Tag: love

  • Are you Depressed?

    Happy Tuesday, everyone! Very often clients come to me and tell me that they are depressed. Of course we all go through days, maybe weeks, where we are depressed about something. Let me first say, if you feel you are clinically depressed or unable to cope, please, please seek professional help. Obviously, I am not that kind of doctor and if you feel hopeless and helpless, please seek help locally.

    Okay, so besides that I think sometimes we forget the simple ways to combat depression. Now, of course, you could do a Milk of Damballah™ White Bath or use other cleansing type products such as white candles, etc.. However, sometimes just the very simple act of lighting a white candle, doing some deep breathing, and allowing yourself to relax and spend some time just "being" can help greatly! Not all successful "helps" are complicated! 🙂 I very often recommend to clients keeping a few white image candle kits around in their own gender just to use on occasions when they feel sad, depressed, low in energy, etc. It is a fairly simple way to boost yourself!

    I also found an article that outlined 10 simple ways to fight depression. It's funny, most of it you will have already heard, I had! BUT, it was still just nice to see it in a simple list as a reminder that if we are depressed, sometimes just taking a few simple measures will get us "over the hump" of a bluesy day.

    —Article–

    "10 Tips For Fighting Depression "

    I’ve done a bit of research into fighting depression recently and I’ve put together ten brief tips for fighting depression, leaving medication out of the list (excepting vitamins), as it doesn’t work for everyone. Most of these tips are probably common sense but it’s sometimes hard to think rationally when you’re depressed, and thus easy to forget.

    Get sufficient sleep. I’ve always burned the candle at both ends. It’s a flaw of being a type-A, driven, workaholic personality. Lack of sleep multiplies the effects of depression. If you can’t get a full 6-8 hours each night, try 15-30 minute catnaps through out the day. I’ve tried implementing Steve Pavlina’s attempt at polyphasic rhythm-based sleep, but I can’t quite pull it off yet. I have however been very successful in using Pzizz’s two free 15-minute energizer audio MP3 recordings for power naps several times a day. It’s unbelievable how much these help. I’ve also successfully been using binaural beats to positively affect alpha, beta, theta, etc., brainwaves. (More on that in the future.)

    Reduce stress. Stress can be invisible and subconscious, and it can come from guilt about a variety of things, personal and professional. For example, as I write this article, I’m suffering from guilt for not working on client projects, which I’ve been unable to do for most of the day. That means I have to make up for this lack tomorrow, which in turn induces anxiety. It’s tough, stressful cycle. If you don’t keep stress under control, it can induce productivity-grinding panic and anxiety attacks. Naps, a walk around the neighbourhood, and exercise can help alleviate the effects immensely. Remember: you cannot learn effectively with stress weighing you down. Sometimes, practicing detachment from your worries will solve your stress.

    Get sufficient exercise. It’s not just a matter of getting blood flowing, though that’s part of it. But getting outside and getting sunlight and fresh air is important because it rejuvenates you. If you work at home like I do, this is especially important. I find that despite being a hermit thinker type, physical activity makes me feel great during times of depression. Blood flow and adrenaline seem to stave off the worst effects. Though it’s sometimes hard to remember that exercise or keeping busy helps.

    Meditate. Meditation can be an effective means to reducing stress and thus depression. It can also help you to become aware of what is causing your guilt, your stress, and often help you achieve some detachment from those “problems” you cannot do anything about. In short, it helps you achieve perspective, to see where to focus your attention. I’ve been meditating on and off for about 20 years. (I’ve done over 10,000 hours of meditation, part of the requirement of becoming a Buddhist monk, though not all under a “master”, which disqualifies me.)

    Add some colour to your wardrobe. Tough for me, an ex-goth who still wears mostly all-black, but all dark clothes all the time increases the effects of depression. Colour stimulates positive feelings. I find blood red or a hunter green shirt helps me. Some people prefer yellow, orange or peach, or prints or paisleys. You can also add colour to your life through art therapy.

