Betty Woodward (Mitchell) is a water witcher who helps her neighbors decide where to drill in the dry, rocky land of Wheeler County. Woodward tried witching after watching another Mitchell resident, Gene Jordan, use a forked willow branch as his witching rod. When she’s not quilting and painting, Woodward witches for friends or acquaintances a few times year.
Bio
On a dry, rocky stretch of land in southern Wheeler County, Betty Woodward stands with both arms held in front of her and a look of intense concentration on her face. In each hand, she holds a thin steel welding rod. She slowly paces forward. With her hands still, the ends of the rods mysteriously begin to drift, rotating inward, then crossing one another. She stops and makes a line in the dirt with her foot, marking the edge of an underground water reservoir. Nearly everyone who lives in Wheeler County needs a well to supply household water. To help her neighbors decide where to drill, Woodward practices water witching, a traditional method for locating underground water sources. Woodward tried witching after watching another Mitchell resident, Gene Jordan. He used a forked willow branch as his witching rod. When Betty began experimenting around her property, her husband brought home two welding rods, an alternative to the forked branch rod. These became her preferred tools. She advanced her technique after a chance meeting with another witcher, who taught her how to measure the depth and volume of underground water sources. When she’s not quilting and painting, Woodward witches for friends or acquaintances a few times year. Though she has never failed to find water, she doesn’t charge for her work. She sees her talent as a gift from God, a gift that might disappear if she approached this calling as a business transaction rather than an act of service.
