The Pagan Heart Kitchen Witch

August-September 2005 Issue

Kitchen Witchery - Soap Making By Catherine M.     Recently I was chatting with an online friend about soap making - something she'd like to explore and I want to get back into. Soap making is easy - well, basic soap making is. It can get complex if you try and make it so! However, it can be very easy if you use the following recipes and make blender soap...that's right. Blender soap. Mix it all up in a blender, pour it, let it cure, and voila you have soap! I like to use essential oils and herbs to create magical soaps. After creating the right blend, I emboss the soap with symbols or words to increase the potential magic. Soap is an essential ingredient - in my book - for any kitchen witch. It is a cleansing product which in and of itself carries great weight. When we prepare for sacred observations, we wash our selves - hands and face at the least, the whole body if possible. The fragrance of soap, the state of the bar or hand wash, the look and feel - all these things contribute to the way a person views bathtime, washing hands, or even visiting another's bathroom. The right soap sets the tone for many things from a luxurious soak to getting hands clean before cooking a delicious meal. And this is where kitchen witchcraft comes into its own. You can buy the right soaps, or melt and remould your own. But what about making it? Imagine selecting all the ingredients, from the scent, to the moisturizing oil, to the herbal blend...imagine crafting your own magical glyphs to impart the final spark to your spell knowing that every time that bar is used it releases its magical essence to protect or sanctify or enliven the home? Well, you can. In the age old tradition of kitchen witchery, but revamped with a modern kick, here is Soap Making 101. For herbal additions, embossing, and other tricks and suggestions, please see the side bars. Before beginning, you need to know the important basics to soap making: Glove up and put on eye protection - this is a nonnegotiable step. Lye is caustic and not good for eyes, skin or lungs. On that note, make sure your work area is well-ventilated. Use liquid fat at room temperature, or heat solid fats only until melted. (All basic oils are referred to as fat in soap making terms. Additives such as essential oils are called oils). Dissolve the lye in cold water and wait until the mixture turns clear. The water may heat up with the lye, and will turn cloudy. Don't breathe the fumes. Soap can develop an ashy coating - if so, wait until it's cured, wash it lightly to remove and set aside to dry again. Rich Moisturising Herbal Soap Ingredients: 8 oz weight cocoa butter 5 oz weight palm oil 3 oz weight castor oil 2.2 oz weight lye 1 cup cold milk (full fat) 1 cup water 1 tablespoon essential oil (based upon the magical intent for the soap) 1 tablespoon dried herbs (based upon the magical intent for the soap) Note - make sure the essential oil and herbs are skin compatable. Nothing too rough either. Heat all the fats on the stove top until the solids have become liquid, and then pour into the blender with the essential oil and herbs. Because this is the Equinox, and the Solstice is on the horizon, so to speak, why not think about making Sun King or Earth Goddess soap using the oils and blends from the Aromatherapy section in last issue and this one? Or you could make a Winter King blend with pine....Maybe even a spiritually uplifting blend to help your household combat the winter blues? Back to soap making. Mix the milk into the water, add the lye, and add to the blender as well. Secure the blender in position, put the lid on, and process at the lowest speed for about 30 seconds, or until the mixture looks smooth and a uniform colour. {Note - if you have made soap before, you will probably be expecting to check for tracing (when the passage of the spoon through the liquid soap momentarily leaves a fine line behind it). This will not occur with this recipe.} When you stop the blender, wait a moment before opening it. Sometimes the soap will "burp". Then pour it into prepared moulds (either small individual ones, or use larger ones and chop the soap up into bars later). Set the moulds somewhere dark and temperate - evenly temperate - to set. This should only take a few days, but can take longer. Cover it with a towel or blanket to help prevent sudden temperature changes. Once the soap is firm and dry, freeze the moulds to help release the soap. If necessary, chop it up into individual blocks, before setting it out to age. Lay the soap out on baking paper (temperate zone, no moisture) to age for 3 weeks. Put the towel over the soap again! When the soap is aged it should be dry, firm, and just like soap! If you are so inclined, you can dedicate or bless it to meet your magical intent. You might like to offer a sliver from the first bar to your god/s with a request that they bless the soap too. To add herbs to soap: Dried herbs - use 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup of finely powdered herbs per 1 pound of soap. Add to the fat before adding the lye. Fresh herbs - use 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped herbs per 1 pound of soap. Add to the fat before adding the lye. To add essential oils to soap: Add between 1 teaspoon and 2 tablespoons oil or oil blend to the fats before adding the lye. To superfat soap: Adding an extra 2-4 tablespoons fat to the recipe makes "superfat" soap - this is moisture rich and good for delicate or dry skin. Emollient-type fats (such as castor oil) as it will create a moisture-rich soap. It also alleviates the issue of potentially using too much lye. You can also reduce the lye by 2 oz. There is a myth that some soap is "lye-free" making it safer for use. In reality all soap should be fat-free when finished as the process of making the soap does this. However no soap can be made without the lye in the initial stages. The lye's reaction with the fats is what create the "soap" and its ability to clean. In this reaction, the lye is removed. When too much lye is used (such as in a recipe where the ratio of fat to lye is miscalculated) then the soap will not form properly. The easiest solution in all cases is to aim for superfat soap - increase your fat and ensure that all the lye is thus used up. To emboss soap: Use oven baked clay to create the image or symbol you want to emboss your soap with. Dry and bake it and then use a little glue to fasten the shape to the base of each mould. If you are making a large mould to be chopped up later, divide it up with lines to create rough "soap" shapes and place the embossing-shapes in the centre of each. Lightly coat each embossing-shape with Vaseline. When you pour in the soap, it will take on the shape and set that way. After you take it out of the mould, turn it up so the embossing is on the top before you chop it up.

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