    Eat properly. You know eating properly applies all the time but it’s even more crucial for those suffering from depression. I find grains, nuts, and fruit help me, and staying away from fried foods and refined carbs. I have a friend, a gifted classical guitarist, who ends up in the hospital every three or four years because of the massive amount of fast food he eats nearly every single day, and without vegetables at that. (He’s had around three meltdowns in the decade or so I’ve known him, and hasn’t worked in that time.) Even a fresh submarine/ hoagy/ rocket with lots of free toppings (i.e., veggies) is better than fries, gravy, burgers and pizzas several times a week like he has. (I’m not knocking them, as I eat them, but not every day.) Seek out healthy snacks or make your own, eat nutritious foods and add colourful vegetables and leafy items.

    Take your vitamins. Learn your E, B, Cs. And Zinc, Folic acid, iron supplements, etc. Poor diet robs us of many absolutely essential nutrients. If you are not going to change your diet, whatever your reason, at least replenish those nutrients.

    Drink water. The proper amount of fluids helps keep your skin from getting dry in the winter time – the “season” in seasonal depression. It also helps clear out some of the toxins in your body. And by the way, it’s NOT 8 glasses per day for everyone. The proper amount is based on your body weight, age, activity level, and other factors.

    Add extra lighting. Research shows that adding some warm, bright lights helps fight the effects of depression. You don’t have to spend $150+ on special lamps; just increase the wattage in some of your light bulbs. Also, fluorescent lights are less bright than they appear. Try to replace them if possible.

    Smile. It’s not a guaranteed nor permanent cure, but it does help sometimes, if you can maintain a smile for a few minutes. I watch The Comedy Network (Canada) sometimes, as laughing helps – at least temporarily, like chicken soup sort of helps a cold. Remembering to do so is key, so you may need to tape some visual reminders to your mirrors or computer, etc."

    ————End of Article———————–

    Here's wishing you all a happy day!!
    Love,
    Mambo Sam

  • Some Ideas About Combination Work!

    Happy Monday, everyone!
    Lately it seems that a number of you have had some questions about combination work. I suppose first off, we should talk a little bit about what combination work actually is.

    What we here at Spellmaker term combination work is when you are working with adjunct work, such as candle magick kits, voodoo doll work, Cosmic Voodoo™ Eggs, etc. These are products that are generally used to enhance, strengthen, or work on details during or after one has used the regular Cosmic Voodoo™ spell kits.

    So what I would like to do is go over a series of ways to use certain products over the next few days. Feel free to ask any questions you have simply by commenting in the comment section below. 🙂

    So today I would like to talk about the Red Mummy Candles. Most often we recommend that these candles be used to open up communication between yourself and someone else, or perhaps even two people that you would like to communicate better with each other. For instance, let's say that you have a man in your life who doesn't get along well with your children or your children don't accept him in your life. In that case, you could use the Red Mummy to petition for that man and your children to open up communication between themselves, separately from you, to build their own relationship.

    For the most part, however, we use the Red Mummy to help us with communication between ourselves and someone else. So that is great! However, you can also use that Red Mummy in combination with, for instance, a white gender candle(appropriate to the sex of the person that you want to work on) to petition away negative energy from a bad argument, or any other type of negative communication you had with a person. If you need a person to "forget" a bad incident between you, then you can use the white male or female candle along with a Red Mummy to facilitate that.

    The Red Mummy could also be used with your love doll to open up communication between you and the person you love – to make that communication loving and sweet and romantic.

    Since communication is KEY to any and all relationships, using the Red Mummy in combination with almost any of your other adjunct products can help bring about the type of communication you want and help insure that you get that perfect dialogue going with that someone special.

    In many instances, you could use, for instance, two white image candles – let's say you are a male/female couple – one white image candle to represent you, one to represent your intended, and also use the Red Mummy. In this way you can petition to open up that communication between the two of you, stating HOW you want it to happen, WHEN, and WHAT is the nature that you want the communication to take. You could also use it with a red set of image candles, pink set, etc., depending on what kind of communication you want: Positive where there has been something negative happening to your communication with this person (use white candles with the Red Mummy. Romantic where things have been cold (use the pink candles with the Red Mummy). Passionate and loving where loving communication has been at a stalemate (use the red candles).

