In the localised ancient Celtic polytheism as it was practiced in Britain, Sul or Sulis^[1] was the deification of the thermal spring-water of Bath, Somerset, where she was worshipped by Britanno-Romans as Sulis Minerva, whose votive objects and inscribed lead tablets suggest that she was conceived both as a nourishing, life-giving mother goddess and a an effective agent of curses wished by her votaries. Celtic polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Celts, prior to the Christianization of the Celtic-speaking lands Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. The MInisterial NEtwoRk for Valorising Activities in digitisation, or MINERVA, is a European Union organization concerned with the digitisation of cultural and A mother goddess is a Goddess, often portrayed as the Earth Mother who serves as a general Fertility deity the bountiful embodiment of the Earth. ^[2]

The cult of Sulis at Bath

The Roman baths at Bath.

Sulis was the local goddess of the thermal springs that still feed the spa baths at Bath, which the Romans called Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis"). In Roman mythology a genius loci was the protective spirit of a place A thermal bath is a warm body of water It is often referred to as a spa, which is traditionally used to mean a place where the water is believed to have special health-giving Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC For the Roman Baths complex at Aquae Sulis see Roman Baths (Bath. ^[3] Her name appears on inscriptions at Bath, but nowhere else. This should not be disappointing. Celtic deities often preserved their archaic localisation. The Gods and Goddesses or deities of the Celts are known from a variety of sources these include written Celtic mythology, ancient They remained to the end associated with a specific place, often a cleft in the earth, a spring, pool or well. The Greeks referred to the similarly local pre-Hellenic deities in the local epithets that they assigned, associated with the cult of their Olympian pantheon at certain places (Zeus Molossos only at Dodona, for example). Dodona (from Doric Greek Δωδώνα Ionic Greek: Δωδώνη - Dodone) in Epirus in northwestern Greece, was a prehistoric The Romans tended to lose sight of these specific locations, except in a few Etruscan cult inheritances and ideas like the genius loci, the guardian spirit of a place. This article does not discuss "cult" in the original sense of "veneration" or "religious practice" for that usage see Cult (religious practice In Roman mythology a genius loci was the protective spirit of a place

Identification with Minerva

Gilt bronze head from the cult statue of Sulis Minerva from the Temple at Bath, found in Stall Street in 1727 and now displayed at the Roman Baths (Bath). For Roman baths in general see Thermae. The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of Bath

At Bath, the Roman temple is dedicated to Sulis Minerva, as the primary deity of the temple spa. Fanum At the temples Romans prayed and made Ritual Worship Offerings of a small gift or Animal sacrifices to their Roman Through the Roman Minerva syncresis, later mythographers have inferred that Sulis was also a goddess of wisdom and decisions. Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought Sulis was a goddess of the hot springs, which arrived so vividly fresh from the Underworld, therefore she guarded a liminal connection between this sunlit world and the Otherworld, where there was knowledge that could be effective in prophecy. In the study of Mythology and Religion, the underworld (gr κάτω κόσμος) is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term Afterlife

Sulis was not the only goddess exhibiting syncretism with Minerva. Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought The MInisterial NEtwoRk for Valorising Activities in digitisation, or MINERVA, is a European Union organization concerned with the digitisation of cultural and Senua's name appears on votive plaques bearing Minerva's image, while Brigantia also shares many traits associated with Minerva. Senua was a Celtic goddess worshipped in Roman Britain. She was unknown until a cache of 26 votive offerings to her were discovered in 2002 in an undisclosed For other uses see Brigantia. Brigantia was a Goddess in Celtic ( Gallo-Roman and Romano-British) religion The identification of multiple Celtic gods with the same Roman god is not unusual (both Mars and Mercury were paired with a multiplicity of Celtic names). Interpretatio graeca is a Latin term for the common tendency of Ancient Greek writers to equate foreign divinities to members of their own pantheon On the other hand, Celtic goddesses tended to resist syncretism; Sulis Minerva is one of the few attested pairings of a Celtic goddess with her Roman counterpart.

A cult of Sulis outside Bath?

Dedications to “Minerva” are common in both Great Britain and continental Europe, normally without any Celtic epithet or interpretation. The MInisterial NEtwoRk for Valorising Activities in digitisation, or MINERVA, is a European Union organization concerned with the digitisation of cultural and See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands (Cf. Belisama for one exception. Belisana is also a spider genus ( Pholcidae) In Celtic mythology, Belisama (also Bηλησαμα or Belesama )

A similar name, Suleviae, frequently identified as a plural form of Sulis, has been attested in the epigraphic record from sites at Bath and elsewhere. In ancient Celtic religion, Sulevia was a goddess worshipped in Gaul and Britain, very often in the plural forms Suleviae or (dative Sule(vis Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. The aspect of plurality links the Suleviae to a good many widely-revered divine mothers, who frequently appear with two or three primary aspects to their character.

