• Facebook Fun!

    Hello everyone!

    Any Facebook fans out there?? 🙂 I admit to having been somewhat bewildered at the popularity of Facebook when I first heard of it. However, after some time of exploring it and seeing so many friends, family, and client on there I decided to take a stab at it!


    It is fun and quirky and interesting to me. It is great to connect with everyone and see what is happening in their lives.


    I even made my first “app” for all of us to use to send lwa to each other! I even blessed the app, which may sound silly, but I chose all the pictures very carefully and sent my best possible blessings into each one in hopes that we could all help each other by sending different lwa to each other. 🙂


    We now even have a Spellmaker page on Facebook where you can become a fan of Spellmaker! It’s fun and it is a great way for all of us to stay in touch.


    So if you have been avoiding the whole Facebook scene, come see us, join us, and have some fun with us!


    Love,

    Mambo Sam

  • Gossip Girl

    Okay, okay… I confess, I have never seen the show “Gossip Girl” but I love the name of it! Or maybe I hate the name of it. I am not sure! LOL.


    On a more serious note, I have talked about this before on our forum (which is soon to be resurrected, by the way!), and even in person at conferences and lave tets: There is an unfortunate side effect to having friends that you made through Spellmaker – either you met them online or in person, doesn’t matter. What ends up happening is that you talk too much about your spell casting work!


    But, Mambo, you ask me, what’s wrong with that? Well, plenty. You know how in the spell casting instructions it pretty clearly states that you should tell no one of your spell work? There is a good reason for that. Unfortunately, talking about it too much, even to those you think support you, can often have an adverse effect.


    The first thing is that discussing it too much makes you tend to dissect it: What did you do, Susie Spellmaker Friend? Oh, I didn’t do that, I did this. Maybe I should have done what you did, SSF. Or maybe you should have done what I did, SSF. Oh, SSF, my HD called me. SSF says: Oh big deal, that doesn’t mean anything. You say: But I thought it was a good sign. SSF says: You put too much into it. Don’t let him take advantage of you, calling whenever he wants. You say: Is this spell work really working? SSF says: Maybe. Maybe not.


    My point is that very often SSF actually is jealous of your progress, or doesn’t interpret the spell work the way you do, or just plain old isn’t actually a “friend.” We have such a loose interpretation of what a friend is these days. Someone we meet on the internet and have a little something in common with is suddenly the definition of “friendship.”


    I find this especially true, unfortunately, of my female clients. They want to compare spellcasting notes with their SSF’s, pour over what is happening to them, lament the state of their case, cry on each other’s shoulders, etc., etc., etc. Frankly, I think it is detrimental to your spell work. I have tried to tell some people this and am met with a fairly chilly reception and THEN am told I am wrong. Well, guess what, I can’t be wrong because I crafted your spellwork. I created the very place where you met SSF.


    Look, I am not trying to say you shouldn’t talk to your personal SSF, but what I am saying is that you should try to keep the talk down that dissects your personal spell work and its results. You are truly doing yourself a disservice in that you might be wrecking your own work by putting doubt into it or worrying about the fact that SSF got some kind of result that YOU were hoping for and you are still waiting. Or SSF seems to be in one disaster after another and is dragging you in with her. Yes, keep your SSF! But think about the discussions you are having – are they truly helping you? Are those discussions truly supportive? Do you come away from talking to SSF feeling BETTER or WORSE?


    The main thing that prompted me to write this post is that I have received some pretty emotional letters from some of you regarding your SSF and a relationship with her that has gone terribly wrong or is counterproductive. One thing I do recommend is that if you have an SSF and you feel like the relationship isn’t doing either one of you any good, you should talk to her! Tell her how you feel. If she is truly your friend, then she will work with you to salvage the relationship and keep it healthy. If she is not your friend, you will know it right away and should just cut your losses.


    Sorry for shooting straight from the hip on this one, but I just thought you should all think about it!


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Sam

  • “with alacrity”

    Greetings everyone!

    Although I am not a huge sports fan (my favorite players for all sports are my grandsons!), my husband Matt and I do enjoy watching the Superbowl with family. Generally we root for whomever my son and grandsons are rooting for! (Sigh – Arizona.)


    During the Superbowl, one of the announcers said that a player consistently did something “with alacrity.” One of my grandsons asked me what that meant. So I told him: Cheerfully, quickly, with enthusiasm. “We wish you would get ready for bed with alacrity.” 😉


    After we talked about it a bit it made me think about how often a client will tell me that they did their spell work because they “thought they had to.” I will then hear how they resented having to do spell work on their target in the first place. Then later on I might hear how I made spells too hard, and why do they have to do all that work to get what they want?


