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The Bells Now Ringing Letter From Your Editor, July 1999 Bible Reading Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so that he may serve me as priest. These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. . . . Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth, with an opening for the head in its center. There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening, so that it will not tear. Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells in between them. The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate around the hem of the robe. Aaron must wear it when he ministers. The voice of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die. (Exodus 28:3, 4, 31-35)
Reading from Swedenborg In Exodus 28:35 the sound of the bells is called their "voice." There are also places in the Bible where the blast of trumpets or the peal of thunder are called "voices." In each case it means divine truth. The sounds made by different types of musical instruments have a similar meaning, though those that make discrete, vibratory notes express divine truth that is spiritual, whereas those that make notes that flow smoothly from one to the next express divine truth that is heavenly. So it is clear that the sound, or "voice," of bells means divine truth that is spiritual; for Aaron's garments--especially his robe, which had bells all around its hem--represented the Lord's spiritual kingdom or heaven. (Arcana Coelestia #9926.8) Sermon The charming old French hymn, "When They Ring the Golden Bells," inspired me to take a closer look at the spiritual meaning of bells. I was especially moved to do this when I heard the line, "Don't you hear the bells now ringing? Don't you hear the angels singing?" This hymn was written during a time when people didn't live as long as we do now. It was much more common for children to pass away from illnesses for which we now have inoculations. Therefore, the hymn paints an idealistic picture of heaven as "that lovely Eden." Its context is the afterlife. But I think we can appreciate how bells are used in this hymn when we contemplate the correspondences, or inner meanings, of bells according to a Swedenborgian interpretation. First, though, let's add to that appreciation by surveying the all-important role and function of bells throughout the history of our civilization for purposes ranging from the mundane to the sacred, for occasions ranging from mourning to joy. Bells have been used since the earliest times to identify and locate grazing animals and for signaling purposes. Bells ring for emergencies and they wake us up in the morning. They call us to school, to church, to a meal, to the telephone. They announce the time . . . and tell us our time is up. They ring for weddings and for funerals. The protective powers given to bells included those of the "passing bell," rung to protect the soul of the dying from evil spirits, and of bells used to perform cures and miracles. Oaths were take on bells. The book The Story of Handbells reports that at one time peasants were more afraid of swearing falsely by the bells than by the Bible itself! In the tenth century, Pope John IX ordered that bells be used by the church to ward off lightning. Christians worshiped in secret for centuries after the death of Christ. But in the fourth century, Emperor Constantine had a vision of a flaming cross, and everything changed. Christianity went public. The story goes that the Bishop of Campania in Italy decreed that bells should be employed to announce the designated hours of worship. Thus the science of bell-ringing became "campanology," and separate towers that originally housed church bells were called "campaniles." Ancient Assyrian clapper bells date from 800BC. But up until the eighth century, only smaller bronze and pottery bells shaken in the hand existed. However, in the late 700s bells could be cast using the lost wax method, permitting bells to become gigantic. One of the oldest large bells in the world is from Korea, made in 771AD. It is nine feet tall and five times the weight of Big Ben, and was struck on the outside by a horizontally suspended beam moved like a battering ram. Some of the largest and heaviest bells are found in Russia, weighing as much as 170 tons. Bell trees are used in Shinto ceremonies and dances. Bell wheels developed in the tenth century, with later versions turned by organ bellows. Change-ringing (a consecutive pealing of bells) and carillons also developed later. Ethiopian temple bells have bells within bells, so that the subsidiary bells act as clappers. Korea and Burma have metal wind bells. There are many legends about bells. One is that a silver bell in a cathedral at Avignon has the power to ring at its own volition. It rang to announce the accession of a new pope, and when a pope died it was said to toll without stopping for twenty-four hours! One of my other inspirations to learn more about bells was a story I read about the Balinese temple bells, and the extremes of care and reverence that go into making them. In her book Creating Sacred Space With Feng Shui, Karen Kingston tells the story of acquiring a Balinese temple bell to use in her feng shui work. During a cremation ceremony that she attended in Bali, she heard a bell that had the purest sound she had ever heard: I had to know what it was. I made my way through the crowds and discovered a priestess sitting on a small table, dressed entirely in white. Surrounding her on the table were heaps of offerings of freshly picked flower petals and fruits in decorative palm leaf baskets, interlaced with sticks of smoking incense. In front of her was a silver vessel containing holy water, which she flicked with a bundle of sacred grasses onto the offerings placed in front of her as she chanted various mantras. As I reached the spot, she put down the grasses, picked up a beautiful bell in her left hand, and began to ring a continuous ding-a-ling-a-ling as she chanted more mantras and performed a graceful series of actions with flower petals and holy water in her right hand. I turned to the Balinese friend who had brought me to the ceremony and said, "I really want a bell like that. Where can I get one?" He smiled a proud smile, pleased that I was so impressed with the bell, but said as kindly as possible that I should forget all about wanting to own such a bell because they are only ever made for Balinese priests and