Tag: spells

  • The LaPlace’s of Our House

    It has taken me a little bit of time to get my thoughts together for blogging. One thing that I thought my be interesting is to write a little bit about the role of the “LaPlace” in our New Orleans Voodoo House.


    At our convention last year we had the great experience of appointing the two gentlemen who are now the LaPlace’s of our House. They did a great job and we look forward to the many years we are sure to have together.


    We didn’t have a lot of time to explain to everyone the exact role of the LaPlace. The LaPlace’s are still learning and will continue to do so as their service continues. But basically, the LaPlace’s, along with the father of the house (that’s me), are the guardians and protectors of the house.


    So first and foremost, the role of the LaPlace is to protect The House in every way possible. Historically this role was much more arduous than it is today. Literally, the LaPlaces physically guarded The House. The LaPlace was armed and ready to kill to protect The House. Rival “flag boys” as they were called (as they protected the flag of the house) were known to battle in elaborate rituals and fights. Each of our LaPlace’s was given a bell at the Convention. The bell of the LaPlace at one time was used to alert the members of the house of danger or threat so that they could get away.


    The bell was/is also the link between the different LaPlace’s of the House and the Father of the House. The Father of the House is the guardian over the LaPlace’s and, in turn, the LaPlace’s are the guardian of the father. The bell of the LaPlace is used to call for the father of the house if needed and is a spiritual link as well. The ringing of the bell when danger is not present signifies that the LaPlace needs the protection or guidance of the father of the house.


    The LaPlace also uses his bell to communicate in secret with the other LaPlaces of his house (and with the father of the house). Houses have elaborate “bell codes” that the LaPlaces can use during ceremonies or every day life to communicate with each other and the father of the house. This is often done in ritual so as to not interrupt the ritual with talking but rather soft bell ringing which has meaning and is a way of communicating without talking. This is also done to alert each other of some kind of danger or inappropriate behavior that might just be starting and the LaPlace’s want to alert each other and the father, but not necessarily alarm the congregation. (The LaPlaces and the father of the house determine these codes.)


    Today LaPlaces tend to have the duties of keeping rituals flowing properly, attending to the congregation, all while keeping the peace and watching out for any kinds of inappropriate behavior. LaPlaces also bring to the attention of the father of the house anyone or anything that could be considered a threat to the peace, reputation, or progress of the house.


    We are very lucky to have our two wonderful LaPlaces, both of whom will learn much, much more about their roles as time passes.


    TAke care all, Parran Matt

  • What’s All This Talk About Voodoo Lamps??

    Hello everyone!

    Some of you have already noticed that there is a change to Sister Bridget’s Page with some new offerings from her! 🙂


    The majority of you are quite interested in the offering of the burning of a Voodoo Lamp to Ogoun! As most of you know, Sister Bridget is a Priestess of Ogoun. Since her initiation she has been taught many of the secret rituals of our Voodoo family. One of these is the burning of a voodoo lamp on behalf of someone else.


    Voodoo Lamps are very ancient with their history tracked back to Africa where animal fat was used to burn a lamp to appease spirits, petition spirits, and communicate with them on matters of importance.


    New Orleans Voodoo Lamps use a special recipe mixture of oils and are burned ritualistically to petition a certain lwa for help with situations. The Lamps are also often burned as an offering or in thanks to a lwa. Sister Bridget’s speciality lamp burning rituals will be offered to Ogoun to ask for his help.


    So what would one ask for in the burning of this special lamp? Think of fire and what it can create and destroy…. it can destroy the darkness and create light where none was before. So in terms of, for instance, love spell work one might ask that negativity be destroyed in the case and the positivity of light shine on it. One might ask for the fire to “destroy” an enemy or intruder (no, it isn’t going to kill them or anything like that). One might ask that the light of truth be shined on someone who is lying to keep someone with them. I think you probably get the idea.


    Also, it is considered a great honor to the lwa to offer them this lamp. Voodoo Lamps are not simple things to do. You must know the correct oils to use and why you use them, you must know the correct herbs, and then you must know the correct way to offer the lamp. Really, anyone could light an oil lamp and say, “Ogoun, this is for you.” And I am not saying that Ogoun wouldn’t like that lamp! 🙂 However, to truly know how to do these lamps correctly, you must be taught as an initiate to do a proper Voodoo lamp.


