#pendulum board

How to Use a Pendulum

This really depends on your beliefs. Some believe pendulum move on its own, or that a certain spirit is moving it. Others on the other hand believe that it is our own intuition that moves it - so that we are moving it through subtle moves of the fingers. Depending on where your beliefs lie, you may choose to either hold the end of the string/chain in between your index finger and thumb with your elbow on a solid surface, or hang it on something to make sure you’re not the one moving it.

If you would like to rather hang it, there are sites that sell stands for it, or some people like to DIY a pendulum jar/bottle - for that you basically grab a transparent jar and glue the pendulum chain to the middle of the lid, so that when you close it, the pendulum hangs freely in the middle of it. This ensures that no wind will tamper with it.

Some tech witches would probably also use some sort of an app or a website which randomly decides what the pendulum answers. Once again, this depends entirely on your beliefs, whether you believe in the accuracy of divination tools in electronics. Unfortunately I haven’t found a good website or an app that would simulate it well, but perhaps you’ll have better luck!

Now, when you first get a pendulum, other than cleansing it, you can also “calibrate” it. Either you can decide on how it should show each answer, or you can ask it to show you each. You can also ask it basic questions that you know the answer to to find out their meanings (and many people do that even after “calibrating” to check if everything fits). There are 4 basic moves of a pendulum:

Yes - usually either from front to back (like nodding your head), or side to side. As I mentioned before, you can also ask it to show you (“show me a yes”) and remember it or write it down somewhere.

No - once again, usually side to side (like shaking your head) or front to back.

Maybe - usually either clockwise or counter-clockwise. This often means that the answer to your question depends on different factors. Kind of like saying “yes if X, no if Y”. Sometimes certain spirits also like to say “maybe” a lot, in my experience it is a common thing amongst tricksters.

Don’t know / Can’t answer / Rephrase - once again, usually clockwise or counter-clockwise. Some pendulums actually merge “maybe” and “don’t know”. This means that either they do not want to tell you, or you asked a non-yes/no-question.

Another thing are charts - you can use a pendulum chart or board for questions that don’t have yes/no answers. And many also use a pendulum board that has the basic 4 motions on it as well! Super useful for forgetful people. There are many you can choose from, and you can also make your own. There are ones with a full on alphabet, so that it can give you custom answers. You can find many for example on Pinterest. It’s better to print them out, but there were many times I’ve simply opened one on my phone and held my pendulum over the screen.

Pendulum’s are also often used in energy works as a way to find some blockages, which areas need the most attention, etc. Basically in these things one person lies down flat on the stomach or back, and the other person holds the pendulum over their body, asking to point towards the areas. I believe that it is quite a common practice when you go to some reiki therapy.

There are also other ways of using your pendulum. It can be used to find a location that meets your specifications / where the object you’re looking for is located. That could be for example when you’ve lost something in your house, or when you want to look for an ingredient.

For finding something local, you usually ask yes/no questions for each of the rooms (if it’s inside a house, this step would be skipped if you already know the room or if you’re in a larger area). Alternatively, you could hold your pendulum over a sketch of the layout of the building to figure out the room. Then, you would ask for the direction and the pendulum will point towards the object. Make sure you’re standing in the doorway, because otherwise you might be going forwards when the pendulum was actually pointing behind you. You do this multiple times, also throwing in some questions like “am I near the object”, etc.

For finding something in a large area (like entire neighbourhood, or tips for trips to other states, finding ingredients, etc.) you can use your pendulum with a map. Then you ask it to point to the area where you will find it / that’s good for your vacation. You can once again do it multiple times, and if you’re going to search for something specific, you can then use the local way of finding things.

One more thing I’d like to talk about before moving on to taking care of a pendulum, is divination itself. When talking about divination, most people probably imagine fortune telling. Now I’m not saying that’s impossible, but the fact is, future is everchanging. The slightest of things can change it - that is why the further we’re reading, the more inaccurate it gets. When you do a reading (and I mean anything, be it pendulum or tarot) for today, it will be likely quite accurate, but the further away you do, it gets less and less accurate. And on top of that, we can often misinterpret things. So just keep this in mind when using your divination tools. I personally rather do readings for advice rather than fortune-telling.

  Pendulum care

When we talk about pendulum care, it’s mostly about cleansing. Why do we cleanse? Because most things collect some amount of negative energy through time. This is especially true for spiritual tools, including divination tools, because by doing spiritual things, we open the area (and ourselves) to the energies of the universe - which includes negative ones. Other than that we also always cleanse tools when we first obtain them, to rid them of any energy they were subjected to up till they got into our hands. This ensures they keep giving accurate answers and we don’t bring even more negative energy into our lives.

