How to Use a Pendulum

A pendulum is a powerful spiritual tool. Here’s Everything you need to know to begin using a pendulum for intuition and divination.

Pendulums seem sort of suspicious, right? Like, they’re way too vulnerable to wishful thinking. How can we be sure we’re getting real answers and not just making the pendulum move how we want it to move?

It’s true that the answers you receive from a pendulum can be influenced by your emotions. But, once you get the hang of using a pendulum, you can tell the difference between real and fake, or intuition and ego. Willfully swinging it feels one way while letting it move with the kinetic energy that flows through your body feels like something else entirely.

Getting comfortable with your pendulum does take time. Still, you can start working with it successfully right away.

Read on for everything you need to know to get started on your pendulum journey today.

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Where the Pendulum’s Answers Come From

Here’s something not everyone understands: the pendulum’s answers come from you.

A pendulum is a tool that helps us get in touch with our own intuition. And your intuition is a combination of the information you receive through all five of your senses, all the knowledge and experience you’ve accumulated over your lifetime, and the unique way divine energy and wisdom flows through you.

When you work with a pendulum, you are essentially making your intuition visible. You’re giving it the ability to nod yes or no.

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What Type of Pendulum to Use

Now, what type of pendulum should you use? Quartz? Lapiz? Labradorite? Tiger eye? Metal? Wood? What?

It doesn’t matter.

It’s true that you  may find a beautiful pendulum to be more powerful than a washer tied to a string. But many of us will use anything lying around, with similar or identical results. I’ve had crystal pendulums and metal pendulums. I’ve used necklaces as pendulums. In a pinch, I’ve used my car keys as a pendulum. I’ve even used my earbuds as a pendulum.

Still, many beginners find that a metal pendulum with a substantial weight is easier to use than something less conductive and on the lighter side. You may be the same way, or you may be different. But once you get started, over time you will find what works best for you.

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How to Get STarted with Using a Pendulum

To get started, hold your pendulum (or necklace, or washer tied to a string) in your dominant (writing) hand, as shown in the image above. Relax your arm and fingers. Ground your energy and center your mind by taking some deep breaths and feeling your weight on the earth.

Now, inwardly or aloud, say, “Show me yes.”

At first, the movement of the pendulum may take a moment to begin and when it does it may be very faint, which is totally fine. If it doesn’t move at all, just take a deep breath and relax your elbow and wrist a little more. You may be holding it too rigidly.

Common movements for “yes” include forwards and backwards or a clockwise circle, but don’t be limited by these conventions. See how yes shows up for you personally.

Once you’ve discovered your “yes” answer, say (silently or aloud), “Show me no.”

Most likely, if your “yes” was forward and backward, your “no” will be side to side (much like nodding yes or no). And if your “yes” was a clockwise circle, your “no” will likely be a counterclockwise circle.

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A Hot Tip About Getting Started with a Pendulum

Be aware that the movement is coming from you. A ghost isn’t pushing the pendulum. Spiritual currents in the air are not nudging it. It’s responding to the energy that flows through you. So if you feel your arm moving a little, that’s because it is moving. And if the pendulum isn’t moving at all, that could be because you’re not relaxing your arm enough.

Play around a little without worrying too much about the outcome. Stick to it. When you do this for a bit, you’ll begin to notice the way it feels when the pendulum is working as it should.

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What to Use a Pendulum for

As you continue to work with your pendulum, you will find your own go-to uses for it. But to give you an idea, here are some ways your pendulum will come in handy.

When you’re doing a tarot or oracle card reading, you can use your pendulum to tune into the nuances of the information you’re receiving.

When you’re taking supplements, you can use your pendulum to determine which vitamins, minerals, herbs, or essences your body wants and which ones your body doesn’t. You can do this by touching the supplement bottle, imagining taking the supplement, and seeing if you get a yes or a no. (But do your due diligence on the supplements in other ways as well! Supplements are not regulated by the FDA, so be sure you trust what you’re taking.)

When you’re deciding what to eat – if you’re not already absolutely sure what type of food you’re in the mood for – you can use a pendulum to help discover what will best nourish your body. I don’t recommend doing this obsessively, though. If you insist on getting the OK from your pendulum before any morsel of food passes your lips, you’re veering into eating disorder territory. (There is such a thing as using your pendulum too much.)

When you’re book shopping (or crystal shopping, clothes shopping, essential oil shopping, etc.), you can use a pendulum to validate what you are most intuitively drawn to.

If you’re not sure how you feel about something, you can use your pendulum to help clarify and sort your emotions, preferences, and desires.

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What Not to Use a Pendulum for

Remember: your pendulum is not an independent entity, or something that receives messages from beyond. It is a tool for gaging and aligning with your own intuition.

It’s also important be aware that your pendulum’s answers can be influenced by your fears and emotions.

That’s why there are certain times when it’s best to put the pendulum down. Here are some of those times.

When you’re afraid of a certain answer, your pendulum is likely to answer incorrectly. So don’t ask your pendulum (for example) whether your partner is cheating on you or if there’s an allergen in the food you just ate. As tempting as it may seem to turn to the pendulum for answers at such times, your emotions are likely to render those answers inaccurate. So your best bet is to put the pendulum down and deal with the issue in a different way.

When you’re making a big life choice, such as where to move, whether you should accept a certain job, or whether you should leave your spouse, you should not look to your pendulum to make that decision for you. In part, this is because your emotions are likely to override your intuition and influence the direction your pendulum swings. But it’s also because there are a lot of factors that contribute to such a decision, and if you’re at a point where you want to consult your pendulum, it probably means you haven’t fully weighed all those factors or your feelings about them.

When it comes to big life choices, what you can do is relax, breathe, center yourself, and then ask yourself smaller questions to tune into the bigger picture. For example, you might ask, “Am I currently feeling good about moving to _____?” “Is there possibly somewhere else I would like to move more?” “Would I thrive in a cooler climate?”

You can also further tune into any answers you receive. For example, if you were to ask if you’re feeling good about moving somewhere and you got a no, you could then ask, “Is that because I’m worried about moving out of my comfort zone?” And if you got a yes to that one, you could ask, “But is it at all possible that I would really love it if I tried it?”

On big questions like that, it’s a good idea to come back to the same question on another day before immediately following any answers you receive. That’s because your intuition can shift as your emotions shift. And as you gain more information and insight, the answers you receive might change.

The more you work with a pendulum, the more natural it will begin to feel. And you may very well adopt pendulum work as a lifelong spiritual practice.

To go more deeply into these details and get all the inside info you need to master the art of the pendulum, check out my pre-recorded How to Master the Pendulum Video Course.

Here’s where you can learn more and get started on this workshop today.

Did this post inspire you to get started with working with a pendulum? Or do you have any questions about it? Speak up in the comments below!