Category: Miscellaneous Ramblings

  • Coincidence?

    Greetings everyone!

    As you might guess, I don’t have a lot of time to watch TV. One show that Matt and I do make time for is “House.” I like the whole “medical mystery” type of genre and the show (IMHO)is terribly clever.


    This week’s episode revolved around a sick priest. The priest quoted Einstein with a quote that I had long ago loved to use but had forgotten over the years:

    “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”


    So many times I get a letter from people saying things like, “I saw my boyfriend and he said the exact things I petitioned for in my spellwork, what a COINCIDENCE!”

    Needless to say, this drives me crazy! 😉 Now it isn’t just that I get tired of people thinking that the results from their spellwork are a “coincidence” – I actually get worried about people negating the results of their spellwork! Obviously, if you are sort of backwardly negating your spellwork by tossing it off as a “coincidence” you run the risk of long term damage to your spellwork.


    Another thing that I get a lot of is, “All the things I asked for in my spellwork came to pass, do you think it was the lwa helping me?” Huh? Well, yes. You did ASK them to help you. 😉


    While “God” (or whatever you want to call the Supreme Being) is sort of an unwritten power in our spell work, that doesn’t mean we ignore God. Generally speaking, Vodouisants consider God too lofty or too busy to be concerned with our day-to-day needs. Therefore, we call upon the Vodou Spirits (Les Lois – the lwa) to assist us and be our intermediaries and help our spellwork in many ways. But the spellcaster’s energy, the power of the Supreme Being, and the lwa all work together.


    So if you are a person who is chalking things up to “coincidence” I am going to gently suggest that you stop! I don’t want you to stop getting results because you didn’t believe in what was happening right before your own eyes. 🙂


    Love,light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

  • Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!

    Hello everyone,
    Happy Valentine’s Day one and all! We are getting ready for the ritual that we will be doing later on and in reading over everyone’s letters it is so heartwarming to see how many of you had requests for OTHER people’s happiness besides your own!


    It is just so nice to see how many caring and loving individuals are out there and hoping for the best for themselves while also hoping for the best for the important people in their lives and even for people they don’t know. Many of you asked in your letters for all those participating in the ritual to be blessed with love and happiness. Thank you all for that.


    Even though really Valentine’s Day is “just another day” there is so much concentration on giving and receiving love that it is really a great day to work on love spell work, love candle magick, etc., to tap into the love energy floating around out there!


    If you are doing any kind of magickal work today, remember to take a moment to call in all the loving energy that people are expressing towards each other and put that into your own work. Maybe you a person who is not personally receiving loving wishes today. But still you can call upon the universal love energy of this day and ask that you receive those loving vibrations into your heart and put that into your work.


    We are excited to get your ritual going this afternoon and look forward to feeling the love from each and every one of you. We send it back to you and hope you feel those universal hugs we are sending you all!!!!


    Much love,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield


    Heartkiss

  • Rescue Remedy.

    Happy Saturday, everyone!

    Do you know about Rescue Remedy(tm)? This is a flower essence herbal remedy by the Bach company that helps calm, soothe, and generally relax you. It has been around for many years, and there is even a pet version that we often give to Mojo, our dog, because he is a little hyper!


    I mention it here because I know that so many people are stressed these days. You may be working on a difficult case with your love spell work, finances might be tight, jobs in question, etc. All of these stressors can often send us straight to the doctor where we walk away with a fist full of prescriptions to get us through the day. Anxiety and depression are at an all time high right now in America.


    Of course, I am not saying that a little flower essence is all you need, but if you are stressed out, depressed, etc., you might want to consider getting a bottle of Rescue Remedy and trying it out. It has the nicest calming effect. If you are calm and relaxed, certainly your love spell work has a better chance of working out for you. If you are depressed, anxious, and crying all the time, that is the kind of energy you are putting into your spell work.


    I copied this from the Rescue Remedy website:

    “If you feel like you’ve “had enough”, follow these simple tips to restore focus and regain inner calm wherever you are:


    • Relax – Take 10 deep breaths. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly.
    • Exercise – Learn some basic yoga techniques or just take a 10 minute walk.
    • Smile – Think of a happy time. It is near impossible to keep frowning while smiling and laughter stimulates the production of mood enhancing endorphins.
    • Calm – Let your imagination take you to a calm and tranquil place that exudes peace, serenity and beauty.
    • Use Your Lunchbreak – Take time out for yourself. A walk in the park, especially if it is sunny, can do wonders for your mood. It will help you work more efficiently in the afternoon too.
    • Escape – If you are able to, walk away. Removing yourself from a stressful situation can give you time to restore some perspective.”


    It is good advice!


