Pendulums have been used for eons as a way of connecting with Spirit and divining answers to our myriad of questions as we navigate this human experience. They’re simple to use and a way to connect with your intuition.
How do pendulums work?
Divination using a pendulum really isn’t all that mysterious. The answers come from within your inner, wiser self (hello, intuition!). It’s connected to your ideomotor response, a mind-body connection that causes slight muscular movements independent of your conscious desires or emotions.
Skeptics think of the ideomotor response as an unconscious reaction to a stimulus and use it to disregard tools such a pendulums or phenomena like automatic writing and table tipping. However, I consider it to be a mind-body connection that taps into your intuition to give you signals that can be translated into clearer answers using a pendulum. Intuition uses your body all the time to give you information — a sinking feeling in your stomach, a tug in your gut, the rising of your heart with inspiration or excitement.
A pendulum is just a tool to interpret these body sensations. The trick here is that you need to detach your emotions and expectations from the answers you receive so that you can access your intuition and higher self.
What to use as your pendulum
You can use many different objects as pendulums — any slightly weighted object can work. You could use a rock, crystal, pendant or ring, for example. Hang it from a chain, string or ribbon — something that allows it to hang straight and move easily. The chain should be 4-15” long — whatever feels right to you
How to hold and use your pendulum
Hold the chain between your thumb and forefinger with your writing hand, letting the weighted part hang. Settle yourself and your environment. When you begin working with a pendulum, do so in a quiet, peaceful place. Whether that’s the middle of the woods or your living room is up to you. But you should be free from distractions.
Setting up communication with your pendulum
You first need to learn how your pendulum will communicate with you. There are a few ways to do this.
Tell it what you want yes and no to be
Deliberately move the pendulum in clockwise circles or backwards and forwards and ask it to always indicate a yes or positive response with that movement.
Then deliberately move the pendulum in anti-clockwise circles or side to side and ask it to use that movement to indicate a no or negative response.
You can also use a pendulum chart with yes, no, maybe, and rephrase question written out on it and ask the pendulum to use that to provide answers.
Ask the pendulum
Ask your pendulum to directly show you yes and no and wait to see how it swings each time (do them one at a time).
Or ask questions with yes/no answers — questions you know the answer to, that are solid, objective and grounded in reality. Like: Is it Wednesday today? Is it daytime? Is my name Joanna?
Or you can visualize a happy or successful moment in your life or feeling within yourself. The pendulum will respond to this positive emotion with a yes response. Then remember a time of sadness, sorrow and disappointment. The pendulum will respond to this different emotion with its movement for no.
For some people, when the pendulum swings left to right (like the shaking of your head), it means no. When it swings backward and forward (like nodding your head) it means yes. Swinging in a circular movement means uncertainty. But the pattern might be different for you. A clockwise motion may mean yes, while counterclockwise may mean no. That’s why you start with some objective questions to determine how your pendulum will give answers and information.
What can you use a pendulum for?
To find something that’s lost
Pendulums can be very helpful in finding lost items, people and pets. How you use it depends on how narrow or wide the scope of where you’re looking is.
In a room: Ask the pendulum where the object is located. The pendulum will swing in its direction. (You can also follow your intuition, as a tug in your gut, as to where the object is. Or tap into your clairvoyant abilities and ask to see where the item is.)
In a house: Go through your house, room by room and ask the pendulum, is the object is in that room? You’ll receive a yes or no response for each room. Once you’ve narrowed it down, go into the specific room and ask where the object is located.
On a map: Ask the pendulum if the object is in the area of the map. You’ll get a yes or no answer. If yes, point to places on the map to narrow down the location. If you’re looking for a person or pet, it can be helpful to have a photo or object of belonging to the person to tune into their energy frequency.
To make decisions
A pendulum can be used to find answers to anything you can ask a yes/no question about. Prepare your question in advance, either in your mind or by writing it down. Get clear and calm within yourself (meditation is great for this), then ask your question. Allow your mind to relax and empty and wait for the pendulum’s response.
To choose between several options
Set out the various options on a flat surface (photos of houses you’re looking at purchasing, supplements you’re thinking of taking, people you’re thinking of marrying — it can literally be anything that has more than 1 or 2 choices).
Hold your pendulum over each option, moving very slowly and wait to feel a downwards tug or pull over one of the options. The pendulum may also feel very heavy before it tugs. Keep going over all the options — you may feel a tug on more than one, so you want to discern which has the strongest pull.
Things to keep in mind
Maintain emotional detachment from the outcome.
If you’re getting confusing or contradicting answers, take an emotional step back. The pendulum allows you to make full use of your combined conscious and unconscious knowledge. But you need to disconnect from what you think you want. Ask for your highest good. And let go of the answer itself.
The best frame of mind to be in is one of childlike innocence, expectancy and wonder.
If you get a weak response
Sometimes the answers still don’t come clearly. If so, ask clarifying questions. You may not be phrasing your question clearly enough. Or ask again later (sound like a magic 8 ball?), perhaps it’s not an answer you’re meant to know just yet.
Your intuition works right here in the present. It often shines the light of Spirit on the very next steps on your path — because those are the only steps you can actually take. You can’t walk on your path of a year from now. Only your path today. So perhaps knowing if you’ll be in a different job or house or with a different partner 1, 5 or 10 years from now isn’t something you truly need to know (although it may be something you want to know).