Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Me ‘n’ Penny: My Partnership with My Pendulum


Article © 2013 by Joyce Mason
All Rights Reserved




Choosing and Using Your Pendulum

I was first exposed to a pendulum when I started taking flower essences. My original flower essence consultant would dangle her little crystal on a chain over various essence bottles while holding my hand, seeing how the pendulum reacted to various potential cures for what ailed me emotionally. The verb for this is actually called dowsing or to dowse with a pendulum.

Hearing that word just fueled my sense of being at an old medicine show. I put dowsing for flower essences in the same category as people using divining rods to find underground water or gold veins. It was borderline hokey to me. The flower essences themselves already seemed to be enough of a stretch. Taking a few drops of liquid infused with flowers under your tongue? To cure grief, procrastination or lack of vitality as a few examples? I was still getting over the sense of snake oil on the product, much less the selection method.

I thought I’d get a whole new set of ailments over my initial fear of this “sideshow.” To my credit, I managed not to roll my eyes. This was in the 1980s before the Harmonic Convergence.

In this article, I hope to take you with me on a retrospective of how I went from weird to wonderful in my reaction to the pendulum—and what I learned along the way. What I once thought was very woo-woo is now such a part of my life; I can’t imagine life without Penny. I know Penny Dulum is probably not the most original name for a pendulum, but at least it’s in keeping with my corny and punful sense of humor. She doesn’t seem to mind.

A Matter of Trust

It took me awhile to understand that penduling, if there is such a word, is one of the most Plutonian things a person can ever do. It involves complete surrender to the universe flowing through you and your pendulum, to All That Is—and back again. It was no small task to build my faith in Penny’s potential (and the other Pennies that came before her).

Another way using a pendulum is Plutonian: The pendulum and its person develop an extremely intimate relationship. That build-up of trust is so much like 8th House intimacy and its relationship to Pluto. This may not be sex, but it is the realm of life’s deepest mysteries and their energetics. It taps a power, that other core Plutonian essence, no flower remedy pun intended. Just as if your pendulum were a person, you need time to get to know him or her. The whole process of using a pendulum works best if you can court that intimacy from Day 1 by parking disbelief at the door and getting into observer mode on how this seemingly unscientific process works. Your faith in your “Penny” will build as you watch what she does and record her track record for accuracy.

But first things first. If you’re going to choose a pendulum—anyone or anything for that matter—for an intimate relationship, it’s important to choose good material.

I'm not suggesting that dowsing with a pendulum is only Plutonian. I'm posting this when Chiron and the Moon are in an exact conjunction. If you've read my article Chiron:Your Higher Moon, you'll know the pendulum is influenced deeply by both, throw in Neptune and Uranus. Pendulums are PUNCs! (Plutonian, Uranian, Neptunian Chironics)

Choosing Your Pendulum


I recommend a hands-on process for choosing a pendulum. I would never buy one on the Internet, because it’s not very easy to test for resonance except “in person.” Plan to visit your nearest metaphysical store or whatever place in your neighborhood sells this type of spiritual paraphernalia.

Try these tips for finding your own “Penny:”


1.   Geographic attraction. If you really resonate to Sedona, AZ, Delphi in Greece or Mt. Shasta in California; consider buying your pendulum on your next trip to one of those places. Your pendulum will then carry the resonance of a place that already is powerful for you. I bought my current Penny in a bookstore on State Street in Madison—home of my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. This place is associated with growth and growing up for me. College was the first time I left home, and there is a memory link to one of the most transitional times in my life. When I am using my pendulum, I am merging with it to be a transitional force for myself or others. It really felt like a perfect choice of place for my pendulum to “be from.” If I ever sense it’s time for me to retire Penny from service—or if I get the sense she’s ready for whatever kind of Social Security is rightfully bestowed on hard-working metaphysical tools, I’d seek another power place for purchasing my next pendulum.


2.   Visual attraction. Are you attracted to its looks? If you’re a Venussy guy or gal, this is an important consideration. However, it’s not a deal breaker. I was attracted to Penny because she’s kind of small and compact like me, but she’s not that glamorous (and I have a Venus-ruled chart with three planets in Libra). Still, visual attraction is one of the major ways we connect, and that goes for pendulums as well as people.

3.   Stone or metal resonance. If there’s a certain kind of stone that’s powerful for you, it’s a good candidate for your pendulum. I have had a couple of past life regressions where I discovered that lapis was my power stone in Atlantis. While I’ve yet to find a lapis pendulum that feels like “mine,” this is a stone I’d bear in mind when looking at these kinds of tools. Rose quartz is good for Venus types; red stones for those with a Mars emphasis. Your attraction doesn’t have to be astrological, though people with a lot of Moon emphasis might like silver, Moonstone or pearl. No one can go wrong with clear crystal. Penny is copper. I never considered till this moment, writing this article, why I was attracted to a copper pendulum. After looking up the metaphysical properties of copper, it’s clear I was onto something. Copper is a good conductor of energy, and it also is linked to Venus.