    Granted, no one is going to be 100% enthusiastic about doing their spell work; it is after all “work.” But, we have to think about what kind of result we are looking for with spell work. What do you want in return? Do you want resentment? No? Then don’t put resentment into the work. So many people are always asking me, “Why am I the one who has to do all this work? Well, you are the one who wants what you want. That’s why. If you resent working for what you want, are you going to resent it when you get it?? If so, you are already dooming yourself and what you want to eventual failure. Remember, if you are doing spellwork to bring a particular someone special into your life, that someone special did not ask you to do spell work. That was your choice! 🙂


    So sometimes things are not so easy. Sometimes they take a lot of time. Sometimes they seem like they will NEVER pay off. 😉 But if you approach your work “with alacrity” you will always reap a reward: reaching your goal, strengthening your spirit, learning something new, etc. All of these are the result of approaching a goal with all you have in you!


    How do you do your spellwork and adjunct work? How do you keep your spirits up and your eye fixed firmly on the prize? Do you have some tips and tricks? Just reply into the comment link below!


    Love,

    Mambo Sam

  • Service to Erzulie Freda

    Erzuliekiss Hello everyone!
    Of course, we here at Spellmaker.com are gearing up for our annual Valentine's Day Service to the lovely Vodou love goddess,Erzulie Freda! Many of you have already sent in your petitions to be included in the free ritual. We are hoping that many more of you will!

    One thing I have noticed is that many of you are still worried that your service to Erzulie will not be "enough" for her. Certainly, it is understandable when working with the lwa who is known for loving opulence and luxury that one might have these concerns. Although I have tried to let people know that even the smallest service done with a good heart will be well received, there are still those who wish they could do more. 🙂

    I have some ideas for you! Remember that "luxury" can be a state of mind and an environment can be luxurious without being expensive. So first start thinking of the space that you will be doing your service in. If you purchased the one-day ritual kit or plan on doing the ritual as written on the website make whatever area you will be doing your service in as lovely as you can! Even if you temporarily use one of your own bed sheets as an altar cloth, that is okay because you can spray your perfume on it and make it something special.

    Set the mood for the ritual with any candles you have and put on romantic music or tune your radio to a soft rock or other type of station that plays the kind of music that would set the mood for romance.

    Do you have jewelry? You can put it on the altar and "give" it to Erzulie! That doesn't mean you can't wear it! Of course you can, but if you dedicate it to her, then you have given her something wonderful.

    Do you have old magazines laying around? Cut out pictures of beautiful things – jewelry, clothes, perfume, etc. Make a simple collage out of them and put them on your altar for her!

    How about the rest of you out there? What ideas do you have for serving Erzulie in a respectful, but economical, way? Just click on the little link below the post that says "comments" and leave us your suggestions!

    Love,
    Mambo Sam

  • Toxic Friendships

    Greetings everyone!

    I wanted to talk to you all a little bit about the friendships in your lives.  The work that I do for everyone puts me in a unique position to study relationship dynamics from many different points of view. I get to see people at their best and also at their worst.


    As the years have gone by I have noticed more and more that many of my clients have fallen prey to someone in their lives who was supposed to be a friend. Sadly, those who pose as friends and make us believe in them are the ones that we are most likely to allow to hurt us.


    Now don’t get me wrong! I am not proposing that every person who tries to be your friend has some ulterior motive and will in the end screw you over! That is not it at all. However, there are some categories of “friends” for which you should be on the look out.


    We all might have some of the characteristics outlined below. But if you have a friend that falls heavily into one of these categories, you should take steps to figure out if they are truly a friend, or are they someone who you really don’t need in your life. Most of the time we don’t realize until it is too late that we have involved ourselves with a Toxic Friend.

    Since women fall most prey to this type of friend, I will address it from a female point of view. Of course, these guys exist, too!


