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How To Use A Dowsing Pendulum

Like other forms of divination, pendulum dowsing is an amazing way to tap into your intuition and get in touch with your Spirit Guides for greater clarity and decision-making ability. It can both assist in getting in touch with your own inner wisdom as well as channelling messages from your Well Ancestors or anything else that resonates with you.

Some say that it’s the imperceptible micro-currents in your fingertips that sway the pendulum, giving a voice to your true (subconscious) thoughts, opinions, and feelings on a matter, even if, often, you were unaware as to what they were before you asked the question!

Some people think that it’s an accessible way for your Guardian Angels to speak to you, or perhaps it’s a combination of everything. Either way, using a pendulum for dowsing is a really effective way to get to the heart of a matter and give you guidance on what your next steps could be, or to have a better understanding on a current situation.

The roots of pendulum dowsing date back to at least 16th Century Germany, with some reports as far back as Ancient Egypt, China, and Rome, and was seen across many other civilisations and cultures across the world. Dowsing was also used with rods and sticks to find water and ley lines, as well as divination, in addition to pendulums.

Overall, using a pendulum to connect with your inner knowing is a really simple but powerful way to quickly gain insight and clarity.

Read on for how to use dowsing pendulums in three easy steps:

How To Use A Pendulum

You can use any material for a pendulum, metal and wood are often used because they are cheaper, but I personally love to use a Rose Quartz crystal Reiki pendulum because it adds a little extra touch of magic and can double up for a Chakra or Reiki healing session (even though all pendulums can be used to locate blocked or overactive energy centres). Crystals hold their own energy, healing, and magic so I always incorporate them in any rituals I do! You can even use just a ring on a piece of string.

Honestly, I never expected crystal pendulums to work as powerfully as they do, but ever since the first time I tried it I’ve been blown away by their potency and ability to expertly answer questions, like a sixth sense, as has anyone else I’ve used them with. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1

Before you begin, you can cleanse your pendulum from any lingering energies. This can be useful if you opt for a crystal pendulum as they can absorb more energy. You can energetically cleanse your crystal by leaving it out under the sun or moonlight for 24 hours, rinsing it under water, burying it in earth, wafting it through incense or a smoke wand, using sound vibrations such as bells, or simply holding it and visualising a bright white light clearing it.

When you are ready to begin, sit in a comfortable, quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, feel free to light a candle, incense, or diffuse essential oils to set the scene if you like but it is not necessary. Take a few big, deep breaths to ground yourself. Close your eyes and begin to centre yourself and connect with the pendulum. If you like, now is when you can call upon any Spiritual Guides for assistance.

Step 2

When you are ready, hold your pendulum at the top end of the chain with the thumb and index finger of your nondominant hand, letting it hang straight down and wait for it to stop moving. Once it is still, ask it (either out loud or in your head) to show you “yes”. It should swing in one way or another, or in circles. Then, ask it to show you “no”, it should swing in a different direction. If you like, you can also ask it clarifying questions, such as “is my name _” with either a right or wrong answer to test the response.

Obviously, all questions you would like answered should be formulated with yes/no answers. Some people like to include the option of “maybe” for a little more nuance so you can try that out too. To get the clearest response, it’s important that you remain calm and open to whatever answer the pendulum gives you. The questions can begin along the lines of:

Should I…

Can I….

Will I…

Do I….

Step 3

When you are ready to ask your question, wait for it to stop swinging, clear your mind, and ask your question as clearly and concisely as possible. The pendulum should begin to move in either your personal “yes” or “no” direction. It is generally advised to take the first response on face value, even if you don’t like what it tells you and refrain from asking the question again to get the outcome you like as this will only confuse the situation and negate the power of the pendulum.

Usually, you should find that as soon as the pendulum tells you the answer, you will instinctively know it to be true already. I find it’s like showing you something you knew all along but had forgotten, like clearing through nebulous clouds with a sword to reveal a clear blue sky underneath. The answer was there the whole time, it had just been clouded by your conscious thoughts.

Some people like to use pendulums with a board, which you can either buy or make yourself with the “yes” on two opposing sides of a circle on a piece of paper, and “no” on the other two sides You can also include the '“maybe” option here if you like or something such as “unknown”. There are also Native American pendulum charts and Chinese Feng Shui charts.

Other Ways To Use A Pendulum

You can also use a pendulum in energy healing sessions. Simply lie down and hold the pendulum above the Chakra points you would like to check, noting its movement. It is helpful to “interview” the pendulum beforehand to double check which direction means “stagnant” energy and what indicates “overreactive”, or something along those lines. If you are working with the Chakras, you can then concentrate on practices to bring that specific area back into balance, or use it to channel Reiki energy.

Sometimes it’s used in Palmistry by running it along the lines and mounds of a palm to, again, check how strong the energy centres there are and bring them back into balance.

Other ways to use pendulums include incorporating them with Tarot or Oracle cards. This can be done either as a clarifier to ask an extra question with a card you are unsure about, or to add a layer of nuance. Ultimately, as with all spiritual rituals, there’s not really any right or wrong way to work with pendulums, just experiment and see what works best for you.

Once you are finished with your pendulum, you can thank it for its help and place it somewhere safe ready for your next use.

So that’s an overview on how to use a dowsing pendulum to answer questions, heighten your intuition, and include in your healing work. It’s a super simple yet effective way to quickly and easily check-in with yourself and gain some insight into a situation. Have you ever tried it before? Let me know how you got on in the comments section below!

If you’re interested in learning more about the healing properties of crystals and rituals to use them with, check out our Complete Guidebook To 50 Of The Most Popular Crystals!