Tag: voodoo

  • The Divine Horsemen.

    Hi Gang,

    I often get emails asking me about what books folks can read to learn more about Voodoo. Mambo Sam has created a collection of recommended books on Amazon.com. One book that Mambo Sam recommends is called The Divine Horsemen, the Living Gods of Haiti by Maya Deren. This was the first book I ever read about Les Lois and it is one I find myself going back to again and again.  There is even a movie/documentary of footage shot by Maya Deren filmed while she was doing her research. It is not as in depth as the book is, by any means, but it is an interesting film to watch. Recently a client sent me a link to The Divine Horsemen on Youtube!  Go Figure 😉 So, I thought I would pass the link along as I thought some readers might be interested. If you find the footage interesting, I highly recommend ordering the book and giving it a read 😉

    Light and Love

    Sister Bridget

  • Are You a Man Hater?

    Greetings, everyone!

    Now some of you are already thinking, “Mambo, what the heck kind of question is that? Of course I am not a man hater. I am doing spell work on the man I love and want to be with!”


    Yeah, well, guess what, that doesn’t keep you from being a man hater and it can send you down a path of very unsuccessful spell work! I am just really surprised at the things I hear coming from my female clients some time, “What else can you expect, all men are pigs” – “well, he is a man so he is going to cheat” – “he broke my heart, but that’s what men do” – and the words go on and on, usually followed by, “but I love him.”


    Really? If you are in the habit of generally trash talking men and can immediately tell me all of their faults,their nasty habits, then followed by the concession that you still want one, you are a man hater. Sure, you are in in love with a man, but that is not because you think he is wonderful, charming, witty, and handsome. It is because he happens to be a man and you love him because you think you are supposed to be with a man and don’t want to be alone. He isn’t perfect, but you can deal with his imperfections, especially if you have your girlfriends to trash talk with.


    Yes, brutal, I know. But I have a point: Even if you are not a man hater, if you are falling into the trap of constantly criticizing your desired man, thinking bad thoughts about him, hating everything that he has done to you, are you really going to be successful in doing your spell work? How can you be when there is so much hurt, resentment, and anger in your heart?


    I know we have talked about this before, that love spell work, by its very nature, must come from love! However, in speaking with some of you over the last couple of weeks, I am concerned that there is a trend towards general man bashing.


    So,ladies, I hope that you can find it in your hearts to stop this behavior if you are guilty of it. Yes, we all need to vent. We all need to get things off our chests. However, try to keep it to a minimum. If you have friends that you speak with, when the conversation turns to man bashing, try to gracefully extricate yourselves.


    Yes, we all have been hurt. We all have a “he was a bad man” story. However, remember that the more energy you put into criticizing men, the less likely you are to actually end up with a good one. I have found throughout the years that the women I have known who complained, harped, and went on and on about how terrible men had treated them continually found themselves with men who treated them terribly.


    So forgive those men who have hurt you and move forward in your life. Celebrate the man you want and bring forward in your mind and heart all of his good qualities!


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

    www.spellmaker.com

  • Happy May Day everyone!

    Ah, May 1! This day has been celebrated in so many ways through so many cultures. The halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice,  May 1 has elicited many different rituals through the years.

    For Wiccans, this is Beltane; many Catholics celebrate the life of the Vigin Mary in some way.  Yours truly was once the "May Queen" at her Catholic elementary school – St. Anthony of Padua on Canal Street in New Orleans.  Yes, I got to wear the beautiful white outfit and lead the procession into the church and lay the first roses at the foot of the statue of the Virgin Mary.  Pretty heady stuff for an 8-year-old girl. 

    Of course, nevermind the Catholics totally borrowed the holiday from the pagans who celebrated their first fertility rituals of the year on this date.  ;-)  Children conceived on this date are said to have special magickal powers.  Children conceived on Walpurgis (the night before May 1, Beltane Eve) are said to have the ability to communicate with the dead because Walpurgis is, traditionally, one of the days when the veil between the world of the living and the dead is considered most thin and penetrable.

    May 1 is often celebrated with different types of floral offerings.  In some countries the ladies all wear flowers on this day – if your flower is worn on your right side, you are available; a flower on the left signifies that you are already taken.   This is also considered the day to meet a new lover or celebrate an old one.  ;-) 

    This day is often associated with new beginnings, planting a new seed, looking towards shedding off the past and looking towards the future with new, hopeful ideation.  Not too many of us get the chance to dance around the Maypole these days, but certainly you can do that in your heart and mind.  I hope you all have a beautiful May 1 and beyond!  Let's look towards new beginnings, new hope, and beautiful outcomes for us all.
    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com
    P.S. Everything is 30% off on the website through May 4!!!!

