Dowsing with the Runic Pendulum

[swetha]

Introduction
The pendulum is a versatile and convenient tool for divination where you are seeking simple answers to direct, uncomplicated questions. The runic pendulum has been empowered with 8 runes to enhance the instruments power to "send" and "receive". Send Runes
Receive Runes

Ansuz
Raido

Ingwaz
Berkanan

Ihwaz
Dagaz

Ehwaz
Sowilo



Dowsing is a spiritual process, a collaboration of the conscious mind and that intuitive area of the brain sometimes called the subconscious. The pendulum acts as an agent or medium that your physical body can use to bring its deep, unspoken knowledge to the awareness of the conscious mind.

The focus and discipline that comes from learning to use the Runic Pendulum can help to train your "inner dowser", making you familiar with the gateways and paths between the conscious and subconscious. This will provide you with a degree of protection and orientation along the way – a reliable and familiar reference point from which to chart unfamiliar territory.

There are a number of traditional methods for using a pendulum, but there is no right or wrong way. Each dowser must develop their own procedure - a system that works for them.

The system is comprised of the pendulum, your body, your conscious mind, your subconscious, and your inner self, spirit or soul. Learning to dowse is like programming "software" into this dowsing system as if it were a computer with several peripheral devices attached, and you can choose the program that suits you best. If you are just starting out with dowsing, you might like to try these methods.

Preparation
Your state of mind is the most important aspect of the preparation for a dowsing session.

You should be calm, relaxed, free of tension. You should be concentrating on your inner thoughts and emotions, and not on the pendulum itself. Some dowsers call this meditative condition the "alpha state".

Now consider your physical position. Find a quiet spot, not too brightly lit, and away from any active electrical equipment, such as a switched-on TV or washing machine. Sit in an ordinary four-legged chair and make yourself comfortable with your back upright and your feet on the ground about 20 or 30 inches apart. Hold the chain of the pendulum between thumb and forefinger with your fingers pointing downwards. Start with about 3 or 4 inches of chain between your fingers and the top of the pendulum. Wrap any spare chain around your hand so it doesn't get in the way, and hold the fob in the palm of your hand.

After you have gone through the following calibration procedures, you may like to experiment with different lengths of chain to find out what works best for you.

Calibration
Calibration is a rather grand term for finding out how you and your pendulum will work together as a system. It means setting and learning the responses from the pendulum to the basic questions to be asked and answered.

The neutral or "search" position is achieved by setting the pendulum into a "to & fro" swing towards and away from your body, on the mid-line over the space between your knees.

To find the "yes" response, maintain a neutral swing, hold the pendulum over the knee on the dominant side of your body (generally the right side for right-handed people, and left for left-handed). As you do this, ask to be shown a clear signal to indicate "yes". This may be any alteration in the swing, and is often a rotational swing in a clockwise direction.

Now move the swinging pendulum back to the mid-line and allow it to return to the neutral to & fro swing.

To find "no", move the pendulum over your other knee and ask to be shown a clear signal for "no". Again this may be any alteration in the motion of your pendulum, and often turns out to be an anticlockwise rotation. In any case, it must certainly be an opposite or totally different reaction to the "yes" signal.

If you find that you spontaneously get clear signals for "yes" and "no", you are a good receptor and should congratulate yourself on being so lucky! If you find that no signals emerged on their own and that the pendulum remains in it's neutral to & fro swing when over your knees, try different lengths of chain or slightly different sitting positions. Make sure your mind is on the job, that you are concentrating on your own thoughts and not consciously manipulating the pendulum.

If you still have no success it may be that you are distracted by something. It could be a thought in your mind that just won't go away, or maybe it's something to do with your physical environment such as noise, bright light, movement, too hot or too cold. Another common cause is that you may be just getting too anxious about the pendulum's failure to co-operate. In any of these situations you might like to consider abandoning the session until a more conducive time.

