Choosing and Using a Pendulum

© Copyright 2024 Fran Carey, All Rights Reserved.

Pendulums are a traditional means of divination. A pendulum consists of a weight on one end of a string or chain, and the chain. Most modern ones include a bead or charm on the end opposite the weight to give the user something to hold on to. While they are most commonly used to answer simple "Yes" or "No" questions, they can be used for much more than this. They can be used with charts to determine physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual needs, or with maps to find things. Rumor has it that a lot of the oil found during the Texas and Oklahoma oil booms of the 1920s was found by using a pendulum with a map. Check out the Recommended Reading section below for books of charts and tricks.

Many options are available in pendulums today. There are pendulums carved from stone, cast from metal, made of Organite, memory wire, glass, and wood. Metal is the most durable, if you happen to be rough on your possessions, as I am. Stone pendulums can be chosen by the properties of the stones. (See Magickal Gemstones and Their Uses) Or you can simply choose the one you find most attractive. It usually means that is the energy you need in your life right now. If you order online from a reputable vendor, their order pullers will choose the right one from the style you have chosen. The Universe will guide them.

When choosing your pendulum in person, use the above guidelines for properties, or choose the one that calls to you. Once you have decided which you want to try, the first thing you need to do is establish your vocabulary. I like to hold the pendulum in my dominant hand with my other hand under it, for two reasons. One, I feel it completes a circuit. Two, if I drop the pendulum, it doesn't go anywhere.

First, I ask the pendulum to show me Yes, then wait for it to swing. Once it has shown me our yes, I ask it to show me No, and again wait for its response. Next I ask it a question to which I do know the answer, usually something related to the color of shirt I am wearing. For example, "Am I wearing a blue shirt?" Then you can ask it a question to which you don't know the answer. Mine usually relates to the gym. "Are you my pendulum?," is also a fair question.

When asking questions, it helps to be very precise. I once asked was a woman wearing a pink shirt as a test question. The pendulum said, "No." I had to ask was she wearing an orchid shirt for it to concur.

Once you choose your pendulum, store it in a safe place such as a small pouch to protect its point and its chain, as well as its energy. Cleanse your pendulum occasionally by placing it on top of a bowl of sea salt overnight or on the windowsill in the light of a full moon. You can also smudge it or use Purification Incense.

If you feel it is giving you nonsense answers or not answering you at all after a while, it may need cleansing or a short vacation. Try cleansing first, and, if it still doesn't want play, give it some time off, a week or so at least. But don't neglect it. Pendulums often act like people and can get their feelings hurt.

Work with your pendulum often, checking from time to time that you are still using the same signals by doing the test in paragraph 4, cleanse it regularly, and explore what the two of you can learn together.

Recommended Products
How to Use a Pendulum	Practical Pendulum Book
Amethyst Pendulum	Moonstone Pendulum