• What Do You Think About You?

    Happy Day one and all!

    I know that we have talked about self-esteem issues before, but it is a subject that I doubt we can talk too much about!  :-)   Your self esteem can be the difference between success and failure of your spell work!  If you don't think you really deserve to be happy, then what kind of message are sending about your spell work..especially love spell work??

    Every day one or more clients tell me how stupid they are,or how clumsy they are, or how they keep making bad decision, etc., etc.  No matter how much I tell them that they are good people, not stupid, and can learn to make better decisions, they don't quite seem to hear me.  Why is that? Because they don't believe it for themselves.  Because of that, they really do run the risk of harming their own spell work – how can we expect someone else to think positively of us when we think so negatively of ourselves?  The good news is that you CAN change that!!

    Below, I have pasted part of an article from this website: http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/disorders/self-esteem.html - do feel free to check out the rest of the website.  There are some really good exercises and articles to help you believe in you! 

    Hey, I think you are wonderful, now you have to believe it for yourself!

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com

    Article Excerpt:

    Changing Negative Thoughts About Yourself To Positive Ones

    You may be giving yourself negative messages about yourself. Many people do. These are messages that you learned when you were young. You learned from many different sources including other children, your teachers, family members, caregivers, even from the media, and from prejudice and stigma in our society.

    Once you have learned them, you may have repeated these negative messages over and over to yourself, especially when you were not feeling well or when you were having a hard time. You may have come to believe them. You may have even worsened the problem by making up some negative messages or thoughts of your own. These negative thoughts or messages make you feel bad about yourself and lower your self-esteem.

    Some examples of common negative messages that people repeat over and over to themselves include: "I am a jerk," "I am a loser," "I never do anything right," "No one would ever like me," "I am a klutz." Most people believe these messages, no matter how untrue or unreal they are. They come up immediately in the right circumstance, for instance if you get a wrong answer you think "I am so stupid." They may include words like should, ought, or must. The messages tend to imagine the worst in everything, especially you, and they are hard to turn off or unlearn.

    You may think these thoughts or give yourself these negative messages so often that you are hardly aware of them. Pay attention to them. Carry a small pad with you as you go about your daily routine for several days and jot down negative thoughts about yourself whenever you notice them. Some people say they notice more negative thinking when they are tired, sick, or dealing with a lot of stress. As you become aware of your negative thoughts, you may notice more and more of them.

    It helps to take a closer look at your negative thought patterns to check out whether or not they are true. You may want a close friend or counselor to help you with this. When you are in a good mood and when you have a positive attitude about yourself, ask yourself the following questions about each negative thought you have noticed:

    • Is this message really true?

    • Would a person say this to another person? If not, why am I saying it to myself?

    • What do I get out of thinking this thought? If it makes me feel badly about myself, why not stop thinking it?

    You could also ask someone else—someone who likes you and who you trust—if you should believe this thought about yourself. Often, just looking at a thought or situation in a new light helps.

    The next step in this process is to develop positive statements you can say to yourself to replace these negative thoughts whenever you notice yourself thinking them. You can't think two thoughts at the same time. When you are thinking a positive thought about yourself, you can't be thinking a negative one. In developing these thoughts, use positive words like happy, peaceful, loving, enthusiastic, warm.

    Avoid using negative words such as worried, frightened, upset, tired, bored, not, never, can't. Don't make a statement like "I am not going to worry any more." Instead say "I focus on the positive" or whatever feels right to you. Substitute "it would be nice if" for "should." Always use the present tense, e.g., "I am healthy," "I am well," "I am happy," "I have a good job," as if the condition already exists. Use I, me, or your own name.

    You can do this by folding a piece of paper in half the long way to make two columns. In one column write your negative thought and in the other column write a positive thought that contradicts the negative thought as shown on the next page.

    You can work on changing your negative thoughts to positive ones by —

    • Replacing the negative thought with the positive one every time you realize you are thinking the negative thought.

