danno.
well, the pendulum is a great way to get answers from your subconscious.
just remember though, you subconscious doesnt know the answer to every question you can find for it...
it knows what it has learned, so if you havent thoroughly learned about suggestion formation, then how could it be well-equipped to say whether a suggestion is good or not? you see what i mean.. its like someone who doesnt speak french asking their subconscious via a pendulum whether or not "j'aime le sur et le chocolat" is good french.. just for the record it probably isnt 
you see what i'm saying. if you dont do the learning, then your unconscious is going to be pretty clueless about suggestion formation. it can only base its answer on what it knows, so if it doesnt know that much, it will provide you with a poor answer.
i'm not saying you havent done the learning. i know you are and i know you will become very good at forming great suggestions. i'm just warning you against certain (very easy) pitfalls, which many fall down.
this isnt to say you shouldnt use the pendulum. its not even to say you shouldnt ask it questions about whether a suggestion is well-formed.. because if your unconscious understands the concepts of a good suggestion, it will be able to give a good judgement. even better than your conscious mind.
but you know, there is even an art to asking the pendulum the right questions. i wont go into it too deeply. but try to make sure that your suggestions are of benefit to your whole being (your ecology). if there is a secondary gain to having theproblem you want to change, you will find resistance to the suggestion. if your suggestion is likely to produce detrimental knock-on effects (e.g. your friends dont like you anymore because you are so smart), then you will find resistance. so try and make sure that there are no blocks in your way. you can do this by asking the pendulum. if there is nothing in your way and the suggestions are beneficial for your entire ecology, then you will be on the fast lane to success, because your subconscious will be hungry to integrate the suggestions and make them a reality.
i think you're doing really well, danno. you're moving in a positive direction. my only suggestion would be to find a good book on hypnosis and read it thoroughly. because you have many questions which need to be answered if you want a more complete picture of hypnosis and how you can get it to work for you.
keep us informed of how you're doing.
