Radiesthesia describes a physical ability to detect radiation emitted by a person, animal, object or geographical feature.
[2] One definition is "sensitivity to radiations of all kinds emanating from living beings, inanimate objects, mineral ores, water and even photographs".
The term is a neologism created by a French Catholic priest Alexis Timothée Bouly who was a celebrated dowsing practitioner in the early part of the 20th century.
[7] The practical application of radiesthesia, i.e. dowsing is directed toward providing individual and environmental benefits, such as: A distinction may be made in the application of radiesthesic techniques in the detection of physical phenomena e.g. water, minerals, objects, changed cell condition and using these techniques for analysis of supposed subtle energy fields or the 'aura' of an individual.
Researchers have cited an involuntary bodily reaction, that is, ideomotor phenomenon as the initiator of the movement seen occurring in instruments such as dowsing rods or a pendulum.