    • Repeating your positive thought over and over to yourself, out loud whenever you get a chance and even sharing them with another person if possible.

    • Writing them over and over.

    • Making signs that say the positive thought, hanging them in places where you would see them often – like on your refrigerator door or on the mirror in your bathroom – and repeating the thought to yourself several times when you see it.

     

    Negative Thought


    I am not worth anything.
    I have never accomplished anything.
    I always make mistakes.
    I am a jerk.
    I don't deserve a good life.
    I am stupid.
    Positive Thought


    I am a valuable person.
    I have accomplished many things.
    I do many things well.
    I am a great person.
    I deserve to be happy and healthy.
    I am smart.

    It helps to reinforce the positive thought if you repeat if over and over to yourself when you are deeply relaxed, like when you are doing a deep-breathing or relaxation exercise, or when you are just falling asleep or waking up.

    Changing the negative thoughts you have about yourself to positive ones takes time and persistence. If you use the following techniques consistently for four to six weeks, you will notice that you don't think these negative thoughts about yourself as much. If they recur at some other time, you can repeat these activities. Don't give up. You deserve to think good thoughts about yourself.

  • Staying the Course.

    Greetings everyone!  Recently I was talking to a long-term client of mine who felt like she was confused about her goal in spell work.  She has been working a long time towards a particular goal and while the goal has often seemed in reach, and there has been good progress in her case, she just hasn't quite achieved full results.  She noticed that she recently has become confused about what her true goal is in doing her spell work.

    We talked for awhile about "way back when" when she first came to me and what she wanted then.  It was interesting to see how that goal has shifted and evolved over the years.  However, when we talked about it, even though there are some differences now in the goal, the core goal remains the same. It struck me as really important that she stay the course on her core goal even with the realization that even though there are differences in the goal, the main purpose of the work remains the same.

    This isn't the first time that someone has come to me who seems to have lost sight of why they started working magickally in the first place!  Sometimes the work itself takes on a life of itself and we can mistake the work for the goal! 🙂

    My recommendation to her was to use a Cosmic Voodoo Destiny Egg in order to help her remember and get back on track with her goal.  Also, if the goal has truly drastically changed, working with this Egg kit will also help with knowing and understanding that.  There is nothing wrong with a goal changing, growing, evolving over time; the only danger lies in not recognizing that change for what it is! Using the Egg to ask for guidance as to "where am I going next" or "where should I be doing next" and listening to that guidance is a really great tool!

    She has reported back to me that after even the very first session she felt re-focused and re-energized on her goal.  She has re-worked her path to her goal in such a way that everything now seems more realistic and true to her.  :-)  Now she no longer feels like she is working towards some nebulous goal that is no longer germane to today's life!   She realized that while the circumstances around her goal have changed, the actual goal has not.  Now she is able to work on those circumstance to uncloud her goal and make it a clear reach for her again!

    Like I said, she certainly isn't the first person to lose sight of her original goal so I thought it would be good to share with you how she used the Destiny Egg to help her out of her own magickal woods!

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield

     www.spellmaker.com

  • Setting Goals

    Hello everyone!  The article below by Kevin Kearns is actually an article outlining a way to reach business goals.  I could not help but notice the parallel between success in business and success in spell work!  Although I did have to laugh at the "No Magic" clause below.  😉

    Now that we are more than halfway through our 20th anniversary year, we, too, are looking at our own goals for the next 20 years! 

    The article is based on the time-honored tradition of being S.M.A.R.T. about goal setting.  Of course it isn't all germane to spell work, but certainly it can help you get organized and think about your spell work goals in an attainable way.

    Enjoy!

    Love, Mambo Sam

    www.spellmaker.com

    Top 7 Tips for Reaching Your Goals

    By Kevin Kearns

    Setting goals comes with the terrain for most leaders. You set goals for yourself, work with your team on setting their goals, and some of you, I know, work with your kids on setting goals. After all, in one form or another, goal setting is the practice of successful people. Unfortunately, the act of goal setting by itself does not guarantee goal achievement. Along with your determination, these seven tips can turn your goal setting into goal getting.

