Runes, Pendulums & Scrying Tools

Six hands-on divination tools, kept separate from the books and the card decks: three twenty-five piece gemstone rune sets in round and rectangular form, two dowsing pendulums, and a polished black obsidian scrying mirror in five diameters, stand included.

In short: Round runes roll, flat tiles stay put. Pick the form before you pick the stone.

Amethyst and tiger's eye rune stones spilling from a black velvet pouch beside a clear quartz pendulum on a copper chain and a round black obsidian scrying mirror on a wooden stand, on dark green marble lit by a single candle.

How to choose runes, a pendulum or a scrying mirror

These are the tools you handle rather than read. What they have in common is that none of them supplies an answer from outside — they give a practice something to happen against, which is a more useful thing than it sounds and a more honest description than most shops will give you. The choices worth making are practical ones: form, weight, size and what you will read the symbols from.

Runes: the form decides how they behave

Stone variety is the part everyone looks at first and the part that matters least. What changes the practice is the shape. Round polished discs roll and settle after they land, which suits drawing one at a time from a pouch or scattering a handful. Flat rectangular tiles stay exactly where they fall, which is what you want if you lay a fixed spread and intend to read positions. All three sets here are twenty-five pieces cut from natural gemstone rather than resin, and each set is a single stone you choose from the options.

SetForm and best useStone optionsPrice
Round Crystal RunesPolished discs, 16–19 mm, 6–7 mm thick, 3–5 g each. Best for drawing and scattering; the least expensive way inSixteen, from amethyst to lepidolite$39.95
Crystal Rune SetCarved stones, zippered velvet pouch included. Best for drawing blind from the pouchNine, including moonstone and carnelian$45.99
Crystal Rectangle RunesFlat tiles. Best for laid spreads that must not moveSeven, including red agate and obsidian$63.95

Plan on reading the symbols from a reference rather than from the box: all three listings describe the sets as supplied as stones and point you to a rune guide. The magazine's Elder Futhark rune meanings covers all twenty-four staves — sets of twenty-five usually add a blank stone, a modern addition — and how to read runes walks through casting and spreads. Two practical notes: cast on cloth rather than a bare table, because polished stone chips more easily than people expect and obsidian and opalite are glass in all but name; and keep the pouch, the stones and a notebook together.

Pendulums: weight and chain length

A heavier point on a shorter chain keeps swinging once it starts and gives a steadier, slower reading; a lighter point on a longer chain reacts sooner and moves more. The faceted stone pendulum ($12.95) is about 1 × 1 × 1.75 in and 30 g on a 7 inch chain, in twelve stones, of which amazonite, jasper and snow quartz are sold out at the moment. The triple moon pentacle pendulum ($23.95) is a 1.85 in hexagonal point of about 15 g on an 8.86 inch chain, with a copper-under-silver-plate cap — worth knowing if plated metal against your skin is something you react to, and worth expecting a little tarnish over time; it is currently offered in tiger's eye, rose quartz, clear quartz, amethyst, black obsidian and opalite. Either way, brace your elbow on a table. An unsupported arm produces movement, not answers. How to use a pendulum explains calibration and what the swing really is.

Scrying mirrors: pick the diameter for where it will live

Polished flat, obsidian gives back an outline rather than a face, and that ambiguity is the working material. The black obsidian mirror comes in five diameters, stand included — clear plastic for the two small sizes, black for the three larger ones.

DiameterThickness and weightPriceSuits
40 mm (1.6 in)5 mm, 18 g$19.95Pocket and travel, a small altar tray
60 mm (2.4 in)6 mm, 50 g$26.95Pocket and travel, a small altar tray
80 mm (3.1 in)10 mm, 130 g$32.95The usual working size, held or stood
100 mm (3.9 in)12 mm, 240 g$72.95A fixed altar piece
120 mm (4.7 in)12 mm, 340 g$98.95A fixed altar piece with real presence

Scrying rewards a dim room, one candle set to the side rather than reflecting into the glass, the mirror angled so you are not staring at yourself, and considerably more patience than a first session usually allows. The magazine's guide to making and using a black scrying mirror covers the method, and obsidian meaning and types the stone itself.

