Happy Tuesday, one and all! :-) I am reposting this blog about ceremonial clothing because for awhile my mother-in-law, the talented and wonderful Eileen, was unable to do the apron and scarf sets because she had a double knee replacement. She is all healed and back in the garden and at the sewing machine! ;-) So for those of you who have been waiting to order, she is available again for your orders.
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Ceremonial Clothing
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Today’s Magickal Music
Happy Friday!!! :-) I hope you are planning a wonderful weekend!
Our first magickal music musing was about Heart's "Magic Man." Thanks to those of you who posted some replies and thoughts about who/what the sound reminded you of magickally! Everyone's ideas were right on! There is, of course, no right or wrong answer – the right answer is the one that is right for you.
For me personally that song always reminds me of Papa Legba because to me he IS the magic man… for without him, no magic gets done! I also like the little implication of the trickster, but in a good way – like he mesmerizes you and you love it! ;-) However, certainly the thoughts of other male lwa easily come to mind – Ogoun, the Baron (also with his slick, sexy ways), etc. So good answers one and all!
Today's song for discussion is "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf! I had a lot of fun putting my thoughts together on this one regarding what and whom this song brought to mind for me! I will share them after I hear from all of you! Can't wait to hear what lwa, product, or spell this brings to your mind! 🙂
Lyrics:
I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from hereWell, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl, look inside girl
Let the sound take you awayLast night I held Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle's all I foundWell, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl, look inside girl
Let the sound take you awayDon't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl, look inside girl
Let the sound take you awayLove, light, and peace,
Mambo Samantha Corfield
www.spellmaker.com -
Fun with magickal music! 🙂
Greetings everyone! I thought it might be fun to do a little project over the next several days to look at some popular music where lyrics refer to magick, witchcraft, etc., in some way.
Obviously, there are a lot of songs that refer to magickal happenings in different ways. However, I would like for us to discuss how we feel the songs that I will post here over the next couple of weeks, remind us of certain lwa (our voodoo spirits). Tell us what lwa the song reminds you of and why! It is okay if the song reminds you of more than one lwa, or even about a particular spell kit or product that you have used! Let's hear it what it is/was! 🙂
I am excited to see what you all think!
We will start with an old favorite: Heart's ever classic "Magic Man"
Here are the lyrics:
Cold late night so long ago
When I was not so strong you know
A pretty man came to me
Never seen eyes so blue
I could not run away
It seemed we'd seen each other in a dream
It seemed like he knew me
He looked right through me
"Come on home, girl" he said with a smile
"You don't have to love me yet
Let's get high awhile
But try to understand
Try to understand
Try try try to understand
I'm a magic man."Winter nights we sang in tune
Played inside the months of moon
Never think of never
Let this spell last forever
Summer over passed to fall
Tried to realized it all
Mama says she's a worried
Growing up in a hurry"Come on home, girl" mama cried on the phone
"Too soon to lose my baby yet my girl should be at home!"
"But try to understand, try to understand
Try try try to understand
He's a magic man, mama
He's a magic man""Come on home, girl" he said with a smile
"I cast my spell of love on you a woman from a child!
But try to understand, try to understand
I'm a magic man!"So what lwa came to mind for you? Or was it more than one lwa? 😉
Love to all,
Mambo Samantha Corfield, www.spellmaker.com
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Tonight at 9pm Eastern Time, we will be having a ritual to Damballah..you are welcome to participate, It will be the first live, on line ritual, so it is quite exciting… and if you cannot
participate in the ritual tonight on line, set aside some time for yourself on a Thursday and prepare your own ritual and petitions for Damballah. www.spellmaker.com -
Imbolc, Maman Brigitte, and St. Brigid – Oh My!
Greetings one and all!
As many of you may already know – tomorrow, February 2, is St. Brigid's day, Imbolc, Candlemas,
and the Feast of St. Brigid. To Vodouisants, Catholics, Pagans, and more, this is a wonderful day anticipating spring, looking for new love, and being ready to shed off the cold of winter.A popular prayer for this day is:
"Blessed be the earth, and all who dwell upon it.
We give thanks for the season now departing from us,
For the blessings it has bestowed upon us,
And upon those with whom we share this world.Blessed be the new season.
We pray that it will be a time filled with peace,
With abundance, with prosperity,
With wisdom,
With love."For Vodouisants, tonight, the eve of St. Brigid's Day, is when we put a piece of clothing outside for Maman Brigitte to bless with her healing powers. Take any piece of clothing, or even a scarf to tie your head with, and put it outside tonight. Ask Maman Brigitte to walk your way tonight and bless that piece of clothing. Light a small fire outside for a little while, even if you just burn a candle. Before you go to bed, burn the veve of Maman Brigitte in the fire. Then put that fire or candle out. Make sure the wax is smoothed down or that the ashes are smoothed down if you lit a small fire. Any kind of mark or disturbance of the wax or ashes the next day is considered a sign that Maman was there and blessed your piece of clothing!
