Learning to Develop Your Intuition: Pendulum Focus

One of the activities that I facilitate throughout the year in our local pagan community is a sister circle that focuses on the Goddess Within. The concept is simple: holistic sisterhood achieved through simple activities and open communications. Throughout the different different gathers during the wheel of the year, we journey together to build cohesion, support one another, strengthen friendships, and co-create both individual and community healing.

This weekend I was excited to host sister circle once again, this time at our Samhain Nights festival. The theme of the gather is the elements, and of course being the end of the natural year there is always a common thread of honoring the ancestors and the wisdom beyond ourselves. As with most of my activities and events, the development for the planned activity during sister circle came in a flash from the whispers of my intuitive side.

I have chosen to honor the element of earth in the sister circle for this gather. We met once again at the Demeter shrine (Greek Goddess to the Seasons and the Harvest) and our focus was on the pendulum. I found some amazing stone pendulums online ~ one of the most exciting parts was the choosing of the stones by the 12 participants! I encouraged the women to choose with their intuition. What does the stone feel like when you hold it? What do you associate the color of the stone with? It took about 15 minutes to sort it all out and everyone to get the stone best suited for them.

Honoring the intuitive voice that is found inside each of us is vital to moving forward in the right ways. Our brain processes facts and observations and helps us to draw logical conclusions. However, in order to find balance we must also listen to the part of us that can’t so easily be explained with the five senses.

As we move into the dark time of the year, we follow the bear into the cave and we look deep within for introspection and clarity. The process enables us to catalog, analyze, and make decisions for the future of our journeys in a more holistic and well-rounded fashion. Just as sometimes it helps to close our eyes to listen to the song of the birds or the drum circle around us, sometimes it helps to close our logical mind and listen to the music of the spirit.

The pendulum is very much an earth energy, as it uses a physical form to help guide us as we learn to hear and honor our intuition. It is a very useful tool in having a “speaker” for those spiritual notes we are listening for on the earthly level. Sometimes we just need a little feedback from something that feels more outside of ourselves.

Pendulums are good for yes/no/maybe answers generally speaking. As you learn to use one you will discover pretty quickly which movement means yes, which means no, and which one means it’s only answering maybe for your workings. There is the back and forth movement, the left and right movement, and there is the circular movement. You can just ask a few questions you already know the answer to when you first work with the pendulum to see which movements correlate to which answers for you. Pendulums have also been used historically to tell the gender of an unborn child!

Learning to work with a pendulum is actually very simple! Hold the length of cord firmly with your thumb and forefinger and allow the pendulum to hang down. Allow it to swing freely but do not encourage it to swing in a particular direction. As the pendulum is hanging, clear your mind and focus on a particular question that can be answered with yes or no. As you focus on your question, you may notice more movement coming from your pendulum. It will develop a pattern and then stick with one of the movements mentioned above.

I recommend that questions are not extremely detailed, as that isn’t how spirit works. Spirit works in its own time and on it’s own details. I generally ask self-help style questions, directions forward, or advice type questions, not what’s my future or limiting spirit to answers I want to hear. Also sometimes I have asked either/or questions and assigned a direction to the choices. On the subject of answers, if I ask I am willing to accept the answer even if it’s not the one I want to hear. Just like you wouldn’t ask your elder for advice only to ignore it, the same respect should be given to your own higher self/guardian angels/guiding light.

One more thing ~ I would like to remind the reader that the pendulum or any other physical tool used for divination is simply that, a physical tool. Trusting in your intuition and allowing yourself to be open to messages that come from beyond yourself is a beautiful addition to life, and having a physical tool in that process can be extremely helpful. There is no coincidence, only synchronicity.

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to ask questions in the comments if you would like to know more, and check back regularly for other posts from your favorite "witch of the old ways"!