    1. Be S.M.A.R.T.: Set S.M.A.R.T. goals. This goal setting acronym approach has been around for a long time and it still works! You increase your odds of reaching your goal if you answer yes to all of these as you set it:

      · Specific – have I described details rather than general ideas of the goal?

      · Measurable – can someone else measure and see that I reached my goal?

      · Attainable – is this goal actually reachable?

      · Realistic – even if it is reachable, is it realistic that I am willing to do what it takes to reach it.

      · Timeline – do I have a deadline for reaching this goal?

    2. Document: If it’s not documented, it’s not going to happen. Most leaders learn quickly (often the hard way,) if it isn’t documented it didn’t happen. Goal setting is similar, it must be documented. The act of writing your goal down creates a sense of commitment and also allows you to read it. Reading your goal gives your mind more confidence that achieving it is possible. We tend to believe what we read, that is why magazines like The Globe can sell stories about aliens abducting Bigfoot. Write your goals down and look at them frequently.
    3. Why Me!?: Why is the goal important to you? Think about what benefits the goal offers you. What rewards are associated with reaching this goal? Do you want those rewards? If not, you are not going to stay committed to reaching the goal. The bigger the why, the greater chance of success. If your why is big enough, you will usually figure out the how. It is up to you to discover a why that makes you want to achieve the goal.
    4. No Magic: Resist magically turning excuses into reasons. I have witnessed people magically turn what appeared to be an excuse into a perfectly justifiable reason for not achieving a goal. This powerful magic trick can only be reversed by the magician who performed it. We are all amateur magicians in that sense. We are all guilty of accepting situations as final and giving up on goals. If we want to reach goals (especially those worthwhile difficult goals) we must fight the urge to perform and leave the magic to Penn & Teller.
    5. Habit Forming: Make goal setting a regular part of your life. Much like a successful diet, goal setting works best when it becomes part of the fabric of your life. Yo-yo dieting is a huge issue in the United States. People get motivated to lose weight, so they start the latest fad diet. After a few weeks (or even hours in some cases) we find ourselves on the downward spin of the yo-yo. The people that have had the most success with losing weight long-term are the ones who have made a healthy diet permanent part of their life – not a temporary prison sentence they are waiting to get paroled from. The same can be seen with goal setting. The more a part of your life it is, the easier it becomes and the greater your success.
    6. Get Help: Have a coach help you through the process. If you are pursuing a large or long-term goal, you may benefit from the support of a coach. Depending on the importance of the goal, this can be a professional coach or even a trusted co-worker or friend. A good coach will support you, while at the same time holding you accountable to do your best. In most cases, it is wise to not share your goal with everyone. Many people love to pick goals apart and you may find yourself using your energy to defend your ability to reach your goal instead of using it to achieve your goal. A safe, trusted advisor may be just what you need to reach your goal, but choose wisely.
    7. Impress Yourself: Set goals that impress you. When we start to walk as small children, every step is applauded. This constant positive reinforcement is used to encourage our desire and persistence to walk. Eventually, they stop clapping. This is because you have moved beyond walking and onto more difficult physical challenges. As a leader, you have likely achieved a level of success at work. In order to stay sharp and continue to grow, your goals must progress beyond your current status. It is more important that your goals impress you, than impress others. Michael Jordan did not become the “Michael Jordan” by limiting himself to what impressed others.

      Take the wisdom in these tips and strengthen your goal setting techniques. Improved goal setting will lead you to great achievements. How great? Well, that is up to you. The funny thing about goals is, the more goals you get, the more goals you want to get.

    20thanniversary

  • It’s STILL too much trouble!

    Hello everyone,

    I had to go back and look because I swore I had posted about this before, and I was right. So here it is again!  The constant,ongoing theme of being told "I would do anything to get him/her back" and telling that person, "well, here are some things you can do" only to be told how much trouble it is (or some version thereof), still reigns on in my top three aggravating things that people say to me!  LOL  And, yes, that was a big ol' run-on sentence.  