Now you can wear that piece of clothing any time you aren't feeling well or you doing healing work or healing prayers for someone else.
Veve for Maman Brigitte
There is a LOT more to this holiday/feast day! It is well worth looking up more information.
Love, light, and peace,
Mambo Samantha Corfield
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Prayer Dilemma.
Hello everyone! Prayer is, naturally, a huge part of my life. You could almost say that I "pray for a living." Spellwork is an organized, done-with-props, form of prayer. So, needless to say, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on prayer.
However, every once in awhile, I find myself overwhelmed with a situation to the point of not knowing where to begin with praying. The famine in Somalia is one of those situations (along with so many other world-wide situations). As I learned of this horrible situation, my first reaction, of course, was to pray for those in need. As I started to say prayers, I found myself feeling overwhelmed and confused on where to even start. The situation is so desperate and so huge that I found myself stumbling over the prayers – praying for relief, praying for those who died, praying for those children who are suffering and dying, praying for the parents of those children, praying that whatever needed to be done would be done…. the list just seemed so huge to me that I felt completely insignificant in my prayers.
I had to regroup within myself several times, each time feeling a little bit stronger, offering individual prayers for each segment of this seemingly hopeless situation and then overall prayers for just the situation in general. Usually when I am finished with my prayers, I feel satisfied and enriched by the experience. I cannot say this was true when I finished praying for this particular event. At first, I felt drained and still ended up feeling helpless.
As I have continued on praying for Somalia, I feel that my praying has improved. I asked Papa Legba to help me – to help me interpret my prayers and put them into understandable words and thoughts rather than my incoherent ramblings! I asked him to open up my mind to accept that while this is, indeed, a seemingly impossible situation, that still I would find the words to pray.
If you find yourself feeling this way, that a situation is just so huge that you feel that your prayers are insignificant, I encourage you to push through that feeling and just continue on. Don't give up because you feel like your tiny prayers can't possibly make a difference! I had to keep reminding myself that I am not the only person praying for this and that as the Universal Mind we can and do have an impact on these tragedies! Know that you are not alone in these prayers! Don't give up because you feel that you are just a tiny voice. We are all a tiny voice, but we can make a big noise when we do it together. Ask Papa Legba!
Please pray for the people of Somalia and all those who are in need around the world. Be proactive in your prayers and in giving whatever help you can. Donations to reputable charities are wonderful, obviously, but even if you cannot donate (times are hard!), think about perhaps organizing a prayer group of your own, or donating your time to a reputable charity. There are lots of ways to give even if you don't have money to give! The gifts of your time and prayers are invaluable. Don't ever think they aren't!
Join the Spellmaker Prayer Group tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern time and add your voice!
Love, light, and peace,
Mambo Samantha Corfield, www.spellmaker.com
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Making Healthy Decisions – Part 9
Hello everyone! Getting back to our series on Making Healthy Decisions – the next question we want to ask ourselves is:
Who Has Some Guidance for Me Right Now?
Generally speaking, I am not a fan of asking everyone in the world what you should do next! :-) Some of my own very dear friends will do that and, in the end, are more confused than when they started!
However, sometimes it is a very good thing to get some help from someone else. Perhaps you know someone who has experienced what you are experiencing. That is not to say that any two people may have the same outcome, but sometimes it helps to get the perspective of someone you trust.
When you need help from another person, trust your inner knowing to tell who this is. Sit and do some slow, deep breathing for two or three minutes to clear your mind. Feel yourself go into a state of receptivity, ready to hear an answer. Then ask, "Who has the right guidance for me?"
You may see a face or hear a name immediately in your mind. You may suddenly think of someone that is not the person you want to get guidance from, but perhaps they remind you of why you want to get guidance from someone else. Thought processes can be funny like that! 😉
While I am always a proponent of making your own decisions, a little helpful guidance from someone you trust may be very helpful in making your final decision. Don't be afraid to ask! I cannot stress the "someone you trust" part enough. I have seen too many times where friends and clients asked advice from someone who really did not have their best interest at heart. Choose wisely when getting counsel on an issue that is important to you.
Just remember, no matter how much you trust the person, the decision still rests with you and it has to sit well in your soul! 🙂
Love, light, and peace,
Mambo Samantha Corfield, www.spellmaker.com
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Oslo, Norway
Hello everyone,
It has taken me a few days to be able to speak clearly about the tragedy in Oslo, Norway. My first order of business was to try to check up on our friends and clients that live there. Thankfully, I believe that we have been able to determine that everyone we know there is fine. Sadly, of course, not everyone is so lucky to have been personally untouched.
These kinds of events not only leave us sad, angry, and frustrated, but often wondering how one person, looking so normal, can do something so heinous. It is always a mystery to me when I look into the pictures of these people; why, what, how did you get to be that person? Of course, there is no easy answer. Maybe there is no answer, easy or otherwise.
