Pendulum divination comes under the general practice of ‘Dowsing Divination’. Most people, when they hear the word ‘dowsing’ picture what’s known as a ‘water-witcher’– someone holding a Y-shaped stick from a tree, with the two short ends in their hand and pointing the shaft parallel with the landscape, slowly walking and waiting for that magical moment when the shaft suddenly jerks downward, indicating the presence of water. Water witchers are often presumed to be people with a particular talent for this kind of divination.
In fact pendulum dowsing can be done by anyone, and for many more things than just finding water. Pendulum dowsing is based on the reality that your body doesn’t lie. This is important because it is ultimately your body which transmits the answer through the dowsing tool you use. You can use an actual pendulum, the kind sold by occult supply stores or specialty shops, or you can go to a hardware store and buy a plumb bob. You can use a pendant necklace. I’ve even used one of those pen-on-a-chain things in a pinch. The important thing is that it be a heavy, weighted thing that dangles freely on a string or chain. In addition to Y-sticks from the nearest tree, L-rods like you see in the picture on the right above are used in dowsing divination, but we’re going to focus on pendulum dowsing in this lesson.