4.   Energy resonance. Get out of your head and just hold your would-be pendulum. What does it feel like? Is it buzzy, sweet, pulsing, and life-affirming? If you don't feel a thing or get a sense of drained energy or darkness, drop it like a hot potato. It’s not for you. This is the most subjective, yet important penultimate step in finding your pendulum. (No pun intended.) Try several to know which energy feels the best to you.

5.   Ask if it’s yours. After reviewing the procedure in How to Use Your Pendulum below, ask your candidate, “Do you want to be my pendulum?” He, she or it will say yes or no by its own signal for those answers. (I just asked Penny if she’d like to remain being my pendulum. She gave an enthusiastic yes. She also said she likes my writing an article about her—a lot.) Do not skip this step. It is the most important one. Your relationship with your pendulum needs to be mutual and consenting. This may also help clarify any “fency” feelings in #4. If you’re just not quite sure, the pendulum itself will close the deal by answering yes or no.

6.   Take it home and get to know it. I recommend working with your pendulum on personal questions for several weeks to establish and solidify your relationship. The questions can be mundane, like should I wear this shirt today, building to more complex. (Is this a good day to talk to my husband about that hairy financial issue?) I suggest not using a pendulum on anyone else until you have used it only on yourself for 2-4 weeks. This allows your pendulum to infuse with your own energy in the work you’ll do together in the months and years ahead. Your energy will be distinct, and your pendulum will know your co-creative power with it—again, creating that bond of intimacy.

7. Name and dedicate it. Naming is a potent process that strengthens connection. Dedicating your pendulum to only the highest use and good is a wonderful final step of initiation, before “taking it out into the world” to work with others. You don’t have to call it a person’s name, as I do mine. You can call it Strength, Sage, Magic—whatever works for you. You can give it No Name, if that feels right to you. Pray, ritualize … whatever brings your “sacred union” to a culmination in honor of the new turning point as you turn outward, together, to help others.

 How to Use Your Pendulum

  1.  Experiment with how to hold it.  Most pendulums have a bead, stone or some other accoutrement at the non-pendulum end. I used to hold mine by the bead between thumb and forefinger. I ultimately found this didn’t feel right. I now hold the bead so it rests beside my 3rd finger of my loosely clasped hand, while holding the chain approximately in the center with my thumb and forefinger. (See illustration.)  When the bead is a stone, it often is part of making the energy connection between you and the tip of the pendulum. I find it is stronger held on the back of the 3rd finger, probably because it creates an energy circuit from mid-hand, up my inner arm. Arms are connected to the heart chakra and our blood and energy circulation. This is definitely the chakra I want activated when serving others. This is what’s right for me. Discover your own best position.

  2. Ask your pendulum to tell you what means yes, no and “can’t tell now.” For my pendulum, she means Yes when she moves in a clockwise circle. She really means yes when the circles get big and high velocity. (Once in a while, she almost goes into orbit.) No is horizontal motion in a North/South direction, assuming you were standing at the center of a compass. Can’t Tell Now is horizontal motion in an East/West direction. I didn’t understand, at first, what this movement meant. It felt to me like indecision. 

    Some things aren’t for us to know yet, or it’s not wise for us to ask now. I accept this. Penny rarely gives me this motion, but when she does, I know there’s a good reason. The situation might not yet be “cooked.” It might still be so much in process; the direction an energy or outcome is leaning isn’t knowable yet. (Another example: When I get this motion in flower essence selection, I take it to mean it’s an essence that might be good at some point, but not now.) Sometimes we’re pushing the envelope, and it’s part of a healthy process for us to go with the flow and to quit grasping for answers. Respect this outcome and don’t nag like a 50-questions child. Move on and come back later. The time and situation may have matured, and it might be ripe for the question then.
  3. Experiment with more complex communications. A dear friend gave me this fascinating cloth for dowsing with a pendulum that has astrological signs, numbers, and a variety of yes/no type answers. (See picture.) It’s almost reminds me of a Ouija board. I’ve found it fascinating and like the chance to ask astrological questions with it. (Which house is the most accurate expression of my Sun? Depending on house system, it’s either in the 5th or 6th.)
Dowsing Cloth - approximately 12" square

This gives me an opportunity to state that while my dowsing cloth reminds me of a Ouija board, I have had negative experiences with that particular tool and do not recommend it. I think it has absorbed the “parlor game” mentality, and I do admit I used it when I still had some of that left in me before my first Saturn Return. (If anyone else has ever found the upside of Ouija, I’d be happy to hear your Comments and share them here.) In fairness to Ouija, here’s a neutral article on Ouija Board Etiquette that cites the cautions and other do’s and don’ts … which flows naturally into the next topic …

Good Intentions

Like any spiritual tool, if you use your pendulum primarily for parlor tricks, it’ll backfire. Trust me; you don’t want to go there. No bad juju or negative intentions. That sets up dark energy that can come back to bite you.