I will not relate the details of his crimes here, but they are chilling right down to the bone. The crimes involve things that nearly none of us could even stand to see in a fictional setting let alone know that somewhere in the world these acts happened to innocent people. The feeling is of incredible sadness and yet still laced with wondering how this kind of person gets shaped in life.
When we are faced with the tragedies of natural disasters, we are horrified that nature can be such an awesome force to take anyone and anything down. I have heard reporters say that we are sometimes at war with nature and nature will eventually win. But when it comes down to one human being causing such death and destruction, where do we look? Upon whom do we lay blame? Surely we cannot blame Mother Nature here.
There are no easy answers to any of this. Most of the time we end up just feeling helpless and frustrated, not knowing how to direct our energies to most help. One way to help is to join with us here at Spellmaker in praying for whatever peace and help can be given to those affected by this tragedy in Norway. The Spellmaker Prayer Group will be devoting a portion of the prayer meeting on Thursday, July 28 to praying for those victims and families in Norway. Please join them if you can – even if you cannot join in on the meeting, praying at the same time they meeting is going on will combine our collective energies.
Also, remember, the prayer group takes requests for your prayer needs, too! Our prayer group offers prayers for all that we know about, it is very easy for you to be included. Just follow the link above for instructions.
Take care of yourselves and each other! Have a safe, blessed, and peaceful week.
Love, Mambo Sam, www.spellmaker.com
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Making Healthy Decisions – Part 8
Hello everyone,Continuing on with our series on Making Healthy Decisions the question of today is:
What Would Make Me Genuinely Happy?
On the surface, this sounds like a no-brainer. For some, getting a relationship back together is number one on their list! For others, a new home, more money, better job, etc. is on their list. For some, getting into a relationship is on their list.
However, I am going to encourage you to rework that list! I am not saying that all of those things above might not make you happy. But is that what it would take to make you genuinely happy? I guess a question within a question is "What is happy?" That is a subject too big to tackle right here! Generally speaking, I do think it is a question to consider within the question of what would make you genuinely happy.
I see so many folks working towards a relationship that they are sure is going to solve all their problems and,as they ride off into the sunset, they will be immediately happy. Looking beyond that initial sunset, to see what that life would REALLY be like with that person is something that I often see overlooked.
But in a broader sense of the subject of seeing what would make you genuinely happy, it's good old list time! :-) I highly encourage everyone to make that list! If it is just a one-word list that says, "Johnny" then you need to look beyond that, seriously. What other things will make you happy? How can you attain them? If you are unhappy with your present circumstances and want them to change, what are you willing to do to change them? How big of a role are you willing to take in your own happiness… your genuine happiness? Will you listen to and/or take advice? Will you explore all your options? How are you willing to try?
Don't forget the small things, too! Include them on your list! How many of these happy-makers did you do yesterday, last week, this year? Which ones can you indulge in today? When you're facing a challenge, ask what would make you happy in this situation.
Cast a wide net! You may have "buying a new car" on your list, but if you also remember that "dinner with friends" and "playing with my dog" are great for you, you get to be happy every day–and that's important. What would make you happy now (that wouldn't make you unhappy later)? Do that!
Then, take the decision you are trying to make and see what about it will or will not make you genuinely happy!
Love, Mambo Samantha Corfield, www.spellmaker.com
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Making Healthy Decisions – Part 7
Hello everyone! Continuing on with our series about Making Healthy Decisions! (I will do a wrap up of this when it is all done – so you will have the list of questions all in one place!
Today's question to ask yourself in your decision making process is:
Should I be acting or should I be stepping back?
Okay, so this can be a tough one. Do we wait and "see what happens" or do we jump in take that bull by the horns, wrestle it to the ground, and show it who's boss? :-) Living in this microwave-instant message-tweet-email-Facebook status updating-seeminglyinstant gratification world can be detrimental to our decision-making process. We are beginning to feel that everything needs an instant action! That just isn't true! Some things are best left alone, left to marinate, left to give a chance to breathe and perhaps evolve into something else.
Countless times we've all acted too soon or without sufficient information, or we've stepped in where our input wasn't needed (or wanted – what is up with that – it seems that I can hardly even go to the grocery store without someone commenting on what I should be doing/buying, etc. – so strange… anyway…) and muddied circumstances that were already working themselves out.
When you ask yourself, quietly and confidently, what your part is in a given situation, and where to wait (or exit entirely), you'll get a clear idea of your role. If you ask the question and still want to act against the advice of your internal coach, remind yourself that, although life is a series of little dramas, none of them needs a drama queen (or king).
Of course, as with other decision-making processes, it takes some thought to decide when to act and when to step back and see what happens. Putting these question together with the other questions, however, lets you see that this is just part of a whole process. Putting the process together will make much more sense in the end! 🙂
Love, light, and peace,
Mambo Samantha Corfield, www.spellmaker.com