Care is simple across all of it: keep runes in their pouch so they stay together and unscratched, wipe the mirror with a soft dry cloth and nothing abrasive, and keep amethyst and other purple stones out of long direct sunlight, which fades them; how to cleanse crystals without ruining them lists which methods to skip. These are tools for personal practice and reflection, traditionally used for divination; any insight belongs to the person holding them, and nothing here is a substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

Where this sits

Runes, pendulums and the mirror are the hands-on corner of Tarot, Books & Divination, beside Tarot & Arcana and occult and mysticism books — tarot vs oracle cards explains that difference. Because they are cut from stone, they also sit in Crystals & Stones, with more of the black glass in obsidian. For the questions you bring to them, Clarity & Intuition gathers the tools on that theme, and a candle holder for the single candle beside the mirror completes the setup.

Frequently asked questions

Round runes or rectangular tiles — which should I start with?

It depends less on taste than on how you intend to work. Round discs roll and settle after they land, which is ideal if you draw one stone at a time from a pouch or scatter a small handful and read what comes up. Flat rectangular tiles stay exactly where they fall, so a laid spread holds its shape and you can read each position without a stone having quietly rolled into the wrong one. If you have no idea yet which you prefer, start with the round set: at $39.95 it is the least expensive of the three, and drawing blind is the simplest method to learn.

Do these sets come with a guide to the symbols?

Plan as if they do not. All three listings describe the sets as supplied as stones and recommend a separate rune guide or reference book; the Crystal Rune Set adds a zippered velvet pouch to draw from. The Elder Futhark has twenty-four staves, and sets of twenty-five usually add a blank stone, a modern addition. If a leaflet arrives with your set, treat it as the authority for the characters on your particular stones, and use a proper reference for the meanings.

How heavy should a pendulum be?

Heavier is steadier and lighter is livelier, and neither is more correct. The faceted stone pendulum weighs around 30 g on a 7 inch chain: it takes a moment to get going and then keeps a slow, definite swing, which many people find easier to read. The triple moon pentacle pendulum is around 15 g on an 8.86 inch chain, so it responds sooner and moves more freely, and the longer chain gives a wider arc. If you are choosing blind, the heavier one — also the less expensive at $12.95 — is more forgiving of an unsteady hand.

What size scrying mirror do I need?

Forty to sixty millimeters is a traveling size and sits comfortably on a small altar tray. Eighty millimeters is the usual working size — large enough to lose your focus in, small enough to hold. A hundred to a hundred and twenty millimeters is a fixed piece with real presence, meant to stay where you put it. A stand is included at every diameter: clear plastic for 40 and 60 mm, black for 80 mm and up. Since obsidian is natural volcanic glass, the surface pattern varies slightly from piece to piece.

How do I look after stone runes and an obsidian mirror?

Keep runes in their pouch between readings so they stay together and do not scratch each other, and cast onto cloth rather than a hard table — polished stone chips more easily than you would guess, and obsidian and opalite are glass in behavior if not in name. Wipe an obsidian mirror with a soft dry cloth and never an abrasive or a solvent, since the whole point of it is an unbroken polish. Keep amethyst, rose quartz and other colored stones out of long direct sunlight, which fades them over months.

Do these tools actually work?

Not in the sense of knowing something you do not. A pendulum makes the smallest involuntary movements of your own hand visible, which is a direct and sometimes uncomfortable way of finding out what you already think underneath what you have decided to think. Runes and a scrying mirror work similarly: they give attention somewhere to settle and force a question to be stated clearly before it is asked. That is a real use, and it is the one we will claim. These are tools for personal practice and reflection, and nothing here replaces medical, legal or financial advice.