Bells signify transformative power, wisdom (emptiness) and compassion (form). They bring awareness to the present moment. Bells are meant to awaken, cleanse negative energy, and create mindfulness. They also symbolize impermanence, the nature of reality.
Bells offer protection, too. Have you ever seen a bird’s life spared because the cat is wearing a bell on its collar? You’ve probably heard a bell ring to alert a shopkeeper of your arrival when you open the door to enter.
While bells have been used to ward off evil spirits, they also are used to celebrate weddings, births, victories. They serve as announcements: Dinner, alarm clocks, fire or danger, a passing bell for death.
A coworker once gifted me a bell for protection after I discovered someone had been hanging out in my unlocked car overnight. I still keep it in my purse all these years later.
While Paul Revere’s midnight ride used lanterns to alert people the British were coming, 25 years before his famous ride he was a change-bell ringer at Boston’s Old North Church. Later in life, in 1792, he founded a foundry to expand the craft of bell making in the US.
Bells have been used by humans for at least 5000 years, long before the American Revolutionary War, originating in Neolithic China. Originally made of pottery, eventually metal bells were developed.
(The cowbells used on our hanging garlands are tin, the keychains use brass bells.)
Fun Facts About Bells:
The world's largest bell is the Tsar Bell, cast in 1735. At 216 tons (445,166 lbs), it would also be the world's heaviest bell, but it was damaged in a fire and was never hung or rung. It is more accurately described as a bell shaped sculpture on the grounds of the Kremlin in Moscow.
The Tsar bell is 20.1' H x 22' W. The broken piece weighs 25,400lbs.
Napolean wanted to bring the bell back to France as a trophy in 1812, but it was too large and heavy to move.
The heaviest functioning bell is the Bell of Good Luck, located In Foquan Temple in Pingdingshan, Henan, China.
It weighs 116 tons (255,736 lbs.) It is 26.6' H x 16.7' W.
The Bell of Good Luck was first rung at midnight on New Year’s Eve in 2000.
The heaviest bell in the US is the World Peace Bell, located in Newport, Kentucky. It weighs 66,000 lbs.
The World Peace Bell was temporarily removed in 2024 to make room for a hotel and office development. No new location has been announced.
How do bells show up in your life?