    So until the time that you take your initiation, Sister Bridget can do the lamps for you! When Sister Bridget does the lamp, she will do a ritual with it. She will use the right and consecrated mixture of oils and herbs and other items. She will offer and burn the lamp on your behalf, asking for what you want. When that is done, she will send a picture of your lamp burning and send you some of the lamp oil and tell you how to use it to further empower the ritual that was done on your behalf. You can even choose to have her do a reading for you while your lamp is burning! That has got to probably be one of the most powerful readings you could ever get!


    This is a unique and extraordinary service, and I am grateful to have my two beautiful daughters become so skilled!


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

    Burninglamp

  • Twitter??

    Hi everyone! Have you heard of Twitter.com? I had heard of it, but wasn’t really sure what it was. The whole point of it, as far as I can tell, is to keep up with each other, sort of like Facebook. But it is done either through text messages that go to your phone or emails. One just puts brief messages of their daily life and friends can “follow” you.


    So we set up a Twitter account, but I am curious to know: How many of you are interested in something like Twitter? It seems fascinating to me in a way, but also I wonder about these internet social sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. So I would love to hear from you all with your opinions. Is this something you enjoy??


    If you want to follow us on Twitter here is our URL:


    I think it is like the rest of the social sites, you have to sign up for it, but it is free.


    I would love to hear your opinions on this.


    Love,

    Mambo Sam

  • Happy Mardi Gras!

    Hello everyone!

    Happy Mardi Gras to each and every one of you! Mardi Gras, of course, is celebrated all over the world, but few places can rival the celebration that takes place in New Orleans. 🙂


    The history and meaning of Mardi Gras is well documented all over the internet, so I will not repeat it here. Suffice to say that it is “Fat Tuesday” – the last day of feasting before Lent.


    Mardi Gras is a time of excess.., fun, food, laughter, etc. Now of course you don’t have to celebrate to excess, but please do take a little bit of time today to just celebrate life. Do something fun, have something “bad” for you to eat, just enjoy something today. Mardi Gras is about satisfying one’s self on a very visceral level!


    Obviously we can’t and shouldn’t live every day as if it were Mardi Gras, but it is one day a year. Have that ice cream, pie, or fried chicken. Laugh it up at a ridiculous movie. Just be light hearted and full of joy. Don’t worry… your problems, sorrows, and worries will be right where you left them. They will be fine on their own for a minute while you have a laugh or two.


    There will be plenty of time tomorrow to get back to life’s problems. 😉


    Love,

    Mambo Sam


    Mardi_gras_bead_swinging_md_clr

  • Mardi Gras!

    Good morning, everyone!

    Quite a few of you have written to ask me what kind of Voodoo ritual could you do on Mardi Gras day. 🙂 I suggest doing The Three Kings ritual that we learned in chat class. If you weren’t there, I am posting it below. The Three Kings ritual revolves around the religious holiday, The Epiphany. However, traditionally, Mardi Gras day is the last day to do The Three Kings ritual. Now, of course, you can do the ritual anytime, but traditionally it is done between The Epiphany and Mardi Gras.


    This is something that I taught in our online chat classes (which are coming back soon, by the way!!!!). There were also at least three classes where we talked about the meaning of this ritual and discussed the details.


    Just briefly, The Three Kings ritual involves the Simbi family of lwa. The Three Kings Ritual is designed to work on a situation using the team work of the Simbi family of lwa and the ritual is often used on difficult situations.


    Since chat class is coming back soon, I am going to go ahead and give you the links to where the transcript archives are for all of the chat classes. If you plan on joining us for chat class, I suggest that you go over the transcripts to see what has already been covered and get yourself up to speed! 🙂 (Please remember that this is copyrighted information. The rituals you see there were written by me and are not for reproducing elsewhere. Everything there is copyrighted and owned by Parran Matt and myself. My rituals are all original, not out of some book.)


    The transcripts are located at:

    http://www.spellmaker.com/chatinformation/transcriptindex.htm


    There is a TON of information in those archives. Just be prepared that we also had a lot of fun and you have to read through us doing some goofing off, too! 😉



    Simbi Three Kings Ritual


    Simbi “Three Kings” Ritual





    Lwa Served: Simbi Dlo, Simbi Andezo, Simbi Makaya


    Ritual Usage: This ritual can be used for many purposes but is especially useful for situations that are complex in nature and need to use more “levels” of magick than other situations. This ritual represents a team effort involving strategy, stealth, and power, and therefore can be extremely effective in situations where there are a lot of factors you need to address.


    Lwa Aspects



    Simbi Dlo

    Song:

    Gwo
    Lwa, gwo pwen-m, Simbi nan Dlo (x3),
    Djab la rete bo rivaj l’ape
    gade, Simbi sa ou we, pinga ou pale.