    Someone recently told me that they didn't have 30 minutes a day to devote to getting their love back. So I asked them if the HD wanted 30 minutes a day of their time,  could they do it? Oh, yes, of course… well, duh! 

    Here is my old post!

    That Looks Like a Lot of Trouble!

    Happy Sunday, everyone!
    Parran Matt and I had some guests for dinner a couple of weeks ago. He had run into an old friend that he had not seen in many years and it was a great reunion! Now this friend doesn't care for spicy food (which most of you already know is my passion in the kitchen). What's a poor cooking Mambo to do? 😉

    Well, easy enough, right? I decide that we will grill up some barbequed chicken and ribs, with some baby red potatos, and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. Now, let me digress for a moment here: Who in the heck can afford asparagus right now, right? Well, as luck would have it, my darling mother-in-law Eileen, who many of you have met at our conventions, found wild asparagus growing near her property a few years ago. The property is public property owned by the Nature Conservancy here, but if it borders your property, you have water rights, etc., to it. SO, Eileen, bless her heart, transplanted the wild asparagus beds onto her property and they took off like wildfire. (This is the lady who "accidently" grew cantaloupes last year by throwing the seeds and rinds into her garden for mulch and off they took into a cantaloupe vine yielding big, beautiful cantaloupes. LOL.)

    So, bless her heart, in addition to her usual victory garden that she grows every year, we have fresh-picked asparagus this time of year. Well, as far as I am concerned I never met a grilled asparagus I loved more than with fresh Hollandaise sauce on it. 😉

    Now Hollandaise sauce is best served fresh so I make it right before putting everything on the table to serve. As I was cooking it, our friend kept saying that it "looked like a lot of trouble." I don't think it is, for me it only takes a few minutes to make and is so worth it. The same with whipped cream, I always whip it fresh if we are having it. It just takes a couple of minutes and it is so much better, but I usually get the same response of "wow, that looks like a lot of trouble."

    It made me think of how many times people have told me the same thing about spell casting, especially after exclaiming that they would "do anything" to get Jack (or Jill) back into their life. However, when presented with recommendations of what they should do to make this happen, I often get, "that sounds like a lot of trouble."

    For those folks, sadly, I usually expect them to get a poor outcome from their spell work. Right away they are setting themselves up into a negative state of mind of how much trouble they are going through for their HD; how much work it is; how much time it takes, etc., etc., etc.

    But spell work, like good Hollandaise sauce, IS worth the effort. So if you are thinking your spell work is too much trouble – stop putting that into your mind. Consider calling that trouble "effort" instead of trouble. Consider calling it "being proactive." Because if you are thinking this is all too much trouble, you couldn't be thinking in a more negative manner!

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com

    Mambo Sam's Hollandaise Sauce
    4 egg yolks
    1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
    1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
    1/2 cup half and half
    1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika (or just regular paprika;you can also use cayenne
    ) Pinch of salt

    Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl and until the mixture is thick and approximately doubles in volume. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water (or use a double boiler if you have one.) The simmering water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Mix your cream and butter together gently and slowly drizzle in the mixture. and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. Remove from heat, whisk in paprika and salt. Keep warm until ready to use. If you are making this ahead of time and it thickens up too much, you can whisk in warm water a tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency – thick, but still pourable.

     

    Download

     

  • Friggatriskaidekaphobia – BOO! Again!

    This is an oldie but had to repost considering the day! 😉

    ————–

    Happy Friday everyone!  And certainly Happy Friday the 13th!  :-)  Ah, the stuff from which movies are made.

