Everything Under the Moon

so i have a board with yes, no and maybe on it. then on the other side is one with the alphabet. i keep trying to use the alphabet one, but everytime i try working with the pendulum, the letters it lands on is all jibberish! its starting to furtrate me. i tried putting a little indian moon essestial oil on the end of the string tied around another larger piece of amyathest. and came up with kind of a chant, "power of oil, power of stone, let me know what should be known". nothing. i really want to master this kind of magic, and im not having any luck what-so-ever. any tips would be great.
blessed be.

I think half the problem is that you are relying on the assumed standard of the practice. Instead of being overly concerned with a board with an alphabet, why not work on finding something rather original and new and something that's all you?

cool, ill think about that. thanks.
blessed be.

Do you cast a circle before you do this divination? Do you clear your pendulum and board each time before you use it? Store pendulum in salt? Store your board with sage and mugwort.Try doing a cleansing on both of your tools, then doing a circle casting. Start your pendulum standstill. Also, try only counting letters that are wavered on twice, and also try a substitution cypher, or see if your messages are backwards, for example.

i never thought of storing it in salt. i have a small tray with handles that has a cute cat and a pumpkin on it and its lined with a green cloth.
and no i usually dont cast a circle first. do you (or anyone else) know of a good chant or something to do before pendulum work? do you store just the crystal in salt, or the whole thing? mine is just a small piece of amyathest on a multi-color piece of string. and my board is just a circle with yes/no/maybe answares on one side and the alphabet on the other side of a piece of paper for now. also for storing it would it be alright to just keep it in a glass jar with the salt?
blessed be

My pendulum is usually kept in a bag with a bag of salt in the bag. (I find that those little packets of salt that you get at fast food restaraunts work brilliantly for this) Or sometimes I'd just stick some lavender or sage or mugwort loose in the bag with the pendulum.

I don't do chants much. I just pace around a circle with my big sharp athame, and tell the guys (my pallsy crow spirits or maybe some elementals if I'm feeling ambitious) to keep the bad things out. It usually goes something like, "Hey, you! Keep those nastys out! I really appretiate it! liccorice jujubees all 'round when I'm done, and no fibs or no sweets!" I find that for what you are doing that automatic writing or, hell, a real oujia board works better.

I know that people here really freak out about oujia boards, but frankly there isn't that much difference between a oujia board and a pendulum.

I mean, really!

The more you keep things simple, the better your results will be. Stay with a yes/no question to gain confidence before expanding the technique. What your mind is asking is important also. Control all thoughts during pendulum readings. If you want to evaluate the results, decide ahead of time to let that be until later (after the reading). But, always do a reading without any doubts in your mind.

jcrowfoot wrote: I don't do chants much. I just pace around a circle with my big sharp athame, and tell the guys (my pallsy crow spirits or maybe some elementals if I'm feeling ambitious) to keep the bad things out. It usually goes something like, "Hey, you! Keep those nastys out! I really appretiate it! liccorice jujubees all 'round when I'm done, and no fibs or no sweets!"

LMAO! I love your "chant". me thinks I may borrow that one....
I actually don't do chants either. In fact I rarely cast a circle. That really frustrates a lot of people I know. I usually just meditate and gather my energy. But then again, I talk to the gods and goddesses on a regular basis ( and no, they do no "talk" back, lol. I am not hearing voices.) I usually get a feeling as to what direction they want me to take.
If I ever do feel the need to cast a circle, I use all white candles, and send energy to them, saying what element they stand for.
I have always been very non traditional though.....

- Amberrose

Lol @ jcrowfoot!
That is one of the nicest circle castings I have come across! Thank you!

Well I gave up pendulum dowsing because it requires a lot of patience, and more importantly (since i believe the answers come from you) you have to be really centred and "in the zone" so that you can eliminate the bias that comes from your own hand moving, etc.

So circle casting does help, and as for getting "in the zone", try getting into a meditative state in your circle and *then* using your pendulum. That works for any divination in my case, so tis worth a try..

BB
Ash