Another thing is bonding with your pendulum. Using it by itself of course also is a way of bonding, but there are other ways too. Bonding helps you be more in tune with its energy, makes your readings more accurate. And if you (like some other people) believe that each divination tool has its kind of spirit (I feel like this is really common among card readers, because those cards be acting sassy), you might want to bond for the sake of bonding. Now this is done through for example carrying it around with you and meditating with it. When you first get it, asking test questions (ones you already know the answer to) can be a good way to feel its energy as well. Just make sure it’s alright with test questions, some divination tools really don’t like those in my experience, at least when you’re acting distrustful.

Cleansing your pendulum can be done in multiple ways. If you’d like to use physical cleaning (with water) while focusing on cleansing it spiritually too, please make sure that whatever the material is can be washed. There are many crystals that react with water, and in some cases it can be harmful not only to the crystal, but also to you.

Another way you can cleanse is by sunlight or moonlight. I’ve seen multiple opinions on these - some say that some crystals would be better with sunlight while others with moonlight and that full moon is the best, because the moonlight is strongest. However I have found it more common for new moon to be a cleansing period. The energies of new moon leave behind what should be gotten rid of and starts with a clean slate. Charging crystals would be probably better in full moon though, yes. But crystals currently aren’t our topic. You also need to make sure how certain crystals react with sunlight - because some fade if left too long in it. It doesn’t damage them, but you might be disappointed if your beautiful amethyst pendulum suddenly starts losing its purple colour. 

There is also something called soundcleansing. Usually it’s done with tuning fork or a singing bowl, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. I often combine this with visualisation and clap my hands, hum, things like that. It is mostly believed that the vibrations are what cleanse. So you can also pull up youtube video with some sounds and it should work just fine.

And then there is visualisation and meditation.This one is even more flexible than the other methods. You sit down with your pendulum and meditate, then imagine perhaps the energies exchanging, getting rid of any dark spots (negative energy) and bringing in some positive energy (often either white or yellow). I often combine this with some movement like slamming one hand lightly against the other, like shaking the negative energy out, like a powder.

  Materials

And I’d also like to mention that it is good to put up some protections around the place you wanna keep it in (you can also make a protection for the sachet you keep it in. This keeps it from building up too much negative energy. Many people believe that if a crystal builds up way too much negative energy, they can break. As in, part of them can fully chip off. This is actually what happened to my pendulum unfortunately, as I did not keep it in a protected place. You can continue using it even after that, I still do, but it’s never a good thing nor a good feeling to have that happen.

Other than protecting your pendulum, don’t forget to protect yourself too! Since you’re opening yourself to the universe, it is important to protect yourself from anything harmful that could enter your place through it.

Pendulums can be made from all kinds of things. If you don’t have the budget to get one, you may even use a necklace, or literally any weight hung on a string. But of course, crystals are the most common for pendulums. 

Rose quartz - Other than being the love crystal as everyone knows it, rose quartz is pretty good for getting rid of negative energies. So might be doing exceptionally well in love readings, but is mostly used for it’s protective energy.

Black obsidian - another crystal known mainly for its protective and cleansing energies, maybe more than rose quartz, which is usually focused more on love, self-love. 

Lapis lazuli - its properties have wisdom and truth. It’s not surprising that it is used for pendulums a lot. We do after all ask it for answers.

Aquamarine - quite an interesting stone. The connection with water means it has some cleansing properties. Spiritually however it is also connected with trust and communication. Once again, not surprising why one would want it for a pendulum.

Amethyst - Ah yes, amethyst. It has been considered one of the main spiritual crystals. Not too surprising, it is connected to the third eye energy center. It has the properties of wisdom, intuition and fighting anxiety and depression. In my opinion it is likely one of the most common materials used for pendulums and other spiritual tools.

Of course, crystals aren’t the only material used for pendulums. Another common one is metal. Copper for example is a great energy conductor and is quite widely used. Brass and Bronzestem from copper and therefore have very similar properties and are quite sturdy.

Sometimes also wood is used, as it is more grounding and stable, unaffected by the surrounding energies, only by yours as you hold it.

Some pendulums have beads / small crystals on the string. It can be used to customize the look, but also to add some meanings if you’d like. Quite common are also energy center beads (sold under “chakra” term, as chakras have been greatly appropriated from Hinduism and Buddhism).

  Making a Pendulum

There are multiple ways you can make your own pendulum if you don’t have the funds or don’t find it worth investing money into. You can always grab a necklace that you perhaps own. While most rather own pointy pendulums, they don’t have to have that shape. It is always good for it to be balanced though.

And if you’re into some woodwork, you can also carve out a wooden pendulum, hang it on a string and there you go! It shouldn’t be too heavy though, otherwise it will have a hard time swinging. And being too light might lead to it being swayed by the faintest of breezes.

  Final Note

That’s all for this post. If you have any questions or anything you think I should add to this post, go to Ask Anything. You can also write in that you do not wish to have it published, however, then you need to not write anonymously, otherwise I won’t be able to respond in DMs. For more posts, check out the Library. Have a wonderful day 💜

   Sources

My Experience

trulyexperiences crystal correspondences

opulentcharms pendulum materials