Pendulums, pendulums, pendulums! They come in so many different styles, shapes, and personalities. From the simple necklace charms to the fancy gem-encrusted points, there’s a lot to be said for this casual divination tool.
A while back, we had received a notice regarding our Infinite Threads Pendulum Board that some of you didn’t know how to use a pendulum yet- so I took it upon myself to write up this post for your knowledge and leisure!
So, without any further ado, let’s get started!
⭐ The Tool Itself ⭐
By definition, pendulums are “a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely.” [x] In many cases concerning the use of divination, witchcraft, and spirit work, this tool is more famously known for being comprised of a tapered crystal and/or metal pendant and chain, such as as these:
Image Description: Nine hanging crystal pendulums of varying colors and sizes, all suspended from a metal chain and tapering to a point. Image Source:[x]
…But the truth of the matter is that there are many varying types and styles of pendulums that can be used for communication and divination! Some can be a bit unorthodox, some can be incredibly fancy, and some can be forged from materials that you may have laying around your room. In many cases, people (such as myself) also use the charms or pendants that they wear as necklaces, as well.
Additionally, there is also a superstition that if one ties their wedding ring to a string, they can discover the gender of the baby that they are carrying! I have personally tried the string-and-ring method with my own hematite band to much success, but it will also work with any kind ring that you own, regardless of material (though I find metals and minerals do work best).
I encourage those, especially those who might have little to no budget to spare for a crystal pendulum, to experiment and find one that works for them! You may be surprised by what you find. ;>
⭐ What is it used for? ⭐
Pendulums can be used for a variety of things, including divination and spirit communication. Here are just a few ways to use your pendulum:
Finding Lost Objects
Finding Energy Points on the Body
Experimenting with Energy in Your Hand(s) to Make It Move
Communicating with Spirits and The Unseen
Simple Answers to Questions
I have even done things just for fun, such as using my pendulum to play games with my spirit fam to let them influence choices such as what Pokemon starter we play with, or dialogue choices in RPGs. There’s a lot you can do with it, so try out different things to see what is good for you!
⭐ How does it work? ⭐
The question of how exactly pendulums work has been up for debate among those that use this tool for some time now, with postulations such as moving the arm or the flow of energy; however, through personal experience, I believe that there is a mixture of occurrences that allow a pendulum to move.
Rather than “energy vs physical movement,” I believe that it is an amalgam of the two.
Of course, it is very pivotal that one keeps their hand as still as possible while using the pendulum, that doesn’t change- but much like the movement of hands when using a Ouija Board or Psychic Circle, I do think that microscopic and subconscious movements play a part in how they perform. Not a huge part, but a part- especially when dealing with spirits and other entities.
Image Description:A gif of a Hypno from Pokemon swinging its trademark circular pendulum back and forth. Image Source:[x]
From what I have gathered from my past experiences as well as others’, this is especially applicable in the cases of any bias (conscious or subconscious) from the reader. Pendulums are one of the most easily influenced forms of divination due to this (especially when first learning to use it, or in the case of needing important information), and should be partnered with both journaling to keep track of its accuracy, and other accompanying forms of divination like tarot.
Other than subconscious movement, I remain in the mindset that energy is what will move the pendulum the most, especially after much practice and development. Psychic energy is like a muscle- you gotta work it out to get stronger!
Notably, Mod Tara and I agree that in a lot of cases, the pendulum has a better response rate if one holds their opposite hand under the end of the pendulum as they use it (if possible), compared to not having it there at all. In a very loose form, it can be akin to completing a circuit for energy to flow through more easily.
Of course, there are exceptions such as differences in diviners and pendulums being used, but it will most likely work regardless.
⭐ How To Use the Pendulum ⭐
The pendulum is a simple tool in its make and execution, but there are a few things to know before proceeding in using one.
As mentioned above, bias can become present during pendulum readings, so one of the best ways to counteract this is to release the ego during the duration of the reading. To do this, I recommend settling in a room with little to no distractions, and doing a short meditation to center yourself, quiet down any brain weasels that happen to be chattering away up there, and inviting the forces that you may be working with to provide you with genuine and accurate information. It may take a while to learn how to do this properly, especially if you are new to meditation, but you will achieve this state in time with practice.
