I have been working with Sulis Minerva for quite some time now and it has had its ups and downs. She is not an easy Goddess to get close to and we don’t have much historical documentation in how ancient people worked with her so I have had to work hard to develop my own methods. When I first decided I wanted to have a formalized ritual format I found the task very daunting. I had never created any such thing, but luckily for me, my experience in my Tradition gave me a framework to use.

The format listed below is simply a frame and only address’ how to begin and how to end, but the middle is up to the practitioner and is referred to as the “Meat”. This is the place where you can perform your meditation, take a ritual bath, create your spells, etc. Over time, I will share some of the magic I have performed in these rituals, hopefully to inspire your own working’s with Her!!

Altar Checklist

• Red or Blue Altar cloth
• Sacred Vessel
• Anointing/Incense Oil
• Oil Burner
• Red and/or Orange Roses
• Red and Blue Candle
• Coin Offerings, Gem, Jewelry offerings
• Owl Statue
• Epsom Salt
• Small Bowl for Epsom Salt
• Small Bowl for Water
• Sacred water (spring, well, river, hotspring, etc)
• Water from Bath, UK (optional)
• Matches
• Distilled water
• Tea light/ heat source for Oil Burner/Diffuser

Pre-Ritual Tasks

• Light the Red and Blue Candle
• Light tea lights or other heat source for oil burner/diffuser and add your oil to the diffuser
• Fill Sacred Vessel with water. If you have water from Bath, add a drop.
• Fill small bowl with water. If you have water from Bath, add a drop.
• Fill small bowl with Epsom salt

 

The Ritual Format

• Ground and Center in your preferred manner
• Anointing
  • (Anoint your forehead and the palms of both hands with the anointing oil and say) Sulis Minerva, I honor you.
    
• Call Quarters
  • (Face West and say) Through the sacred waters of Sulis Minerva temple, I call upon the element of Water. Please cleanse me completely, so that I may be refreshed and invigorated to complete my Sacred Works. (Sprinkle Water over your hands)
  • (Face North and say) Through the many minerals that infuse Sulis Minerva’s Waters, I call upon the element of Earth. Please ground and center me so that I may have a good foundation and steadfastness in completing my Sacred works. (Sprinkle Epsom salt over your hands)
  • (Face East and say) Through Sulis Minerva’s Wise Owl, we call upon the element of Air. Please clear our minds so that we may have wisdom and focus in completing our Sacred Works. (hold the statue for a moment)
  • (Face South and say) Through the fire deep in the earth that warms Sulis Minerva’s water, we call upon the element of Fire. Please purify and forge us, so that we may stand strong and resilient in completing our Sacred Works (wave hands over the candle flames)

• Evocation to Sulis Minvera
  • (hold Sacred vessel above your head and say)
    Sulis Minvera,I humbly request your presence at this Sacred Rite. Please lend me Your power of Creation and Destruction, of Healing and Cursing and of Wisdom and Emotion to bring balance and transformation during this Sacred Work. Please aid me in my workings and help to carry my intentions into the spirit realm to ensure its success. I Honor You! So Mote It Be!
    
• Offerings to Sulis Minvera
  • (gather up your coins, gems, jewelry etc and hold above the Sacred Vessel and say)
    Sulis Minerva, please accept my offering of (___name offering here___). It is my hope that you find these offerings pleasing and will aid me in my Sacred Work! I Honor you! So Mote it be! (Place offerings into the sacred vessel)
    
• Meat of the Ritual (This activity is left up to personal preference. It could be a meditation, a spell, a craft, etc. ) 

• Thank Sulis Minerva
  • (place your hands on the Sacred Vessel and say) Sulis Minerva, thank you for lending me your powers of Creation and Destruction, of Healing and Cursing and of Wisdom and Emotion to bring balance and transformation to my Sacred Work. Please carry the energy of my work into the spirit realm and help to ensure its success.! I Honor you! So Mote it be!

• Thank Quarters
  • (look up, open your arms wide  and say) Sacred Powers of the Elements. Thank you for your gifts of cleansing, grounding, focus and purification during my Sacred Work! As you go back to your elemental realms, you take my deepest gratitude with you. I honor you! So Mote it be!