    Mayday

  • Oh Bother! …. or not.

    Hi There All!
    Today is such a beautiful day – the first in many months- that I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes:

    “Don't
    underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along,
    listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”
           ~~~ Winnie the Pooh
     
    Here is to hoping each of you can have a bit of doing nothing today, and just enjoying the sunshine and new grass beneath your feet. Set aside your bothers, whether they be work or family or HD related, and just truly just enjoy the new Spring around us.

    Light and Love
    Sister Bridget
    http://www.spellmaker.com

    Images

  • More on Love Poems and Petitions

    Hello everyone!  Happy Monday.  :-)  In looking over some more love poetry on the internet, I found this poem below.  Now, this one goes along with the idea from yesterday's post about "I Miss You" and petitioning with the idea that we miss someone.   So if you can't or don't feel like writing your own poetry to use in your adjunct work (work you do with love dolls, candles,, etc.) then look for poems that fit what you are trying to do.

    For instance, this poem below is about wishing to be with someone. I think it is perfect to use with spell work aimed towards someone you are not with or not with very much but want to be!

    Additionally, there is something very powerful about a poem like this one. The word "wish" is extremely powerful and reminds the person that you are working on that you have a strong spiritual desire to be with them. Just the very word "wish" has its own magickal properties! 🙂

    I love this poem below for spell work!  It is very powerful and I think very heartfelt by the person who wrote it.  You can just FEEL that this person wants to be there very strongly!

    Love,light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com

    I Wish I Was There
    By Jesse Shawano 

    I wish I was there,
    To kiss you Goodnight.
    I wish I was there,
    To hold you so tight.
    I wish I was there,
    To gaze into your face.
    And wonder why angels,
    Have come to this place.

    I wish I was there,
    To talk all night long.
    Or sit in the presence,
    Of the one that I love.
    I wish I was there,
    To tell you I care.
    I wish I was there,
    To tell you,
    "You captured my heart"
    And "You'll always be there."

  • I Miss You!

    Hello everyone!

    Happy Sunday! I hope each and every one of you does something lovely for yourself today.


    So what about, “I miss you!” I was looking over some correspondence from an old friend yesterday and throughout it, she kept saying, “I miss you!” It made me think, does anyone ever say that when they are petitioning for someone to return to them? Just plain old, “I miss you.”


    When I was re-reading some of these old letters, I realized that I really got a little pang in my heart as my friend repeated that she missed me. I missed her, too. Even though I already realized it, her verbalization of it made me realize it even more.


    I certainly believe that if you are using something such as a love doll, which makes for a direct link to the person you are working on, telling them that you miss them, you miss their touch, you miss the times when you_______________(whatever you want to say), has the potential for having a great impact on them!


    First off, everyone wants to feel as if they are missed when they are away. Even if you have no contact with your love (or maybe especially if you have no contact with your love), reminding them that you MISS them, you miss your time together, you miss his/her voice, etc., just has to have positive effect on them. Second, I think this is something we might often forget to say. We get so wrapped up in doing love spell work and sending and receiving love energy, that something as simple as, “I miss you” might elude us. 😉


    So try it! For those of you whom I haven’t seen in awhile – I miss you! Never forget that! I really, truly do. I wish we were together more often. 🙂


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

    www.spellmaker.com

  • Love Poems as Petitions

    Hello everyone! I hope your weekend is going great! A lot of times I hear from clients that they feel like they are running out of things to say during their petitions; that perhaps they are just saying things by rote and they seem to have lost their zing!

    One thing I encourage people to do is write a nice poem and make that their petition. But not everyone is a poet! 🙂 That is okay, a quick search on the internet for "love poems" will yield you a treasure trove of good (and some not so good) love poems.

    Back in the days of chat class, we talked a bit about how rhythm and cadence and rhyme exist in almost all spell work. Poetry, of course, falls right into that category! A great number of love poems seem like they were written for spell work! 🙂 Take this one for instance:
    A Special World


    A special world for you and me
    A special bond one cannot see
    It wraps us up in its cocoon
    And holds us fiercely in its womb.


    Its fingers spread like fine spun gold
    Gently nestling us to the fold
    Like silken thread it holds us fast
    Bonds like this are meant to last.


    And though at times a thread may break
    A new one forms in its wake
    To bind us closer and keep us strong
    In a special world, where we belong.

    – Sheelagh Lennon –

    This poem would be lovely to use with your love doll Or just imagine using this when doing candle magick work, especially if you were doing work with candles representing each of you! Oh or even during something such as a love bath! It would be wonderful.