    Sometimes we get so wrapped up in trying to achieve our spell work goals that we forget to take care of US, take care of how we feel, take care of how we are reacting to our lives. Our reaction to the events in our lives can actually change the next set of events. If you continue to feel like you have nothing but bad things happening to you, and you don’t feel like you see a way out, then you probably will not be presented with a solution. However, if you can put things in perspective and tell yourself that you KNOW there is a solution to the problem, you just need to find it, then you are setting yourself up to be open to potentials and prospects!


    I really wanted to let you all know about this little bit of “peace in a bottle” called Rescue Remedy. I have recommended it to some of you personally but wanted to get it out there in a bigger way. Some of you have let me know that you used it, for instance, before a Milk of Damballah(tm) white bath and felt that it helped you get a better result from it!


    Another person I recommended it to told me that she used it before every love spell work session. She reported that she felt better, didn’t feel like crying through the spell work, and overall felt that she had made a better environment for her spell work!


    One client told me that she even used it when doing her deluxe love doll. She took a few drops herself and then put a drop on the doll and petitioned that her HD would be calm and collected and thinking straight the next time she saw him (he has an anxiety disorder). She swears that it worked!!! I don’t have personal experience with that aspect of using it, but I can’t see that she had any reason to lie!


    Have any of you out there used Rescue Remedy? Did you use it in conjunction with your spell work or adjunct work?? We would love to hear from you about it!


    Love,

    Mambo Sam

  • Are you determined to be negative?

    Hello everyone!

    There seems to be a trend that I have noticed lately. This trend is not just among clients, but among other people that I see and deal with on a day-to-day basis. I don’t know if this trend is due to the economy, winter blues, or what, but there seems to be a certain faction of people who are just determined to have a negative attitude no matter what!


    Caseworkers have drawn my attention to this with some of their clients, but I had actually noticed it already. For some people, no matter how much we counsel them, they are determined to turn what we say into a something negative. For instance, if I tell a client in a reading that I don’t see the HD calling them tomorrow, they will turn around and say, “I bet he will never call me.” Or if the HD doesn’t want to see them right now because the spells are being processed: “Oh he never wants to see me and I don’t think he will ever come and see me again.”


    It is frustrating to try to counsel and help a person who can only see a negative outcome. Plus, somehow, they cannot seem to understand how only seeing a negative outcome will breed, of course, a negative outcome. If you constantly are talking about, expecting, and assuming that you will have a negative outcome, how can you have anything but that? You are not just shooting yourself in the foot, you just shot your foot OFF!


    Look, I know it is hard to remain positive sometimes. We all have negative moments, sad thoughts, fears that things won’t work out. However, when you allow all of that to become a lifestyle or an expectation, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. If you have spent time and money and effort on spell work, you are doing yourself an even bigger disservice. I had a client tell me one time that she didn’t want to think of the possibility of a good outcome from her spell work becaues she didn’t want to “get my hopes up and then be disappointed.” Okay, I get that. But, what kind of energy did she put out there: “Well, this probably won’t work, but I will try it anyway.”


    Is that how you are approaching your spell work? If so, I totally agree that you will probably get a negative result. That is a shame! So many of you have become steeped in such negativity and assurance that you will fail that we are left to sit an watch you plunge head long right into disasister. It is painful to watch.


    I really want to encourage you to try to find a way to look towards things (at least a little bit of the time) in a positive manner. If you truly cannot find anything positive in your life or you are so depressed that you do not see a chance for any happiness in your life, then I encourage you to seek professional help. Here at Spellmaker, all we want is the best for you. We want you to succeed. We want you to have the fairy tale ending. Don’t fight it! Let it happen!!!


    You know, being negative is easy. We are almost bred to it! When you go into a bookstore, you don’t see rows and rows of books on how to be negative. What you do see are rows and rows of books about positive thinking, having a winning attitude, etc. As humans we seem to need that kind of help and positive reinforcement!


    I know it isn’t easy to pull yourself out of a negative state of being, but trying is half the battle! Do some of you have tips for what you do when you feel negativity creeping into your life? We would love to hear them here!


    Love, light, and peace,

    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

  • In Memoriam – 9/11

    Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere,
    ‘Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
    Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
    For now I see the true old times are dead,
    When every morning brought a noble chance,
    And every chance brought out a noble knight.
    Such times have been not since the light that led
    The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.
    But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
    Which was an image of the mighty world;
    And I, the last, go forth companionless,
    And the days darken round me, and the years,
    Among new men, strange faces, other minds.’
                                               Alfred Lord Tennyson, Morte d’Arthur, In Memoriam





    911

  • Father’s Day!

    Greetings everyone – and a Happy Father’s Day to all the good Dads out there.  🙂

    I cannot help by remember my own father on this special day.  He has been gone for many years, but his memory and spirit are with me always.  He is the reason for many things in my life:  My ability to cook like a professional chef (he was one, I am not!), my sense of humor, my work ethic, the way I treat people, and so much more.

