Thank you for reading the TaoCraft Tarot blog and listening to the podcast. I’m glad you are here.
This behind the scenes style post originally appeared in my old Tarotbytes blog on the Modern Oracle website in January of 2018. Caught up in re-branding everything from Modern Oracle to TaoCraft Tarot, the Oracle’s Toolkit series fell by the wayside. The series is returning with this edited reprise, but brand new posts will follow. I’m keeping the “Oracle’s Toolkit” title as a nod to the Modern Oracle days.
Working with oracle tools like Tarot cards or pendulums turns up the volume on your own intuition. Working with an oracle tool plus a professional who is an expert at using that tool turns the volume up to 11. Still, your energy, your message, and your knowing lies at the center of it all.
A client once asked “I’m thinking about X, should I do X or not?” This is the perfect kind of question for a psychic reading. Like I’ve said dozens of times, “Tarot doesn’t predict what will happen in life, it helps you to figure out what to do when life happens.” The same is true of any type of psychic reading or divination method.
As a professional reader, I always feel I’ve done my job well when a client sits back, their shoulders relax down a bit and they say “that’s what I thought.”
The tricky part of this particular reading was that their “X” involved something that really needed concrete logic, not intuition. It involved a subject that I don’t know at all and that a non-expert really shouldn’t spout off about. Fortunately, the client had already talked to someone and had qualified advice in hand. They were looking for inspiration and validation for a decision they had to make based on that advice.
Some decisions can’t be made for you, by expert advisors or spiritual advisors either one. My instinct at the time was to teach this person how to use a pendulum so they could apply their own intuition to a potentially life altering decision. This situation needed deep inner connection, not more outside input.
One of the arguments against pendulums is that they are actually controlled by small, subconscious “ideomotor” muscle movements. Skeptics object to pendulums because they aren’t any sort of outside guidance at all. Skeptics say that the person is simply projecting their subconscious desire onto the pendulum through the minute muscle movements.
EXACTLY! That’s the WHOLE POINT of it!
Using a pendulum cuts through self doubt and second guessing to get at an honest preference. The end result is functionally no different from someone who flat out makes the decision they want from the start. Using a pendulum may not change the end decision, but it can make a qualitative difference in the decision making process. Using an oracle tool can lead to a decision that is less impulsive and more thoughtful, made while engaging both logical and creative thinking. If using a pendulum adds an element of confidence to a difficult decision, then the pendulum has served a good purpose.
The same is true whatever kind of oracle tool a person might use. By oracle tool, I mean any physical object or method that helps us to access our innate wisdom with greater ease and clarity. These tools simply amplify our connection to the natural intuition that we all posses.
Think of actual sound amplifiers and microphones. Using an amplifier doesn’t have an outside influence or give any special outside information to the musician who is using it. Equally, pendulums don’t don’t have any influence or offer any special outside information. Both actual amplifiers and pendulums help bring something inside you out into the world in a more definitive way.
Using a pendulum is astonishingly simple.
First, get a pendulum.
I’ve noticed a lot of online how-to videos show people using beautiful crystal and gemstone pendulums. Crystals and gems enhance and beautify the experience. They are a welcome addition to any reading, but they are not by any means necessary. There is no reason to invest in a high end fancy pendulum until you work with the technique for a little while and see if it really is right for you or not. Any weight will do. I did my first pendulum work with a an old necklace. Now I use a purpose made metal pendulum but you could use a hex nut tied to a piece of twine for all that it matters.
The actual pendulum matters much less than your clarity of mind.
Probably the most important step in all of this is putting your concern into a single, concise, yes-or-no format. Pendulums are not chatty. They give you yes. They give you no. That’s it. That’s all there is. You can build more complex guidance with a series of questions, but each individual questions must be in a clear, specific yes-or-no form.
After you have your question clear in your mind, you have to be equally clear about how the yesses and nos are represented. Swing the pendulum on purpose and say firmly “this means yes”. Most people pick backward and forward (toward you and away from you) for this answer. Swing the pendulum on purpose and say firmly “this means no” Most people choose a left and right, side to side motion for this.
Once you’ve done the deliberate swings, dangle the pendulum in a way that lets the weight swing freely. Stop the pendulums movement with your free hand. Then just ask your question, wait watch to see what happens. If it starts to swing, there’s your answer. If the pendulum doesn’t move or goes in circles that means the answer is unknown, or hasn’t been decided. Try again later, as the pool ball toy says.
We will add details and expand on the whole process in the Oracle’s Toolkit ebook.
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See you next time on TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast.
Sage Words Tarot 