Sulis in post-classical memory

Continuity in British literature

The legend later connected with the origins of the Aquae Sulis are Roman rather than Celtic, though Celtic writers enjoyed repeating them: Her eternal fire was kindled in Troy and brought to Britain by Aeneas from the sacked city; a theme of healing recurs in the legend of the founder of Bath, the mythic King Bladud, disfigured by leprosy or scrofula, who bathed in the hot mud with which pigs soothed their own skin. The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the Legends that concern the Celtic and legendary History of Great Britain, especially those Bladud or Blaiddyd was a mythical king of the Britons, for whose existence there is little historical evidence Leprosy (from the Greek lepi (λέπι meaning scales on a fish or Hansen's disease, is a chronic disease caused by the bacterium Scrofula ( scrophula or struma) is any of a variety of Skin diseases in particular a form of Tuberculosis, affecting the Lymph nodes He founded Sulis' shrine over the spot.

Incorporation into Neo-paganism

Neo-Celtic mythology can build a great deal on such slender evidence. Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an Umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements particularly those influenced by historical Moyra Caldecott has written a historical romance, The Waters of Sul (first published as Aquae Sulis). Moyra Caldecott ( June 1, 1927) is a British author of historical fiction fantasy science fiction and non-fiction

Fairgrove's views

Rowan Fairgrove's e-essay, "What we don't know about the ancient Celts" describes the recovered dedications and curses scratched onto potsherds, which give a better idea of what her Romano-Briton devotés wanted from Sulis Minerva.

"She had the power to grant healing, of course, but also to witness oaths, catch thieves, find lost objects and generally right wrongs. Some examples include, "I have given to Minerva the Goddess Sulis the thief who has stolen my hooded cloak whether slave or free, whether man or woman. He is not to redeem this gift unless with his blood. " and "May he who carried off Vilbia from me become as liquid as water. May she who obscenely devoured her become dumb whether Velvinna, Exsupeus Vbrianus, Severinus Augustalis, Comitianus, Catusminianus, Germanilla or Jovina. " and "Docimedis has lost two gloves. He asks that the person who has stolen them should lose his mind and his eyes in the temple where she appoints. "

Fairgrove also mentions a trio of goddesses who were not so site-specific as Sulis, the Suleviae, whose names appear in inscriptions found at Cirencester, Colchester and in several locations in Gaul. In ancient Celtic religion, Sulevia was a goddess worshipped in Gaul and Britain, very often in the plural forms Suleviae or (dative Sule(vis Cirencester is a Market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles (150 km west northwest of London Colchester ( /ˈkəʊltʃɛstə/ is a town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester, in Essex, England. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Collected Latin inscriptions (CIL) show that these include dedications to the Sulevian Mothers (Matribus Suleviae), the Sulevian Goddess (Deae Sulevae), the Sulevian Goddesses (Sulevis deabus) and to the Sulevian sisters (Sulevis Sororibus).

Are these "Suleviae" the "tripled Sulis," as other triple Celtic deities were tripled, even Roman Mars appearing as triplets? Fairgrove adds, "One of the inscriptions at Bath, on a statue base says 'To the Suleviae, Sulinus, a sculptor, son of Brucetus, gladly and deservedly made this offering' so we know they, as well as the singular Sulis Minerva, were known at this site also. In ancient Celtic religion, Sulevia was a goddess worshipped in Gaul and Britain, very often in the plural forms Suleviae or (dative Sule(vis "

Etymology of the name

Suil in Old Irish is 'eye' or "gap". Irish (ga ''Gaeilge'' is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish. Did her name "Sulis" suggest, in Gallo-Brittonic, the connotation of the 'orifice or gap' through which the healing waters ran? At Delphi the omphalos or navel was an opening into the other world.

However, the reconstructed lexis of the Proto-Celtic language as collated by the University of Wales [1] suggests that the name is likely to be ultimately derived from the Proto-Celtic *Su-lījīs. Phonological reconstruction Consonants The phonological changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Celtic Consonants may be summarised as follows This Proto-Celtic word connotes the semantics of ‘Good, Flooding One,’ *līj- being found in *Lījros (‘tidal flood, sea,’ cf Lir and Llyr) and in *Līj-enissā (‘tidal island;’ cf. Semantics is the study of meaning in communication The word derives from Greek σημαντικός ( semantikos) "significant" from In Irish mythology, Lir or Ler ("the sea" was the god of the sea father of Manannan mac Lir, and a son of Elatha. Llŷr is a figure in Welsh mythology, the father of Bran, Branwen and Manawydan by Penarddun. Lyonesse). Lyonesse, Lyoness, or Lyonnesse is a country in Arthurian legend, birthplace of the knight Tristan. This apparent semantic connotation has led Dr. John Koch at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies to suggest that this mythic personality may well personify “beneficial water-flow,” of which the thermal springs at Bath and perhaps other sites may well have been deemed a manifestation. Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol. This theory, if it is correct, would account for the associations with potentially therapeutic thermal springs.

The usual etymology is that Sulis means 'sun', however, as this is the original form of Welsh haul 'sun' and Old Irish suil (from Indo-European *sawel-); cf. Latin sol 'sun'.

Notes

External links

• Rowan Fairgrove, "What we don't know about the ancient Celts"
• Bath based stonemasons and stonecarvers