Mambo Samantha Corfield

Papa Legba Month!

Hi everyone! Hopefully by now you have received the special email about June being Papa Legba month at www.spellmaker.com!

We will be doing three FREE main rituals on the feast days of the three saints with which Papa is syncretized. These three feast days all fall in June, thus our proclamation of June as Papa Alegba Month at Spellmaker! (June 13-Saint Anthony,June 21-Saint Lazarus,June 29-St. Peter). We will also be doing rituals throughout the month of June, but the main rituals will be on those days.

Of course, we are encouraging yuo to you to send in a letter with your petitions that you would like to be included in the rituals for Papa Alegba. When writing your letter, please be sure that you are writing the letter to Papa Alegba himself, and be sure that your letter is appropriate. For example, you would NOT write to Papa Alegba asking, "Please make Johnny love me." However, if yours is a love case you could ask Papa to "Please open communication between Johnny and I so that he can see the love in my heart." The difference is subtle, but important. You could also ask Papa to remove blockages and clear the path between you and the one you love.

Communication is such a huge part of all relationships of any kind - love, work, friends, etc. Remember, Papa not only speaks all languages but has the ability to translate all languages. So asking him to "translate" your words into words that someone else can understand is a really good petition.

Of course, if you do not have a love situation, you could ask that Papa open the gate and clear the path to any goal that you have in mind. You can ask for anything, but to be most effective, try to be sure that what you are asking is within the scope of Papa!

To be included in these rituals, please email your petition to papalegba@spellmaker.com. There is no charge at all to be included in these rituals and you do not need to purchase anything at all. If you do have or will be getting the Papa Alegba Knock-Knock™ Ritual Kit, or any of the other products, using them on the days we are doing the rituals will maximize their effectiveness for you! You certainly could just light some candles and use Papa's oil and incense or take the Papa Alegba Clear Path™ Red and White bath. Anything you can do on those days, or any days in June, will be helpful in realizing your petitions. We have decided not to do a special ritual pack for this ritual because we already have specialized products for Papa that you can use during our ritual days.

We have also included, on Papa's page, a small, free ritual that you can do if you don't have the Papa Alegba Knock Knock™ Ritual pack and/or cannot afford to purchase it right now. Money, or the lack of it, hopefully will not prevent you from participating!

For the first time, also, there is a "donation button" on the Papa Legba page. Many folks have requested a way to donate for these free rituals that we do - just to help us cover costs, etc., if they weren't planning on purchasing anything in particular at that time. It is neither required nor expected for anyone to donate anything, but for those of you asked to have a way to donate, the donate button is toward the bottom of the page at www.spellmaker.com/legba.htm. Thank you to those of you who asked for a way to donate! We appreciate it. :-)

Again, these rituals will be ongoing through June. The sooner you get your petition letter in to papalegba@spellmaker.com, the more times your letter will be included in the rituals! We really look forward to doing these rituals.

Love to all,
Mambo Samantha Corfield
www.spellmaker.com

Self-esteem vs. Self-importance

Hello everyone!
Did you ever notice what you considered to be a disturbing trend but couldn't quite figure out what it was? Well, that is what happened to me! Over the last couple of months, in dealing with different people in different situations, I kept thinking, "Wow, there must be something in the water!"

Now, I know we have discussed before that some people seem to have a very strange sense of entitlement - like the world, and all of us living in it, seem to somehow owe them something! It has been a real head scratcher for me to try to figure it out. This is beyond just your every day, garden-variety snob. Those folks will always be around. These people I am talking about are the ones who seem genuinely distressed and disturbed when they aren't treated like some kind of royalty

Well, I don't know if I ever really will figure it out, but I do think I managed to nail down at least part of it: People have confused their self-esteem with self-importance. This seems to be especially prevalent in women, which, in part, I also attribute to the ubiquitously-called "Women's Movement." Now before you all start writing to me about women's rights - don't bother. I get it. I was in a very early, very abusive marriage in my extremely young days; I already experienced being paid less than a man for the same job; got called, "sweet cheeks" and "tits" as a nickname.(REALLY!! I actually answered phones at a place where the boss and his cronies called me "tits." Sigh.)So, yes, I am a believer in women's rights.

Tied up in the whole women's rights movement, there has been, in the last 25 years, a real call to women to boost their self-esteem, lift yourself up (and not just with a good bra!), and overall feel great about yourself. There are shelves of books about women's self-esteem issues, etc. Somehow, for some women, this has all gone horribly wrong. This has turned into the idea of their self-importance; that they are great and wonderful and smart and beautiful, and the rest of us just better bow down and do their bidding. WHOA, girlies! Self-esteem is not about self-importance.

