Latest / Laura and Lauren Podcast / Mystic Spiral Episode 18: What Are Witch Bells?

Transcript

Mystic Spiral Episode 18: What Are Witch Bells? · Laura and Lauren Podcast

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  [music]
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  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Mystic Spiral,
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  SPEAKER_01: the podcast where earth-rooted magic,
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  SPEAKER_01: animal wisdom,
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  SPEAKER_01: and ancient enchantment twist together like a serpent and a snail in the moss.
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  SPEAKER_01: Join us as we explore the unseen, the intuitive, and the
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  SPEAKER_00: beautifully strange.
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  SPEAKER_00: Each episode invites you deeper into the spiral,
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  SPEAKER_00: into the myth, and into the wild magic that lives within and around all of us.
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  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Lauren,
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  SPEAKER_01: Crystal Healer, Earth-Rooted Mystic, and Friend of Snails and Mossy Fae Folk Magic.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm Laura, Animal Communicator, Serpent Kinponowich, and Solitary Social Practitioner.
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  SPEAKER_01: Hey Mythlings, welcome back to the Mystic Spiral.
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  SPEAKER_01: Today we're stepping into a sound, a shimmer, a ringing, a little cascade of protection.
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  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about witch bells,
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  SPEAKER_01: one of the oldest magical tools in European and American folk traditions.
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  SPEAKER_01: And of course,
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  SPEAKER_01: I'm here with Laura,
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  SPEAKER_01: Serpentkin co-host, who knows a thing or two about boundary magic.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's very true.
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  SPEAKER_00: Bells are one of those deceptively simple objects that have been used in magic
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  SPEAKER_00: for thousands of years.
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  SPEAKER_00: They look innocent, but they're fierce little guardians.
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  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
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  SPEAKER_01: Which balls protect with light?
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  SPEAKER_01: Which bells protect with sound?
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  SPEAKER_00: Reminder,
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  SPEAKER_00: if any questions should arise during this episode,
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  SPEAKER_00: send them to us at mysticspiralpodcast at gmail.com and we will answer them in
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  SPEAKER_00: a future Q&A episode.
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  SPEAKER_01: So let's start way back, long before the phrase, which bell, even existed.
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  SPEAKER_01: In ancient Greece, Rome,
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  SPEAKER_01: and across Celtic lands,
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  SPEAKER_01: bells were used to ward off spirits, disease, and misfortune.
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  SPEAKER_01: Archaeologists have found tiny bronze bells buried in graves,
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  SPEAKER_01: hung on doorways, and sewn into clothing.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes, bells were apotropaic.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's a fancy word for things that turn away harm.
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  SPEAKER_00: The idea was that sound disrupts the unseen.
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  SPEAKER_00: Spirits don't like being startled.
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  SPEAKER_01: And in many cultures,
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  SPEAKER_01: bells were believed to break enchantments,
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  SPEAKER_01: scare off fae, mischief, and even clear illness in a home.
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  SPEAKER_00: The three staples, sound as cleansing, sound as a boundary, sound as banishment.
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  SPEAKER_01: By the Middle Ages,
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  SPEAKER_01: bells had become deeply woven into Christian ritual,
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  SPEAKER_01: church bells ringing to mark time and call communities together,
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  SPEAKER_01: and to drive away storms or evil.
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  SPEAKER_00: There's this old belief that the devil hates bells.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's why church bells were rung during thunderstorms to scatter demons believed
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  SPEAKER_00: to ride the lightning.
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  SPEAKER_01: That'd be kind of fun to see.
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  SPEAKER_00: He's just like, yippee-yip cowboy!
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't want to scare them away.
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  SPEAKER_01: I just want to watch.
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  SPEAKER_01: Let's just watch.
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  SPEAKER_01: But anyways, in households used similar bells for protection.
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  SPEAKER_01: Some families hung bells on cradles to keep infants safe from fae abduction
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  SPEAKER_01: or night hag visitations.
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  SPEAKER_00: A little bell by the baby's bed, a charm against the dark.
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  SPEAKER_01: The term witch bell starts appearing in the 17th and 18th centuries in England and Scotland.
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  SPEAKER_01: These weren't just bells.