The second thing that you should do before using a pendulum, preferably before every session, is to calibrate it. What this means is taking time to see how it responds to questions and taking note of the responses. This is also very good to do when communicating with entities, as their method of communicating might be different from your personal associations or others’.
Here are two tried-and-true methods for calibrating your pendulum:
Asking Yes or No Questions You Know the Answer To Asking simple yes or no questions to which you know the answer is a quick and easy way to learn how your pendulum will respond. For example, you can ask things such as “do I have blonde hair” or “am I wearing a red shirt”, and observe how the pendulum moves to see its manner of responding. Remember to ask at least one question that will be “yes”, and one that will be “no”.
“Show Me X” Otherwise, you can simply ask your pendulum (or potential spirit) “Show me yes/no/maybe/etc.” In this way, they can just provide in what ways to respond to your questions. With this method, I would also recommend backing these responses up by using the previously listed method, to assure accuracy- and as before, mentally log the ways the pendulum moves for certain answers!
Pendulum Movements:
Now that you know how to calibrate your pendulum, you need to know all the different ways that a pendulum can move in order to provide an answer. There is a variety of ways that a pendulum can give different responses other than “yes” or “no”.
Here are all the ways that pendulums can move:
Vertically (Up and Down)
Horizontally (Left and Right)
Diagonally
Rotations (Left or Right)
Shaking or Vibrating (Though this is more associated with needing to cleanse this tool, but it may differ for you!)
As stated previously, you may find that what you associate with a certain answer may differ from pendulum to pendulum or session to session- so be sure to become familiar with these movements to best understand the message being communicated to you!
Steps to Using the Pendulum:
Okay. Now that you have become familiar with your pendulum and how it will respond to your inquiries, it’s time to get to asking some questions! For ease of understanding, I have compiled- in short- all the steps that you need to know in order to divine with this tool:
Quiet your thoughts, and release the ego.
Rest the arm that will hold the pendulum on a steady, preferably flat and even, surface.
Hold your pendulum outward and let it settle until it is motionless.
Invite any spirits or forces that you would like to aid you in your divination session.
Calibrate your pendulum.
Ask your question(s).
Write down your responses.
That’s it, you’re done.
It seems pretty simple now, doesn’t it? To be honest, it is- you just need a little context and knowledge on how to understand it. Otherwise, pendulums are fairly easy to become accustomed to using!
In the cases of using additional tools such as pendulum boards, there is only a slight difference in how you would proceed in the reading. It is fairly self-explanatory, but the only difference is that you would still your pendulum over the center to get the responses listed on the board itself.
Calibration is still recommended through the “Yes or No” method to ensure that communication isn’t skewed (not all spirits can read, or read in our language, for example!), but otherwise, will have the potential to give a wider breadth of responses, and can be a great resource to take advantage of!
…And that’s it! You’re on your way to becoming a surefire pendulum expert!
As you have learned, pendulums can be a quick (and fun) way to do divination for a myriad of reasons. It’s one of the more basic and easily accessible tools for divination, and one I’d recommend everyone to learn!
Image Description: Two girls from the anime Love Lab doing a double high-five, with a small pink heart coming from their hands when they clap together. Image Source:[x]
Be sure to remember to journal and log the answers that you receive to track your accuracy, and don’t forget that which you’ve learned! ♥
Remember- you’ve got this! Have fun, and happy divining!
Since Summer began to get really hot here, I do my best to make sure that my cats have enough water when I leave for work. I keep a large stainless steel bowl in the bathroom sink in case they spill some and I always make sure it’s full.
So, before bed, it was really hot and I made sure there was water in their bowl. When I woke up the next day, all the water was gone. Had they knocked it around, there would have been some left and I would have been startled awake. It’s a fairly sturdy bowl and not easily something the average cat can move. Even if they fought into the bowl I would have heard something. But, the bowl was bone dry.
When asked, my keep told me that a merman spirit had traveled very far to get to my house and drank all the water. I was dumbfounded. Even after being told, I still looked for a hole or something just in case it was a trick. My new merman was real and he was here to stay.
Since going on hiatus with the spirit work, I’ve gotten to really build on what I know and learn a lot. This was a great experience and things like this don’t happen often. Still, to this day, I can’t get over this and it will always boggle my mind.
Earlier today, I was reminded of a convo I had with another friend/ client about vessels and bindings and it reminded me that I should make a post about it.
