Historically, people have used pendulum dowsing and divining for making life decisions as well as locating water, gold, oil and missing objects. The belief is that a pendulum works like an "antenna," picking up information from purported energies emanating from people, places and objects. The practitioner holds the end of the device motionless between thumb and forefinger. The user asks a yes-or-no question and the pendulum sways left or right, clockwise or counterclockwise providing the trained dowser with an answer. Pendulums are popular with witches, who use them to commune with spirit guides.
Attend the circus and you see the trapeze artist swinging like a pendulum in the air. Take the pirate ride at the amusement park and become one with the pendulum as your gondola seat swerves in a deep arc from one side to the other. Ride a pendulum when you hop on the swing in your local park. Create a pendulum in the backyard by tying an old tire to the branch of a sturdy tree.
