Using a Pendulum

A pendulum? What are you talking about now?

A discussion of using a pendulum requires a basic understanding of the energy fields around us and how a pendulum could possibly swing in a direction that brings an answer to our questions, or be used, as Barbara Brennan students of light healing are taught to do, in the field of physical healing at the auric levels.

It is undisputed that we live in a sea of energy. The body has its own electromagnetic field. For example, medical technology makes good use of this field through magnetic resonance imaging techniques to detect physical issues otherwise difficult to ascertain. Intuitively, we can sense the presence of someone else in the room. This is because we feel that person’s energy filed. We may be attracted or repulsed. Instinct may make our hair raise in fear or cause us to be immediately receptive and loving. We can walk into a room and sense if there has recently been an argument. We can walk into a room and feel a sense of peace. If inclined, we can feel whether a place is sacred. I was inexplicably moved to tears recently in the Sagrada Familia. Though there were hundreds of tourists around me, I felt a golden peace radiating through me.

Try this experiment. Straighten out two metal coat hangers, bending the ends about 4-5” in at a 90 degree angle. Now you have two dowsing rods, commonly used by country folk in past times and in my county, still, to detect underground water. They can also be used to detect electromagnetic fields. You can even use them to detect spirits in a room. But what we are going to do right now is show you how they can be used to measure a person’s electromagnetic field. Hold the small end in each hand, so that the wires are extending parallel and straight outward from you chest. Your thumbs should be straight up and touching each other. The wires will be a few inches apart. Without exerting any extra pressure apart from what it takes to hold them, walk straight toward a friend standing ten feet away. As you approach your friend, the rods will spread apart as they detect his energy field. For additional interest, do this outside, once while your friend is wearing shoes and once while he is barefoot. It is a real lesson to see how much energy radiates through him from the earth.

This will establish your general understanding that yes, we have a measurable energy field.

Moving on to pendulums. You can use any object that operates as a pendulum. A necklace with anything on the end, perhaps a charm of your power animal, a jewel, a cross or whatever you have handy if you need a quick answer, is an easy pick. A chain with a crystal may be even more sensitive, depending upon what you are trying to divine. It is my experience that your belief in it is more important than any other aspect, but there is no contradicting the evident power of different types of crystals and stones. Once sensitive to these tools, one can feel the heat from, say a double-beveled crystal vs. a piece of old pine wood. It is not a coincidence that many wizard’s wands are tipped with a certain crystal or stone. There is a lot of good resource material on the characteristics and commonly accepted powers of various stones.   It is probably more important in healing to use a material capable of great sensitivity, for example when you are measuring the diameter of swing above a chakra, than when you are simply seeking a yes or no answer.

The other aspect to using the pendulum involves a belief system. You must establish, and this can be done instantly if the intent is there, an understanding with whoever you are asking, that for example, a clockwise swing means yes and a counterclockwise swing means no.   It doesn’t matter whether you are asking the Universe, angels, power animals, your Spirit Guide or your deceased mother, as long as you believe that energy is on board with you, then you are ready to go.

Fold your hand in a loose fist, with the thumb on top facing outward from your body and the loosely clenched fingertips facing toward your heart. Hold the end of the chain between your thumb and index finger, letting the rest of the chain flow down the outside of your fingers with the pendulum dangling below your hand. Ask your mentor to swing the pendulum clockwise and establish that this means yes. Then ask your mentor to swing the pendulum counterclockwise and that means no. Do this a couple times until you are comfortable that you are not consciously swinging the chain.

When laying out a medicine card spread or asking a question utilizing the medicine cards, I usually lay the cards out in three rows and ask if the card is in the first row, yes or no, the second row, yes or no and if thus far the answer is no, then the third row. Once the correct row is established, I hold the pendulum above each card until it swings clockwise, then I select that card. It is a bit more time-consuming than just laying down the deck, but that’s what I do.

Another method I have used, but it requires frequent and regular practice, is to detect the card by the heat it radiates. Ted Andrews lays out some excellent practices to detect heat in his book, “How to Develop and Use Psychic Touch.” If you are not familiar with Ted Andrews “how-to” series and you are interested in developing the magical powers we all have, I highly recommend his straightforward no-nonsense books. I believe that James Van Praagh also teaches how to be aware of psychic energy in the room through temperature… I cannot seem to recall right now which of his books on dealing with bereavement, understanding life after death and communicating with those in the afterlife had the exercises in it, but I am fairly certain I read these in one of his many excellent books.