We have been using soap for millennia to carry away impurities from our skin and clothes. Cleaning the skin is an act that renews the skin promoting longevity and health. This cleaning substance is made from combining fats with an alkali, which is basic ionic salt or earth metal. These two ingredients fuse together to create a substance that can alkalize all substances on the skin, making them soluble in water and carried away.
The word alkaline derives from an old Arabic word that means 'the calcined ashes'. The ashes' usefulness was first found when it was mixed with animal fats to produce a cleansing substance. The first natural occurrence and discovery of soap occurred from the ashes from a volcano fusing with the animal fats that rolled down the hills the animals consumed by the hot magma, to create the soap. I view the act of reviving things from their dead state and giving them life and electricity as alchemy. Soap itself is alchemy; and the act of bathing itself can be mystically ritualistic if intended.
You know that something is powerful when the government tries to control or regulate it. During the restoration era England 1665-1714 making your own soap was illegal. The materials used to make soap was kept under close watch by the state. Why? I believe it had something to do with the upper class wanting it to be a luxury item only to be used by them, but it could've been another matter. Soap is literally electric and powerful so I will leave you to ponder why on your own...
Soap singlehandedly transformed the world in the 18th century. It reduced the earth's population size of pathogenic microorganisms which reduced the amount of disease, infections, and germs. In the bathing process can be ritualistic as well, and therapeutic.
So in my opinion soap is spiritual within of itself if you want it to be. But when you add herbs to a soap it can really amplify that intention. This is why I make my soaps using pure ingredients, and herbs to give them an intention of healing. It can heal skin conditions, making the skin softer, smoother, and with a healthier appearance. This is also why I infuse the oils I use in my soaps with herbs that will amplify this use. I also use essential oils, the most potent essence of an herbal plant to make the soap super effective! For example, in my turmeric soap I infuse the oils with turmeric powder and use the essential oil of turmeric to boost its skin toning, antimicrobial, and blemish-fighting properties. The rose soap possesses an energetic vibration that radiates the energy of love and beauty, as the dragons blood soap emits an energy of purification and abundance.
A soap this luxurious would only be of interest to those who were aware of the power of an alkaline soap, and the healing effect of herbs. Most soaps on the market today are made with surfactants, and do not possess the alkali vibration of traditional hand made soap. If you look at the ingredients you will find a host of ingredients you won't be able to pronounce and have no idea what they mean and why they are added to the formula. With rune + fae soaps you will find that every single ingredient is recognizable and makes sense. So you will ask yourself, why are these things needed? If you all ever have any ideas for a soap you would like me to make or research what the effects of its healing properties to be leave a comment or reach out to me.
Skin is the largest organ on the body and can reveal a lot about the internal body systems. When the body is immersed in water, and the pores open up, our skin is able t take in the medicine of herbs topically, and we can begin the process of healing on the outside. Why not continue this process from both sides? We should not underestimate the power soap and the act of bathing can hold. I will make a post on how to perform a spiritual bath and shower soon. Until then, let me know how using herbal soaps has worked for you!