    I actually remembering seeing the first of the Friday the 13th movies.  At that time, it was a pretty ground-breaking movie!  In my particular part of the country, New Orleans at that time, there was a very lively audience.  People were actually running screaming out of the theatre!  I don't think that happens too much anymore – too many things have happened to jade us about being afraid like that. However, at the time, a particular group of ladies of a certain age (who knows why the heck they were at that movie anyway) were sitting behind us in the theatre.  They were the first to go – knocking over other patrons seated near them and bounding down the theatre aisles, screaming, "Oh Lord, Oh God, get me out of here."  ;-)  No, I am not even kidding.

    Anyway, a few days ago I posted something about living in fear and how I don't want you to do that to yourself!  However, there is also the realization that we are all afraid of SOMETHING!  Me, not too fond of heights or close places.  I am not sure if I am afraid of clowns or just don't like them, but they do absolutely creep me out.  I love the Cirque du Soleil shows that Matt and I have seen in Las Vegas, and it seems that sophisticated clowns do not creep me out.  LOL. 

    Then, of course, there are more soul-trembling fears, those things that go beyond just creepy-crawly fears; there is the fear that the world will never come to peace again, fear that children will always be starving, fear that some people will never "get it", fear that someone will always be mistreating a pet, fear of America's disrespect for their elderly, fear that our educational system will never improve, and so forth and so on.

    What do you fear?  Do you think your fears are irrational, but you have them just the same?  Or do you think that your fears are pretty well grounded?  Do you know the root of your fear or is it something that just seemed to "pop up?"  (That's me with my "fear" of clowns, I swear I don't know why!)

    Enjoy your Friday the 13th! 

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com

     
    Big_paraskevidekatriaphobia01

     

  • A Year and a Day.

    Hello beautiful readers!

    Today, 9/9/2013 marks a year and a day since our beloved Sister Candelaria passed over to the other side.  I certainly wish I could say that I miss her less, or that the pain is better… but those things would not be true.

    I do take comfort in the fact that she is now risen in the Vodou religion.  She is a learned soul, our dear and wonderful helper again.  I do feel her – I feel her anxious and ready to hear from you.  I feel her having missed serving and helping.  I feel her reaching out to us.  I know some of you felt it, too, and expressed it!

    As of this day you may formally ask for her help!  If she was special to you, guided you, or even if you didn't know her, but wish you did, she is here for you.

    She blogged once about one of her favorite poems: http://voodooboutique.typepad.com/candelaria/2010/04/still-i-rise.html - it seems so personal and beautiful right now.

    If you want to call on her, ask for her help and guidance, or just honor her, you are all free to do so at this time.  

    Let me tell you some things about her:  She loves people.  She loves helping, nurturing, caring, shaping, molding, problem solving.  She doesn't eat seafood, so don't offer it to her!  She does love Mexican food and most spicy food… haha, most food – she loved to cook.  She loves a good cocktail and could make a mean martini.  She was funny.  She loved to laugh.  She was talented – could sing, dance, act, and publicly speak.  She was accomplished.  She wasn't perfect, nor would she want to be.  She knew the value in being real, in being beautifully flawed, and in learning from mistakes.  And she loves a good party!  So be happy in calling on her! 

    She is a Priestess of Agwe.  Anything that you would do to serve Agwe and/or LaSirene is appropriate for Sister C – blue candles, silver anything, mirrors, sea shells, etc.   Just light a blue candle, put out a glass of water, and talk to her.  She is listening.

    Still she rises.

    Love you all,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield, www.spellmaker.com

    Chris3
    Sister Candelaria

     

  • Speaking of September Rituals!

    Hello friends and family!

    Thank goodness Khouzhan Lucy's post reminded me of  The Chinese Harvest Moon Festival!  This fun festival is easily celebrated by a party of one (or more) and ties right in with love spell work!

    I made  a  page about it several years ago:

     http://voodooboutique.typepad.com/mambosam/chineseharvestmoon.html

    It gives you all the history of the festival, how it relates to finding the love of your life (or petitioning if you have someone in mind!), and just the general beauty and tradition of this day.

    I think it is a great celebration whether you are involved in a love case or not! We all need more love in this life, this world! So petitioning for love and good wishes for yourself and others is a great thing.

