In the previous article you learned how to use angle rods for basic dowsing practice, using them to divine which way up a battery in a sealed container was standing or laying. This is a good exercise to help you attune to your dowsing response which causes the rods to cross or point in opposite directions according to which end of the battery is uppermost. You may also have found that if the battery was on its’ side you had a slightly different feeling even though the rods reacted to the polarity of the battery’s closest pole. Also how did you get on with finding the correct pressure with which to hold the rods to allow them to move freely- but not too freely?
This last part of the exercise was designed to make you really aware of the interconnection of the rods with the response. It is all too easy to become attached to the tools you are using, rather than the sensations and unconscious muscle movements that are causing them to work, which are the gateway to your intuition. This is a sensitivity you can lose if you do what many practitioners suggest and slip the ‘handles’ of your rods into thin copper piping. The piping frequently increases the sensitivity of the dowsing response, partly by lowering friction, so that you only have to dampen the movements of the rods with light thumb pressure. Rather than be aware of the exact pressure of all your fingers on the bare rod in your hand and how they changed as you get closer to the target.

Dowsing aids in developing your intuition through the tools so that you only need to use them to enhance your natural skills, and as a communication tool for your subconscious, rather than coming to rely on them. A tool even more sensitive to unconscious muscle movements than the rod is the pendulum. What started out as a simple weight on the end of a cord or fine chain has become a serious industry with all sorts of techniques, methods, and abilities attributed to it. One of the people credited with making it so popular was the Cambridge scholar T C Lethbridge, who used it in conjunction with his archaeological training both to find items and to ‘read’ information about them. One of the theories he brought to the field was that the length of the pendulum string could be a major factor in finding particular items.
This was based, to some extent, on changing the length of an aerial to receive different radio stations. This is how radios used to be tuned before the advent of the variable resistor, or rheostat, which is used today. In Lethbridges’ time this idea made a great deal of sense and helped dowsing to be perceived as a ‘scientific’ skill. Unfortunately it overlooked the communication from the subconscious aspect of the art, and lead to people trying to dowse with unwieldy lengths of string up to 3 foot or longer. For a while there was considerable tension between people who used variable length pendulums and traditional dowsers, but it is accepted that varying the length of the string is just one of the options you can use when practicing dowsing.
One of the major advances when using a pendulum was the discovery of map dowsing, where dowsing on a map or diagram of an area was shown to be as effective as actually going to the site. It also neatly sidestepped the embarrassment that both dowser and authorities managing the areas being dowsed feel if one encounters the other. Especially in locations such as sacred sites, or archaeological digs that are in progress. This skill is aligned with remote viewing, except it is more akin to remote feeling, in many cases this skill can be activated and enhanced by concentrating on listening, smelling, and even tasting, for the item you are trying to detect. If you use the sensory crossover technique mentioned in other articles this can lead to spontaneous remote viewing in some instances

Needless to say this technique has been popular with the military and intelligence agencies of many nations, although little has reached the public domain. One of the few incidences which came to public attention was the case of the pendulum dowser Verne Cameron. Cameron demonstrated to the US Navy not only that he could find all the Russian submarines by map dowsing, but all the US ones too. Having signed the appropriate confidentiality papers he thought little of it until several years later when the South African government invited him to their country to locate mineral deposits. When he applied for a passport he found it was denied as he was classified as a risk to national security if he left the country! History does not record if he did complete the contract by map dowsing which seems like his only option in this case.

For magickal and ritual purposes the pendulum can be a very useful tool. In traditional Craft spells are ‘wound up’ by circle dancing, as exemplified in the Shakespeare play “Macbeth”, but you can achieve a similar effect by having a pendulum circle the items or image to empower it . This pendulum can be specifically dedicated to spellcraft by having a special crystal or metal bob, or you can use items such as herbs or other items connected with the spell. To do this focus on each circle of the pendulum over or around the item(s) being enchanted adding more power to it/them, only stopping when fully charged. Other uses include using map dowsing to find the best ‘power spot to perform a ritual, finding out when someone you want to contact in their dreams will be at their most perceptive and, with the proper precautions, a highly sensitive Ouija or communications board to contact astral or etheric entities. This is a tool that is only limited by your creativity and imagination.

The thing to remember is that dowsing tools are just tools, even when empowered by you. The energy and movements that cause it to move come from your physiology and psyche and it is important that you notice the feelings and other effects you experience as you achieve successful results. When you can achieve the same feedback and results using just these as your guides you will have no need to use tools and you will be at the gateway to great intuitive skills, both in psychism and magick.