Perhaps it is because I deal with so many women that I feel especially bombarded with this attitude, but it is really disturbing. I fear for these women (most of them are under 30 and no doubt raised by the women of "Tits Nickname" generation)! Out they go into the world pumped up by their self-importance and find themselves with a hard row to hoe when not everyone feels the same way about THEM as they feel about themselves.

Yes, of course, this whole idea of self-importance,entitlement,and "you owe me" attitude crosses all genders and generations. It is just that I seem to be seeing more and more of it that really bothers me. So what do you think? Do you have a story about a Self-Important person that wreaked havoc on your life? Did you one day realize that YOU were the one with the attitude? If so, how did you deal with it? What made you realize it? Or am I just old and can't get with the new idea of "it's all about me?" Tell me!!!!!! Just click on the "Comments" link and leave a message!

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

Hello everyone, happy  Monday!

Many times I speak with people who want to pray, but don't really want to pray to any particular diety, saint, or being.  They just want to say a prayer of good wishes, love, etc.  I think this Buddhist prayer fits the bill very well and we could all benefit from the beautiful wishes of this prayer:

"May all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness.
May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow.
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness
which is sorrowless.
And may all live in equanimity,
without too much attachment and too much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives.

May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
the subtle and the gross:
May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.
Let no one deceive another,

Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment
Wish suffering on anyone at all.
Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth."

-----------end of prayer--------------

Now, of course, it is a great accomplishment to pray this prayer and FEEL it truly.  However, I do think that there is a great deal of power in this prayer and a great deal of help for all who pray it.

Love, light, and peace, Mambo Samantha Corfield

www.spellmaker.com

New Customer Service Email Address

Happy Sunday, one and all!
I want to let you all know that we now have a new customer service email address. It's a pretty easy one: customerservice@spellmaker.com - catchy, huh? ;-)

Of course we are always striving to serve you the best way that we can, but realize that even under the best of circumstances sometimes things can go wrong, miscommunications can occur, and misunderstandings can happen to anyone! No matter what the problem or challenge might be, we want to work with you to resolve it satisfactorily!

I have noticed that many times people approach the idea of "customer service" in an angry and defensive way.... almost as if one expects to be put off or ignored and so, to get the attention one needs, the first line of attack is through anger. There is no reason to do that with us. If you are experiencing any kind of challenge with us, we want to resolve it! We want you to be happy, content, and satisified.

It is unrealistic to think that any business is going to get it right all the time. Everyone everywhere makes mistakes! We try to be extremely careful NOT to make mistakes, but when I woke up this morning we were all human, and I expect the same thing tomorrow morning, too. ;-) So, all we are asking is that if you are having a problem with us, that you let us know and let us try to fix it!

If you are writing to customer service, for fastest service, please include your full name (first and last/surname), an order number (if you are referring to a product or service that you have purchased), and a synopsis of what the challenge is. If you have an idea of what you would like to happen to resolve the issue, we would love it if you put that in there, too! :-)

Please remember that we never, ever guarantee that anyone will get a particular result with spell work or spell products. It is really impossible to do that! But we do guarantee that we will always try our best for you, that our products and services are 100% authentic, and that we will work with you on any issue you encounter.

Having said that, I hope each and every one of you never, ever needs to write to customer service! ;-)

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

I didn't mean to call you that....

There is a popular song by "Lit" with these lyrics:
Can we forget about the things I said when I was drunk
I didn't mean to call you that
I can't remember what was said or what you threw at me
Please tell me
Please tell me why
My car is in the front yard
And I'm sleeping with my clothes on
I came in through the window last night
And you're gone

Okay, so it's a funny song, but not really when you think about it. I am sorry to say that I see a trend of female clients who are being abused but they don't seem to know it. Not every form of abuse leaves you with a black eye or a broken bone. Some of the more insidious forms of abuse include how your partner speaks to you.

I am seeing more and more Heart's Desire letters that go something like this, "I want Fred to stop calling me a b*tch, a c*nt, a worthless, useless,piece of sh*t." This is in HD letters for Leave My Man Alone™ where the person is trying to get their HD to stop this kind of behavior towards them.

