planchettes.com - History of the Psychic Appliance...
The Ancient Psychic Appliances - The Divining Rod, The Forked Stick & The Psychic Pendulum
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The oldest psychic appliance most likely
is the "divining rod." These are most often just simple,
more or less straight pieces of wood, although very ornate versions
have been created as well. Although today, there are more advanced
variations, essentially they all rely on the same principle. These "divining
rods" are held. They are instructed to act in a certain way
upon certain conditions. For example, it can be as simple as "telling" the
rod that it will fall out of your hands if you are above a good place
to drill for water. The user will gently hold the rod in their hands
and explore the area of choice. When they are above the "target",
mysteriously the stick will fall out of their hands, quite unintentionally.
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There are infinite variations to this device. They can be made out of
most any material, although some materials were preferred by certain cultures,
and for varying reasons. They can be of most any manageable size. They
may work by being balanced on the body or hands. They may be simply held.
They
may drop, shake, spin or most anything else one can imagine being possible
with what's basically a stick. Regardless of the particular mechanics chosen,
they do work and their use goes back many thousands of years.
Records of these "divining rod" devices can be found throughout history.
From ancient cave drawings, through written accounts, we are certain that
they have been employed for millennia. Many bible historians believe that
"the rod" used by Moses to find water in the desert was in fact a "divining
rod..."
The ancient Roman
"XXXX" is derived from the divining rod. Even today, the "XXXX" is carried
by the Pope, with the same historical origins. The knowledge and use
of these devices have always been associated with immense power. Considering
their importance to man, it's of no
surprise that ornamental versions have came to represent such power and
authority.
Side by side with the ancient divining rods, we find the ordinary forked stick. Although it's history most likely precedes them, scientists have conclusively carbon dated XXXXinian cave drawings, clearly depicting man using a forked stick to search for water, as being at least 8000 years old. These simple tools have also been used all over the world, by varying cultures with great success. For several hundred years, Europeans and Americans have called using such a device to search for water "water witching..."
With the forked stick, the user holds the tool, generally with his palms up. He searches the area of study and mentally "programs" the device, most often "asking" it to point upwards for a "negative" and turn sharply downwards for a "positive." It's interesting to note that despite light pressure, these ancient devices have been known to almost "explode" on occasions. Under certain conditions, although the user feels they are just barely touching the tool, enough force can be generated to break apart otherwise strong branches..
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The third and final psychic appliance which goes back to the ancients is the psychic pendulum. They are the most versatile and capable of the ancient devices. It is a most simple device, yet incredibly powerful in the hands of the initiate. A pendulum is made of a small object, up to roughly the size of a chicken egg. It hangs from a short string or chain, and is held in such a way that it can swing freely.
The user generally begins a pendulum session with simply relaxing and clearing their mind of distractions. They may then state, out loud, or to themselves, questions for the pendulum. The pendulum can swing in a particular direction to indicate the answer.
By itself, the pendulum most often will be "asked" to swing away from the user to indicate "yes", and left to right to indicate "no." Some may prefer to "ask" it to swing clockwise for "yes" and counterclockwise for "no." Yet another variation would be in holding the pendulum near a solid object, and "asking" it to tap the item, to count out numbers or even spell out words. |
Historically, psychic pendulums have most often been accompanied with another device, called a "pendulum board..." This combination goes back to at least the time of Pythagoras, some 2,500 years ago.
A "pendulum board" is a guide, of sorts, relating the direction of the pendulums swing with letters, numbers and phrases like "yes" or "no..." The more complex examples may show all letters in the alphabet in addition to the numbers "0" through "9..." In the age of Pythagoras, this "device" seems to have been made up of a clay saucer, with letters and numbers fired into it. A 19th century French biography on this famed philosopher implies that his psychic appliance was made from solid stone, but we can not find anything else to back this claim up... |
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Untitled Document
The History of Psychic Tools Psychic tools have a history going back thousands of years. We attempt to explain the evolution of these "devices" as well as show the connections between each of them. From the "pendulum board" used by Pythagoras through the most recent inventions. |
Thomas Alva Edison and the Spirit World Thomas Edison is certainly regarded as one of the great minds of the ages. He has over 3,000 patents to his credit, more than anyone in history. Thomas Edison invented, among thousands of other things, the light bulb, the phonograph and many other "miracles of science" which we take foregranted today. Did you know that he spent years of his life building a machine which could communicate with the dead??? |
The "Ouija Board" - Fact, Fiction & Folklore The "ouija board" has been accused of many things. Some claim it's a direct link to the spirit world. Others would have you think that if you as much as went near one, you'd open the gates to hell and become posessed, just like the little girl in "The Exorcist..." We explore the FACTS and let the reader judge for themselves... |
Do Spirits Write Books??? Via automatism and seances, many books have been published which credit supernatural entities with the authorship. We offer a synopsis of several well known, as well as nearly completely obscure books. We begin with discussing the "Seth Books", certainly the most famous of the lot. We also explore another book by well-resepected authors. In their book, they report to have communicated with famous "ghosts" including George Washington. Although this book is from 1882, they have some interesting things to report from entities living on Mars... |
The Truth About Automatic Writing Automatic Writing is a powerful ability which most of us have yet to explore. We examine the evidence on hand and attempt to explain this phenomenon as well as potentials which are hardly explored. |
Ouija Boards in the Movies... Psychic tools such as the "ouija board" have made their way into the spotlight many times. We reminisce about some of our favorites. |
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planchette
n : a triangular board supported on casters; when lightly touched with the fingertips it is supposed to spell out supernatural (or unconscious) messages
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