    • Connie Controller: This is the friend who cannot get out of a conversation without telling you, “You know what you ought to do….” and then proceeds to tell you how to run your life. Generally speaking, The Controller’s life is probably in a shambles and since she can’t control it, she will try to control yours. This is also the friend who has to say where the two of you will have lunch, what the dress code will be for going out, etc. Most of the time if this person is your friend, you have gotten used to her telling you what to do and you go along with her program without even noticing it.
    • My Idea Minnie: This friend cannot leave your idea or suggestion alone. If you say you want the two of you to bake chocolate chip cookies, she will want to bake chocolate chip MINT cookies. If you suggest something to her, she will generally negate it. A week, or month, or year later (when she figures you forgot about what you said), she will do the thing you suggested and claim that she came up with the idea or doesn’t know where she heard it. Maddening!
    • Polly Passive: But she is really aggressive. Most of us have experienced passive-aggressive behavior and at one time or another we have probably all fallen into doing it ourselves. However, if you have that friend who constantly manipulates you with passive-aggressive behavior prepare yourself for friendship misery. Polly Passive is often a do-gooder friend who will want to do all kinds of favors for you, seems to put herself last and everyone else first, UNTIL the day she wants to call in those favors. “Well, you know that I did work those extra hours at the office so you could go see your sick grandma, but that’s okay, I understand if you can’t lend me $10,000.00 to start my business.” Her other trick is to make you feel guilty and sorry for her. “Oh I don’t want to burden you with my problems.” Then of course, you fall into the trap of saying, “It’s okay, what’s going on?” You know the rest of that story.
    • Betty Blamer: This one always wants to know your opinion, wants to do what you want to do, always wants you to make the decisions. Of course, later on, when/if something goes wrong, she skillfully finds a way to remind you that it was YOUR decision that was wrong. You will never get her to make a decision because she likes to be blame free.
    • Cookie the Coveter: She always compliments you and tells you how lucky your are to have your car, job, husband, family,whatever. She oozes admiration and acts like your biggest fan. BUT she will always remind you how “lucky” you are, assuming that everything you have was handed to you on a silver platter. She is busy trying to figure out a way to get what YOU have vs. working towards getting something on her own. While the other toxic people may only be an annoyance, she will be much, much more if you don’t watch out for her.

    Just because someone may have some of these qualities doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of your friendship. However, if you feel they are too toxic, find a way to start to spend less time with them.


    Of course, there are many, many more types of toxic friends. Which ones have you come across? How did you deal with it? Just answer in the comments section! I would love to hear from you about this subject and any tips you might have for how to deal with toxic friends in your life.


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Sam

  • FREE RITUAL TO ERZULIE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!

    Hello everyone!  Yes, we are doing it again!  :-)  As February nears, we cannot help but have our thoughts turn to one of the most beloved (and sometimes most dreaded) holidays of the year.

    For three years now, we have been doing a special free ritual at the Spellmaker office in honor of Vodou love goddess, Erzulie Freda. Many of you have called and written to see if we are going to do the ritual again this year and yes we are!

    As always, we will ask that you send us an email with your requests for the ritual.  There is no charge to be involved in the ritual.  We do have products dedicated to Erzulie available again and this year we have added a special one-day ritual kit that we are offering. 

    So many people enjoyed the Sobo Ritual Pack that we decided to create one for Erzulie Freda!  However, there is no need to purchase anything to be included in the ritual – the Erzulie Ritual Pack is a convenience for those who wish to use it.

    Check it all out at www.spellmaker.com/erzulie.htm

    Love, Mambo Sam

    Erzulieheart

  • Papa Alegba Has Arrived!

    Hello everyone!  I am really excited to announce that we are now offering our special Ritual and Service Pack for Papa Alegba!  This has been a long time in the making and offers us a great new way to communicate with and ask for the help of our dear Papa Alegba. 

    Papa has truly guided me every step of the way with the kit, making his desires for this kit crystal clear to me.  It has truly been my pleasure to work on this project and bring to life this package in his honor.  He showed me the way to open every door that I needed to craft his special Red and White Bath, Open Door incense, Gatekey oil… so many wonderful things!

    You can go read all about it on his special page at www.spellmaker.com/legba.htm - get ready to unblock all the barriers in your life and open every door! 

    Love, Mambo Sam

    Crosslet

  • Martin Luther King

    Hello everyone!  First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year.  I am a bit late in doing so and have been reworking my ideas for this blog and can't wait to get back in touch with all of you!  🙂

    The main reason for my post today is, of course, to honor the great leader, Rev. Martin Luther King.  Like so many forward-thinking leaders, he was cut down before we could benefit from all of his wisdom.  Most of us know him most poignantly from his "I Have a Dream" speech.  He has become an icon for all of us who have a dream!  His words can inspire even the most reticent amongst us to realize that we can and should try to follow our dreams!

    Many of you may already know that the King family and our incoming president's, Barack Obama's, family have declared this day a day of service for all Americans.  I am thrilled to see this and hope that each and every one of you will consider this to be not just "one day" of service, but rather a day that you will think about what you can do for others.  A day of service is a wonderful thing, a lifetime of serving others in some capacity is a glorious thing that will reap you many rewards.

    Sadly, most of us get caught up in our lives, our own problems, our own desires and wants and fail to see how much more needy some people are in their lives.  Failing to give others a helping hand is failing to give yourself a helping hand.

    Over the years I have had so many clients tell me that they were alone, in a bad place, a depressed and dark place.  Most of the time when I suggest that doing something for someone else would help them greatly, I was met with resistence:  "I am too tired."  "I am too poor."  "I am turned off by poor people."  "Volunteer?  That's too boring."  "What will I get out of it?"  "I haven't found anything that I like to volunteer for."  "I don't have any special skills."  "I don't know how to volunteer."  "What could I possibly do to help others when I am so down."  Well, you get the idea. 

