In the beginning
was Miltha, says John the Evangelist. In the simplest possible language, Miltha, an Aramaic word, would be, "Consciousness
manifesting." Miltha was translated into the Greek Logos, which we now know as the Word, or the Verb: the primal vibration of Creation. Aum. Science
tells us that sound is energy. The
ringing of instruments such as bells, chimes, and gongs reminds us of this fact,
especially whenever their vibrations resonate deep inside us. We experience what Roman Catholics have
called "the voice of God" as communicated by church bells. No wonder the clapper inside a bell is also
called a "tongue." In Italy,
and in the rest of Europe as well, there are many more opportunities to hear chiming
clock towers and church bells than in the U.S.
(Note that the English word "campanile" comes from campana, Italian for bell.) Of course, Roman Catholics will always hear
the Sanctus bell at mass, and 
many churches of all denominations have bell
choirs in America. There are many uses
for bells. They are used in communication
of various kinds, as in doorbells, dinner bells, fire alarms, do-it-yourself
burglar alarms, bicycle bells, sleigh bells, school bells, ships' bells,
clanging buoys, the bell at the opening and closing of the NYSE, Salvation Army
bells at Christmas time, as pet toys, as animal collar accessories, etc. The newest trend for Alpine cows, by the way,
is GPS collars instead of the traditional bell.
People all over the world incorporate bells into their lives. Bells have a role in most world religions. They are used in meditation to help focus one's
attention. Bells come in all sizes, materials,
and styles. They don't have to be made
of metal alloys. They can be made of
wood, ceramics, glass, and even nutshells. It seems that the Chinese invented the first bells,
taozhong. They also attached bells to livestock to
protect them against evil spirits. Little
golden bells were applied to high priests' robes for the same reason. That practice spread all the way to the
Middle East where priests' robes as well as horses and camels soon sported
bells. The ancient Egyptians used bells
in their rites, and the Romans beat them in victory parades. The first church 
bells were very different from
today's. Bell making is now a science
called campanology. Around the year 431
A.D. the first church bells were employed at Christmas thanks to Bishop
Paulinus in the town of Nola in Campania (S. Italy). Perhaps before that, bells were installed in
Byzantine cloisters in Syria. Bells called
people to prayer, as in the Angelus which traditionally rings morning, noon,
and night. In the Middle Ages church
bells took on great importance. Aside
from announcing religious rites and the time of day, they tolled danger,
curfews and the closing of the city gates.
Eventually, the mechanical carillon was invented in the Netherlands
where, said the Italians, "The hours sing." Generally speaking, the Russians had the most
massive bells; the English had the most civic pride in theirs, recalling such bells
as Big Ben and Old Paul; the Italians have probably always had the greatest
number of bells, given Italy's countless churches and bell towers. It is a shame that some newer Italian
churches use a recording instead of the real thing. When all the bells ring at once, as on major
religious holidays, that is called a plenum.
A plenum of all bells in a single town will guaranteed fill all ears
with the music of the spheres. Edgar
Allan Poe, a tormented soul in the history of American literature, wrote a poem
entitled "The Bells." It ends
with the "sobbing" as well as the "moaning and the groaning of
the bells." Typical of Poe, to wind
up dark and mournful. But first, the
poor man concedes that the sound of sleigh bells is nice: "All the heavens seem to twinkle/With a
crystalline delight; Keeping time, time, time/In a sort of Runic rhyme/To the
tintinnabulation that so musically wells/From the bells, bells, bell, bells." If sleigh bells, or what the whole world recognizes
as "jingle bells," could speak to the heart of a mope like Poe, then
we can be sure of the power and, more often than not, the incantation of bells. UN’AMERICANA
A VENEZIA
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