Pendulum - uses in magic

Introduction
In this article I will try to give you as much information as my knowledge allows me about pendulums. From its uses to making one.

Subcatecories

• What is a pendulum?
• Some uses of the pendulum
• Make one or buy one?
• How to use it
• Conclusion

NOTE: As stated in the title, i n this topic we will be discussing only the magical uses of a pendulum and not any other measurement methods. If you are interested about other uses of the pendulum please read the excelent article on wikipedia about it.

What is a pendulum?
Technically speaking, a pendulum is a weight suspended from a cord.

"Apendulum is a weight suspended from apivotso that it can swing freely. [1] When pendulum is displaced sideways from its restingequilibrium position, it is subject to arestoring forcedue togravitythat will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position. When released, the restoring force combined with the pendulum's mass causes it tooscillateabout the equilibrium position, swinging back and forth. The time for one complete cycle, a left swing and a right swing, is called theperiod. A pendulum swings with a specific period which depends (mainly) on its length."
~From wikipedia's article about pendulums

Some uses of the pendulum
Use of the pendulum out of magic
The first appearance of the pendulum is at the first century when a Chinese scientist used it as a pointer in his seismometric device. After that we see the pendulum used (first) by Galileo as a timekeeping object around 1602 which was the most accurate timekeeping technology until the 1930s! We also see the pendulum being used by Foucault as an object that shows the Earth's motion.
~Wikipedia's article used as reference for the dates shown in this section.

Use of the pendulum in magic
Besides all the other uses, we see the pendulum being used as a divination tool within magic. I have no historic knowledge on its appearance in time but we see it being widely used in magic since the "resurection" of magic.
The pendulum has many different uses in magic varying from divination to finding an object/place

Make one or buy one?
If you want to buy a pendulum that you saw in a store or even online (browse the site's store, it has many beautiful designs) you should make sure that you will feel comfortable with it, that you like the design and that your energies align (something like you two are meant to be for the other). You may want to pay attention to the object/crystal it's made of making sure you avoid plastic ones. Now that you have all of those in mind, buy it!

But I want to make my own pendulum!
For reasons of your own, you may want to make your own pendulum to make it more personal. Agreed and respected. All you have to do is to get a piece of cord or chain and tie a weight at the tip. The weight can be anything from a little stone you found by the sea, a crystal, a key, a ring, anything! Just make sure to use something that you really like and feel comfortable with. Most people I know use crystals so you could always visit the local crystal store or if there's not one around you, browse the site's store, you will find many excelent pieces there. Last thing you need to do is to decide on the chain's or cord's size. It really depends on you but make sure that it's not too long or too short. I like using something around 20-21cm (around 8 inches).

How to use it
Ok I got it now do I use it?
First of all you need to have a pendulum of course and then you need to know what you want to use it for.
When you first get (or make) a pendulum you should start playing with it to get the idea of its use. Some pendulum bundles come with a divination yes/no board, you really don't need that.

Exercise 1: Getting to know your pendulum
This first exercise is very important and is used to get you know your pendulum
Hold the tip of your pendulum and let it suspend. Empty your mind from any other thoughts and in your mind (or loudly if you prefer!) ask your pendulum to show you 'yes'. You will notice it starts moving either front/back or left/right. Well done! You just learned your pendulum's way of showing you its 'yes' answer! After that you should ask it to show you 'no' and 'I don't know'. When you are done learning how your pendulum comunicates with you, you should keep on asking it to show you yes, no and I don't know so you become more familiar with it.

Exercise 2: Simple questions
Now that you know how to use your pendulum start asking it simple questions like "Is my given name John?" ,"Is my age 99?", "is my shirt red coloured?"
You get the idea! Now get on with it.

What can I do with my pendulum?
Now that you know the basics of using your pendulum, the amount of its uses are as limited as your imagination! Some common uses of the pendulume are:

• Getting yes/no answers to your questions
  We have already been through this in the exercises, ask your pendulum anything but make sure to strip your questions down to be answered by yes or no. Keep your questions simple.
• Finding objects
  Stop hiding, every one of us found ourselves looking for our keys "hey! Did you happen to see where I put my keys?" Yes, it happens to every one of us, don't worry. But now that you have a pendulum, why don't you try using it to find them?
• Finding places
  A colleague of yours has invited you at his house because he is throwing a party for his promotion, you know the whereabouts of his house but you have no idea which one it is! Did you remember to bring your pendulum with you? Great, now use it!