    The truth is, most of us don't know how good we have it.  Anyone and everyone can find a way to serve their fellow man and reap the rewards of doing so.  Those people that have listened to me have some amazing tales!  I won't repeat them all here, but one woman met her future husband while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.  Another person was hired on at the Red Cross in a high paying job (after she did the Get a Job spell and was feeling like it didn't work for her – I told her to go volunteer somewhere for awhile – she was hired two weeks after volunteering there)!  Trust me when I say that nothing will make you appreciate your life more than getting out and seeing what you can do for someone else.

    You know, it doesn't have to be dramatic!  Maybe you can just talk to a friend that you know is down and offer to take her to lunch.  Maybe you can go to a church and ask if there is a family who needs some kind of help – it doesn't have to be monetary.  Your time can be turned into "money" for a family who needs someone to babysit, or help with yard work, or help their children with homework.  Everyone can do something that someone else needs! 

    Most of us have a tendency to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves when things aren't going our way; getting out and seeing who else has things that aren't going their way and teaming up with an effort of help, charity, and hands up is a great way to heal yourself and others!

    Martin Luther King had a dream, I have a dream, you have a dream, and so does someone else who could use your help.  Together, we CAN all make dreams come true.

    Love, light, and peace, Mambo Sam

    Martinlutherking

  • Money and Luck Magick

    Greetings everyone!  It is no secret that these are trying financial times!  To that end, we have recently reduced the price of many of our luck and money magick products to try to help ease some of the crunch that so many of us are feeling.

    Also, there is a rather humble but delicious New Orleans stew that can be prepared ritualistically to hopefully bring financial help into one's home.   

    New Orleans Voodoo Lucky Penny Stew

    1 quart boiling water
    1 cup beef stew meat
    4 cups cut up cabbage
    1 large white onion, chopped
    2 large tomatoes, chopped
    1 cup fresh spinach, washed and torn into small pieces
    1/2 cup raisins
    1/4 cup garlic powder
    1/4 cup onion powder
    1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 bay leaf
    1/2 cup dark red wine
    1 green candle*
    3 shiny pennies*

    *Before beginning your cooking, set up a green candle in the kitchen and surround it with 3 shiny pennies. Light the candle and say, "Hey, Legba, open the gate, let my words carry to the other side. Thank you." Pause a moment. Then say, "Capitaine Agouer (pronounced "ah-ghwAY"), I humbly ask that you help me in providing for my family, myself, and others that may be in need." Then begin your food preparation with your petition in mind. Keep your petition in mind and honor Capitain Agouer during the preparation of the food.

    Add all ingredients except the meat, cabbage, spinach, and raisins to the pot of boiling water and reduce to a simmer. Add in the meat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook for 40 minutes at a low simmer. Turn off flame and add 1/2 cup red wine to pot and stir. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Serve with black eyed peas to insure prosperity.

    BEFORE YOU EAT: Before you eat the stew, take 1/2 cup out and put it in a pretty paper cup or bowl. Place it in front of the burning candle as an offering to Capitaine Agouer. After the meal, take the food offering and the three pennies outside and leave it under a tree. Stamp the ground three times with your foot and say, "Blessings and thanks to you Capitaine Agouer."

    Happy cooking and blessings to all of those in need of help.

    Love, Mambo Sam

  • Albuquerque Voodoo Convention was AWESOME!

    Hello everyone! The Convention was truly a great event!  It was really great to see some familiar faces and just as great to meet with the new ones. 

    The weekend was filled with fun and learning.  Saturday nights Fet Ghede celebration went so very well with everyone sharing a meal together and then participating in all the activities of the night.  Fet Ghede is the time that we honor our ancestors as well as celebrate the Vodou New Year.  Everyone was given the opportunity to throw the traumas and negativities of the old year into the fire for a fresh new start!

    Additionally, we fed our ancestors at a beautiful ancestor altar, lit candles for them, and then made ouanga bottles to use throughout the year to connect with our beloved ancestors.  We wrote them notes that went into a special vessel and also wrote their names on candles that are actually still being burned here in the office.  It was extremely powerful to connect with everyone's family is this beautiful way.

    Each person who attended the convention met with me for a one-on-one consultation and brief ritual to help them attain their goals.  It is a very special time when I get to spend this private time with each client.

    I am still in the category of "tired but happy" and already miss everyone who was here and can't wait for next year! I will share much more with you all soon.  Here is a picture of our wonderful ancestor altar that we built.  (Everyone was invited to have a picture of their ancestors on the altar.)

    Love, Mambo Sam

    DSC00069