Witchy Soap Making

Making your own soap with empowered herbs can be an extremely rewarding and magickal experience. The recipes that follow rely on melt-and-pour soap bases that can be purchased at your local craft store or online. This type of easy carrier allows you to make lots of fragrant soap in a single afternoon and can be a great magickal project practice with a circle of friends or your children (as long as you monitor the hot soap and you do the pouring). When shopping for a glycerin soap base, look for formulas that permit good suspension of herbs, as most herbs will sink to the bottom of the mold unless the soap is poured just at the moment of setting (which can be tricky). Here are the general supplies you will need for all of the recipes.

• Soap cauldron (can be purchased at local craft store) or microwave (if soap directions say you can use this)

• Desired fragrance (sweet scents help to instill good feelings and harmony within the body)

• Small plastic baggies or shrink-wrap system for packaging after soap has cooled

• Sharp, smooth-blade knife (for cutting soap base into small, 1-inch blocks)

• Pyrex measuring cup (4-cup size)Wire whisk (only to be used for soap)

• Droppers (for adding scent and color)

• Rubbing alcohol in spritzer bottle (removes bubbles from the poured soap)

• Ladle (if using a soap cauldron)

• Mortar and pestle or spice grinder

• Soap molds ( you can also use silicone muffin molds)

• X-Acto knife ( for trimming soaps if you over-poured the mold)

• Wire curing rack ( for handmilled soaps)