Dowsing is quite a bit like using a Ouija board. You "think" you are finding something by the movements. However, the actual chance that anyone can immediately confirm the presence of whatever you are dowsing for, be it water or minerals, is very rare. Also, the substance claimed to be found is often to be expected. Water will likely be found wherever you drill, the depth might change but that variablity is often what "saves" dowsers when if they come up with a dry hole. Another example is that a natural gas well on my parents farm was supposedly dowsed. However, the farm is in western Pennsylvania where you can hardly drill a deep hole without finding gas. In any double-blind study, you won't get a positive correlation. A study was done in Germany and CSICOP has a good article about it: http://www.csicop.org/si/9901/dowsing.html

I'm sorry if you didn't intend to connect quantum physics with magic. To me, it did seem that you did intend that since you seemed to be indicating that the evidence of its being valid was the same as a "feeling". Your response may have been physiological but without some, say black boxes, with nothing, a lovely crystal and a lump of limestone, and you with your hand over them and finding the right one a reasonable percentage of the time, I still have to doubt. I've gotten "feelings" from tarot cards, but couldnt' tell the difference between them and stack of paper. And I do think that investigating such a response, if it does exist, would be quite interesting and important. Any effect over distance that hasn't been explained would have many potential applications. As for experiences that "reasonable and rational people" have, who does the defining of reasonable and rational? :)

I don't consider the questioning of claims to be "rigid". I do ascribe to the idea that if you keep your mind open, anything can fall in. Some caution and skepticism is always good.

After doing a bit of googling, strangely enough, though I find much about how "scientific research" supposedly supports crystal "power" there is not one instance of the claimant actually providing any peer reviewed studies (or any studies at all) to check out. This is a big sign that there isn't any research, which begs the question, why haven't these "believers" ever done any themselves to validate the idea? Belief is worthless with no evidence and vague claims of "healing the aura" or make the heart "stronger", or acting as a shield against "psychic attacks" aren't evidence. Let me see the crystal heal a open wound or a tumor. The big new thing is claiming that lumps of rock salt from the "Himalayas" is somehow "magic". Shades of promises of Xanadu or Shangri-la, yes? The "crystal skulls" have also popped back up again, to be discredited again. The Skepdic has a good entry on it: http://skepdic.com/crystals.html

At best, the attempt to say that "magic" might be there if we could only find it *and* that the scientific method could support it, is more than a bit specious. We don't even have the slightest evidence that anything is happening. There are no theories about this since there is no empirical evidence to base theories on. To further equate this "mysterious force" that has no evidence to quantum physics which does seems to be the usual use of misunderstood science and simple wishful thinking that anyone who supports the unproveable. Creationists do it all of the time.

One of the experiences I had with chrystals was going to a rock and gem show where I held my hand palm down over various large chrystal samples a few inches above. I felt definite tingling/prickling sensations in my palm.

Hey Lindajoy. I had similar feelings when I joined my ex-wife on a Reiki course. Even hardened skeptics can be victim to suggestion, which is why people get suckered into believing this stuff.
However the serious point here is that all sorts of beliefs can "work" even if the believer knows deep down they are just woo woo. To go back to my ex, she is wiccan and practiced (practices) all sorts of rituals with crystals and wands and cups and herbs and... etc. However she will happily admit that it does nothing in reality, it's just her way of dealing with stuff, an illusion of control in a random world. In some way I think it's a vindication of belief in belief, although I couldn't live that way myself. At least the new age types don't insist we all wear crystals unlike the fundies who would have a fish on every bumper.

I mean, really, if crystals have power, these babies http://giantcrystals.strahlen.org/america/naica.htm must be lighting up the sky.

"The difference is that gold really does have power; for its cult rules."

Now that you mention this, I remember my old anthropology teacher mentioning that many acient cultures did believe that metals like gold held magical powers to attain material goods - perhaps this association between gold and material wealth that exists today is descended from tha mentality?