    (Big Lwa, my big point,
    Simbi in Water,
    the “djab” (sometimes interpreted as
    evil spirit, but more as a paid Lwa —
    Lwa achte’ sent
    to do a job, very often misinterpreted as “the devil.”)
    stays
    besides the shores, he is watching. Simbi what you see, you
    don’t
    speak


    Colors: White (also blue and silver)

    Offerings: Cucumbers, whipping cream, sour cream, rice, – white foods


    Simbi Andezo

    Song:

    Simbi nan dlo, Simbi
    nan dlo, Simbi nan kay moin (x2)
    Papa Ogoun sot nan Simbi nan dlo
    Simbi nan dlo, kay li.

    Simbi (of the water), Simbi (of the
    water) stays in his house
    Papa Ogoun went to visit with Simbi (of
    the water) Simbi (of the water),
    stays in house.


    Colors: Blue, silver, white

    Offerings: Fresh and salt water in two separate vessels.


    Simbi Makaya

    Song:

    Lwa
    Simbi Makaya! Dogwe! Map lage pwen a nan men ti moun yo.
    Lwa Simbi
    Makaya! Dogwe! Map lage pwen a nan men ti moun yo.
    Si gen lavi map
    peye Houngan, Si pa gen lavi mwen konnen m pa dwe.
    Lwa Simbi
    Makaya! Dogwe! Map lage pwen a nan men ti moun yo.

    The Lwa
    Simbi Makaya! Kiss the ground! I let go the “pwen” (power
    point)
    into the hands of the children (Note: “You” are
    the children — the
    group.”)
    The Lwa Simbi Makaya!
    Kiss the ground! I let go the “pwen” into the hands
    of
    the children.
    If there is life I will pay the Houngan, If there is
    no life, I know I
    don’t owe. (Note: Basically, “if I
    do well after this, I will pay the
    Houngan, if I do poorly, I will
    not pay the Houngan.”)
    The Lwa Simbi Makaya! Kiss the
    ground! I let go the “pwen” into the hands
    of the
    children.


    Colors: Red and green – especially red.

    Offerings: Cigars, whiskey, a whip, raw meat, lots of peppers.




    Setting Up Your Altar



    First clean the space that you will use first with salted water and then with fresh water. As you are cleaning, now is the time to start concentrating on the ritual, on contacting our Simbi Team, and what it is you wish to accomplish. As you clean, begin to picture the attainment of your goal for tonight’s ritual. When you are done with cleaning the space, clean your hands with the salt and fresh water, too. You may choose to wear either the colors of all the lwa involved or white. Tie your head in a white scarf.


    For this ritual, we will set up three distinct places on your altar; one for each of the Simbi Lwa. As you face the altar, to your left, place your items for Simbi Dlo, in the middle goes Simbi Makaya, and to your right, Simbi Andezo. (If you wish to call upon Ogoun as Simbi Andezo’s friend during this ritual, you may put a small token that represents Ogoun in Simbi Andezo’s space: A butterfly, a piece of iron, etc. Just realize that this should be small, Ogoun is not the focus here, Andezo is, but you can ask Ogoun to work with Andezo on your behalf.) You may put down altar cloths in their colors if you can, just make sure you are creating three spaces, no matter how small or frugal they may be.


    Do the appropriate presentation for each item and place it in the space for the appropriate lwa, saying the lwa’s name, “for you Simbi Dlo” – and so on. If you are on a budget, this can be a simple ritual as far as offerings go: Three candles, one for each lwa; fresh and salted water for Simbi Andezo; fresh water for Simbi Dlo; at least one offering for Simbi Makaya, even if it just some pepper or a small amount of meat and hopefully a bit of whiskey. Those are the basics. You can, of course, get as elaborate as you wish from there.




    Doing the Ritual



    Now that the altar is set up, light your candles and we will turn our attention to calling in the lwa.


    First call for Papa Legba to open the gate for the Simbi Lwa. (Please note: The invocations for both Papa Alegba and the Simbi lwa are in “langaj” a fairly untranslatable language said to be the original language of the lwa. As far as pronounciation, just do your best especially in light of the number of “scholarly debates” regarding the pronouncisation issue. I feel Les Lois speak all languages and recognize these words, so no use worrying about it, just say it loud and proud if you can!)


    For Papa Legba: Par pouvwa Sen Antwan de Padou repwezante Papa Lebga Gwetor, Legba Atibon, Legba Katawoulo, Legba Avadra, Legba Gran chimen, Legba Kafou, Vye, Vye, Legba. Ago, Ago-si.