I am sorry, but I have to ask myself, why are you putting up with that in the first place? Has that person convinced you that you are worth so little that they have totally destroyed your self esteem and you think you can't do better? Well, let me tell you, YOU CAN DO BETTER than some low life who doesn't have one good thing to say about you.

Look, I am not saying that people don't have a bad day, or, as the song says, do and say things when intoxicated. But if you are with a person who says horrible things to you on a regular basis, YOU ARE BEING EMOTIONALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY ABUSED, and you shouldn't be doing the love trio, you should be doing The Ultimate Revenge Kit™, a Milk of Damballah™ white bath, and then an Attract Love to Me™ spell kit!

I beg you, if you are in an abusive relationship, please get help. Unfortunately, most crisis intervention revolves around physical abuse, but emotional abuse can be just as much, or maybe even more damaging in the long run. You may think you have to take emotional abuse for one reason or another, but trust me, you do not. I did a search on the Internet and there are tons of books and articles written on this subject and how to get out of these relationships. Please don't allow yourself to be treated like this.

Granted, sometimes the only person who can truly help you is YOU... like the song says above, "And you're GONE."

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

A Girl Named Berkeley....

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love,  Mambo Sam

www.spellmaker.com

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

Online Chat Support System is Being Upgraded.

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

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

Thank you for your patience!

Love,
Mambo Samantha Corfield www.spellmaker.com

That Looks Like a Lot of Trouble!

Happy Sunday, everyone!
Parran Matt and I had some guests for dinner a couple of weeks ago. He had run into an old friend that he had not seen in many years and it was a great reunion! Now this friend doesn't care for spicy food (which most of you already know is my passion in the kitchen). What's a poor cooking Mambo to do? ;-)

Well, easy enough, right? I decide that we will grill up some barbequed chicken and ribs, with some baby red potatos, and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. Now, let me digress for a moment here: Who in the heck can afford asparagus right now, right? Well, as luck would have it, my darling mother-in-law Eileen, who many of you have met at our conventions, found wild asparagus growing near her property a few years ago. The property is public property owned by the Nature Conservancy here, but if it borders your property, you have water rights, etc., to it. SO, Eileen, bless her heart, transplanted the wild asparagus beds onto her property and they took off like wildfire. (This is the lady who "accidently" grew cantaloupes last year by throwing the seeds and rinds into her garden for mulch and off they took into a cantaloupe vine yielding big, beautiful cantaloupes. LOL.)

So, bless her heart, in addition to her usual victory garden that she grows every year, we have fresh-picked asparagus this time of year. Well, as far as I am concerned I never met a grilled asparagus I loved more than with fresh Hollandaise sauce on it. ;-)

Now Hollandaise sauce is best served fresh so I make it right before putting everything on the table to serve. As I was cooking it, our friend kept saying that it "looked like a lot of trouble." I don't think it is, for me it only takes a few minutes to make and is so worth it. The same with whipped cream, I always whip it fresh if we are having it. It just takes a couple of minutes and it is so much better, but I usually get the same response of "wow, that looks like a lot of trouble."

It made me think of how many times people have told me the same thing about spell casting, especially after exclaiming that they would "do anything" to get Jack (or Jill) back into their life. However, when presented with recommendations of what they should do to make this happen, I often get, "that sounds like a lot of trouble."

For those folks, sadly, I usually expect them to get a poor outcome from their spell work. Right away they are setting themselves up into a negative state of mind of how much trouble they are going through for their HD; how much work it is; how much time it takes, etc., etc., etc.

But spell work, like good Hollandaise sauce, IS worth the effort. So if you are thinking your spell work is too much trouble - stop putting that into your mind. Consider calling that trouble "effort" instead of trouble. Consider calling it "being proactive." Because if you are thinking this is all too much trouble, you couldn't be thinking in a more negative manner!

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

Mambo Sam's Hollandaise Sauce
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon hot Hungarian paprika (or just regular paprika;you can also use cayenne
) Pinch of salt

Whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl and until the mixture is thick and approximately doubles in volume. Place the bowl over a saucepan containing barely simmering water (or use a double boiler if you have one.) The simmering water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Continue to whisk rapidly. Be careful not to let the eggs get too hot or they will scramble. Mix your cream and butter together gently and slowly drizzle in the mixture. and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume. Remove from heat, whisk in paprika and salt. Keep warm until ready to use. If you are making this ahead of time and it thickens up too much, you can whisk in warm water a tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency - thick, but still pourable.

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!!!!