But you are quite at liberty to simply choose your yes and no signals and "program them in" by making your pendulum swing in the way you choose whilst over the appropriate knee. This is not cheating - you are merely establishing a symbolic language to use between mind and body, and once it is familiar, it will become automatic. If you do have to choose and program your signals, see if you can work with a full circular clockwise rotation for "yes" and an anticlockwise rotation for "no". These are the most common signals found to work for a majority of experienced dowsers.

It is helpful to have "weak signals" - for " perhaps yes" and "perhaps no" to indicate a weak response, suggesting that more questions are needed to achieve clarity. You can also program a "misleading question" signal to let you know if you are asking the wrong question - something ambiguous, imponderable, or just outside the scope of your dowsing system.

Practice Makes Perfect
If pendulum dowsing is new to you, you are likely to find that persistent practice is required before your responses come swiftly, easily and reliably. Remember you are learning a new skill, a new language, and although it is not overly complicated, it is new and requires repetition to become an integrated part of who you are.

Over the first few weeks of learning, try to find a few minutes each day to sit quietly and practice getting your dowsing responses, moving from side to side from the neutral position through your "weak yes" and "weak no" signals to your fully developed "yes" and "no" signals over your knees, and also practising your "misleading question" signal.

Making an Enquiry
When you first open an inquiry or when you change topics, check that it is timely and appropriate to be dowsing for this particular purpose. Appropriate questions are about things that are within your control, or about things your subconscious already has access to, such as:

Making a choice
The best thing to do in a situation
Figuring out your true feelings
Assessing other people and their motives
Finding causes of physical symptoms
Determining what foods and vitamins to take
You may have to start with broad questions, then narrow them down. The following are causes for incorrect response from the pendulum:

Poor communication
Inaccurate or ambiguous phrasing
Question is too general - be precise
A good opening sequence for a new dowsing session would be :

set the pendulum in motion in the search position
state the issue clearly
ask "can I ask about this ?" (i.e. "do I have the skill?")
ask "may I ask about this ?" (i.e. "do I have permission ?"). If you are dowsing for someone else, ask their permission before asking the dowsing system. Dowsing works best in response to genuine need and less well in response to idle curiosity or unwelcome intrusion. Always try to act with responsibility and respect and your dowsing system will respond more willingly.
ask "am I ready ?" (i.e. "is this a good time?"). Energy is a waveform that progresses in cycles. There are times when your own energy may not be in the right mode - not in synch. with a particular topic.
If you receive a "yes" to all these questions, you can then proceed with the enquiry. Phrase each of your questions so that "yes" or "no" is a complete answer. This might take a little practice, and quite often when you get a lot of misleading responses, you can look back on the session and see that either your question or the answer was ambiguous.

The Response
Once the question has been asked, there will often be a pause before the pendulum swing indicates the answer. During this delay, keep your mind clear of preconception, concentrate on the pendulum and the forthcoming answer.

You can keep your mind open by repeating the question until the response has been delivered. If this doesn't work for you, try to emulate a state of childish excitement. Remember how it was, wondering what you were going to get for a birthday present? That is the state of mind that might help produce a firm answer.

Checking Your Accuracy
You can check accuracy by dowsing questions that will soon be answered. For example, when making a phone call you could first dowse to see if the person you are calling is at home, at work or whether you will get their voicemail. But make sure any inaccuracies are not due to ambiguity in the question. If you find that your dowsing is off, try again later when you are in a better frame of mind.

In Conclusion
Genuine need for an answer is the best formula for accurate dowsing. It will help to direct the system to important issues and align your spiritual energy with the world at large. It can be beneficial to say "thank you" to the system when closing a session. It keeps your energy in tune with the spiritual world and reinforces the sense of reverence and respect for this amazing ability that you are developing.


The Runic Pendulum is just one item from a range of fine handmade wooden rune wares featured on the Oswald the Runemaker website at http://www.runemaker.com.
Copyright © 2003 Robert Oswald
Bob Oswald