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Bells are used to cleanse, protect, drive away evil, and more.
Bright, clear tones help remove negative or stagnant energies from an area. Before you perform a spell or ritual, ring a bell while declaring your space cleared. If you wish, you can incorporate sound cleansing into a broader cleansing practice, like smoke cleansing with incense, or burning a cleansing candle.
You can also use a bell to help clear unwanted energies from your home. Ring it at least four times in each room, preferably with the doors and windows open and while burning cleansing incense. If you are not able to burn things where you live, then a bell can be a great solution for energy cleansing without smoke or fire.
Evil spirits are said to hate -- or at least be annoyed by -- the sound of a bell. This may go back to the belief that faeries (including the malevolent ones) hate iron. When bells were made of iron, ringing them would drive evil faeries out of an area. In other traditions, any kind of loud sound was believed to chase away evil forces.
Small, sweet-sounding bells have a reputation for attracting helpful, benevolent spirits and energies. You can hang up little wind chimes that tinkle rather than ring loudly, or make strings of small bells with colorful beads to hang around your home. You may also tinkle a small bell after cleansing with a louder one, to draw in positive energy and fill the spaces left by negativity.
Bells and chimes are often used in spirit work. They can be helpful for all kinds of spirits, including calling the elemental spirits in traditions like Wicca. In these situations, the bells serve three purposes: Their sound tells spirits when it is time to arrive and depart, marks the beginning and end of specific phases of a ritual, and ensures that you are getting helpful spirits.
Since bells are so good at driving off evil, they can also keep it away if you use them preventatively. Objects called "witches' bells" are used by many to ward their homes. These are just a small hoop of metal or wood, with bells, charms, and ribbons tied to them. The user slips the hoop over the inside knob of their front and back doors, and the bells ring every time someone enters or exits. This does a great job of making sure that no malevolent influences or entities come in when the door opens!
Bells produce bright, clear tones that send energy out as sound waves. They are great for chasing off evil spirits, dispelling negative energy, protecting from malevolent influences, and much more. If you do not have a bell in your home, it is a spiritual tool well worth investing in.