    Even though my Dad never met a bottle of Chivas Regal that he didn’t like, he never sacrificed his family for a drink.  He was a hard working, hard drinking, hard playing man – an old salty dog from the Navy and a straight shooter.  He didn’t believe in lying, even though there were times would that would have been easier.   He believed in treating his employees with fairness and dignity even though most of them were Black at a time in the South where most Black employees weren’t treated well at all.   He took being called by racist names from his friends with aplomb and pragmatism simply saying they were "ignorant" and leaving it at that. 

    My Dad drove me and my friends anywhere we wanted to go; picking up a gang of pre-teen and then teen girls and putting us in his van and dropping us off at the mall, the lake, and anywhere else we wanted to go.  I almost regretted learning to drive because then Daddy didn’t need to take us anywhere anymore!

    He played poker with Mafia guys and I sat on his knee while he did it!  I ran into one of those fellas a couple of years ago in New Orleans.  He was just as old as he could be, but he still remembered me and my father!

    My Dad was, by his own admission, far from perfect as a man, but he was absolutely perfect as a father.  Thank you, Daddy!!!

    So blessings out there to all the Good Dads!

    Love, Mambo Sam

  • And speaking of faith….

    Hello everyone!  On Easter Sunday I posted about Faith.  I was wracking my brain to remember this really cool quote that I had read years ago that reminded me of faith and Les Lois and all this wonderful magick that we do together.  I couldn’t remember who wrote it or exactly what it said, but God Bless the Internet because with just a few key words I found it!!!  I wanted to share it with you, it is by D.H. Lawrence.  Oh those gods, those strange gods!  😉  In re-reading this, I thought that every Vodouisant should have a copy of this quote and keep it close to their heart.

    Love, Mambo Sam

    This is what I believe:
    That I am I.
    That my soul is a dark forest.
    That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
    That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self, and then go back.
    That I must have the courage to let them come and go.
    That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.
    There is my creed. – D.H. Lawrence

    Lilguy22

  • New Orleans is Still in Need

    Hello everyone!

    As my previous post states, today is the traditional St. Joseph’s Day.  One important tradition of this day is helping the poor and less fortunate.  While there are obviously poor and less fortunate everywhere, New Orleans is still in dire need.   One of my favorites is listed below – this organization has done so much to help rebuild New Orleans – they use their donations in many diverse ways.

    Renew New Orleans Foundation

    To give a more traditional food offering on this day, please give to

    Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans

    This food bank was established in the 1980’s and has been feeding the hungry of New Orleans since then.  Obviously, they have been strained since Hurricane Katrina!

    Thank you!  Love, Mambo Sam

  • 2008 Voodoo Convention Planning and Faith!

    Greetings, everyone!   I am really excited to be getting into high gear planning the 2008 Voodoo Convention here in Albuquerque. 

    For the 2008 Convention we will be studying a lot more about Haitian and African Vodou.  During the 2007 we spent more time with our New Orleans Voodoo heritage.  We will, of course, be studying more about New Orleans Voodoo, but our primary focus will be on Vodou.

    Planning the classes is really getting to be fun and I cannot wait to teach you all!  We will be learning Vodou songs, part of the Priye Guinea (the long African prayer that is recited before most Vodou rituals, deep service to the lwa, and much more. 

    In thinking about the convention, I cannot help but remember my own visits to and Vodou initiation in Haiti.  It is definitely a place to remember.  The people in Jacmel, Haiti are colorful, bright, smart, friendly, and serve the lwa with both dignity and passion.  There are many lessons to be learned from these people because they continue to serve the lwa with faith and confidence even in the most trying of circumstances.  Frankly, most of us would fold up under the conditions in which these people live.

    Yet, they serve the lwa daily.  They continue to dedicate their lives to the practice of Vodou regardless of outcome of their hopes and dreams and petitions to the lwa.  They do not waver in their service nor in their dedication.  They are not practitioners of fairweather faith; in fact, the worse the weather, the stronger their faith.  Taking a page from their book would do us all a world of good.

    Most of us are petitioning for a better job, a partner to come into our lives, or an enemy to go away.  Most of us are not wondering where our next meal is coming from or if we will have money to send our children to school (no public schools in Haiti) or if we have the basic necessities of life.  However, time and time again I hear that we are "losing faith" in our spell work!  We don’t "see results" right away and are ready to throw away our spell work, our faith, and our dedication to the lwa at the drop of a hat!  Indeed, looking to our Haitian brothers and sisters for a shining example of faith can do us all a world of good.

    Probably the most uplifting thing is the JOY that these people derive from their service to the lwa.  The picture below is one I took in Jacmel during a Vodou celebration.  Feel the joy!

    Love, Mambo Sam

    1rara