[Shalrath]

Originally Posted by Johnathanrs

This statement inclines that there are different types of pendulums that are needed for a practioner. Can you make a general one for all purposes? Also if not, is this because, my hypothesis, because certain elements can only pick up on a range of frequencies? Also How does one make the best pendulum suited for a task?

There are general purpose pendulums, yes.
The fundamental definition of a radiesthetic pendulum is this: an arbitrary mass on a flexible string.
Typically, simple pendulums (regular cone-shaped) are universal but in practice, Isis type is the most commonly used, since it cleanses itself as opposed to having the need to be cleansed by the user.
It's also a broad-range pendulum.
As for the materials, the typical ones used are non-magnetic metals, so brass is very popular.
It's easy to cast, cheap and relatively heavy.

With pendulums suited for particular tasks, you'd have to be more specific.
There are pendulums which resonate with specific energies and can be adjusted to resonate with different ones.
One example is the de Belizal's Pendulum. It's made of wood and is extremely sensitive.
It can be used to measure radiesthetic colors or frequencies.
Unfortunately, I can't post links to images since I don't have enough posts but if you google "de belizal pendulum", it's the second image on the page, which looks like a cross with a vertical scale of colors.
The horizontal element can be adjusted to respond to a particular color and thus resonate with whatever you wish to measure.

There's also something called active pendulum, like the Karnak type.
They are stored in two parts when not used and assembled before use since they generate a relatively powerful stream of energy.
That energy can be programmed to correspond to different colors.

There are pendulums with the so called witness. They have a chamber within that can store something, for example water.
The vast majority of metal pendulums have this chamber though some have much greater volume than others. Isis usually has a small chamber.
If you were to fill it with water, preferably from the area where you're going to be using the pendulum, it becomes more susceptible to detecting underground watercourses, because the mentioned "witness" resonates with it.
Searching for a lost cat? Put some of the cat's fur inside the chamber. You get the idea.

There are many more types but it would take a prohibitively long time to list them all here, you'd have to narrow down the tasks for which they are to be used.

2. How do you program your pendulum properly? Inner or outer voice matter? Believing or actually stating out loud and talking to it as if its a separate conscious being?

You need to determine your polarity first.
The simplest way to do this is the let the pendulum swing over the open palm of your hand and ask the mental question "what is the polarity of this part of my hand?".
Commonly, the pendulum begins to move clockwise for men, counter-clockwise for women.
Check this out on the other side of the hand, repeating the question, the polarity should be opposite on different sides of the hand.
Sometimes it's necessary to repeat this several times to make sure you got your polarity right.

Once you are certain of your polarity (i.e. if it's male or female), you move on to the proper programming: if your polarity is male, you force the pendulum into a clockwise motion (no need to use the other hand anymore) and repeat in your head that this is the positive, good, right, beneficial response.
You need to focus in this for a couple of seconds, perhaps as long as thirty seconds or as much as you feel the need for.
You must create in your mind an association between clockwise movement of the pendulum and these affirmations, so it sort of leaks into your subconscious.
Then do the same with counter-clockwise movement and repeat the affirmations that this is negative, bad, wrong, detrimental.

This will also program your mind and your subconscious to interpret the pendulum's motions in a way that corresponds to your polarity.
The above instructions are for men but women simply swap clockwise and counter-clockwise motions to achieve the same result.
In the vast majority of cases, this is a constant situation but it may happen that a woman has male polarity or a man has female one.
That's what the exercise with the hand is for, the make sure what your polarity is.

To further be certain you programmed yourself and your pendulum correctly, you can ask another question, like this: If your name is John, ask "is my name John?".
The pendulum should make a clockwise motion.
Then ask if your name is Joe or anything else that is untrue and the pendulum should respond by counter-clockwise motion.
There you go, both you and your pendulum have been programmed or synchronized.

Finally we've been discouraged from talking to the pendulum or treating it as a separate entity.
It's the extension of your will, part of you, your subconscious. You do not say that "the pendulum has shown this or that".
It was your subconscious that did it, using the pendulum as a channel.

How do you determine what type of energy the pendulum is picking up? For example, positioning it at a certain level within your biofield may change some polarity?

Print a sheet of paper with all radiesthetic colors.
Of course, ultraviolet and infrared are outside of the spectrum a human eye can see but typically, lighter versions of red and violet are used to represent that.
The more important part is in your head.

Once you have that page of colors, let the pendulum swing over each color, at the same time asking if this is the color that the pendulum has absorbed.
At some point, it should respond. This may happen for more than one color, if the pendulum has picked up several.
As for the biofield, we've been taught it's uniform around a person, so it doesn't matter where do you keep your pendulum in relation to your body, at least when simply keeping it with you, as a talisman.
When working, it should be suspended no higher than where your solar plexus is.

Depending on your color, the length of string varies. You can determine that length by holding the string closest to the pendulum and slowly extending it, above the palm of your hand.
At some point the pendulum should start to move and if you continue to extend it, that motion will stop.
That way you have found the right place to hold your pendulum and should mark it somehow.
If you are uncertain of what energies your pendulum has picked, you can cleanse it by letting it swing for several seconds over the flame of a candle.
Isis pendulums cleanse themselves so even if it did pick up some energy, that will dissipate on its own.
Crystal pendulums on the other hand gather energy and have to be cleansed manually and frequently as well.
They are not selective so any energy might be absorbed.

4. What are the geneal basic rules of pendulum behavior without getting into it the individual dependencies upon an individual?

There are clockwise and counter-clockwise motions, notably for yes/no responses.
There are ellipsoidal motions, which can also be clockwise and counter-clockwise and indicate uncertainty or a "weak" yes/no response.
A pendulum may refuse to move in some cases, when a question's been asked, which often indicates that the answer is not meant for us, that it is something we should not know.
There are simple swinging motions, back and forth or sideways, which may indicate several things.
A sideways motion of a pendulum between you and some object, may indicate that the object is not good for you.
This could relate to food, cosmetics, other talismans, rocks etc.
A back and forth motion, that appears to connect us with said object, indicates positive impact it has on us.
This is summed up as the law of harmony. You can do this for two objects, like two stones.
This enables you to create a circle of stones or some other geometric shape, where each stone is in harmony of the adjacent ones.
It creates a powerful shield that negates detrimental energies and can nullify watercourses if placed under a bed.

Back and forth motions (or more generally, motions in a single geometric plane) commonly represent directions.
If you were to use a Bovis scale, this is the motion that a pendulum would make.
It's a circular or semi-circular scale or chart.
For example you can measure you own vital energy, on a scale between 0 and 10000, on a half-circle.
The pendulum suspended over the center, will begin to swing back and forth, pointing to a specific value.

5. An individuals aura color, correct?

Yes, although if you rely on external equipment to check the aura, you might find out that for example aura photographs may be inaccurate, as they do not average the aura radiation and are susceptible to momentary fluctuations.
Some sensitive people see auras right away so it's easier.
However, you can use a pendulum to determine the color with great accuracy. So yes, radiesthetic color is pretty much equivalent to aura color.