Pendulums

[Kitsune]

Okay, so a few days ago, me and Grimwell went out and bought tons of really cool stuff. One of the items he bought was a hematite pendulum. I tried to teach him how to use it... but well.... I don't know if it's just me or what, I mean, I've never seen a pendulum act this way!

He holds the pendulum, and it will sway slightly UNTIL he asks it something... and then it'll stop dead! I had him try with mine as well for all the good it did us... The same thing happened.

I checked to see if the energies are similiar and they are. He's always had a real connection to hematite (mine is amethyst) and it likes him... but we can't get it to move for him.

Of hand, I tried it, and perhaps I take my skill will anything divinatory a bit too casually because the pendulum worked just fine for me (considering that it's hematite and unless hematite is charged I actually have a slight aversion to it).

I mean, I've tried pendulums on "mind dead" people, you know... people who couldn't utilize energy if it smacked them in the face, and they've been able to make it work... I've never once seen it go dead.

Grimwell hypothesized that it was because he was a vampire, and has no direct connection with the spirit world (if anything, he tends to "eat" stuff that comes his way)... could this be the reason? Any ideas would be helpful here guys... I'm personally at a loss on this one.

[Willow]

I don't know, but I had something similar happen a few years ago. I have a tiger's eye penduluum and it stops dead if I think about my husband who does not believe that penduluums work.

Might it also be a property of hematite? Isn't it an and energy absorbing stone?

[Kitsune]

It is a stone that absorbs energy, particularly negative energy, and if it was just with that pendulum I would pass it off as that as well... but it also happened when he tried with mine, and my amethyst works for everyone (just the best for me!).

I'm really at a loss.

Could it be that since he's a vampire that can't/doesn't feed anymore (since I'm his only available food source...) and he's got almost no energy of his own be the issue? He's trained himself to use the stolen energy and squirreling away in hard times. Could he be not releasing at all?

[Hytegia]

I know it may sound selfish of me for insinuating-
But it could be argued that he doesn't believe the Pendellum will work, and therefore it's a failure.

However, let's no linger on terrible notions like that. I would like to think that all Magick Tools shoud be approached from a Harry Potter standpoint, which could be stated in Ollivander's Words:
It is the Wand that Chooses the Wizard, Mr. Potter.

I use that Philosophy with all my small, scrounged-up equipment and so far they have yet to fail me. I have a wand/staff tool that I was led to and, out of pure luck and intuition, pulled it from it's burial place within an empty field (no trees around. It was simply a pull to the middle of a Field to dig for something, and I did it... And voila! A never-failing Wand/Staff!)... I hope I'm not coming off as a shotty kid again.

Give it time, Kits. Or go back and have him Choose. Gifts are good and all, but sometimes they can all be scored in the Internet sonet of "FAIL" if they aren't meant to be. The Vampire friends I met use what they call "Vampire Tools" which, are the same as the tools I use really (Athae, Chalice, etc.) ... However I know the value of the Caster-Tool relatinship and I don't press on the issue too much.

POINT OF MY RAMBLINGS:
Make it noted that, though Gifs are good, they might not all be down to an exact science of astrological connections and resonance, so to speak. Resonance and connection could be on a past-life level aswell or some other nonsense that we cannot fully comprehend the value of True Connections.
Good luck though, Kits!

[Kitsune]

It wasn't really a gift though... He chose it, out of nearly 30 different ones to look at. As well, although he didn't say he felt drawn to it, he's never really shown interest in owning a pendulum, so something grabbed his attention more than the fact that it's his favourite stone (I've shown him other ones of Hematite, and he's never had more than a glance and "Hmm, nice" for them before).

It could be because he assumes he won't be able to use it, but the thought didn't even cross his mind until he couldn't get it to move.

I'm going to have him try again, but it was quite disapointing to him, and I'd love to be able to help him. It seems to be pre-bonding alright, but it won't be permanently bonded as an item until he has the energy to permanently bond it.

