#altar bell

[figdays]

Altar Bell // MyGoddessProvisions

[johnthebeloved]

i got a new altar bell!!!

[acrosstheseas]

Sacristan

Dark Field Monotype [Full Bleed] 15 x 22 2020

[thetipsywytch]

Whenever a bell rings it indicates a change in the universe. The twinkling of wind-chimes outside your home will tell you the air is shifting and warns of possible storms, a doorbell announces a visitor, the what would have been silent cat with a bell around it's neck to announce it's presence to their human and possible prey. Bells can also ring to announce the changing of the hour.

Bells do not only point out physical changes though they can also mark energetic change. There is just something so magick about the simple ringing of the bell that can change the energy of a space.

Here are some uses for bells in magickal practices.

Invoking the spirits - Ringing a bell can aid you in invoking a sprit ally, if you wish to invoke a spirit of someone in particular you can use a dedicated bell to summon them.

Bells can also be used to invoke the spirits at each of the elemental quarters.

Banishing spirits - During Samhain people would (and still do) ring bells to banish negative spirits because they cannot be near such a sacred and beautiful sound.

Cleansing the energy of a space - Like sage, palo santo, cedar, singing etc bells can be used to cleanse spaces of unwanted energy and also at the same time it will attract positive energies into your space. Bells are great to use before and after any spellwork or rituals because of this.

Sealing magick into your spell or ritual - For me personally ringing my bell after casting a spell or ritual helps finalise it! It shifts the magickal energy you've made from "I'm getting there" to "bare with me I'm almost done" to "done". This will seal in and finalise your magick!.

Protection for your home - In Ancient Rome people would hang tiny bells and wind-chime on the gates of their temples and homes. You can enchant bells with a spell, sigil or by putting your intentions into it and place it outside your home! I've done this with a wind-chime outside of my front door.

Blessed Be ✨🧙🏼‍♀️🌙🧚‍♀️

INSTAGRAM

[crunchypagan]

🔮New baby ding-ding is an adorable addition to my altar 💕👌😙🌙🔮

[macmorrighan]

Sacred Sound: The Power of the Witch's Bell

In order the make the best of a bad weekend while I was antiquing and kept hitting miss-after-miss, I opted to buy a rather pretty silver-plate dinner bell from an Antique Mall at Valley Junction.  I will likely have it inscribed with a pentagram.  However, it got me thinking.  Often one may see diagrams of altars in "Wicca 101" literature and later, but very few seem to know what the purpose of the ritual bell is for despite the fact that it is taking up space on their own altar as it goes largely unused.

The principal use of the altar bell within the Witch's Circle is multifaceted; one chiefly rings the bell to not only command the silence of the assembled Coven of Witches, but also to psychologically cue to the Coven the ritual and magickal work that it ahead.  It may further be used to punctuate passages within the ritual script at a dramatic moment with a beautiful sound that may be consecrated to the Old Gods, because it is said to reach the gods on a higher frequency much in the same way that incense does.  The sound of the bell may also punctuate the end of the rite.

The vibration of sound is believed to bring about enlightenment.  Prosaically, one may involve the ceremonial bell when evoking the Elements, Familiars, or the Fey in ritual magick or as Guardians of the Magick Circle.  As a result, the bell is a particularly powerful ritual tool at Samhain when we lovingly summon the presence of our beloved ancestors and cherished pets.  For this purpose it might be a sweet gesture to pass the bell around the Circle, hand-to-hand, as each member present speaks the name of a loved one or fur-baby.  It serves as a simple, but surprisingly magnetic, tool with which one may "wake up" whomever or whatever is being summoned or conjured on the auditory level.  The power of the altar bell's sound, as the cause of enlightening vibrational frequencies, is also believed to have the power to cleanse a space and to neutralize negative energies and forces, rendering them inert!  

Further reading:

Lipp, Deborah.  The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle.  St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 2003: pp. 49-50.