    I am sure you can think of many ways yourself to use the Red Mummy; just think in terms of communicating with that person you want to be with! I would love to hear the creative ways some of you have come up with to use the Red Mummy in combination with other products. We talked a lot about this in class. Have any of you used those techniques? How did it work out for you?

    If you are confused on how to use this kind of combination work, please ask your caseworker! They are there to help you! 🙂 It can be a little tricky trying to use more than one product at a time in combination with each other, but it can be done. Just ask if you need help with it!

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Sam

  • What Does Spring Mean to You?

    Happy Monday, everyone!

    Another spring is upon us! What does that mean for you? 🙂 (And that is besides sneezing, runny nose, and itchy eyes! LOL.)


    I love spring and for me it always mean “renewal.” I try to think of new ways to look at things – where can I seek a fresh perspective on an old problem? Are there projects that I abandoned and might still be worthy of finishing? What about my attitude? Might I need an attitude adjustment coming out of the winter and into the spring sunshine?


    This is just such a wonderful time to think about renewal, rebirth, cleansing, getting a fresh start, etc. Sometimes this is a great time to get a “fresh start” even on something that you have been working on for a long time!!


    For instance, have you been doing spell work on a particular subject for what seems like a really long time? Sometimes we begin to lose perspective on that subject because we have been working at it for so long. We may have been doing so much work on it that we are now just going through the motions of the work! That is something to be on the look out for!!!


    If you have been doing your spell work for quite awhile now and you aren’t quite where you want to be, I suggest taking a little break from your work! Unless you are in the middle of one of the Creole Voodoo™ spell kits that you have to do nine days in a row with, it isn’t a bad idea sometimes to take a little break!


    For some people, just taking a few days off of working on that particular goal can bring about fresh perspective, renewed energy, etc. It can be helpful during that break to perhaps do a little bit of work on yourself – some cleansing with something such as the Milk of Damballah™ white bath, white male or female candles,, etc. can renew your spirit, resolve, and vigor greatly!!!


    It is just as important to keep yourself fresh and renewed in your spell work as it is to continue to work towards your goal. If you are worn out and feeling sort of “autumnal” – perhaps doing some spring cleaning on your spirit might be just the thing to shake your energy and your case up!


    Love, light, peace, and Happy Spring,

    Mambo Sam
    Greenborder

  • Feed Hungry Children – Great American Bake Sale

    Hello everyone!  In the spirit of St. Joseph's Day (see yesterday's post, please), I would like to bring to your attention, the Great American Bake Sale!  This is a really cool way to help feed hungry children.

    I found out about this on the Food Channel Network and checked into it.  The set up for this is really great in that you sign up to hold a bake sale in your area and the proceeds will benefit community programs that feed children.  But what is really great is that you can also sign up to hold a "virtual bake sale."  That is such a great idea, isn't it??  Most people may not have the time to actually put together a bake sale and host it in their community.  However, if you do the virtual bake sale, the Great American Bake Sale website helps you build your own little web page and offers a function where you can email your friends and family and ask them to contribute to your virtual bake sale. 

    If you think about it, even if someone can just contribute a dollar or two to your virtual bake sale, all those dollars add up!

    If you can host a bake sale in your community, or even host a virtual bake sale, you can offer that as a service to Les Lois.  Remember especially the lwa such as Erzulie Freda, Maman Brigitte, Baron Samedi, Papa Loko, Erzulie Dantor, Ayida Ouedo, Ayizan, and others are very concerned with the welfare and protection of children.  Doing any kind of participation in a program such as this can certainly also be a service to our beloved lwa while making a difference in American communities where hunger in children is a huge problem.  We have a tendency to think that hungry children just exist in third world countries where it "isn't our problem." 

