This is part of an ongoing series about everyday enchantments. These aren't big, overwhelming spells; they are small things you can do when you have a bit of time and energy that can help you with your magical goals in the long run.

This is what I like to call Augmentation Magic. For example, I might enchant some magic soap as part of a bigger spell so that I can return to the spell (and further its effectiveness) each time I wash myself with it.

All you need to enchant a bar of soap is a brand new bar of soap. Easy, right?

We will start with the basics: enchanting your soap to enhance its natural cleansing properties.

As mentioned above, you can use any soap bar to do this because soap is ALREADY cleaning. You can further enhance this enchantment by using a bar of soap made with scents or natural plant material with additional cleansing properties. This includes pine, citrus, rosemary, lemongrass, lavender, charcoal, and many other natural ingredients often put into soaps (especially natural soaps you can buy at the crunchy hippy store).

But, all you need is a bar of soap. Ivory will do just fine.

Sit down and get to know your bar of soap. Using clean, dry hands, touch your soap. Smell it. Do whatever feels right to you to put your energy into the bar of soap.

Create or find a magical sigil for cleansing that matches the energy of your soap. Use your intuition here - if you don't make your own sigils, the rune Laguz (Elder Futhark rune for water) will work fine here. Carve your rune into your soap at least once on every side or as many times as feels right to you. As you do this, think about how you are enhancing the nature powers of cleaning in the soap by adding a sigil for cleansing

Charge your sigil with energy. This can be your own energy, this can be the energy or the sun or moon, this can the energy of a candle. Do what works well for you here. I like to charge my soap with a white candle annointed with cleansing oils and some of the plant type used in the making of the soap.

Extra: create a cleansing enchant to connect the sigil you have created. Something simple like "water, water, wash over me; troubles flow away and I am free."

When you wash yourself, make a point of think about your sigil and the action that your enchantment is taking - to cleanse your body and wash away what you don't want to bring with you down the drain until it is gone. Say your cleansing chant as you scrub your body with the soap. It is done.

Variations on a theme: because soap is naturally cleansing, there is very little work that needs to be done to enhance it further to make it a spell. You can use any bar of soap for this purpose.

If you wish to use soap to further an action that is more than cleansing (the natural state of soap), you will want to take more care in matching your soap to your intentions.

A very simple version of this would be to use a soap made with coffee grounds that is enchanted to help you wake up in the morning or perhaps to stay focused throughout your day. Here, you are using the principles of sympathy to match your soap to your intention: the more similar your soap is to your intention, the easier it is to craft this enchantment (and the less energy you will need to expend). You can use anything here: color magic, sigils, ingredients, etc. to make this connection.

Of course, you can buy many magical soaps that have some level of enchantment. I have found that most "magic soaps" on the market don't carry much innate magic, but they all tend to be made with authentic botanical and essential oils, which helps me (at least) spend less of my energy enchanting.

Of course, your experience may vary. (I'd love to hear about it—send me an Ask with stories of how you've used magic soap in your life!)

Further Reading: My Guide to Augmenting Your Magic