Karen,

In your book, Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui, you mentioned that towns in Bali do a consecration ceremony for a new bell. We recently bought one of the Bali bells with the wooden handle. Is there a consecration ceremony you would recommend before using the bell for Space Clearing?

- L.A., USA

Karen's reply:

Actually it's not that towns in Bali do consecration ceremonies - ordinary folk folk do not own bells at all. They are only made for priests and priestesses, who will then perform their own consecration ceremony in their own private temple before using the bell for the first time. The ceremony requires at least a week of preparations, takes over an hour to perform, and the cost of the offerings alone comes the equivalent of about US $150 - a huge sum, when you consider that the average Balinese person earns only $1 per day!

It would obviously not be possible to replicate this complex ceremony in theWest, but it would be excellent for you to create your own personal ceremony to welcome your bell into your life. I suggest you create offerings that represent the four elements, and the best ones to use would be those that I suggest in my book: flowers for earth, incense for air, a candle for fire and holy water for water (there is a description in my book of how to make holy water). As you perform the ceremony, call on your higher spiritual connections to be present, to bless and consecrate the bell. Also, hold in mind the function you will be using the bell for (Space Clearing), and ask for help from the higher realms in performing this function. They love to help but will not do so unless invited.