    For the Simbi Lwa, we will use one invocation that names all three lwa:



    Pa pouvwa Simbi Andeyo, Simbi Yampaka, Simbi Dlo, Simbi Maza, Simbi Makaya, Simbi Ankita, Simbi Fwi, Simbi Gangan, Simbi twa zile, Simbi travo, Neg Kouloubwa Mennen, Neg dadi maza, neg Anpaka poungwe, Anpaka malo, neg tate kite, new biki makaya, neg eskalye Bounba, neg zazi poungwe li gwendemalolo, neg laye, neg simbi laye, neg kasamanbilaye. Matifouye-yi! Majoman-sa!


    After you have done the invocations, sit quietly for a moment to welcome Les Lois to your sacred space.


    Now you will sing/chant/or otherwise recite each Simbi’s song for them. Sing them in this order: Simbi Dlo, Simbi Andezo, then Simbi Makaya. As you are singing them, or afterwards, choose one of their offerings and hold it up for them – there is no wrong way to do this. Invite each one individually to partake in their offerings. If you can, have a little bit of their offerings with them; share in some “social time” with each one. If you want to have some fun – sing some songs that you know that fit each of these lwa. I have found all of Les Lois to be very responsive to different kinds of songs – pop, rock, etc. You could sing, “The Sounds of Silence” for Simbi Dlo, any number of “sea faring” songs for Simbi Andezo, and even something like “Magic Man” for Simbi Makaya. Take as much time as you feel is right for you and each particular lwa.


    Once you are satisfied with the time that has spent, you may now begin your petitioning as we have discussed in class.
    First, begin with Simbi Dlo. Acknowledge his great skills at silence, thank him for the knowledge that “silence is golden.” Ask him to silence the things that you are choosing to work with during this ritual. When you are done, dip two fingers from your right hand into his water offering and sprinkle a few drops on the floor. Thank him for his time and consideration of your requests.


    Move now to Simbi Andezo. Acknowledge his great skills of strategy and planning. Ask him to bring your plan to life; to help make a plan; to help execute a plan – any or all as appropriate to your situation. If you have honored Ogoun on the altar, ask Simbi Andezo to confer with his friend Ogoun to bring even more power and strategy into this plan. But this about Simbi Andezo – you are not actually asking Ogoun for his help – you are asking Andezo to confer with Ogoun. When you are done, dip two fingers from your right hand into his fresh water offering and sprinkle a few drops on the floor. Dip two fingers from your left hand into his salt water offering and sprinkle a few drops on the floor. Thank him for his time and consideration of your requests.


    Move now to Simbi Makaya. Acknowledge his great magickal skills and powerfulness. Ask him to infuse his magick into the requests you have made. (See the transcripts from class about doing some extra empowering of items from your spell castings or adjunct products.) If you are a smoker (or can do a few puffs of smoke) and have offered cigars or cigarettes, light one and draw smoke into your mouth – don’t inhale (even if you are a smoker). Blow the smoke over the whole altar, as much as possible. Do this three times. If you cannot do this step, then don’t.


    Once you have done all of this, this is a great time to sit quietly with paper and pencil and write down the thoughts that come to you. You may find yourself strategizing on problems, writing out potential solutions, or just randomizing some thoughts. All of this has value and meaning. Spend as much time as you are comfortable with.


    End your ritual with a final thanks and acknowledgement of the power of the Simbi Lwa. Invite them to stay as long as they feel they need to and ask Papa to close the gate when the team is finished. They may hang around awhile because they have a tendency to get into strategy mode and like to be around your energy while they do this. It is fine to go to sleep or go about whatever you need to do. Papa Legba will be there to close the gate when all is said and done.


    If at all possible, let your candles burn out on their own. Please only do this if you can do it safely. Take all fire precautions, please, please, please. Many of you have had some close calls. Don’t take candle burning for granted.


    Remember, now that you know this ritual, you can use it anytime. We are often faced with complex issues in our lives and this ritual is particularly effective for those things that may need multi-level assistance.


    AYIBOBO!

    copyright, ©, 2008, Samantha and Matthew Corfield

  • 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

  • Do you refuse to let us help you?

    Hello everyone!

    Happy Monday! For those of you having a long weekend, I hope you are doing something fun and relaxing.


