13.1. THE EXPLORATORY PENDULUM
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This device can be traced back to a form of divination called coscinomancy, that utilized a crude sieve or strainer, which two persons held suspended between their fingertips. In lieu of a handle, the strainer was gripped by a pair of pincers, this clamp being the portion balanced between the fingers.

Due to the uneven pressure, the suspended strainer had a tendency to turn, but the holders did their best to maintain its equilibrium, while names of other people were recited aloud. The name on which the strainer turned, indicated the person involved in some crime, or whatever else the sieve was being used to test. Almost always, it was something bad.

Other similar devices were utilized for such purposes, but the real refinement came in divination by a key, called cleidomancy. One person held the key suspended by a thread, and if the key began to revolve, any question was answered in the affirmative. Working along the same line, a finger ring could be used instead of a key; and modern experimenters found a small ball even better.

From this, the exploratory pendulum acquired more refined forms, such as that of a small crystal ball suspended from a gold chain, or a pear – shaped pendulum carved from ebony or ivory. Plastic pendulums have recently come into vogue, and these, like some of their predecessors, are hollow, so that they can be filled with a sample of the substance sought.

Thus, in going after water, you would fill the pendulum with water. If divining for gold, you would use gold. But many capable pendulum operators forego such auto-suggestive aids and rely on a solid pendulum. For some purposes, the pointed type has advantages over the spherical, so in that case, a child’s top can be suspended from a string instead of using a rubber ball. But in either case, a tack can be inserted in the pendulum and the end of the string wound around it. The pendulum should balance nicely; that is all. Hence a simple finger ring suspended on a thin cord is still satisfactory.

A PENDULUM IN OPERATION

When the upper end of the string is held between thumb and forefinger, with the pendulum dangling five or six inches below, a mysterious motion gradually takes place. This varies according to the length of the string; with a long string, up to say eighteen inches, it becomes greater, lust as with the pendulum of a clock. But the exploratory pendulum works in two ways: it either swings back and forth, or with a rotary motion, and often this seems according to its own whim.

If held above a man’s hand, the pendulum will swing back and forth, usually in a sideways direction; when held above a woman’s hand, it will gyrate in a circle. With some operators, these actions are reversed; also, the pendulum may swing lengthwise in some cases. The direction of the rotation also varies, sometimes depending on whether the operator is right or left-handed.

However, it is usually consistent with each individual operator, so when the pendulum was popularized, if was once termed the “sex detector” because of its dual action. What is more remarkable, the pendulum sometimes tells whether an article belongs to a man or woman. A cigarette holder, a 1ips-tick or any other small object can be placed in an envelope and proffered to the operator, who then uses the pendulum to gain the impression.

How accurate this may be, is one question. What makes the pendulum operate is another. Unquestionably, some muscular action is involved, as some persons can cause the pendulum to operate by conscious motions. But in correct form, the action should be unconscious or subconscious. The pendulum should either work “on its own,” or in cases where it is supposed to move in a specific way, the operator should simply “will” it, not try to push it.

Various theories have been offered regarding this, and one, the “magnetic theory,” can be “tested” in an interesting way. Use a straight object, say a ruler, or even a long pencil, placing it at any angle on the table. The pendulum is dangled above the center of the ruler, and as the operator concentrates, the pendulum begins moving back and forth, with its straight swing, but along the line of the ruler.

The hand may be shifted to different places along the ruler, but with the same result, the interesting point being that this is not the usual sideways or even lengthwise motion; the direction is governed by the ruler, as though it exerted a magnetic power. Now, the pendulum is brought to one end of the ruler. There, the swinging stops, and the pendulum rotates. Go to the other end, and there it will rotate in the opposite direction.

That, at least, is how it works with some persons, giving the impression that the ruler is a form of mental magnet, with the ends representing opposite poles. Whatever the case, anyone who can operate the pendulum on that basis, without any appreciable effort, is in line for more serious experiment.

Such experiment consists in locating mines, springs, or any other desired spot on a map, as described with the divining rod, but much more easily, as the pendulum is far less awkward. The usual procedure is to move it about a map, pausing at intervals, trusting for it to gyrate. When it begins to do so, spot at which it just pointed is supposedly the right one.

Often, the pendulum is put to tests that can be more easily verified. An operator may use the pendulum with a road map, to find the way to a place where he has never been. He is told the main highway to start; from there, he is on his own — and the pendulum’s. He moves his hand slowly, pausing at every crossroad or turnoff, trusting on the pendulum to gyrate when needed.

Thus he literally explores the road, with the pendulum indicating whether he goes right or wrong. Again, individualism prevails, the pendulum “talking” to each operator on his own terms. Some operators claim they can use the pendulum as a compass: First, they let it swing and its line indicates due north or south. To tell which is which, the operator faces one way, then the other, letting the pendulum gyrate. Clockwise, it means one direction; counterclockwise, the opposite, as determined by previous test.

Many other remarkable results are attributed to “pendy,” as the device is sometimes nicknamed. The pendulum can be caused to stop, either by “willing” it to do so, or by gripping the wrist with the other hand. Presumably, lost objects can be traced, missing persons found, the whereabouts of friends ascertained, all through the power of the pendulum. This is technically termed “radiesthesia,” and even the most ardent champions of such a psychic force agree that the full faculty is possessed by very few, though it may be latent in most members of the human race.

For those who feel quite latent, the simpler the test, the better. The “magnetic” test with a ruler has already been described. Here is something even simpler; a way to make pendy increase it gyrations. The pendulum is dangled above a drinking glass and the operator “wills” it to rotate. Soon, the pendulum is swinging in a circle, while the operator keeps his eyes fixed on the glass, much as though sighting on a target.

Frequently, and quite Surprisingly, the pendulum will increase its circle, swinging wide of the glass rim. Power of suggestion is the logical answer, but the effect still is remarkable, for the swing seems far beyond normal range.

A glass is also used in the time-telling test, one of the oldest in the history of modern radiesthesia. Here the pendulum – preferably an ordinary finger ring – is dangled down into the glass. The operator calls upon pendy to tell the time in hours, and the device obligingly does so. It swings back and forth, increasing its speed until it begins to clink the sides of the glass – “one, two, Free, four, five” – ending on the exact hour and slackening its swing immediately thereafter.

Sometimes it will add a trifling “plunk” for a half-hour, perhaps to the surprise of the operator himself. Indeed, when this time-telling test was in its heyday, a few generations ago, skeptics used to get up in the night and try out the pendulum for themselves, without looking at the clock. According to the majority of the reports, the dangling ring gave them the right time. That, of course, could be due to a “time sense” in the persons themselves, but it still speaks well for the pendulum.