priestesses. In the days that followed I checked among other Balinese friends, and they all assured me that there was no possibility of a Westerner ever being able to own such a bell. No one could even tell me where they were made. They spoke with reverence of the magical power of bells, which only deepened my desire to have one! I went into a process of prayer and affirmation and continued to ask everyone I met if they might be able to help me. This went on for the better part of a year. Finally, miraculously, I met a priest who understood exactly why I wanted a bell and was willing to help me. He directed me to a place that was a day's journey from where I was staying, involving eight changes of buses there and back, but I didn't care. I was prepared to make the journey as many times as necessary, and probably because of this willingness, I didn't have to. I met someone who took me to meet the family of bell-makers right away. After this began a series of visits to the family, spanning a period of another year. I was getting to know them, and they were getting to know me. We talked about bells and about my Space Clearing work in the West. I learned that the best metalworkers in Bali belong to a highly respected special caste called the Pandé. They told me that the priests' bells have brass handles, and the domes are made of bronze mixed with twenty-two carat gold, which is partly what gives them the superb purity of tone. The rest is the result of the skill of the crafting process, which has been handed down through generations I discovered that the production process is always begun at the full moon, which is the most potent time of the moon's cycle. Each bell takes two months to make, and offerings are made to the Balinese gods at each stage of the production process to ensure its purity. Immense care is always taken to ensure that each and every bell is of the highest quality. When the priests and priestesses receive the bell, they will not use it in their work until they have performed an elaborate consecration ceremony to bring the bell alive. The ceremony takes place in their temple on an auspicious day determined according to the Balinese calendar system. When I felt the time was right, I asked them if they would be willing to make me one of these bells to use in my work and, to my delight, they agreed. The priest who had first put me on the path of finding the bell maker's family performed the consecration ceremony for me, and I have used it virtually every day since then. It does the work of all the other bells I used to use, and more. I call it affectionately "The Mother of All Bells"! Now that we have gained some appreciation of the roles bells play in our world and throughout history, let's take a closer look at the inner meaning Swedenborg attributes to them when they appear in the Bible. In our reading from Exodus, the robe of Aaron's ephod is described. The ephod was an embroidered outer vestment worn by Jewish priests in ancient times. The robe of the ephod had golden bells with pomegranates in between them. This scripture is key to our understanding of the significance of bells--and specifically of gold bells--for Swedenborg. Swedenborgians believe in a particular history of the church on earth, which moved from a celestial state in the time of the Most Ancient Church, to a state that was progressively more removed from heaven in the Ancient Church and in the Israelitish or Representative Church that followed. By the time of Aaron, conjunction with the Divine was being made possible by external things of worship. We were beginning to forget the inner significance of our symbols and ceremonies, so we needed to protect them in order to preserve their sacred qualities. We needed to establish formal worship in order to connect with heaven. The description of Aaron's garments is rich with correspondential meaning and significance. Aaron represents the beginning of ministering, and the preservation of doctrine and what is holy for posterity. He also represents the Lord, and his office represents the whole work of salvation--and on the part of man, representative worship to maintain conjunction with heaven. The gold of the bells on Aaron's garments represents wisdom and love. Gold represents celestial good. Bells of gold signify all things of doctrine and worship that come from good, which come to those who are of the church. The sounds or "voices" of the bells as musical instruments represent divine spiritual truths. The bells are on the fringes of the robe because the fringes represent hearing and perception. "In between" means "what is within." The pomegranates symbolize vessels to hold the truths of the bells. The reference to Aaron's going in and coming out means that this happens in every state of life. "So that he will not die" means so that the sacredness of what is represented will not perish, nor will the conjunction with heaven through the worship that is symbolized by Aaron. In our scripture from Zechariah, the bells of the horses stand for the understanding of the spiritual things of the Bible, which are holy. The pots referred to here are recipients and vessels of good, as are the pomegranates on Aaron's robe in Exodus. To me, the "bells now ringing" in the French hymn are the inner, spiritual bells, whose meaning we must never forget or lose appreciation for. You can see why bells have called people to church throughout history, and why, even though it happened in a superstitious way, they came to signify protection. Yet they mean so much more. Can you hear the bells now ringing . . . the heavenly bells?
Prayer O Sacred God, you are the center of our life and worship. You are the Creator of all that exists, and the sole source of eternal joy. We turn to you this day with a heartfelt prayer that you will open our ears to hear the heavenly bells that are now ringing, their sound pealing out through the heavenly atmosphere. Wake us from our material slumber with the clear bell tones of spiritual truth. Open our ears to hear the voice of the golden bells, singing their songs of wisdom and love. May we hear and perceive the carillons sounding forth from the towers of your holy temple, calling us into your presence to receive the divine gifts you offer in every state and stage of our lives. Amen. BenedictionFrom the point of light within the mind of God From the point of love within the heart of God We now go from this place |
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