I forgot where I heard it but, bindings are just a means of locating where home is, in a sense. Binding to your spirit is the same as binding to a vessel. It’s not a cage or prison, but just a means to find where you or home is. Binding to spirit makes the connection stronger but some people have a hard time and prefer the physical vessel to hold during meditation and things like that. so it’s not a matter of how many you can have bound to you because, from my experience, it seems endless, but more a choice of how you want things to be done with your keep.
Now, I speak from experience as I’m very liberal with the movements of my keep. I don’t feel the need to tell them “stay home or else” because, as part of your spirit family, they have functions to perform.
For example, I always ask them to watch over my parents. They’re retired and walk all over the place unless they need the car for something or have to take the bus. I’d like to think that, not only are they watching over my parents, they’re watching over other people that could use their protection. So besides watching the house and my parents, there’s a library they can visit and a park. I don’t want them to feel bored or useless so they have every right to explore and discover and learn about the people in the area. Maybe even help other spirits move on.
So, while there’s a lot that can be done while you, as keeper, are home, there’s just as much they can do when you’re not and it’s like a learning experience for both of us. Trust is a two-way street and being able to have faith in them and treating them as we would like to be treated is something I feel is very important when bonding with your spirit family.
For lack of a better GIF, this incident did involve a tarot card so I went with it.
One morning, I woke up and went to go feed my cats. That was when I found a solitary tarot card on the floor about in the middle of my room. Ever since I fixed up this pouch for my deck, I’ve been keeping it close to my bed in case I felt the need to do a reading. It’s a simple burlap canvas bag, but it’s the kind of material that, once drawn closed will stay closed.
It’s first thing in the morning. I’m bleary eyed and now paranoid that somehow my cats went on some who knows what because cat logic. Then I grabbed my pendulum and asked if my spirits did it and they said yes. I was like “how the…” Grabbed the pouch and checked. It was still fully closed. But, it was an important message I was being told so I wrote the card in my book and took in what it could best mean.
This is actually the first major moment in spirit moving things for me ever. I’m actually hoping it happens again, but of course, it will be when they have something to tell me :3
Bonding is important when you become a Spirit Keeper. And when I first started, I tried my best to interact with everyone. But, that’s hard and mentally draining because my system became routine and I just stopped altogether. Your spirits understand you’re only given so many spoons in a day, but it can be harmful to the relationship to stop everything because you can’t keep up.
After hearing about certain things going on with other fellow Keepers that are also friends, having a Bonding Journal is a good thing to start. In conjunction with having a Bonding Schedule, you can focus on one or a few on that day and it’s totally up to you and yours how you make this work. Whether it’s in teams that specialize in certain things or randomly choosing them, it’s all a matter of what you, as a collective, agree upon. If you only have, let’s say less than 10, you can just alternate days with a randomizer and see how many days they want to do their session.
Here are a few things I suggest for those that have more than 10 (I have over 400 so yeah…):
Find out who needs more attention. Chances are, you have some that are not as strong as others so you might not know they need the attention. Keep in mind that, especially for those that have mixed Arts in their Keep, they’re not going to tell you right away, if at all. it’s important for you to check periodically for this so that no one gets left behind.
Make a list of names and then randomize it. Initially, I took the names of those in need of more attention and made that a separate list from the others and randomized both. then combined the more attention with the rest. Whatever system works for you and yours, do that. Teamwork!
Schedule in the time. whether it’s one day or one week, you should start with what they want. As time goes on, you can adjust. For me, I started right after the New Year with giving a single spirit a whole week. That got boring and it would take me years to finish so we adjusted to 3-4 spirits a day randomly chosen.
Individual vs. Teams. Depending on how big your Keep is, you may want to work in groups or teams. Say, for instance, you have a few divination spirits. Work with those few for however long you feel you can allot.
Again, these are just suggestions and I’ve tried a few combinations. Best thing is to see what works for you. Find other suggestions and mix it up :) You’ll find the best combo and everyone can be kept happy, healthy and wise.
Note: This idea was originally brought to my attention when a friend was going through a rough patch and @chaosinpandorasbox recommended she do this so her spirits didn’t feel neglected. Remember that spirits have feelings, too, so make sure to take care of them like you would anyone else in your family.