Speaking of bonding, I never really thought about it before, but the only tool that I've actually bonded to me is my first tarot deck (my rider-waite), all of my other tools work about the same for me, and they've just become bonded over time. Do you guys notice a difference between fully bonded tools, and "familar" tools? Could it be a "specialty" of mine, to be able to use tools without bonding, since I can speak to the spirit of an item, while other types of energy workers have to bond their tools to work?

An interesting side discussion, to say the least!

[Kystar]

As I rarely use tools, I have to say the only ones to truly be "bonded" to me are the ones I crafted out of raw materials myself.

My personal Tarot, drawn, inked, colored and assembled by hand, will NOT read for anyone else. I can look at them, the book I drew meanings from, and the person for EVER, and meanings will STILL not come to me if someone else shuffled them.

My Elemental Glyphs...well, I have two sets that I made, as something that personal can't be bought. One set, I made with ME and only ME as the focus. They also refuse to do readings for others...though they'll occasionally do a reading for my hubby. My second set was made with "me to use for others" as the focus, and they work almost perfectly for anyone.

As my staff was made For me by someone else, it's energy is open. I'm making my own staff soon, that's going to be for laying wards and stuff. My working wand (as opposed to my "prop" wand for LARPing and Writing) sparks others unless it recognizes them. Like, my sister can hold it, but not direct energy through it. But, once again, I made that wand.

As for my purchased stuff, I have a pendulum that I got myself, some soft, cloudy blue stone, that I thought reacted wonderfully to me, until my sister handed me my birthday present, a deep purple amethyst one w/almost no quartz banding that just sings. SHE got it to work and she HATES Amethyst...and most quartz, actually. But it just vibrates for me. Tingles. Hubby will probably get the blue one since it reacts more strongly to him. I have a purchased Tarot deck that's pretty good, but not as strong for me as my created one. It was purchased to be my Public reading deck since my deck has made itself so totally MINE.

Since I work with minimal tools, I don't really have an athame or anything. No real altar yet, either. I find I can bond to crystals easily b/c they have their own energy to a point...and their own personality to a point. But, like I said, I strongly bond to only things I've made.

[Crazy Healer Lady]

I've been reading this without offering an opinion, but I think I have something now that may help you.

Whenever a new item comes into my possession (or shared habitat, as it may be), I treat it like a new friend. Being pantheist/animist, I believe all beings have personalities, particularly magical items and natural items like stones/crystals. I never use a pendulum or other device without first speaking with it as an equal. Perhaps Grimwell just needs to talk with it, get to know it as a friend and not simply a "tool." Hematite is fickle, but loving. It has a strong sense of itself. Perhaps it has many lessons for Grimwell if he will only speak with it

Another thing is definitely make sure to clear it. Hematite holds on to sick energy very well in a bid to keep it from others. With Grimwell being an energy vampire, there may be issues here. Clear it, speak to it, and see what happens.

[Hytegia]

I agree with CHL.
I'm a Shaman in the way you've all been told in other posts. It's a sense that everything has a Spirit of some sorts... My Runes (which I made to be alive, intent, drawn from the Tenessee River duiring a Storm, and handcrafted to do their jobs) are very alive, and we have a Connection. Perhaps it was the time I took to make them, and other such things. But I have done that with all my equipment!
You see, I have handcrafted all of my tools and objects of binding and the like. It's not like I can drive to the local CULDRONS R US and grab me up a Chalice and Tarot Cards for 29.99 a pop, so I must indulge myself in crafting my own tools... And so far, I have found much joy in them.

But I see a problem here- An energy-eating stone used by an energy eater. Well, mathematically, Negative and Negative is always a Posative and a sense of Resonance should make the tool bind to him relatively easy. Still I have doubt that it may work, since it eats energy.
D:

Well, I hope you and Grimwell have better luck on it!

[forgotten oceans]

I've found that if I don't bond with something immediately then I never will. Typically if we (the tool and I) aren't bonded I just don't wanna use it. Period. If I really need what it does, I'll find a substitution or tweak what I'm doing to fit what I've got on hand.

Also I've found that just because I bond with something that doesn't mean it's a good thing. I've a deck of cards that hate me, wants nothing more than to sit in the box in a dark lonely corner. So go figure. Best of luck though.