Getting Answers
Merry Meet.
This time of year, when the veil between the worlds is thin, divination is a common practice. One of the easiest ways to find answers is with a pendulum.
Traditionally, pendulums are used to respond to questions with a yes or no answer. Until you are completely comfortable with a pendulum, I learned to begin by asking it, “Show me yes.” The swing it gives – typically forward and back – is what your yes will look like. You can do the same for no – which traditionally is a swing from side to side.
A friend of mine said her pendulum swings widdershins for no and deosil for yes, and was told that is quite common.
If the answer is something other than yes or no, a pendulum might just hang straight, wiggle a little, or swing in a circle. Mine began doing that one day, and I came to understand it as meaning that the answer is not known or the situation is unclear.
Sometimes it’s the question that is not phrased correctly, but other times, it can be that my energy is getting in the way – something that happens if I am not still and calm when asking the question.
Take today, for instance. My anxiety was mounting as I frantically looked for my keys. With my pendulum held above the trunk of the car, I asked the question, “Are my keys in the trunk?” The answer came back as a circle. The same response came when I held it in the commercial trash container where the occupants of two buildings dispose of their garbage.
I put away the pendulum.
Had I been able to work further, I could have used it to provide more information. The photo is of an answer board. The surface was made by sanding off an old painting of a cabin in the woods. The spider is one of my totems, so I am drawn to the image of a web and used that to pull together the possible answers. I used a little bottle glue with a fine point to draw on the web that I then sprinkled with glow-in-the-dark glitter. The glue, even with its fine tip, produced a line I thought was much too thick, so you may want to find another way.
Glitter paint, also in a small plastic bottle with a thin tip, was used to print the letters.
My design offers a variety of answers in addition to yes, no and maybe: wait, cast a spell, not clear and something I have come to understand as I am not meant to know the information. This works if the pendulum adjusts its swing to start in the center and move toward the answer.
I have seen other pendulum charts that have “yes” at the top and bottom, “no” on the right and left, “maybe” in the upper right and lower left, and “don’t know” on the upper left and lower right. That way, the pendulum will point to the same answer and at either end of its swing.
IF you make your own, you can include other possibilities for answers such as ask again and not enough information. No formal board or chart is needed; words can be written on a piece of paper. Letters and numbers can be added, such as around the edge of a plate. A pendulum can also be used to select a movie, choose between two entrees, indicate an energy flow, tell if someone is lying and find lost objects. (For the record, my keys are still missing.)
When it comes to a pendulum, almost anything can work. When I don’t have access to my pointed moonstone one, I will slip off my long necklace with several pendents on it and use that. I have also used a shorter necklace by holding one end and letting the pendent resting against the clasp act as the bobber. You can experiment with a key on a ribbon, a button on a string or a variety of other objects to find what works best and what will do in a pinch.
I hope you’ll share your pendulum stories below.
