Can A Pendulum Be Wrong? How To Get Accurate Readings With Your Pendulum

If you have ever worked with a pendulum for divination or dowsing, you may have noticed that occasionally you get answers do not quite sit right with you. 

This may have led you to ask whether or not a pendulum can actually be wrong. The short answer to this question, is actually, YES.

But before you go throwing your pendulum in the bin and calling it junk, it is important to know what causes a pendulum to give incorrect answers so that we can incorporate this powerful magickal tool in our daily lives and gain correct insight.

Why would a pendulum give wrong answers?

To answer this question, we need to look at what influences a pendulum. Because at the end of the day, you are the person holding your pendulum.

The theory of pendulum dowsing is that the pendulum provides a conduit of communication for your subconscious mind or your intuition.

When you hold your pendulum, there are tiny, involuntary muscle contractions within your arm that cause the pendulum to swing. Because of this, you have access to a plethora of knowledge that you do not normally have conscious awareness of but is known by your subconscious mind. Unfortunately, your subconscious also knows your deepest desires and biases. This is where your incorrect answers will usually stem from.

What can influence an incorrect pendulum reading?

1. Personal Bias- if you truly believe something, you are likely to influence the answer. If I asked for instance, "is chocolate good for me", I'm pretty sure that the answer would come back yes! But I could never be sure of the actual answer because I strongly believe that it is good.
2. Being too emotionally invested in the answer- If your emotions towards a specific circumstance/ question are too strong, you can also influence the answer- this is the same as with the bias scenario above. If you have an ill relative for example, and you really want them to get better, asking “will so and so get better” will likely lead to your answer being a resounding yes- simply because you truly wish this to happen.
3. Asking non-specific questions with variable answers. The reason that we ask a pendulum “yes” and “no” questions is because it can only provide simple answers. If you ask a nonspecific or non “yes or no” question, it cannot give a reliable answer. For example, if you ask, “should I start a business selling cat photos on Esty?” a pendulum cannot answer this. Why? Firstly, there are too many variables- for instance, maybe you should start a business. Maybe you should sell cat photos- but maybe you should not do it on Etsy! How does a pendulum answer this with one swing? Also using the word should is very ambiguous. Asking “should I” is a bit like saying “what if”.

So now that you know what can cause a pendulum to give incorrect answers, how do you ensure that your pendulum is giving you correct answers? Here’s how:

1. Only use a pendulum with questions where you are unbiased.
2. Do not attempt to gain answers from a pendulum to things you are emotionally invested in.
3. Ask strict “yes” and “no” questions.
4. Ask simple one answer questions.

How can I check my pendulums accuracy?

If you ask a question where you are unsure of the answer, you can always use a different method to check the accuracy of your answer. 

My preferred method of checking the accuracy of an answer is a double blind method.  This does require a little bit of set up, but once set up it is easy to implement.

1^st step, ask your pendulum to show you it's "yes" and "no" movement, be it clockwise or diagonal etc.

2^nd step, prepare two cards/pieces of paper. One that has “Yes” written on it and the other “No” written on it.

3^rd   step, turn the cards over so that you cannot read them. Shuffle them so as not to know which card is the “yes” or the “no” card.

4^th step, hovering above the two cards, ask your pendulum which card is the correct answer to your question.

Just to be clear, the pendulum is letting you know the answer to your question, so if I ask, “can you tell me which card indicates the correct answer to my previous question” and the pendulum indicates “yes” over the “no” card, then the answer to my question is “no”.

This method is not the only way to remove your bias, but it is an easy, simple way to start.

You could also ask someone else to ask the question for you. This is a good way to verify, however you also need to know that they are not emotionally invested or biased towards the answer.

As with all types of divination, it is important that you ground yourself and are not emotional prior to using a pendulum. When you enter your sacred space to perform a pendulum reading, always leave your biases and personal emotions at the door. Ground your energy and cleanse your space, and if in doubt, choose another method of double checking your answer.

If you stick to these few simple rules and work often with your pendulum, you should be able to gain the insight that you desire!

Let us know what success you have had with your pendulum in the comments section below.

If you are looking for pendulums to start divination, check out our collection here