Category: Spellmaker Office News

  • A Girl Named Berkeley….

    answered a newspaper ad that I put in our local "alternative" paper about five years ago.  I don't remember the ad exactly, but it read something to the effect of "Voodoo Priestness needs assistant.  If you object to Voodoo, please don't bother applying."  Now let me digress a moment, the reason it was worded like that was because a few years prior to that I had  put out an ad and didn't mention the type of business.  Many hang up calls later, I told myself I would be VERY clear next time I needed to put an ad for help in the paper.

    Anyway, a girl named Berkeley called for an interview.  I told her to come right in and talk to me.  She did.  I didn't talk to anyone else even though I had about another 25 calls (people seemed to like the ad!).  I loved her at first sight, Matt and I hired her, and the rest is history. She became our office manager, your go-to girl, and all around the best darned assistant any Voodoo priestess has ever had. 

    However, the time has come for Berkeley to move on from us onto bigger (but certainly not better because what could be better than being with US?!) and different things.  She is graduating from the University of New Mexico and has been accepted into the Master's Program.  She has been offered a great job at the University that will go hand-in-hand with her studies in her Master's Program. While we were not ready for her to go yet (although we knew she would have to eventually), this opportunity was really too good for her to pass up.

    We are not saying goodbye to her; she is our friend, our family, and will be around.  I am sure she will be blogging about all her new adventures as soon as she has a chance.  She is greatly missed at the office and while I hate the end of this era, I am excited for her new and wonderful future.  I know she is going to excel and be a rock star at her new endeavors.

    For now, we will not replace her (not that she could be replaced!), and Parran Matt will be answering your calls and emails.  So please be patient with us, we are finding our way around without our right-hand gal and it might take us a minute longer to get to your requests than usual.  But rest assured we are there for you and are working as hard as we can to keep up the level of service you have been receiving.

    In closing, I just want to say THANK YOU, BERKELEY!  You have been a treasure and a pleasure and I am proud to call you friend and family.   I am really glad you answered this Voodoo Priestess's ad!

    Love,  Mambo Sam

    www.spellmaker.com

  • Online Chat Support System is Being Upgraded.

    Hi everyone!

    Just a quick note to let you all know that the Online Chat Support system is being upgraded and will be back online in just a couple of days.


    The new buttons will be located in the upper left hand corner of most of the web pages at www.spellmaker.com – this new system looks like it will work very well for us and we are excited to get it online and working.


    Thank you for your patience!


    Love,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com





  • Happy Earth Day from Mambo Samantha Corfield and Sheer Goddess

    Hello everyone!

    Happy Earth Day! Since we all live here on this earth, we wish it love and happiness! 😉


    So many of us are learning more and more about recycling and reusing. As some of you have probably noticed, we have made a great effort in the last year or so to reduce our packaging as much as possible. We have begun to re-use boxes for shipping (so if you receive your order in a reused box, that is why).


    Another thing is that we are starting to use a lot of recycled newspaper for packing paper. Even though it may not look as pretty as fancy packing paper, we feel a lot better about using it. It helps us keep our costs down, too, which allows us to not have to raise prices and, in some cases, we have been able to lower prices!


    Of course, it is a fine line between recycling and reusing, and still giving you a product that looks nice and is secure in its packaging! Since we do all of our business by shipping things, we do have to be sure that it can get where it is going in one piece, so we do have to use some materials to make certain of that! 🙂


    Do you have a favorite recycling tip? We would love to hear it! Or is there some way you have thought of that we could improve our packaging and still be “earth friendly?” We would love to hear it!!!


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield


    Earthheart

  • Tweeting Along! 🙂

    Hello everyone!

    I have noticed that more and more of you are following us on Twitter! 🙂 Thank you! We are not as popular as that lady who has five million people following her life, hahahahahaha. Guess we are not as interesting as someone who has as much drama in her life as she does. 😉 And of course we are not as popluar as Ashton and Demi, though the comparison to Matt and me is obvious! LOL. (I did laugh this morning when I saw that Ashton Kutcher had “out tweeted” CNN and has reached 1 million “tweets.” I did have to wonder if Ashton has gotten so bored with his fame that this is what he has time to do! LOL.)


    Anyway, I am guessing that Twitter and tweeting is here to stay. If you are reading this and don’t know what the hell Twitter is, no worries, you will. You cannot escape it! Just check out www.twitter.com and check out who you might want to “follow.” You can get the updates, called “tweets”, either on your phone or by email. I think there are some other ways, too. Of course, we want you to “follow” us! Twitter is free, and maybe a little bit silly, but on the other hand, it does make the world a smaller place and we can reach out to each other in this unique way – you don’t ever have to reveal your identity or anything else. You can sign up in complete anonymity! 😉


    Today I started a new series of Tweets called “Lwa Fun Facts.” Just little facts about various lwa for fun and learning!


    If you want to follow us on Twitter, our URL is www.twitter.com/spellmaker. You do have to sign up for a free Twitter account and choose to follow us. You also will need to choose how you want to receive your tweets from us.


