Mater means mother
Self portrait, New Mexico, Jersey Walz, 2016
It is hard to believe each and everyone of us was raised by someone -or ones. Sometimes I like to imagine the people around me on the subway as 4 years olds (the age of my child). I like to think about how we were all, at some point, on the receiving end of the gargantuan task of being birthed/mothered/parented/cared for. Each of us was a small, soft and malleable little child in need of being fed and held and taught and clothed and soothed. And that, most of the time, someone did all of those things for us— as exhaustive or instinctual as parenting may have been for that person.
Mater means “mother” in Latin. Mater Soap is named to honor the natural world from which we create. It is a nod of gratitude to the actual and symbolic mothers who nurtured us, broadened our concepts of beauty and empowerment, and showed us how to steward/cultivate in return. Mater bathers see themselves and nurture their bodies and spirits. They cultivate the beauty within on their quest to simplify. In a world of heedless excess, they care for, rather than waste.