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  SPEAKER_01: They were bundles, iron, brass,
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  SPEAKER_01: and bronze bells tied to leather straps,
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  SPEAKER_01: often with horseshoes, nails, and iron rings.
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  SPEAKER_00: Iron is a classic anti-mischief material.
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  SPEAKER_00: So a witch bell bundle was basically a multi-layered protection charm.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sound plus iron plus motion.
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  SPEAKER_01: They were hung on doors, barn entrances, and stable doors.
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  SPEAKER_01: The idea was that if a witch or harmful spirit tried to enter,
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  SPEAKER_01: the bells would ring and alert the household.
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  SPEAKER_00: Or scare the spirit off entirely.
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  SPEAKER_00: Imagine a demon creeping toward a barn and suddenly, jingle jingle, bust it.
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  SPEAKER_01: There's also a strong connection to horse bells,
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  SPEAKER_01: the little brass bells attached to the harness.
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  SPEAKER_01: In rural England,
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  SPEAKER_01: people believed that bells protected horses from witchcraft,
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  SPEAKER_01: especially from being hag-ridden,
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  SPEAKER_01: which meant a witcher spirit was riding the horse at night.
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  SPEAKER_00: And if the bells rang unexpectedly, it meant something unseen was near.
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  SPEAKER_01: Household bells were used in a similar way.
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  SPEAKER_01: A bell in the door, a bell in the hearth, a bell in the bedpost.
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  SPEAKER_01: Protection through sound and surprise.
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  SPEAKER_01: When British and Scottish folk traditions crossed into Appalachia and the Ozarks,
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  SPEAKER_01: witch bells came with them, but they changed shape.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yes, in Appalachia,
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  SPEAKER_00: witch bells were often bundles of iron and brass bells, tied with red thread.
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  SPEAKER_00: Red thread itself is protective, so it doubled the magic.
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  SPEAKER_01: People hung them on front doors, chicken coops, and barns.
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  SPEAKER_01: If the bells rang at night, it meant a spirit or witch was trying to cross the threshold.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in the Ozarks, some families used the bells in healing rituals.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ringing them around a sick person to shake loose whatever was clinging to them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, using the sound as medicine.
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  SPEAKER_00: Modern practitioners use witch bells in a few ways.
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  SPEAKER_00: One is threshold protection, hanging bells on doors to guard the home.
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  SPEAKER_01: Another is spellcasting.
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  SPEAKER_01: Bells can mark the beginning or an end of a ritual.
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  SPEAKER_01: Call on spirits or clear
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  SPEAKER_00: stagnant energy.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then there's banishing.
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  SPEAKER_00: A sharp bell ring can cut through psychic residue like a blade.
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  SPEAKER_00: Some witches even use bells to cleanse tools,
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  SPEAKER_00: ringing them over tarot decks, altars, and crystals.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we mentioned bells in our cleansing episode.
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  SPEAKER_01: We sure did.
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  SPEAKER_01: I love that bells carry this dual symbolism.
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  SPEAKER_01: They're joyful, celebratory, but also fierce protectors.
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  SPEAKER_00: Protectors.
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  SPEAKER_00: Protectors.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're joyful, celebratory, but also fierce protectors.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're liminal objects.
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  SPEAKER_00: They mark transitions, births, deaths, weddings, storms, and rituals.
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  SPEAKER_01: And they remind us that protection doesn't always have to be heavy or sharp.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's a shimmer of a sound.
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  SPEAKER_00: A ringing that says, you cannot cross here.
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  SPEAKER_00: This home is guarded.
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  SPEAKER_00: This threshold is awake.
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  SPEAKER_00: Before we leave today, we're going to pull a card.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today we were called to use the Familiar Magic Pocket Oracle by Madame Pamita.
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  SPEAKER_00: As a friendly reminder, please take what resonates with you and leave the rest.
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  SPEAKER_01: Okay, Mifflings, let's get this party started.
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  SPEAKER_00: Shuffy Shuffy time.
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  SPEAKER_00: I have never seen this deck before today.
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  SPEAKER_00: It might be new and it is so cute.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is super new.
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  SPEAKER_01: It came out at the beginning of the month.
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  SPEAKER_01: When did it come out?
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  SPEAKER_01: I think it came out in July, actually.