    Although I was not overjoyed at yet another social media site, I think this was is ultra easy and fun to use. 🙂


    Happy Tweeting!

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

  • Novitiate Invitations Have Been Sent!

    Greetings, everyone!

    As some of you already know, invitations to become a Novitiate in the Spellmaker Novitiate program have been sent out.


    The Novitiate program is a program here at Spellmaker wherein we begin to teach those who are serious about eventually becoming an Initiated Priest or Priestess within our family line of New Orleans Voodoo.


    I am little concerned that some of you may not have received your intended invitation due to email glitches and computer gremlins. If you feel that you should have received an invitation (especially if we have talked about it before) and you have NOT received it, please write to us at office@spellmaker.com and let us know so that we can check. There is a good chance that if you were expecting to receive it and did not that it is lost in the land of the who-know-where-the-heck-the-email-goes.


    Also, because we thoroughly believe that people are led to us through many different ways, if you are reading this and didn’t know about the Novitiate program and are interested, you, too, can write to us and let us know so that we can consider you!


    It might be important to know exactly what a Novitiate is and what is expected and what is to be gained. So briefly…


    To become a Novitiate with our Family means that you are working towards becoming an initiated family member like Sister Candelaria and Sister Bridget.


    The Novitiate program takes at least three years, perhaps more, as each individual progresses on their own. There is no charge for the Novitiate program, but each Novitiate is expected to do some sort of service to the house. It is not meant to be a burden on anyone to be a Novitiate, so service will vary from person to person to include their abilities, available time, etc.


    Of course, it is completely confidential. There are rules and regulations and it can be a strict program at some points, however, we think that it is worth it to those who feel the calling to nuture and grow their own spiritual abilities and perhaps eventually help others.


    So if you feel like you should have gotten an invitation and didn’t, please let us know. If you are just hearing about this and feel like perhaps it is something for you, please let us know that, too, so that we may consider you for inclusion! But you need to let us know as soon as possible as we are eager to get this year’s Novitiates started! 🙂


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    Cindythankyou

  • Spellmaker Community Pages!

    Hi there, everyone!<BR>

    Good morning! 🙂 I am working on a project to have a whole section of the Spellmaker website dedicated to building a community for those who wish to feel more a part of what we do.

    I would really love it if you could send me pictures of your altars or any rituals you have done and took pictures of, or any pictures you take in the future. Obviously, make sure that if you don’t want your surroundings to be recognizable, that you take your pictures in such a way that nothing personal is showing. For those of you who are out of the voodoo closet and don’t mind having your picture shown, we would love that, too! 🙂 Regardless, your name and place of residence would always be kept confidential, even if we have permission to show your picture.

    This will also include resurrection of the Spellmaker Forum, though it will have sort of a different nature to it. There are plenty of places to see and say negative things, the Forum will not be one of them. Sister Bridget is working diligently on the forum to renovate it into a happy, productive, and supportive place!

    We have a few other little goodies up our sleeves for you and can’t wait to show you around once it is done!

    Meanwhile, if you have pictures, please just send them to me at ReverendCorfield@aol.com. Almost any format will work for me. Don’t worry if you think your pictures aren’t that great! You don’t have to be a professional photographer to share.  Personally, I love altar and ritual pictures… I enjoy seeing others’, especially because I feel a little part of that ritual. 

     Every altar and ritual picture can be a source of inspiration for someone, so you never know who you will be helping along their path!

    Love,light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield



    Parran Matt and Mambo’s Fet Ghede Altar at home, 2007.

    Fet Ghede 2007

  • Oceanside Rituals and Cowrie Shell Readings by Sister Candelaria!

    Dear Friends,

    We are very excited to offer to all of you an extremely unique service. Our very own Sister Candelaria is now offering Oceanside Rituals to Agwe and LaSiren as well as cowrie shell readings!


    Sister Candelaria is, of course, a New Orleans Voodoo initiate, child of myself and Parran Matt. She is a priestess of Agwe and therefore is able to do work with him and his beautiful wife, LaSirene, on your behalf.


    If you are not familiar with cowrie shell readings, I think you are going to really love them! Cowrie shell readings are an extremely unique type of reading during which the priestess ritualistically throws the shells and asks questions on your behalf of the powerful lwa couple, Agwe and LaSiren. It is important for you to know that, generally speaking, cowrie shell readings are not considered psychic nor even prophetic types of readings. Cowrie shell readings are meant to give you direct guidance from the lwa through their priestess. These readings are generally done in the spirit of you wanting to know what to do next about a specific situation in your life, which path to take in a certain situation, etc. Cowrie shell readings traditionally are meant to clear up confusion, ask direct questions about a situation, etc. Cowrie shell readings are a spiritual experience between you, the priestess, and the lwa. Often times the priestess will be compelled to tell you things that do not even have to do with the subject at hand. The priestess is bound by oath to tell you whatever the lwa want you to hear.


