A pendulum is a small weight attached to a length of chain or thread. When someone holds it by the thread and asks a question, the weight moves and provides the answer. It is an amazing tool that can be used for many different purposes.

Just recently, a friend of mine decided to buy a car. He looked through the advertisements in the daily paper and asked his pendulum about the cars that sounded interesting. The pendulum gave a positive response to six cars, and eventually told him which car he should buy. He looked at all six, and finally bought the car that the pendulum had indicated.

Some friends went to Paris on a business trip. After finishing their business, they had one free day before coming home. They used a pendulum to determine which sights they should see.

People who were house-sitting next door to us lost their pet rabbit. After frantically searching the immediate neighborhood, they used a pendulum to locate the exact spot where he was.

These examples show the versatility and possibilities of this simple tool. Despite its ease and usefulness, I have met many people who learned how to use it and then discarded it as it was "too simple." At least one of my students would disagree. She owes her life to the humble pendulum. She is allergic to MSG (monosodium glutamate) that is sometimes used as a flavor enhancer. She has had several hospital stays as a result of inadvertently consuming it. Consequently, whenever she eats away from home she uses a pendulum to determine if there is any MSG in the meal. I doubt that she'd consider the pendulum "too simple" to bother with.

Of course, even though a pendulum is simple to use, it takes practice to become good at it. You can buy pendulums at any new age store, but any weight suspended on cord or chain will act as an impromptu pendulum. Choose something that weighs at least three ounces and attach it to four to six inches of cord. I have a huge collection of pendulums, because my family invariably buys me a small object attached to a chain or cord for birthday and Christmas presents.

Hold the cord between the thumb and first finger of your right hand, if you are right-handed. (Use your left, if you are left-handed.) Rest your elbow on a table and allow the pendulum to swing freely an inch or so above the surface of the table. Stop the movement of the weight with your free hand. Then ask the pendulum to move in a direction that means "yes." The pendulum may start moving immediately, or it might take a while to indicate a positive response. Once it starts, it will either move from side to side, backwards and forwards, or rotate in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.

Once the pendulum has indicated "yes,"stop it again, and then ask it to indicate "no."Follow this by asking for "I don't know" and "I don't want to answer" responses.

Now you can ask the pendulum questions that can be answered with these four movements. Start by asking the pendulum questions that you already know the answers to. You might ask it if you are male. You will get a "yes" answer if you are, and a "no" response if you are not. Ask if you live at your current address. It should reply positively.

After checking your pendulum in this way, you can proceed to ask questions that you do not know the answers to. Start by asking questions that you can check later on. The correct answers that your pendulum provides will give you confidence as you continue to experiment.

There is no limit to the types of questions you can ask once you become proficient with the pendulum. However, remember that it is possible to mentally influence and override the movements of the pendulum. Suppose, for instance, someone in your family is pregnant and you want to know the sex of the unborn baby. The pendulum will give you the correct answer if you honestly do not care what the sex will be. However, if you are hoping it will be a girl, for instance, the pendulum will confirm this, even if it is not correct. Your desire will have influenced the movements of the pendulum. Consequently, if you have an emotional involvement in the answer, you will find it better to have someone who has no interest in the outcome to ask the pendulum for you.

The pendulum should never be used flippantly. Not long ago, a teenager told me how she and her friends used a pendulum in an attempt to learn embarrassing information about fellow classmates. Pendulums do not like being used in this way and sometimes react by refusing to move at all. Not surprisingly, the answers these students received were confusing and conflicting. The sad thing is that these young people failed to learn how useful and practical a pendulum can be when it is used properly.

The pendulum can literally work miracles. Once you become proficient with it, you will wonder how you ever managed without it. While writing this, my wife suggested that we go to the movies tonight. She handed me the entertainment section of the newspaper, and my pendulum. She knows that the pendulum will choose a movie that we'll both enjoy. That's yet another benefit of the humble pendulum.