    Even if this poem is not your cup of tea, that is fine. There are tons of them out there or write your own. It is not that the poem is meant to replace regular petitioning, but it could certainly spice up and strengthen it.

    As I find more good ones, I will certainly post them here!

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    www.spellmaker.com

    Love-poems

    Related articles
    Preparing your petitions

  • Spirituality Can Benefit Your Mental and Physical Health.

    Happy Friday All!

    I hope you all have something splendid planned for this weekend! It looks like Spring has *finally* Sprung around here, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, as we have definitely had snow later than late April before.

    I came across this wonderful article that talks about how people who are on a spiritual path (any spiritual path, it doesnt matter which one) show some clear health benefits! I thought this was a must read for those of you out there! Read the article through, and I will see you on the other side …..

    —-begin article—-

    Spirituality Can Benefit Your Mental and Physical Health

    By Elizabeth Scott, M.S.

    While people use many different religions and paths to find God,
    research has shown that those who are more religious or spiritual, and
    use their spirituality to cope with life, experience many benefits to
    their health and well-being. For many, this news would come as no
    surprise; spirituality and religious activity have been a source of
    comfort and relief from stress
    for multitudes of people. In fact, according to a study from the
    University of Florida in Gainesville and Wayne State University in
    Detroit, older adults use prayer more than any other alternative
    therapy for health; 96% of study participants use prayer specifically
    to cope with stress. Here are just a few more of the many positive
    findings about spirituality and its influence on physical and mental
    health:

    • Canadian college students who are involved with campus ministries visited the doctor less, scored higher on tests of psychological well-being, and coped with stress more effectively.
    • Older women are more grateful to God than older men, and they receive greater stress-buffering health effects due to this gratitude.
    • Those with an intrinsic religious orientation, regardless of gender, exhibited less physiological reactivity toward stress than those with an extrinsic religious orientation. They were also less afraid of death and had greater feelings of well-being.
      (Those who were intrinsically oriented dedicated their lives to God or
      a ‘higher power,’ while the extrinsically oriented ones used religion
      for external ends like making friends or increasing community social
      standing.)

    • Prayer works for young and old alike. Prayer and spirituality have been linked to:
      • Better health
      • Less hypertension
      • Less stress, even during difficult times
      • More positive feelings
      • Less depression
      • Greater psychological well-being
      • Superior ability to handle stress

      Whether this information inspires you to rediscover a forgotten
      spiritual path, reinforces your commitment to an already
      well-established one, or simply provides interesting food for thought,
      this is just a sample of all the encouraging research that’s been done
      on the topic.

      Spirituality is personal, and everyone’s spiritual path may be unique. However, some spiritual stress relief strategies have been helpful to many, regardless of faith.

    —-end article—-

    Imagine that 😉 Spirituality can help us feel healthier and be healthier! No specific path  is right for everyone, whether you choose Voodoo or any other path, the fact that you are on a path that fits well with your beliefs is what matters.

    Near the end of the article it mentions about spiritual stress relief strategies. Those of you feeling stressed and would like some relief, be sure to write your caseworker. We are just full of great ideas!  Also, be sure to stop over at Sister Candelaria's blog about Spiritual Boot Camp!   for lots of great ideas and exercises as well.

    Have a great weekend everyone!
    Light and Love
    Sister Bridget

    Images

  • Authentic Voodoo Lamps by Sister Bridget

    Sister Bridget, as an initiated Priestess of Ogoun, is now offering services to create, consecrate, and burn a voodoo lamp to Ogoun on your behalf! We realize that most people do not know a lot about Voodoo lamps, but these particular types of lamps are considered a very meaningful and important type of service to offer to the lwa.

    Voodoo oil lamps are steeped in rich history and ritual originating in Africa, traveling to the United States, Haiti, and other countries. It is considered a great honor and an extraordinary offering to the lwa (Voodoo spirits) to burn a lamp on their behalf and ask for their favor on a particular matter in return. These lamps are not your every day “oil lamps.” These are lamps that are ritually composed and burned on your behalf.   Do you feel like a matter in your life is “steeped in darkness?”  Is there something you cannot see the solution to or feel like you are in the dark about?  Is the answer to your happiness hidden from you?  The Voodoo Ritual Lamp is meant to shine the light on your goal and light the path for you to obtain that which you desire.  Sister Bridget’s Voodoo Lamps are a very unique combination of a ritual to Ogoun and a fire offering to Ogoun.  Ogoun then takes this fire and applies it to whatever you have requested through Sister Bridget. This is truly an amazing thing because you are literally feeding fire to Ogoun and asking him to take that energy into your goal! 