Those were just some examples so that you get the basic idea, as said before, the only limit is your imagination! Use it.

Exercise 3: Hide and seek
Ask a friend of yours to hide an object in the house. Have your eyes closed and don't cheat! Now use your pendulum to find the object! Empty your mind and ask your pendulum to show you where the item is, you could also visualise the object to make it even more easy.
This exercise can take many other variations, some of them are:
Ask your friend to hide in a different room of the house or even in another house; Go with your friend in another neighboorhood and have him explore the area. Now he should describe a house, tree, store, object he saw and you shall go and find it using only the pendulum as your guide.
Use your imagination and variate the exercise. This way you practise with your pendulum and have fun at the same time!

Conclusion
Ok now you have your own pendulum and you know how to use it. Some things you should have in mind is that your only limit is your imagination. You should keep your questions as simple as possible to be answered with a simple yes or no. You should keep your mind clear from other thoughts as they may interfer with your intent or question and they could probably change the outcome. The stronger your intent, the more reliable the outcome/answer!
That's all for now, make sure to ask me any possible questions. I hope I helped.

~Phantus

Login or Signup to reply to this post.

When using a pendulum to find objects, typically (that I've read) it is held over a map and then sways in the direction of the location that needs to be found. While I have never used a pendulum in this manner, I have used visions and clairaudience to help me find lost items. If I were to use a pendulum in this manner, how would you say I would tune it like I would with yes or no answers? The only idea I can think of is to place objects near the pendulum to see if it will sway in it's direction.

The other form focuses less on the pendulum's physical leanings and more on using it as an amplifier for psychometry (psychically finding physical objects, people, and places). In this manner, one would use the pendulum to help ground a person in more etheric energy than astral energy (denser and more closely related to the physical than energy of the cosmos), then tune their ability for psychometry that way. Because one is using etheric energy rather than astral energy, the physical material of the pendulum would play more of a part than it's cosmic counterpart (as in the belief of as above, so below in that everything physical has a subtle counterpart), so one would keep in mind that different physical objects have different subtle energies and run/direct energy in different manners. If one is confused as to how a physical object directs energy, one needs only to learn how said object is formed.

If it is natural, look to how it grows; whereas man made or shaped objects would factor in the natural behaviors of said material as well as it's shape. A quartz crystal would naturally be planar while a blade is forged in a planar manner (typically), whereas a a piece of wood or other plant grows in concentric rings or using the Fibonacci sequence (I love working with physical tools, so I'm a bit of a nut about it). One needs only to find how their energy naturally works and how a material's energy naturally works, along with it's shape and see how the energies work together. One can also use sympathetic Magick in finding something or someone with a pendulum; if you lost a ring, use a ring of similar shape or material. If one needs to find a person, use an object of their's or a poppet to emulate them, and so on.

There are similar forms of divination that use natural weights to identify the direction, though not all are practical. For example, one form was an ax swung into the air and the direction it landed would point to the path a criminal took. There are plenty of other examples, though I shall not ramble on longer than I already have at the moment.

Couldn't have said it better, Eis! Your reply will really help others understand the structure around us and how different vibrations work; also open their minds for different uses of the pendulum when it comes to finding objects or a person. I really liked your refference to sympathetic magick since this will make it even more easier for some.

Now to answer your question, to find objects I preffer using the visualisation method combined with a "show me where the -- is" question since it works best for me. That is, you empty your mind, see the object in your mind and ask the pendulum to show you where it is. You will notice that the pendulum starts swinging to the object's direction.
If I wanted to find a person, I would use the same method as above, visualising as many details of the person as possible, their shape, voice, even clothes or character, so that the visualised object's vibrations allign with the person's vibrations. If you know the person well, you could use the bond between you two as a guide also.

Great post!

On the matter of locating items or people, I'd grid a map and use process of elimination, say "this half or this half?" and so on :))

If you had to look for a person in a whole town/city/country or whatever, the elimination method works just great to the point of the block, after that you just have to go to that block and ask the pendulum to show you the "spot". That works great with me.

PS: Thank you, Zeb