    Equally exciting are the Oceanside Rituals that Sister Candelaria is now offering. These sanctified rituals begin at Sister Candelaria’s altar and end with her actually going to the ocean on your behalf where she will make your offerings and petitions to LaSirene and Agwe! She will then send you pictures, a ritual item, and a full report on your ritual. This is not the type of ritual that you can get just anywhere and especially not in the detail that she will provide to you with the pictures and guidance.


    Each ritual is customized to your requests to meet your goals. While the rituals do not replace regular spell work, they certainly are an extraordinary form of adjunct work! For instance, for love work, she will be calling upon the power of the love between Agwe and LaSiren to help your case. For money work, she will be calling on them to share their riches. For the Spiritual Power ritual, she will be calling on them to help you open up your spiritual centers, intuition, psychic centers and pathways, etc. You will discuss your needs with Sister Candelaria prior to the ritual. When your ritual is performed, she will send you a digital picture of your ritual set up as well as mailing you some of the materials used in the ritual with instructions for what you are to do with them.


    Please visit Sister Candelaria’s Page at www.spellmaker.com/candelaria.htm. If you have questions, please email Sister directly at candelaria@spellmaker.com


    Now some of you were lucky enough to have a reading with Sister Candelaria at the convention and/or have already had your Oceanside Ritual because you were at the convention and ordered there! We would love to hear your feedback! Just comment at the comment link below!


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

  • Customer On Line Chat Service Changes

    Hello everyone,
    Just a quick note to let you know that over the next two weeks we will be making some changes and upgrading our online chat software. This will make chat unavailable for a few days off and on over the next two weeks.

    Please remember that the online chat is not the only way to contact us and certainly is not the only way to get technical support, put in an order, or talk to your caseworker. Many people have been using the chat this way, but we actually have many other options for that which have been outlined to you in your order confirmation and are included with your products. 😉

    So please, at least during this upcoming time period, please:

    • Write directly to your caseworker rather than waiting for him/her to show up on chat. (If you have forgotten your caseworker's email address, please write directly to Sister Bridget at bridget@spellmaker.com and ask her to put you in touch with your caseoworker.)
    • If you need tech support, please write to techsupport@spellmaker.com and include your tech support passcode.
    • If you are a new customer and need recommendations, either write to mycase@spellmaker.com or call our office at 505-962-2525, Monday-Thursday, 9am-3pm mountain standard time.
    • For all other office matters, please write to office@spellmaker.com or call us as per above.

    We look forward to introducing the new, upgraded chat software ASAP. 🙂

    Love,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield

  • Happy Birthday, Sister Bridget!!!

    Hello everyone!
    I hope you will all take this opportunity to wish my beautiful, talented, and cherished daughter, Sister Bridget, a bright and happy birthday today!

    Indulge me for a moment while I talk about her: She is always there for me; she works her fingers to the bone for Spellmaker and for her New Orleans Voodoo Family; she is funny, charming, lovely, and loyal; she is one out of two perfect daughters in the whole wide world! 🙂

    Happy Birthday, baby!!!!

    Love you,
    MaMere

  • Working on the Spellmaker Information Board

    Hello everyone!  As most of you have probably noticed, we are working on revamping the old forum into our new Spellmaker Information Board. 

    After much deliberation with my family and staff, there seemed to be a general consensus that keeping the forum, but turning it into much more of an informational type of resource was the way for us to go.   Although my original intention was for the board to represent an uplifting and spiritual community, it just did not seem to serve that function.  Instead, it seemed to me (and the many clients who have written to me) to have begun to serve the function of having a few people who were down in the dumps work hard to drag everyone else down there with them.   The deleterious effect on spell work from that kind of negativity is monumental! 

    Additionally, no matter how many different resources I try, nor how much I pay for web board services, there always seems to be a way for hackers to get in and get people’s email addresses.  So again we were faced with certain members getting ugly, threatening, manipulative, and coercive emails.  🙁   For the life of me, I do not know why people insist on doing this, but definitely the phrase "misery loves company" leaps to mind.

    The other problem that I found dramatically disturbing is the amount of bad advice clients give each other!  Some clients who feel that they have a higher understanding of how the products work actually have NO such special knowledge and we have had to spend a great deal of time fixing the problems that occur from clients taking advice from other clients.

    We have superior customer service and clients do not need to advise each other!  In fact, many cases have been set back greatly by listening to, "my friend from the forum."   The reason we have caseworker support, technical support, phone support, and online chat support is so that you can get the correct information, not supposition from the proliferation of "hey I have used a candle magick kit and know everything" clients who give out erroneous information.

    So, for the good of everyone, we will continue to have the forum, but it will be an informational forum.  The great thing about it is that we will continue to add information there and it will be a great resource for those needing information about products, service to Les Lois, New Orleans Voodoo, and much more over time.  It will all be there in one nice compact place and that will be awesome.

    We also will still continue to answer questions that we feel would benefit the Spellmaker community as a whole.  When you visit the board now, please read the first section about how to use the board.  In there it will give you information on where to send your questions that you would like to see the answers to posted on the board.  If we feel that your question is of benefit to the majority, then the question and answer will be posted on the forum. 

    I hope you all enjoy the new format and keep on the look out for more information to be posted there.

    Love, Mambo Sam