    Today I am writing about a concern I have for so many of you. I am not sure how to really approach this subject because it is going to sound like I am fussing at some of you and that is not my intention. All I (and our staff) want to do is help you! But I am genuinely concerned at how many of you recently simply will not accept the help, will not take the suggestions and guidance offered to you, and completely refuse to do anything to help yourself.


    I don’t know if there is something in the water or what, but despite the best efforts of myself, caseworkers, chat operators, office staff, etc., there seems to be quite a group of you out there right now who insist on continuing to be in abject misery while your spell castings are going on or while you are in your waiting period.


    Interestingly, this is not those of you who have long term cases! These are some of you who are either in the middle of spell work or are just a couple of months into a waiting period. BUT you have been mostly that way since the beginning of your spell work, hardly ever having been willing to take a positive attitude, do anything to remove the negativity from yourself, and you spend hours obsessing and crying and generally freaking out over your case.


    No matter how much we tell you that you are pouring the wrong energy into your case, you refuse to listen. So let me say this: We are worried about you. You are turning your spell work in the opposite direction of where you want it to go. You are creating your own negative outcome. 🙁 It is painful to watch you. It is painful to see you spend time, money, and effort on something only to directly sabotage it.


    Frankly, I am reduced to begging you to please stop being so negative. Please do something to relieve some of your misergy! Pray the prayers of your religion, do some white candle magick on yourself, take a white bath, watch a funny movie, compartmentalize your grief (allow yourself an hour to be dramatically grieving and then go do something else), help someone else who is worse off than you (the best medicine ever for making yourself feel better), etc. Please, all I am asking you to do is TRY. No one is going to be positive 100% of the time. We are all going to have bad days and times when we just feel hopeless. But some of you are letting that hopelessness rule your life. It will ruin you. It will ruin your spell work.


    Your caseworker is happy to help you work through some strategies to make you feel better. However, many of them are reporting to me that certain people just refuse to be helped. 🙁 You may not believe this, but it hurts us to see you this way. We actually do care what happens to you. We do all of this because we care. However, you have to care about you, too. Like I said, I am reduced to begging you: Please let us help you to help yourself.


    Love and prayers for all of you,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

  • Erzulie Ritual Was Wonderful!

    Hello everyone!

    Just a quick note to let you all know how wonderful the Erzulie Ritual was here at the www.spellmaker.com office!


    The first great thing was all the hard work done by Berkeley, our office manager and altar hounsi, to help us set up for the ritual. She baked, cleaned, arranged, made a new petitioning box, and did a wonderful job in setting up for the ritual! (Thank you,Berk!)


    As your letters and notes came in for inclusion in the ritual I was moved by how many of you not only asked for blessings from Erzulie for yourself but also for others. There was an amazing energy of the universal mind. Cosmic consciousness was certainly in evidence.


    A most interesting thing happened during the ritual. After Parran Matt and I got the ritual started and lit the candles, we took some time to re-read and present the petitions. Imagine our surprise when we were only a few minutes in to see the pink candles burned down over HALFWAY!!! That energy was blazing, my friends!! There was so much love and energy in those requests, it was amazing. Erzulie Freda was certainly one busy lady yesterday.


    Remember, although we will not be taking more requests for this ritual until next year, you can still do the ritual to Erzulie anytime you want! We will keep the one day ritual pack available all year long this year! So if you are doing love spell work and want to boost it, you can either purchase the small ritual pack and do the one day ritual as a form of adjunct work or you can just get the ritual itself off of our website for free and provide your own materials for it. Either way, you will be honoring the great Vodou love goddess, Erzulie Freda.


    Additionally, we will leave up the other packages that we normally just sell at Valentine’s Day. We have decided to make those special packages available to you all year round. So many of you are doing love spell work and those packages allow you to purchase adjunct materials for a much lower price than purchasing them individually. So we have made the decision to make those available to you all year this time around.


    Thank you all so much for participating in the ritual with us! It is our pleasure to serve you in this way and it is a great honor to work with so many wonderful people.


    So how did your own personal ritual go? We would love to hear about it!!! Just send me a comment in the comment section below.
    Love,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    DSC00300

  • 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

  • Do Something Nice for Someone!

    Happy Friday, everyone! I know that some of you are going to be alone for Valentine’s day tomorrow. Understandably it is a rough time of year with signs of love all around. I would like to encourage all of you to do something nice for someone tomorrow, someone you know will be alone or needs cheering up. It might be someone with a broken heart, but it might also be someone lonely, sick, afraid.


    If there is some way for you to give from your heart tomorrow, it will be appreciated and your heart will be filled with love and contentment from bringing joy into someone else’s life.