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  SPEAKER_01: Mid-July.
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  SPEAKER_01: So it is new.
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  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's cute.
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  SPEAKER_01: Ooh.
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  SPEAKER_01: We got self-care, chinchilla, and rose hips.
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  SPEAKER_00: Chinchillas love rose hips.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's adorable.
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  SPEAKER_01: Look how cute.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, and the little perfume bottle.
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  SPEAKER_01: She's got a little perfume bottle, a little teacup, a little teapot, little roses around.
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  SPEAKER_01: She's super cute.
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  SPEAKER_01: I also really like the back of these cards.
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  SPEAKER_01: They've got like little mushies.
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  SPEAKER_01: It is really cute.
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  SPEAKER_01: And some clover.
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  SPEAKER_01: Clover.
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  SPEAKER_01: The moon.
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  SPEAKER_01: The moon.
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  SPEAKER_01: Little sparrows.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's just a really sweet deck.
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  SPEAKER_01: So, chinchilla, the message is, are you taking time to nourish your body, mind, and soul?
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  SPEAKER_01: Look to the example of the chinchilla,
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  SPEAKER_01: whose luxurious coat is maintained through regular dust baths
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  SPEAKER_01: that make them even softer.
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  SPEAKER_01: Their pampering routine reminds us of the importance of caring for ourselves inside and out.
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  SPEAKER_01: Take a moment and reflect on where you are feeling depleted.
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  SPEAKER_01: Then make a plan to recharge your spiritual batteries.
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  SPEAKER_01: It can mean exercise and nutritious food for your body,
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  SPEAKER_01: doing activities that bring you joy,
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  SPEAKER_01: spending time with loving people,
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  SPEAKER_01: or paying a little more attention to your spiritual life.
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  SPEAKER_01: Chinchillas love to snack on rose hips, the tart fruit of the rose bush.
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  SPEAKER_01: Humans can eat them too or make them into a magical vitamin C packed potion.
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  SPEAKER_01: Simply steep dried rose hips in boiling water for 10 minutes.
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  SPEAKER_01: Say the simple incantation,
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  SPEAKER_01: I love me, to infuse the potion with self-love, the foundation of self-care.
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  SPEAKER_01: As you drink the potion, imagine giving yourself a big spiritual hug.
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  SPEAKER_01: The affirmation, self-care and self-love fill me and my familiar with more love to give others.
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  SPEAKER_00: I was just looking through this guidebook and it's really interesting the way
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  SPEAKER_00: that she says that this can be used, Madame Hamida.
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  SPEAKER_00: She also says that this can be used as a way to get information from your animal
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  SPEAKER_00: or plant guides in case you wanted to use it that way.
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  SPEAKER_01: It is a very cute deck and you can get it here at Groundings along with your witch bell needs.
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  SPEAKER_01: But yeah,
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  SPEAKER_01: this is a really sweet deck and I definitely suggest anyone who works with familiars
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  SPEAKER_01: or even just animal magic or plant magic that you should check it out.
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  SPEAKER_01: Or if you just like really cute things.
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  SPEAKER_01: This is true too.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's a pocket deck so it just can get thrown in your pocket.
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  SPEAKER_01: I'll be posting this on our socials so you can look for us on Mystic Spiral
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  SPEAKER_01: on Facebook and Instagram and also please subscribe to
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: our YouTube channel
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  SPEAKER_00: and Substack.
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  SPEAKER_01: So, mythlings,
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  SPEAKER_01: if you ever hear a soft jingle on the doorway,
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  SPEAKER_01: or see a bundle of bells tied with a red thread,
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  SPEAKER_01: know you're looking at centuries of magic,
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  SPEAKER_01: ancient apopotraic ritual, medieval superstition, Appalachian folk wisdom.
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  SPEAKER_00: A charm made of sound, a guardian that sings.
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  SPEAKER_00: May your thresholds be bright, your bells clear, and your home ring with protection.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And may every unwanted spirit be startled right back into the night.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And next time on the Mystic Spiral, bring a flashlight.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be exploring the dark side of you.
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  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about shadow work.
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  SPEAKER_01: Until then, mythlings, keep listening and keep your magic soft and steady.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Bye for now.