LA SANTA CAMPANA
THE SANCTUS BELL
In my summers in Perú and Puerto Rico as a kid and under the care of my Abuela and uncles, I was fortunate enough to visit the Centro Espirituales, where my grandmother was a participating member and well respected Espiritista medium. On the white clothed table where the Presidente de Mesa and all the mediums would sit around, stood a desk bell, the kind that is rung by hitting the little nob to make it ring. This item was a very popular ritual tool in Puerto Rican Espiritismo. Although I personally favor the bell with the handle I have one on my ancestral shrine and tap it every morning when I awake and every night before I go to sleep. When I have Misas and Sesiones those who bring offerings such as candles, flowers and other items, tap on it before placing it on the altar.
The use of the sanctus bell is highly used in spiritual masses, and fiesta espirituales as a form of letting all those know who have come to attend the event that a supernatural event is taking place before the altar. It is also rung heavily when a medium is about to mount a Loa or Spirit as a protective measure so that no earth bound or malignant force enters.
While the Rattle symbolizes the masculine phallic symbol, the bell represents the joining of both, the joining of the phallic with the yonic or vulvic "womb or vagina" to create life. The tongue or clapper of the bell is often made of two parts and symbolize the male semen and the female clitorus. "The ball part of the rattle can also be viewed as a womb, the sacred circle and earth."
Present day Church bells derive from ancient Pagan traditions and not the other way around as most would have you believe. It is believed that the first metal bells appeared in the Bronze age around 3000 B.C. in either Eastern or Western Asia.
Like the rattles bells are a powerful space and area cleanser. Obviously they do not pick up material dirt and debris but they are excellent tools in summoning benevolent spirits, expelling malignant entities, for healing and meditation. The bells are always rung to let those know a ceremony is to begin and when a ceremony is to end.
The traditional metal for bells should be iron, brass, or silver, and they are always kept on the house altars and shrines.
Bells can be hung near doors on windowsills, outdoors and indoors. As the wind blows on bells and chimes it acts as a repellent for unwanted vibrations.
It is believed that if an indoor bell rings by itself, this could be a sign of danger, often of an occult kind, and proper divination should be done and cleansing of the home. Also if a bell falls unexpectedly, this is a warning sign of envy, gossip or a psychic attack.
Every tradition uses its bells in some form, may it be a cow bell, altar bell, a bowl bell with mallet, or chime bells and should be added into your daily use.
TOOLS OF A MODERN DAY SHAMAN
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