemed a long shot, but worth a try. The dowse came up with square H13 on the map, an area which included the Louvre. This dowsing ahead posed a dilemma: if I gave this information to M, and her son was not found there, her confidence in my dowsing would probably take a big knock. So what I did was to pass on the information about the square location, and suggest she take a photo to the main office of the building, to see if anybody there had seen him.
On the Monday evening when they went to the building all was closed up. On Tuesday morning they went back again, but nobody recognised him. Then they decided to look round the area of the map, and found the boy between the Louvre and the American Church, sitting on the embankment, close to the Seine.
Michael Guest continues the story:
Reverting back to the earlier stage, Mrs M.S. had contacted the British Society of Dowsers (which is where she got my name) and had made contact with a lady in Malvern, England who joined in the hunt for the lost boy using her own psychic faculties. Her information was also being fed to Mrs M. S. in Paris, and the two streams were converging on the same area, a remarkable example of successful dowsing because so often two simultaneous hunts can unknowingly interfere with each other.
After the boy had been found Mrs M.S. wrote to Patrick and his wife to thank them and let them know what had transpired.
Letter from Mrs M. S. to Patrick and Jean
“We can never thank you enough for opening your home and hearts to us and for helping us find our son. After seeing you both on the Saturday we travelled to Paris with much more hope and the fact that you detected that our son was lost and wandering did a great deal to raise our spirits. The unknown can be so frightening and we all hear terrible stories about other people. Paris was a bit of shock at first with so many people and the traffic congestion. It seemed to be alive for 24 hours and many people on the streets. It seemed to take us ages getting anywhere by car, foot or Metro.
Although we had circulated photos of R to all the agencies I don’t think one would have really easily connected the photo to the boy we found on the street! At the time we found him we were starting to put fliers around the various tourist centres and of course thanks to you and the lady in Malvern , we headed straight for the American Church and the Louvre. The moment of finding him was just amazing and our new friend and acquaintance (thanks to friends at Salisbury) was at hand to call an ambulance and translate for us at the hospital.
Thankfully R soon recovered and I am sure has learned a great deal from the experience. It was such an unfortunate situation with everyone from the college splitting up into groups. R had said he wouldn’t join one group intending to go with another but they had disappeared and he was left on his own. R was without map, hotel details or phone card and in a country where he could not communicate and probably in a state of shock too. Horrendous really but thankfully you were right – there are many more good people in this world than bad and I had to hang on to those thoughts in my darkest moments in the night when I imagined R on the streets.
I have to say that he really did show great stamina walking all those miles. It is difficult to know where exactly he did walk. The Eiffel Tower it seems was often in his sight but certainly on the first night he walked out of the Metro system in Paris and he thinks it was 30 km from the centre. The police could not believe that he had walked that far. Such a pity they did not telephone us at home to check if he was who he said he was!! So many “onlys” but the important thing is he is home and safe and that we all learn from this – our son, we as parents and the college.
Again, thank you both for your great kindness to us and thank you too to all your friends who helped to find him. We will be having a special Mass at our Church in thanksgiving and prayers for all those who helped find R and who offered prayers for his safe return.”
Michael Guest’s Final Note
By one of those curious coincidences I had occasion to ring Patrick about another matter and at the end of our talk, almost as an after-thought, I asked about the lost boy dowse. He told me that he had just been found, which was wonderful news. The following morning I received a letter from Mrs M.S. thanking me for my (very small) part in the affair. In my opinion, this is one of the most extraordinary feats of dowsing I have encountered in many years. Think of pinning down the whereabouts of one person in a city the size of Paris with its huge numbers of visitors and then the chances of actually finding him. Amazing!
Reprinted with the permission of Michael Guest, editor of Rod & Pendulum, the bi-monthly newsletter of West Midland Dowsers/Northamptonshire Dowsers. Information about these dowsing groups is carried on the BSD Website.
© Copyright, Michael Guest