    But if as Americans, we think that all American children are well fed and well taken care of, I am sorry to say that we are wrong.  Thousands of American children go to bed hungry and homeless every night.  I was appalled to hear that right here in Albuquerque, New Mexico (and we are not a huge city), they estimate 4,500 children to be homeless right now!!!  It is unfathomable to me that we have ONE homeless child in America, but the statistics are both staggering and alarming.  Participation in a program such as Great American Bake sale can help.  Don't be fooled into thinking that you are "just one person" and cannot help!  This particular organization has a set up to allow everyone to do something in an easy and pretty quick way!  🙂

    I am working on setting up our Sheer Goddess Great American Bake Sale page and I urge each of you to do the same.  It only takes a few minutes, it doesn't cost anything to participate (especially if you choose to do the virtual bake sale option  – then it will only cost you some of your time), and the rewards of your participation will feed a child.  Light up some candles, call upon your favorite lwa, and tell them what you are doing as a service to them and your fellow human beings.  :-)  

    If you cannot participate, I will be publicizing our Great American Bake Sale page and taking donations for a virtual bake sale over the next couple of days.  :-)  Like I said, even if you can only donate a dollar or two, it will add up!  As for my local gals and guys - Matt, Berkeley, Debie, Travis, Eshita, Eileen, Cindy, Darla, Jeanne, Ronda…and whomever I forgot,  you know who you are – haha – we WILL be doing a real bake sale coming up soon!  So start getting your recipes on! 

    Love, Mambo Sam

    Woman_breaking_eggs_over_bowl_md_clr

  • Pay Someone an Amazing Compliment Day

    Happy Monday Everyone!
    Yes, I, Mambo Sam, just declared a national holiday! LOL. It is “Pay Someone an Amazing Compliment” Day.

    Nothing makes people feel better than to hear something wonderful about themselves. Choose a stranger, someone you know, someone you love, someone you wish you liked better… it doesn’t matter who it is!

    Tell a harried lady in the supermarket that her hair looks wonderful. Tell that coworker that you don’t particularly like how nice she looks today. Tell someone you love WHY you love them, even if you think they already know! There are endless, wonderful possibilities for paying others amazing compliments.

    If you go throughout your day looking for wonderful things about people, you might just discover something you might have otherwise missed!

    We spend so much time worrying about and playing into negativity! Why not spend a whole day just looking for opportunities to say nice things to people you encounter? Really go out of your way… seek the opportunities to say something nice to as many people as possible.

    Now, of course, I am not saying just make stuff up! Maybe you might have to stretch the truth a bit, but that’s okay. You just might make someone’s day! There is nothing wrong with that. 🙂

    I would love to hear about your experiences! Oh and Happy Pay Someone an Amazing Compliment Day – YOU look beautiful today. 🙂

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Sam

    DSC00022

  • Sex Magick! It’s a great enhancement to spell work!

    Happy Saturday,people!

    As most of you know, we are now finally offering sex magick. Participants in our 2008 Albuquerque Voodoo Convention were able to preview and buy these sex magick products at the convention and quite a few of them have written us to let us know how well they have worked for them! 😉


    Sex magick is something that is quite ancient in occult practices. There are all kinds of sex magick concentrating on different areas of sexual energy: Creation, love, passion,etc. Our sex magick is mainly being used to enhance or encourage a sexual relationship. This is a very powerful type of adjunct work for those who have already done (or are doing) love spell magick.


    The intimate relationship between a couple is, needless to say, an extremely important part of their love relationship. In many of our clients’ cases, the intimate relationship has been damaged in some way or perhaps no longer even exists. Sex magick is very helpful in concentrating energy into the parts of the Higher Self that rule passion, creation, and sexual desire.


    Of course, there is also the sex magick that is designed to break up the sexual relationship of a couple. This is where one needs to exercise a bit of caution! It is also important to remember that just because you break up the sexual relationship of a couple does not necessarily mean that your desired half of that couple immediately comes running to you! So, just like most good magick, sex magick is done in stages.


    Most importantly, sex magick is meant to represent the most intimate energies of a loving couple. Sex magick is not meant for coercing or forcing sex from a person. But if you use it, just as you would use love spell magick, to send that message of love and intimacy to your desired partner, then you are on the right track.


