Using a Pendulum

By Caroline Sutherland, Author of “The Body Knows” Book Series

A simple way to self- test is through the use of a pendulum. The pendulum has been a common “tuning in” tool for centuries and to this day a dowser (or water diviner) may be hired to locate water on a property. Oil companies hire dowsers to locate oil stores on maps. The dowser tunes in to the terrain on the map and by their intuitive methods, hopefully locates the oil in the physical geographical location. Mining companies also use dowsers. Dowsers have an innate ability, which assists them in sensing where the water, oil, or minerals are located. They may use a forked stick which quivers or bends over the element being searched for, or they can use the simplest of tools - a pendulum.

Every year, dowsing conferences take place around the world and groups of these fascinating intuitives gather to discuss their latest findings. Anyone can learn to dowse. I have a couple of engineer clients who dowse or use a pendulum over everything that they eat. These are high-powered individuals who build bridges and dams all over the world. I love the thought of them with pendulums poised over their cornflakes every morning. They are intuitively very adept. This method of tuning in assists them in knowing what their bodies really want. In all my medical intuitive trainings, I teach the use of the pendulum. The use of the pendulum is an important step to acquiring medical intuitive skill.

A pendulum is a weighted object that swings back and forth just like the tick tock pendulum that powers a grandfather clock. A pendulum can be made from a medallion on a chain, a ring looped through a piece of string or ribbon or a common nut (from a nut and bolt set) available at any hardware store. The nut is likewise looped through a short piece of soft string (approximately 16 inches long) and makes a perfect pendulum. I have many clients who lovingly “ask the nut” for wisdom and guidance on the physical level.

Make sure that the object you choose for your pendulum is heavy enough to drop down and hang, like a weight from the chain or string. If a pendulum weight is too light, it may not swing successfully. Fancy pendulums made from crystal or unique metals are available at health food stores or self-help bookstores. The object of the pendulum is to sense or identify a response to questions regarding the physical body. Your desire is to tap into the wisdom of your own body and begin to know and understand what it really wants. This is a great way to establish

communication with the body that is trying its best to communicate with you on a moment-by-moment basis.

A pendulum, just like muscle testing, can only respond with a yes or no answer to your question. Your question must be framed so that the pendulum or your sensing device can respond with a simple yes or no answer.

Let’s get started.

In your dominant hand, hold the chain with the medallion, or the string with the ring or the nut, so that the weight hangs directly down from your chain or string. There should be approximately six inches of string or chain length between your fingers and the weight at the end. Hold the string with pinched fingers and in order to keep your arm stable, prop your elbow on a table. Take a few deep breaths to clear your mind and to feel calm and centered. A quiet mind can receive clear, accurate answers.

Now, let’s start asking questions.

With your elbow propped on the table and your pendulum weight dropping directly down from your pinched thumb and forefinger and without moving your pendulum on your own, ask to be shown what a yes or no indicator looks like. Just as you did in the muscle testing exercise, your intention is to really know how to tap into the wisdom of the body.

Ask the question, “Show me a yes.” To what or whom are you asking? You are asking the wisdom of the body or the all-wise, all-knowing part of you to respond to your question.

Ask again, “Show me a yes.” Concentrate on the weight/object of your pendulum and your intention is to be shown by the movement of the pendulum, what a yes or no indicator looks like to you.

The pendulum will respond by either moving back and forth or going around in a circle.

Next, ask the question, “Show me a no.” Concentrate fully on the pendulum and with the intention in your mind and heart, ask the pendulum to show you what a no looks like by the movement of your pendulum. Be sure that your rational mind is out of the way so that you are not influencing the responses of your question.

Keep a centered, calm focus and ask again “Show me a no.” The pendulum will respond with a different action or movement than your yes. It might

respond with a counterclockwise circle or a back and forth movement. When I demonstrate the use of the pendulum, my yes is a circle and my no is back and forth. Focus and practice establishing your yes or no response so that it becomes very familiar to you.

Now that you have established your yes and no, you are ready to ask questions. Let’s start with the foods that you most commonly eat. Place all of these foods on the kitchen table, just the same way that you did in the muscle-testing exercise. Use single item foods such as: eggs, flour, orange juice, milk, cheese, sugar, coffee, corn (popcorn), beans, bananas, lettuce, butter, jam, chicken, beef, bacon etc.

Now prop your elbow in the table and hold your pendulum over each food, one item at a time and ask the wisdom of your body the question, “Is this substance beneficial for my body?” Don’t ask, “Can I eat this?” Because you can eat anything, but it may not be beneficial for you to do so. Observe the response from your pendulum. Does it swing back and forth or does it make a circle? Some people find that the pendulum may quiver or not move at all in response to a no. This response could also indicate a maybe. Reframe the question and try again. Note the response to each item of food and set it aside

Continue to ask the question, “Is this substance beneficial for my body?” for every one of the food items on your table until you know which ones are beneficial and which foods are not.

It takes about three days of practicing the pendulum in order to become relatively skilled. Most people pick it up very quickly. Some people find the pendulum laborious and slow and they prefer muscle testing. Your ultimate desire is to achieve body intuitive accuracy without the use of any of these tools. You seek to know directly, in your own mind. You want to know the answer to your question almost before you ask it. Your desire is to become so instinctive about your body and your world that you are never without answers to your questions.

Now let’s ask to know the benefits of all the supplements that you are taking. Following the same instructions outlined in the section on muscle-testing. Line up all your supplement bottles on the kitchen table and with your pendulum suspended a couple of inches above the supplement bottle in question, ask the question, “Is this substance beneficial for my body?” Note down your body’s answer and continue testing all of your supplements in this manner so that you end up with a grouping of your beneficial supplements and a grouping of the not so beneficial ones. Most people take far too many

supplements. The body utilizes subtle and elegant processes to digest and assimilate nutrients from food and not necessarily from chemically synthesized materials. The body knows the difference. Most people take a great deal of interest in the supplements that they are taking without giving much credence to the foods that they are eating. Your body may respond more favorably to food-based supplements.

The next step in pendulum testing, just as you practiced in muscle testing is to determine on a scale of 1 – 10, just how beneficial these supplements are. With your pendulum poised above your supplement bottle in question, ask, “On a scale of 1 – 10, how beneficial is this supplement?”

“Is it a more than five?” Yes or no. “Is it a less than five?” Yes or no.

If your body responds yes to any of the supplements that scale out more than five, you can intuitively determine the specific benefit. Just ask, “Is it a 6,” yes or no response, “Is it a 7,” yes or no response, and so on. Now you have determined the specific benefit of each one of your supplements. With approximately 3 days of practice, you will be quite skilled at the use of the pendulum.

Always remember to ask questions to which your body knows the answer such as common food, environmental factors or supplements. Resist the temptation to ask questions about the future such as, “Am I going to win the lottery?” or “Am I going to marry the man/woman of my dreams?” The body only knows what is appropriate and beneficial in the present moment and the future is only speculation.

Caroline Sutherland, the bestselling Hay House author of The Body “Knows,” books has a vast clinical background as an allergy-testing technician in environmental medicine, which is where her intuitive gift developed. Caroline’s father and grandfather were both medical doctors. As a child, the “blueprint” of her family lineage created important seeds for her future career as a medical intuitive. For almost 30 years, she has lectured internationally, and her intuitive impressions have positively affected the lives of over 150,000 people. Every Monday night, Caroline offers “free” weekly teleconferences where you can call in for a “spot reading” and have your health question answered. Caroline is the founder of Sutherland Communications Inc. in Bellingham, Washington.