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Mau Bast! Mau Bast!
A Basti, per em setat,
erta-na chu em asui neter sentra semu hena net'emmit,
hetep ab em asui tau heqt.
(Hail Bast! Hail Bast!
Hail Bast, coming forth from the secret place,
may there be given to me splendor in the place of incense, herbs, and love-joys, peace of heart in the place of bread
and beer.)
"Amun-Ra sent My people out of the marshes to protect man from the children of Apophis, just as we guard Him on His journey
through the underworld.
Which began our pact with men."
"Pact?"
"Our bargain, our deal to keep men safe from the snakes, and from the rats that carry plague. . . and the scorpions,
and the mice that eat the grain. . .
Cats were not mere pets, like dogs and monkeys. Nor were they livestock, like cattle and fowl. We came at Ra's behest,
but stayed by our own choosing.
We sat in the laps of queens and kings, and we kept them safe from harm.
My people have always kept their end of the bargain.
A pity that men have not been so honorable."
-Bast to Tashenubaste, in The
Sandman presents Bast, issue 2, pg. 17.
The goddess and protector of cats of all types, Bast is often seen as the benevolent counterpart to Sekhmet, the lion
goddess. However, most people have the wrong idea about Bast. A soft and cuddly, cute little happy, fluffy, sex goddess she
is not!
She is the daughter of Ra, the Sun god, and an instrument of His vengenance. Make sure to give proper reverence, lest
She tear your heart out and present it to Ra. She is the wife of Ptah, the Creator-God and mother of Mihos, the lion-headed
God. She killed the evil serpent Apep who tried to keep Ra from rising again to shine the light of day (though in some legends
it was Sekhmet).
Cats are sacred to Bast. Their importance in keeping rats, mice, snakes and other pests away from houses and granaries
elevated them in the daily life of Egyptians. Thanks to their guarding and predatory nature, Bast's worship spread quickly
through Egypt. So much so, that her festival was one of the most important and best-attended in all Egypt, according to Herodotus.
He said of her temple at Bubastis, "Other temples are greater and more costly, but none more pleasing to the eye than this."
(Histories Book II, Chap. 137.) The Greeks associated Her with Artemis, the virgin-goddess of the hunt. Makes sense, doesn't
it?
Blessed be the Lady of the East!
Beloved Bast,
mistress of happiness and bounty, twin of the Sun God,
slay the evil that afflicts our minds as You slew the serpent Apep.
With Your graceful strength anticipate the moves of all who perpetrate cruelties and stay their hands against the children
of light.
Grant us the joy of song and dance, and ever watch over us in the lonely places in which we must walk.
For more on Bast, visit these sites:
Per-Bast
Bastet - Egyptian Cat Goddess
For more on the gods and goddesses, visit
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