• Take your offerings and give them as anonymous gifts, give them to charity or bury them in the ground

I have found that while I am drawn to the elaborate rituals found in books, in real life practice I get much better results and fulfillment if I Keep It Simple.

In the shower last night, I felt an urge to invoke Sulis and ask for her blessings. I took my Sacred Vessel from the Sulis altar in the shower and if filled it with water from the shower. I held it above my head and began to recite my prayer to her.
Sulis, I seek your blessings! Grant me the ability to use your attributes as tools for growth.
I poured the water over my head and refilled the vessel.

Through the Deep Earthly Fire that warms Your Waters, bless me with the steady burn of creative passion.
I poured the water over my head and refilled the vessel.

Through the attributes of Your ever reliable Spring, bless me with the ability to access Your seemingly endless supply of energy.
I poured the water over my head and refilled the vessel.

Through Your ability to heal and cures, bless me with the power to bring about Transformation and Change in my life and those I love through magical workings.
I poured the water over my head and refilled the vessel.

Through the Healing attributes of Your Waters, bless me with the ability and desire to nourish myself with whole foods, good water and plenty of exercise.
I poured the water over my head and refilled the vessel.

I honor you! So Mote It Be!
I poured the water over my head, refilled the vessel and set it on her altar while I finished my shower.

I don’t know where this idea came from, but in the moment it felt right and I honored it. I often get caught up in the idea that I never have enough time. That to be a proper practitioner I need to lay out my salt circle, call all my Ancestors and guides and go through all of the beautiful steps of my Traditions ritual format. However, that is just not true. Each action, no matter how small to honor our Ancestors, Gods and Guides COUNT. And they add up. And they matter. And I promise you, they are noticed.

As part of my personal practice, I am a devotee to the Goddess Sulis Minerva. When I began working with her and asking for her help, one of the first things I asked her was what did she want in return. I believe in a fair exchange of energy and if a spirit is going to assist me with my needs and my work, then I want to make sure they get something out of it. To keep the balance so to speak. At first she was pretty silent about what she wanted, but after a few months she finally had something she wanted from me. During a meditation she told me she wanted me to rebuild her following. It was a powerful and daunting moment for me!!! However over the last year, I have been working on the preliminary steps. My first focus has been developing a ritual method by which to work with her. It is definitely still in its infant stages….not enough to share really, though one portion of the method has finally made itself known which I am going to share today.

Offerings to Sulis Minerva

I have been making various offerings to Sulis for quite a while now, but none of them seemed to be something that really moved her. I discovered that she prefers Hot chocolate over whiskey and enjoys sharing a cup of tea occasionally, but those are for special occasions, not necessarily daily offerings, so I kept searching. My answer began to unfold slowly in February of 2016 and it started with a change in offering dishes. For the longest time, I have been using a sunflower candy dish for offerings. It brought in elements of the Sun and Fire and was pretty so I used it. Then I came across this dish and I felt that familiar inner sense of excitement and knowing….I found something that FIT.

It is a beautiful chalice shape and a lovely green that reminds me of the waters in the Great Bath at Aquae Sulis in Bath, UK. I happily placed in on my altar. From there I continued to try different offerings to her; candies, fruits, nuts, parts of my own meals, but none of these really stuck out as the “right” thing. However that all changed last week. During the waning part of my womanly moon cycle, the Awen flows through me quickly and deeply. In a moment of extreme clarity I thought to myself, “Why don’t you fill the dish with water and give her offerings of coins and gems, just as the ancient followers of hers did?” and once again I was overcome with that warm silky Sense of Knowing.

I had found an appropriate daily offering to her! Why I had not thought of this before, I will never know. It was right in front of me the whole time……a detailed historical account of the offerings made to her throughout centuries.  I have been observing this devotion now for almost a week and each time I do it, the feeling of confirmation settles deeper and deeper into my bones. There are still parts of the process to be uncovered such as what am I am going to do with this money. I know that I will not keep it for myself, but I trust as I keep moving through this process, Sulis will let me know what she wants as She always does!!