Sure, you’re going to ask your pendulum some fairly ridiculous questions at times. We’re all human, and in this almost human relationship you’ll develop with your pendulum, you get to play a little.

But remember, in the main, this is about spiritual guidance—yours and others’. Do no harm, as in the Hippocratic Oath, and don’t do anything hypocritical, either. If you’re reading this article, you probably don’t need this reminder … but in case you encounter someone curious about how this is going to help them win the Lotto or some other use based on greed or grudge, don’t pollute the energetics of your pendulum by working with those kinds of issues or people who carry those vibrations or intentions.

Continuing to Build Trust

As a self-doubting Virgo, I credit my friend Janet who for confirming the strength of my relationship with my pendulum. I met Janet in the late ‘80s. She was a client who became a dear friend. She has experienced the wisdom of my pendulum as a flower essence client for decades.

When I was going through a period of needing to separate a lot of potential remedies for a medical condition, she suggested I use my pendulum because I have such a “clear channel” with it. I admit my confidence in Penny has been much stronger when it comes to helping others than helping myself.

Let’s face it. A pendulum just makes visible what you already know “deep down.”  It’s a reflection of you and the universe conversing about Truth. I am so grateful to my friend for helping me go from thinking my objectivity would be compromised in using Penny for my own, more serious issues, to realizing I was acting like a shoemaker with no shoes. I have been consulting Penny for my own flower essences for a long time now. I often have felt, at first, that her choices were a little strange, but when the whole combo comes together, her vision is clearly inspired.


A Parting Gift from Penny

You can start your experiments with a needle on a string as a makeshift, pendulum; then work yourself up to buying a pendulum, if you find you resonate to this tool.

Penny has an astrological present for you! If you can’t find out a birth time or aren’t especially skilled in chart rectification, you can dowse with a pendulum to get an exact time. Zero in first on the big picture first: Is it AM? PM? Between 12:00 and 3:00? Once you’ve got the time quarter, keep asking till you get down to the hour. Then ask, “Between 10:01 and 10:15?” and so on around the clock till you get it down to the minute. You’d be surprised how well this works. To be fair to last month’s symbol system, I’ve also asked for help in dreams for the birth times of my parents—and got them. Imagine when I got 3:12 AM for my dad and his sister told me she remembered his being born around 3:00 in the morning.

Most of all have fun with it and don’t take yourself or your pendulum too seriously. I’m sure pendulums have senses of humor, too. They will surely reflect your own in your marriage of channeling wisdom.

A friend was opening a metaphysical store many years ago. We were looking for key dates for a lot of initial events and couldn’t do the exhaustive electional astrology research in the time we had to come up with a schedule. What quick electional work we could do produced disappointing results, so we had to go with a guidance system that would make the best of the dates available. I was sitting at my house with a calendar and my pendulum. He was with his calendar at the store, listening to me “pendle,” reporting my results aloud to him over the phone.

I remarked how ridiculous I felt, dowsing for dates, sitting in the middle of my office floor by myself, talking to a friend who felt discarnate on the other end of the phone.

“This is what we do, Joyce,” he said, laughing for punctuation.

I know now why I never forgot that moment and conversation. It was the turning point about my pendulum, the exact place in time where I let go of weird and let in wonderful.
~~~

Photo Credits:
Photo of Joyce by Roni Java Photography; Esoteric Pendulum
© Donatella Tandelli - Fotolia.com
 

4 comments:

Mads Elung-Jensen said...

wonderful text. and i love the transition from being madly controlled to controlled mad :) i think ill give it a go!

Joyce Mason said...

With "Mad" in your name, you're a natural, no? Let me know how using a pendulum works for you. You so have the spirit of adventure that goes with a pendulum partnership. I love what you said. "Controlled mad" would be the perfect human condition, where we're all being as creative as possible without hurting anyone.

Terminator said...

Where did you buy your Dowsing Cloth ?? I'll like to buy one similar. Between , I've love this article on dowsing/Pensulum Mrs Joyse.

Joyce Mason said...

Dear Terminator,

Glad you enjoyed this article! The dowsing cloth was a gift from a friend. I believe she bought it at a small shop in Fair Oaks Village, CA. Next time I see her, I'll find out the details and comment again. I'm sure the shop would be likely to work out a distance purchase for you, if you're not from the area, and if they still carry the item.

Happy Dowsing,
Joyce