The COW BELL hung over the door handle of her main entrance. She was pleased with the sound it made when the door swung on its hinges. Turning towards her balcony, she sighed contentedly as a gentle breeze embraced her WIND CHIME. It burst into a rhapsody of notes. The tubes were musically tuned.
A concerned party chided her for what was conceived as an ill advised decision. "It's an ill wind, it is.! And it'll bring you no good. Bells and wind chimes attract evil spirits."
Well the ill wind, as if summoned, came in its wake. Health issues emerged and unhappy fingers pointed towards the RINGING DUO. (i.e the cow bell and the wind chime)
Yet how is this so?
BELLS were rung in good times and bad. They were used in celebrations such as weddings or to summon people to prayer. From Celtic times, they were thought to contain magic. The Celtic priests threw bells into rivers, streams or springs to get rid of bad spirits and make the water pure. Evil spirits cannot tolerate the clear high-pitched tinkling sound, or so the story goes...
It was also believed in some circles that bells guard the home by warding off evil spells and spirits, or by evoking good energies when placed in cupboards or hung on doors.
"Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings" This was popularized in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) Is there some link between bells and angels, possibly enabling their flight?
In Switzerland, cow bells were believed to scare away evil spirits and keep them away from the pasture.
WIND CHIMES were believed to scare away evil spirits and hung in doorways and windows to dissuade bad luck from entering a home. Farmers use wind chimes to frighten away birds and other pests. Farmers in Bali place bamboo wind chimes throughout rice fields to scare pests and bring the farmer good fortune and healthy crops.
It wasn't until around 1100 B.C., when the Chinese started casting bells, that the WIND CHIME found its more modern, musical and artistic evolution. Highly skilled metal workers created the forefather of the wind chime, a clapper-less bell called yong-zhong, which was used as an accompaniment for religious ceremonies. After that the Chinese developed what is essentially the modern wind bell, called the feng-ling. This they hung from the eaves of shrines, temples, pagodas and in caves as wind bells were considered religious talismans thought to repel evil demons and ghosts and attract benevolent spirits. This practice was adopted in the secular world and wind chimes became common adornments in the home as a way to protect against spiteful supernatural influences. - A Brief History of Wind Chime
Perhaps, more importantly, one should reassess how one felt about the RINGING DUO. If by listening to the melodies of the chimes accompanied by the occasional jingling of the bell, one felt rejuvenated, relaxed and calm, then nothing else mattered.
So, Kiddo ... Yes! YOU reading this - Cow bells and wind chimes. Henceforth, let them not be wrongly convicted of any new travesty.
