For years, pendulums just told me what I wanted to hear. What finally solved that issue for me was getting a heavier one that I can't subconsciously "push."
While I do have a couple of pendulum charts, I seldom if ever use them. A pendulum is a very simple, direct instrument and I find it best not to impose unnecessary complications. I like to keep it to answers like "yes," "no," "maybe," and "rephrase."
I don't buy into new age/wellness schools of thought with "programming", Ascended Masters and their ilk, elaborate cleansings, or rituals. I just ask questions and wait for it to move. I do keep a camphor tablet in the box with it, it seems to keep it honest. Andy once said that impressions of past card readings seem to (at times) cast a shadow over a later reading. He called it "shades." I've noticed that I do have to swap decks out from time to time, as do most readers I've talked to, so it makes sense. He noticed the same thing with the crystal sphere. There's no reason that the pendulum would be an exception. The camphor tablet works, the pendulum works, and that's good enough.
Mine seems to work best for questions that directly affect me. I seldom use it for client readings.
The best bit of advice I've seen was posted by Cat Yronwode on her Lucky Mojo forum: "What a pendulum can do very well, and better than many other forms of divination, is to determine things in the present at a distance, to locate hidden or lost things and people, and to uncover hidden emotions."
It's good for cross-checking card readings. If the cards seem to be saying that grandma's ring is in a low, shadowy spot in a room on the east side of the house, and you think it may have fallen behind the dresser, the quickest, easiest way to verify that is to consult the pendulum. Much easier than moving furniture only to find out that the ring is somewhere else.
I got mine from Stan Slater in Austin, Texas. He does excellent work. He makes some lovely pens, too!
https://www.pendulumandpenink.com/shop2.htm
Miss Cat has compiled a list of publications on dowsing here. Enjoy!
https://yronwode.org/dowsing-divining-rod-water-witching-pendulum-divination-bibliography.html