    I would love to see any pictures you take, especially if you incorporate any love spell work with it!

    Love,

    Mambo Sam, www.spellmaker.com

    Mooncakes1

     

  • ‘Tis the Season!

    Hello good folks!

    Seasoned Spellmaker friends and family know the season of which I speak:  Love Potion #9 making season!

    Remember, Love Potion #9 is made starting 9:00 a.m. on 9/9 – every year! So the time is coming soon!

    This potion IS a drinkable potion.  It is meant to slip a little bit into your intended's drink or food.  It is a classic love potion. There are some other lesser known usages that I will also blog about later.

    But what, if you say, you do not have an "intended" or you don't have access?  Take heart, make the potion anyway.  I feel like making this potion is a great affirmation stating that you will get your intended (or someone better!).  Besides, the potion making process is pretty wonderful, soothing, magickal!

    The recipe for the potion is located on the Spellmaker website, right where it has been for years and years:

    http://www.spellmaker.com/potion9.htm

    Khouzhan Lucy posted on the Spellmaker Novitate blog about it, too! 🙂

    So get to planning, get to making! Oh, and as we found out in 9/9/9 – it cans really well! If you are into canning or can boil some water and use a canning jar, it seals up nicely and when we opened one to check it three years later  - still perfect!  

    Love, Mambo Sam

    www.spellmaker.com

     
    Love-potion

  • Less than Perfect?

    Flawed

    Hello everyone!  Some recent events have made me think about a subject that often comes up – the perfect man  or woman!  Many clients have searched and searched for the perfect person and found that they came up short.  Upon speaking with them I find that their list of desires for a mate is quite extensive and detailed.  I don't really object to that; you want what you want!  However, the flaw in it is that I see how a lot of great potential mates could be overlooked.

    Also, what about time, age, illness, etc.?  What happens when Mr. or Ms. Perfect isn't so perfect anymore?  It reminded me of a post from Parran Matt a few years ago and I wanted to repost it here!

    "Hi everyone! Mambo and I watched a movie the other night titled, "Defiance."  Have you seen this movie?  It is a powerful film about the human spirit, survival, and love.  It is also a true story.  If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.

    One thing among many that really struck me was the love story component to this story.  I don't really want to give the story away, but love grew in probably the most adverse conditions that one could experience.  It would seem that love, romantic love, would have been the last thing on peoples' minds in these conditions.  But it existed.  Not only did the love exist, it grew, thrived, and lasted for many years between some of the couples.

    It got me to thinking – are some people lazy about love?  If everything isn't perfect, the perfect man or woman, the perfect restaurant date, the perfect flowers and gifts, then does it mean the love is lessened?  I think a good question to ask is can you love under adverse conditions?  What happens when the "perfect" man or woman becomes less than perfect due to some terrible circumstance?  Do you walk away, or do you still see the perfection under the circumstance?

    So much emphasis is put on what someone you love has to be – what he or she has to do, give, become – that I cannot help but wonder if some people are just soft and lazy where love is concerned. To watch this movie and see these people falling in love under horrific circumstances was just mind blowing. On the other hand, I suppose that under horrific circumstances would be a great place to bond, share the fear and horror with someone.

    Anyway, if you want to see what I am talking about, watch the film!"

    I have to say it was a great movie!  And everyone should ask themselves the question Parran asked above, "Can you love under adverse conditions?"

    Love, Mambo Samantha Corfield

    www.spellmaker.com

     

  • LaSirene and Capitaine Agwe This Thursday

    Please join us for Spellmaker.com's next online Spellmaker Spiritual Power Group Ritual. We will be honoring LaSirene and Capitaine Agwe as our August lwa power couple! The ritual will be held on Thursday, August 29, 2013 9 PM Eastern time, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific. For more information please visit http://www.spellmaker.com/prayer.htm

    via voodooboutique.typepad.com

    Don't miss this one!!! It is sure to be awesome!