    This doesn’t have to be something grand or something that costs money. E-cards are free and can brighten up someone’s day! Writing a real letter or bringing someone a card (the dollar store here has cards 2/$1.00!!) is a great way to show someone you care. Just sit and have a conversation with someone who needs the company!


    Open your hearts to someone, somewhere out there! Don’t sit in bitterness and tears because another Hallmark holiday is passing you by. Now, of course, we hope that you are joining us for our Erzulie’s Valentine’s Day Ritual. That obviously isn’t going to take up your whole day! So I encourage you to make plans! If you plans can include brightening someone else’s day, it will be a great day for you both!


    St. Valentine’s Day is about giving, sharing love, remembering the meaning of love in all of its forms. I copied in below a little bit of the folklore about St. Valentine from goodworksonearth.org. I have heard a few different versions of the St. Valentine story, but this is a nice one and captures the idea of what different kinds of love exist for all of us to embrace. Whether the story is folklore or fact, it is still a reminder of the love that lives in all of our hearts, Valentine’s or not!


    I wish for love of all kinds for all of you!


    Love,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield


    ST. VALENTINE’S DAY – How It All Began


    The story of Valentine’s Day begins in the third century with an
    oppressive Roman emperor and a humble Christian martyr. The
    emperor was Claudius II Gothicus. The Christian was Valentinus.


    Claudius had ordered all Romans to worship the state religion’s
    idols, and he had made it a crime punishable by death to associate
    with Christians.


    But Valentinus was dedicated to the ideals of Christ, and not even
    the threat of death could keep him from practicing his beliefs.
    During the last weeks of Valentinus’s life a remarkable thing
    happened. One day a jailer for the Emperor of Rome knocked at
    Valentinus’s door clutching his blind daughter in his arms. He had
    learned of Valentinus’s medical and spiritual healing abilities, and
    appealed to Valentinus to treat his daughter’s blindness. She had
    been blind since birth.


    Valentinus knew her condition would be difficult to treat but he gave
    the manhis word he would do his best. The little girl was examined,
    given an ointment for her eyes and a series of re-visits were scheduled.


    Seeing that he was a man of learning, the jailer asked whether his
    daughter, Julia, might also be brought to Valentinus for lessons.
    Julia was a pretty young girl with a quick mind. Valentinus read
    stories of Rome’s history to her. He described the world of nature
    to her. He taught her arithmetic and told her about God. She saw
    the world through his eyes, trusted in his wisdom, and found
    comfort in his quiet strength.


    ‘Valentinus, does God really hear our prayers?’ Julia said one day.


    ‘Yes, my child, He hears each one, ‘he replied.


    ‘Do you know what I pray for every morning and every night?
    I pray that I might see. I want so much to see everything you’ve
    told me about!’


    ‘God does what is best for us if we will believe in Him,’ Valentinus
    said.


    ‘Oh, Valentinus, I do believe,’ Julia said intensely. ‘I do.’ She
    knelt and grasped his hand. They sat quietly together, each praying.


    Several weeks passed and the girl’s sight was not restored. Yet the
    man and his daughter never wavered in their faith and returned each
    week.


    Then one day, Valentinus received a visit from Roman soldiers who
    arrested him, destroyed his medicines and admonished him for his
    religious beliefs. When the little girl’s father learned of his arrest
    and
    imprisonment, he wanted to intervene but there was nothing he could do.


    On the eve of his death, Valentinus wrote a last note to Julia –
    knowing his execution was imminent. Valentinus asked the jailer
    for a paper, pen and ink. He quickly jotted a farewell note and
    handed it to the jailer to give to his blind daughter. He urged her
    to stay close to God, and he signed it ‘From Your Valentine.’ His
    sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 AD, near
    a gate that was later named Porta Valentini in his memory.


    When the jailer went home, he was greeted by his little girl. The
    little girl opened the note and discovered a yellow crocus inside.
    The message said, ‘From your Valentine.’ As the little girl looked
    down upon the crocus that spilled into her palm she saw brilliant
    colors for the first time in her life! The girl’s eyesight was restored!
    A miracle!


    He was buried at what is now the Church of Praxedes in Rome. It
    is said that Julia herself planted a pink-blossomed almond tree near
    his grave.


    Today, the almond tree remains a symbol of abiding love and
    friendship. In 496 Pope Gelasius I named February 14 as Saint
    Valentine’s Day. On each Valentine’s Day, messages of affection,
    love and devotion are still exchanged around the world.