We were hungry—
we called into a pub
and ordered food.
Whilst we waited,
I noticed a lady
at the table opposite.
She held a necklace,
dangling from her hand,
her arm outstretched.
She asked the waitress,
“What is your question?”
Then told the necklace:
“Which way for yes,
and which way for no?”
Both stared at the chain,
whilst her husband looked on.
The chain moved—
gently at first,
then more purposefully,
until the answer was clear.
I remember this practice
from when I was a child.
A friend of mine called it
her spirit.
Marginalia
Sometimes things happen that make you sit up and take note. Just like the uncanny appearance of a family tree at a community garden in My Ancestors Deserved Better, this event unfolded on an ordinary Sunday afternoon. And though I haven’t yet followed the breadcrumb to begin this practice again, the nudge was clear.
Pendulum dowsing—connecting with energy or spirit, depending on your belief—is an old practice for seeking answers, finding lost things, even telling the future. To my knowledge, I’ve only ever known one person who did it regularly: a Spanish friend I had as a teenager.
So when I saw it again, in the most mundane of places, my intuition told me it wasn’t random. It was a signal: there are messages on the way.
This happened the very same day I’d seen the magpie feed its chick and valerian gave me a nudge. That evening I began working with valerian and yarrow together—another thread I followed in Valerian|Descent with the Morrigan.
