Pendulums
A pendulum is a small weight attached to a length of chain or thread. When someone holds it by the thread and asks a question, the weight moves and provides the answer. It is an amazing tool that can be used for many different purposes. Despite its ease and usefulness, I have met many people who learned how to use it and then discarded it as it was "too simple."
Even though a pendulum is simple to use, it takes practice to become good at it. You can buy pendulums at any new age store, but any weight suspended on cord or chain will act as an impromptu pendulum. Choose something that weighs at least three ounces and attach it to four to six inches of cord. I have a huge collection of pendulums, because my family invariably buys me a small object attached to a chain or cord for birthday and Christmas presents.
Hold the cord between the thumb and first finger of your right hand, if you are right-handed. (Use your left, if you are left-handed.) Rest your elbow on a table and allow the pendulum to swing freely an inch or so above the surface of the table. Stop the movement of the weight with your free hand. Then ask the pendulum to move in a direction that means "yes." The pendulum may start moving immediately, or it might take a while to indicate a positive response. Once it starts, it will either move from side to side, backwards and forwards, or rotate in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
Once the pendulum has indicated "yes" stop it again, and then ask it to indicate "no." Follow this by asking for "I don't know" and "I don't want to answer" responses.
Now you can ask the pendulum questions that can be answered with these four movements. Start by asking the pendulum questions that you already know the answers to. You might ask it if you are male. You will get a "yes" answer if you are, and a "no" response if you are not. Ask if you live at your current address. It should reply positively.
After checking your pendulum in this way, you can proceed to ask questions that you do not know the answers to. Start by asking questions that you can check later on. The correct answers that your pendulum provides will give you confidence as you continue to experiment. Your desire will have influenced the movements of the pendulum. Consequently, if you have an emotional involvement in the answer, you will find it better to have someone who has no interest in the outcome to ask the pendulum for you.
A very important step when using a pendulum is to cleanse it, especially if you bought one. A pendulum in a store, even an online store, has been touched by many people. People have probably touched it to look at it, shop employees have probably touched it when they were putting out to be bought. The seller from an online shop has certainly touched it. All of these people touching the pendulum that you just bought have left residual energies on it. These energies can affect the accuracy of the pendulum. So, you have to cleanse it.
If it’s made from a crystal, you can cleanse it the same way you cleanse your crystals. Write one that explains your intention just like you would to write a spell. Be specific in your writing. If you want to work with your spirit guides, say that. If you want to work with your higher self, say that. Be specific in the kind of spirits you want to work with. Do you want to work with ancestors? Spirit animals? Etc. If you want to work spirits aligned with light, be specific on the type of light. Anyway, after you have your prayer/incantation/chant written down, you can begin to cleanse your pendulum. The cleansing ritual/ceremony/process can be as elaborate as you deem fit. There are several ways you can use to cleanse your pendulum. First is smoke cleansing. Just as you would use sage to cleanse a room, you can use it to cleanse your pendulum. Light a bundle of dried sage, or sage incense. Pass your pendulum through the smoke and say your prayer/incantation/chant. Do this for as long as you think is necessary.
Second is visualization: Hold your pendulum in your hand and visualize it being surrounded by a brilliant white light. Focus on the residual energies being driven away and cleansed from your pendulum. Say your prayer/incantation/chant while you do your visualization.
Third, if your pendulum is made of crystal, any crystal cleansing techniques will work to cleanse it (i.e. burying it, putting it in running water, burying in salt, putting it with cleansing crystals, such as clear quartz and selenite, etc.). If you made your pendulum, you might not have to worry so much about cleansing and charging it because you made it and it’s already aligned with your energy. However, if you bought your pendulum, after you have cleansed it you need to charge it with your energy. You can do this by carrying it around with you in your pocket and asking small, mundane questions.
Once you have a cleansed and charged pendulum, you need to program it, meaning you need to establish how your pendulum will work for you (ex: deciding how you want your pendulum to move based on certain responses to your questions or your experience on this plane of existence). You should be in control and do what you are comfortable with. The pendulum is a tool and the spirits communicating through it are guides that can only offer advice. You should be the one who decides how the pendulum will move according to the different responses. You can program your pendulum however makes you feel comfortable and however you will remember the meaning of the movements best.
The more you use your pendulum, the more it becomes aligned to your energy. When you first start using your pendulum, begin by asking it mundane questions. Start with things that don’t have a significant impact on your life. Simple stuff like that gets you used to your pendulum and it helps you remember your programming for it better. It also helps your pendulum become aligned with your energy and makes the responses more accurate.
Your pendulum and the spirits communicating through it can only offer advice. You have the ability to either listen to what your pendulum advises or not. A pendulum a wonderful tool for communicating with your spirit guides and companions.
As you get more accustomed to using your pendulum, you can do other things with it. You can create charts to help you get more in depth information. For example, you can make a time table to help organize your tasks for the day. Additionally, you can use your pendulum for spirit work. You can make a letter board (like a ouija board) and communicate with spirits. You can also use pendulum for Reiki work, using it to find blockages in the chakras. A good exercise to do with pendulums is to have two, one in each hand, and see if you can get them both to move in harmony with each other. This will show any weak energy flow in your body. It’s a good way to help build up that flow and make it stronger.