Bast ~ cat goddess, protector of women
Bastet - "Devouring Lady" (from bas, to devour, with feminine ending)
The Egyptians’ word for cat is “mau.†This word, so closely related to their word for light and mother, shows how highly they revered them. The cat is both a lunar and a solar animal, representing the sun’s power reflected in nature. Bastet is fiercely independent like a cat, and belongs only to herself. Being an earth animal, she is also an earth mother goddess. She is a giver of life and abundance and, embodying a cat’s gentler aspects, she personifies life and fruitfulness. Her wild instinctual nature provides protection for women during childbirth. She is the quintessential life-affirming mother, reminding us to relax and be playful like a cat and to find occasions to celebrate life. This “joyful goddess†held elaborate festivals in Babustis, which were well known for their joyful dancing.
Other names:
Bastet, Bast, Bastis, "the Tearer"
Bubastis Greek version
Pacht, Pasht Pasch Ubast, Ubasti
Ba en Aset : the soul of Aset (Isis)
Other titles Bast was given with time were "Lady of the East", "the Light Bearer", "Lady of Truth" and "Goddess of the Birth Chamber".
The goddess Bastet was usually represented as a woman with the head of a cat. However, up until 1000 BC she was portrayed as a lioness. Bastet was strictly a solar deity until the arrival of Greek influence on Egyptian society, when she became a lunar goddess due to the Greeks associating her with their Artemis.
Bastet was the daughter of Ra, the sun god, a designation that placed her in the same ranks as such goddesses as Maat and Tefnut. Additionally, Bastet was one of the "Eyes of Ra", the title of an "avenger" god who is sent out specifically to lay waste to the enemies of Egypt and her gods. It may have been through him that she acquired her feline characteristics.
When Ra destroyed his enemy Apep, he was usually depicted as a cat. As portrayed as a cat, she was connected with the moon (her son Khonsu was the god of the moon). When shown as a lioness, she is associated with sunlight.
She was the goddess of many things including fire, cats, dance, sex, music, and good luck. According to one myth, she was the personification of the soul of Isis. She was also called the "Lady of the East". As such, her counterpart as "Lady of the West" was Sekhmet.
Bastet seemed to have two sides to her personality, docile and aggressive. Her docile and gentle side was displayed in her duties as a protector of the home, and pregnant women. Her aggressive and vicious nature was exposed in the accounts of battles in which the pharaoh was said to have slaughtered the enemy as Bastet slaughtered her victims.
The cult of Bastet was centered in Bubastis (located in the delta region, near modern-day Zagazig) from at least the 4th Dynasty. In the Late Period, Bubastis was the capital of Egypt for a dynasty, and a few kings took her name into their royal titles. Bubastis was made famous by the traveler Herodotus in the 4th century BC, when he described in his annals one of the festivals that takes place in honor of Bastet. Excavations in the ruins of Tell-Basta (the former Bubastis) have yielded many discoveries, including a graveyard with mummified holy cats. Because the Greeks equated Bastet with Diana and Artemis and Horus with Apollo, Bastet became adopted into the Osiris-Isis myth as their daughter (this association, however, was never made previous to the arrival of Hellenistic influence on Egypt). She is stated to be the mother of the lion-headed god Mihos (who was also worshipped in Bubastis, along with Thoth). She is depicted most commonly as a woman with the head of a domesticated or wild cat or lion, or as a cat itself.
Also known as Bastet / Pasht (in her dark aspect), the cat-headed goddess ... wife of Ptah. She's identified with Artemis or Diana. She is the gentle head of the sun, the Lady of the East. Cats were sacred to her and embalmed when they died. Her signs and symbols:
In addition to her major symbol, the sistrum, Bast was also allotted one of the Divine Eyes in the form of the Uraeus, or Serpent of Wisdom.
According to the one version, she acquired this from her brother Horus, but the popular belief was that she was given charge of it by Ra for defending him against Apep. Although the Uraeus is considered to be the right Eye and the Horus Eye the left, there is obviously some confusion here as Eyes were depicted under the Horus banner facing either way, which rather suggests that the ancient Egyptians themselves were, perhaps, a little unsure as to which was which.
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In art Images of Bast portray her with a sistrum (ancient Egyptian percussion instrument) in her right hand, and a small bag over her left arm, with figurines of kittens surrounding her feet. Such images are among the most naturalistic works of ancient Egyptian.
Symbols: cat, lioness, sistra (especially later periods), Udjat-eye. Offerings:Thousands of small cat sculptures, probably left with offerings to the Temple by devotees, have also been recovered at Bubastis. Sweet liquids and foodstuffs, mint, catnip, honey, raw meat, perfumes and ointments (especially in the "bas" jars which are a pun on Her name). Never offered: Cats (The penality for killing a cat was death) Cats were sacred animals to the ancient Egyptians. If a household's cat died, the members of the family shaved their eyebrows off in mourning.
Suggestions for Honoring Bast Today: If you have a cat in your life, pamper it on Bast's Day (11th May). Include your cat as a magical partner in spellcraft. You can burn your cat's shed/discarded whiskers to Bast in return for a wish. To make an incense to honor Bast, grind together 4 parts frankincense, 3 parts acacia wood (or gum arabic), 2 parts myrrh, 1 part dried catnip, 1 part cedar wood, 1 part cinnamon, 1/2 part juniper (wood or berries). Burn safely on self-igniting charcoal in a flame-proof bowl. Use common sense and follow safety precautions. This incense is popularly called "Bast's Breath." To magically invoke Bast's protection upon your cat -Burn sweet incense. Offer the goddess a tiger's eye stone, or a scarab stone, or an ankh, as well as a pinch of catnip. Light a white candle. Close your eyes and visualize the goddess entering your sacred space. With your cat in your lap (or if you have several, then in the same room with you), chant the following: O Bast, I pray thee heed my call,Lady of cats both large and small;I beg you bless my friend(s) so dear,Protect from harm, both far and near.Turn aside all ill intent, all evil with your claws be rent.All discord, turmoil and alarm, be disrupted - do no harm.O Bast, accept my offering, pray,And bless my friend(s) on every day.