Since I am a former letter carrier I could not help but sharing this one. (So that is why I have back trouble!)
-
Faith.
In my duties as Parran of our House, I get asked a lot about the question of "faith." How to keep the faith? What to do prove what you have faith in, etc. I am no expert on faith, but I do know that life is pretty bleak if you have faith in nothing. My wife, Mambo Sam, once said to me that it was really easy to have faith when things were going great, it is when things are going terrible and we need faith that we seem to have it the least. I couldn't agree with her more. Good days bring great faith, but who needs faith on good days? It's those bad days where we need our faith.
Mightier writers than me have written a lot about faith and I thought I would share with you some of the quotes I have found. I hope you enjoy them and keep them for those days when your faith is in short supply.
Faith is like radar that sees through the fog. ~Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord
Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right. ~John Donne
Faith is reason grown courageous. ~Sherwood Eddy
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. ~Kahlil Gibran
Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there. ~Author Unknown
If there was no faith there would be no living in this world. We couldn't even eat hash with safety. ~Josh Billings, His Complete Works, 1888
Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch. ~E.M. Forster
Faith is spiritualized imagination. ~Henry Ward Beecher
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. ~J.R.R. Tolkien
Faith is courage; it is creative while despair is always destructive. ~David S. Muzzey
Faith is a passionate intuition. ~William Wordsworth
To me faith means not worrying. ~John Dewey
Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch. ~Ramona C. Carroll
Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith. ~Author Unknown
Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark. ~Rabindranath Tagore
He who has faith has… an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well – even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly. ~B.C. Forbes
A faith of convenience is a hollow faith. ~Father Mulcahy, M*A*S*H, "A Holy Mess," 1982
Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings. ~Victor Hugo
Faith makes things possible, not easy. ~Author Unknown
Faith is raising the sail of our little boat until it is caught up in the soft winds above and picks up speed, not from anything within itself, but from the vast resources of the universe around us. ~W. Ralph Ward
Faith… must be enforced by reason…. When faith becomes blind it dies. ~Mahatma Gandhi
Faith and doubt both are needed – not as antagonists, but working side by side to take us around the unknown curve. ~Lillian Smith
As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit. ~Emmanuel
In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. ~Blaise Pascal
Faith enables persons to be persons because it lets God be God. ~Carter Lindberg
Weave in faith and God will find the thread. ~Author Unknown
A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul. ~Author Unknown
Faith can move mountains, but don't be surprised if God hands you a shovel. ~Author Unknown
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Faith, indeed, has up to the present not been able to move real mountains…. But it can put mountains where there are none. ~Friedrich Nietzche, Human, All Too Human, 1879
Faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to. ~George Seaton
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. ~Martin Luther King Jr.
Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future. ~Robert Collyer
Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. ~Author Unknown
Life without faith in something is too narrow a space to live. ~George Lancaster Spalding
-
Just a joke.
Stealing Jacey's idea and telling a joke! An elderly couple had been experiencing declining memories, so they decided to take a power memory class where one is taught to remember things by association.
A few days after the class, the old man was outside talking with his neighbor about how much the class helped him.
"What was the name of the Instructor?" asked the neighbor.
"Oh, ummmm, let's see," the old man pondered. "You know that flower, you know, the one that smells really nice but has those prickly thorns, what's that flower's name?"
"A rose?" asked the neighbor.
"Yes, that's it," replied the old man. He then turned toward his house and shouted, "Hey, Rose, what's the name of the Instructor we took the memory class from?"
🙂
-
Another laugh!
Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was
really pissed.She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the
driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke
up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box
gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought
the box back in the house.She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Bob has been missing since Friday.
-
SOBO RITUAL ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY
Hello dear one!
The wonderfully talented Ms. Berkeley came up with a great idea to do the Sobo Wealth and Security ritual again on St. Patrick's Day (March 17)! I think this is an awesome idea and even though Sobo is not traditionally associated with St. Patrick, I don't think that St. Patrick will mind if we are asking for the "the green" on his day! 🙂It does make perfect sense to do this ritual on St. Paddy's Day since wearing green and thinking about rainbows and pots o'gold are definitely in order!
Now I know many of you already have the Sobo Ritual Pack that we used last time for the ritual. If you do, you can reuse the holy card and whatever you have left from the ritual pack. If you desire, you can purchase a whole new kit again. Or you can just do the free version of the ritual as it is outlined on the Sobo Page.
We will again accept the petitions from you. Just go to the Sobo page and send us an email about your financial needs and they will be included in our ritual that we will do at the Spellmaker Office.
Remember, we will be trying to work with the "group mentality" or Cosmic Consciousness again to try to send out and accept energy from each other.
Many people reported wonderful results from the last time we did this Sobo Ritual together! 🙂 Many of you told us a lot of stories about how some really good things happened in your financial life after doing this ritual.
So let's all get together and make St. Patrick's day our day to rake in the green! Here's a great picture to focus on! 😉
Love,
Mambo Sam -
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 -
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
-
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:
Tweets by spellmaker
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