    Of course then, you have to ask, “What if I don’t have a “desired partner?” What if I just want to feel more sexually attractive or I am out there “just looking” and want to attract sexual partners? Can I use sex magick?”


    Absolutely! The sex magick we crafted can definitely be used for that purpose! If you are out there and looking to see what you can find and perhaps you don’t feel sexually attractive, or someone has damaged your self esteem so that you don’t feel like you could enjoy or perform sexually any more, then you can definitely benefit from the sex magick as well!


    So have a look! Oh, and did I mention, sex magick is fun! 🙂 It’s empowering and makes you feel sexy just doing it!


    The new sex magick page is located at www.spellmaker.com/sexmagick.htm. (Everything is 25% off right now with Free Shipping!!!!)


    Passionheart

  • What Do We Deserve?

    Hello everyone!
    What do we "deserve?" The dictionary definition of "deserve" goes like this:
    To earn by service; to be worthy of (something due, either good or evil); to merit; to be entitled to; as, the laborer deserves his wages; a work of value deserves praise. To serve; to treat; to benefit. To be worthy of recompense; — usually with ill or with well.

    Many times clients tell me that they "deserve" something; to be treated better by their partner, to have a better life, to have more money, etc. I recently asked a client why they felt that they deserved what they were asking me to help them obtain. I only asked the question because I am hearing a LOT lately about what people think they deserve!

    I have clients tell me, "I was a good mother to my children, now I deserve some happiness in my life." Now this one always give me cause to pause. If you decided to have children, shouldn't you be a good mother?? Does being a good mother cause you to "deserve" some sort of reward for that? Or is being a good mother part of the idea of having children? Are the children the reward? Do you deserve "more" because you were a good mother? Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying one does or does not deserve something because of being a good mother. I am actually asking you, my readers, to weigh in on this!

    Another thing I hear is, "I was a good wife to my husband. He left me anyway and now I deserve something better." So again, I feel like, well, if you are going to be a wife, should you not be a good one? Does your being a good wife mean you now deserve something better?

    Then there is the, "I am a good person, I deserve good things in my life." Okay… so you are a decent human being. Shouldn't you be? Really, isn't it up to all of us to be, at the very least, a decent human being? Should there be a decent human being award? Now if by being a good person you mean you do works of charity, help the homeless and poor, and give freely of your time to the assistance of others, then, yes, maybe there is a merit badge for that! Maybe you are more "deserving" than someone who doesn't do those things. But if you are just sitting around, living your life, minding your own business, and not harming anyone else, I am not sure that means you "deserve" more than another "good person" who happens to be starving to death in Africa.

    By the beginning of the definition of "deserve" above, to "earn by service" who amongst us is "deserving?" Should we be "earning" what we "deserve?" How do we earn it? I didn't say I had answers to these questions, maybe I just have questions! 😉

    I do know that it is really starting to make me uneasy how many people lately are telling me what they deserve. When I ask them why, they generally get pissed off at me, so I am thinking that is probably not the best approach. 🙂 But I am truly curious about the sense of entitlement some people seem to have; like the world owes them something: The mother who was good to her children (so was raising the children so horrible that she now deserves a reward for it?); the spouse who was good, etc. Because we went through tough times, does that mean we are now somehow entitled to a reward? Was our "tough time" worse than someone else's? IS there a reward for tough times?

    I DO get that we are all filled with books and talk shows and self-help gurus telling us how to feel good about our own self-worth, how to manifest our destiny, how to think positively about ourselves and our goals. But does that mean we necessarily "deserve" them OR are we in some way supposed to earn that which we think we deserve?

    Now, most of you are working on spell work from us, and we here at Spellmaker always want you to reach your goal! Most of my thought process above does not come from me thinking that you don't "deserve" to reach your goal! 🙂 Not at all! But I am concerned that just thinking that you "deserve" something is not enough to bring it to you! I am worried that too much thought of "well, I deserve this" is somewhat counterproductive and makes us all work a little less harder to achieve what we want!