    Oilsample2

    Voodoo Priestesses and Priests are trained in the art and ritual of the Voodoo Lamp.  This is something that only an initiate can truly do properly and effectively, though, of course, anyone could burn an oil lamp in honor of a lwa!  But if you want the true and authentic lamp of a Priestess done for you, this is Sister Bridget’s speciality.


    Also, Sister Bridget is proud to offer a unique Lamp Ritual to the Power Couple Ogoun and Erzulie Freda! Harness the powerful love between these two great spirits, and infuse it into your situation.

    Each ritual is customized just for you and the lamps are burned for each individual for any request that you desire.  When Sister Bridget has completed your lamp ritual and burning, she will then send you a complete report on your ritual as well as a picture of your lamp ritual, some of the oil and herbs used in your lamp, and instructions on how to use them to further empower the ritual on your end. In this way, although you are not required to build and burn a ritual lamp, you still are able to put some of your own energy into your goal.

    Once you order your personal lamp ritual, Sister Bridget will contact you to discuss what your goals are for the burning of the lamp.  All petitions can be made for personal empowerment, love, luck, money, banishing, or other custom needs you might have.

    For an extra special value, you may also order a 15 minute tarot reading to be done for you while your lamp is burning during your ritual.  Ordering the lamp and reading combined offers you an excellent value! For even more value, you may choose to get a total service package of a 15 minute tarot reading, lamp burning ritual, and a Pendulum of Ogoun reading.  Please check out Sister Bridget’s Page for complete information and ordering instructions.

    Best of luck to all of you – may the Light of Ogoun shine for each and every one of you!

    OgounLamp2

  • Are You Afraid to Love Completely?

    Happy Friday, everyone!

    Very often my clients tell me that they are “afraid to love” completely. Now, of course, we all fear being hurt. Many of us will hold back and not give ourselves fully into loving someone at first. We want to wait… we want to see if our feelings are returned. Putting it out there fully and completely is quite scary!


    However… and this is a BIG however, if you are doing love spell work and yet you are afraid to give your heart completely then you may be running a very real risk of sabotaging your own spell work!

    Think about this: If you are approaching the relationship you are trying to get or fix with fear, holding some of your feelings back, and being afraid that you might get hurt, then what kind of energy are you putting into your spell work? What you put into your spell work is most often what you get out of it. If you are putting fear and holding back your love because you might get hurt, then that is likely what you will get back.


    Perfect love spell work must be done in perfect love. Now, spell work doesn’t have to be perfect to work for you! Hey, we all make mistakes, and there is a certain level of “accident forgiveness” built into our spell work. However, it is really important to think about how YOU are feeling towards the relationship you are trying to be in. Are you angry? Are you afraid? Are you afraid to truly love that person because you may never get them? What if I told you that you may never get the because you are afraid to truly love them???


    There are those among us who feel like it is not worth it to fully love someone. It is too risky. We might get hurt. We might get dumped. We might not get that love returned to us. However, if you are not willing to take the risk then you can never reap the wonderful, incredible, dizzying rewards of truly being in love. The old saying that, “It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all” is just so true.


    There is no more powerful emotion than love. If you are not willing to allow yourself to experience it, even if it seems one-sided right now, then you are doing yourself (and your spell work) a terrible disservice.


    If you feel that perhaps you have been this person, I would like to suggest that you do something about it! 🙂 There is no point in getting upset if this has been you. Instead, make yourself the promise to no longer be that person! If you have been deeply afraid or angry or half-hearted in allowing yourself to love the person you want to be in a relationship with, then I am going to suggest that you do something such as Erzulie Freda’s Love Bath or perhaps some pink gender candles (in the gender of each of you – you and the person you want to be with) and ask that you allow yourself to feel this love again! Petition that you will not be a blockage to your own feelings of love, that even though right now those feelings might be bittersweet, you will allow yourself to feel them, relish them, wallow in them! THEN start back on your spell work or adjunct work – whatever you are working on right now.


    Think of doing something like your love doll with the pulsing ecstasy of love that truly beats in your heart for your special person! Even if you feel like your love is one-sided right now, love is still a positive emotion! Allow yourself to feel it, really feel it, and then go do a love doll session or a candle session.


    Trust me, I know that this can be a painful journey sometimes. But don’t sabotage it by not allowing yourself to fully commit to the love that you want. Your love is real, so really feel it!


    Love, light, and peace,

    Mambo Samantha Corfield

    www.spellmaker.com