    To say the least, I have really mixed emotions about this! I would love to hear your opinion!

    Love, light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield

  • Damballah and St. Patrick’s Day Ritual

    Happy Friday everyone!
    The ever-delightful Simone Green writes:
    "Hi Mambo, Can we include Damballah in the ritual? Since St. Patrick is his saint, and to add extra luck?"

    Yes, of course, feel free to add service to Damballah into your Sobo ritual on St. Patrick's Day! 🙂 Never hurts to have a little Damballah on your side. Damballah is often represented in Vodou rituals by St. Patrick (though I remain a bit perplexed at that since St. Patrick is credited for running the snakes OUT of Ireland..and no one is running Damballah out of anywhere if he doesn't want to go!  LOL). Of course, the reason is because St. Patrick is portrayed many times with snakes in the picture. The more years that pass, though, the more I am a Moses/Damballah syncretizer, but traditionally it is St. Patrick.

    At any rate, I don't think it is a far stretch at all to do some service to Damballah with your Sobo ritual. For us, "coincidentally" Sobo, Damballah, and Ayida Ouedo used to share space in our previous altar room. 😉 When you think about it, it makes perfect sense! Damballah is full of wisdom and power, both necessary to obtain and KEEP one's money. His wife, Ayida Ouedo, is represented by the rainbow! Where is that pot of gold?? At the end of the rainbow, of course!

    So, yes, Simone, I think including Damballah (and of course Ayida Ouedo) into your Sobo ritual is a pretty good bet.

    Including Damballah into your ritual can be quite easy. A very simple offering of a white egg, either boiled or left raw, sitting in a dish of white flour is a very common and well-received offering to Damballah. Finding a picture of a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end of it and putting it on your altar will serve and acknowledge Ayida Ouedo and tie in nicely with your petitions to Sobo for wealth and security.

    Great idea, Simone! Thank you!

    Love,light, and peace,
    Mambo Samantha Corfield
    P.S. If you have not gotten in your petitions for the Sobo ritual, please do! Check out all the information about the Wealth and Security Ritual at www.spellmaker.com/sobo.htm! Remember, we do this ritual all month long starting March 17.

    Moses

  • Voodoo Debt Eliminator!

    Since I am a former letter carrier I could not help but sharing this one.  (So that is why I have back trouble!)

    Howtodealwithbills

  • He Hurt Me But I Want Him Back!

    Greetings everyone!

    Needless to say, every single day I deal with a situation, a spell casting, or a consultation which involves someone who has been hurt by someone else. Sometimes the hurt was unintentional,but still hurt like hell. Sometimes it was completely intentional and hurts like even deeper hell. But no matter what, the sad truth of what I do is dealing with peoples’ hurt, sorrow, trauma, and pain.


    Of course there are times when I look at someone’s case and wonder, “Why the heck does she want him back?” Or why does he want her back? Or whatever the gender… really that doesn’t matter much, actually!


    Nonetheless, it is my job to do what you, the client, asks me to do, and so that is what I try to do. BUT when is enough enough? When is the time to look at a situation and tell you that I think you are just punishing yourself, or that you don’t really want a relationship, or why would you let someone hurt you like that and then take them back? What are the criteria for doing that? Obviously, if I think someone is horrible for you and cannot ever be trusted again, I am going to tell you that. But what do you think?


    I am not here to answer the questions this time, I am here to ask them: What acts do you think are unforgiveable? At what point does a person not deserve for you to take them back? When would you just say NO to a person who wanted to return to you, even if you thought they had changed?


    I ask this because I want to reach out there and see what you all are thinking. Have the rules changed? I see lots of clients, women especially, who will take back someone who had done tremendous emotional damage to them. Granted, most of them want this man (or woman) to have healed and atone for what they have done. However, I wonder if they will really forgive them, even with the change. Can they really take them back? Is there that much forgiveness out there?


    I would love to hear your opinions on this!


    Love,

    Mambo Sam