Anyone familiar with Bast?

[pompoennetje]

I want to work with Bast some time. But I'm a bit unfamiliar with her. I do know all of her stories, what her colors are, plants/scents/stones, etcetera.

But what is appropriate to do when "calling" her, appropriate offerings? Ideas anyone?  

[Morgandria]

Dianda Panda

I want to work with Bast some time. But I'm a bit unfamiliar with her. I do know all of her stories, what her colors are, plants/scents/stones, etcetera.

But what is appropriate to do when "calling" her, appropriate offerings? Ideas anyone?

Invite them to tea, essentially. I like to tell people to make themselves a space: candles, incense, tea and cookies - whatever floats your boat and makes a space comfortable and welcome. It's going to be a space for making welcome and having conversation, so it should be some place you'd be glad to receive guests. Since you're looking to contact a specific deity, make the space fit for them: use what you know about Bast's preferences for colours and offerings to your advantage.

And then - just say hi. Introduce yourself. Be polite, and let the deity know why you're paying them a social call. Don't jump into any sort of work during first contact. (It's sort of like knocking on a stranger's door randomly and asking them to fix something for you, or co-sign your morgage - rude, kinda weird, and maybe inappropriate.) Do make sure you are observant for signs around you and try to keep your awareness open. Don't expect too much from this initial chat - your results may not be instantaneous, and you will likely need to be observant for a period of time afterwards. It is only an introduction, after all, and it can take time to get a handle on the Gods, and vice versa.  

[iKillCaustic]

X-Yami-no-Ko-X

I think your expertise is needed here Yami. smile  

[pompoennetje]

Morgandria

Well, I want to try and work with Bast for a spell or something for both my cats. We might be leaving for a vacation again in a few months. And the last time we sent them to a boarding cattery things didn't go well. We're not going to send them to a cattery again -- but another option, but to know that my cats are sort of protected from harm makes me feel at least much better.

Thing is, I never worked with Bast before -- not like this. I never worked with a deity before.

I tried to meditate this morning, while focusing on Bast. Or thinking of Bast. I have no idea if I did it right (or wrong). All I know is the moment I thought about her, my cat came walking in and joined me. lol

Neither did I know that jumping in some sort of contact for magical stuff was considered 'rude'. Maybe Bast and I need to start things over again. emotion_c8  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

In my experience and talking with others who have a relationship with her, Bast is... well I don't really want to say she's persnickety. cat_confused My brain is definitely not up yet. cat_sweatdrop But she is very choosy about answering.

I do agree with Morg that introducing yourself to any deity first is pretty much a must. I half did that with Bast myself. I had immediately started asking for stuff from Bast when I first tried to talk to her. She ignored it. Later Djehuty basically told me "Go introduce yourself to Set. And don't do what you tried with Bast. He won't ignore you like she did."

Have you ever run across Per Bast?

Dianda Panda

what her colors are, plants/scents/stones, etcetera.

And if you don't mind, would you be willing to post these and where you found them?  

[pompoennetje]

X-Yami-no-Ko-X

In my experience and talking with others who have a relationship with her, Bast is... well I don't really want to say she's persnickety. cat_confused My brain is definitely not up yet. cat_sweatdrop But she is very choosy about answering.

I do agree with Morg that introducing yourself to any deity first is pretty much a must. I half did that with Bast myself. I had immediately started asking for stuff from Bast when I first tried to talk to her. She ignored it. Later Djehuty basically told me "Go introduce yourself to Set. And don't do what you tried with Bast. He won't ignore you like she did."

Have you ever run across Per Bast?

Dianda Panda

what her colors are, plants/scents/stones, etcetera.

And if you don't mind, would you be willing to post these and where you found them?

here
I'm just not sure tho, Some say she's related to the sun, some say the moon, some say both. I don't know. That's the only website I saved. Others were Dutch, I doubt you can read that. And some information I found on tumblr.

Hm, another deity I could possibly use for this purpose?

Other than that, I feel awfully awkward and uncomfortable using deities, but I just want to give it a try. sweatdrop  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Dianda Panda

here

I'm kinda iffy about that page. They don't really talk much about her being an Eye of Ra. They mention she was Ra's daughter but don't specifically mention what the title Eye of Ra meant. Yes the title was given to the daughter of Ra but it also meant that that goddess was a powerful warrior. They seem to focus mostly on her being a cat goddess. Which there is a little bit of discussion in some corners if its really appropriate to call her a cat goddess because that would be like saying Sekhmet is a goddess of lions.

There's also the comment about her being associated with lesbians. That'd be like saying Set's the god of gays. Which LGBT is a whole different animal of a topic within the Kemetic/Egyptian Pagan community. Some groups say they were completely against LGBT which I think really stems from the very early translations of hieroglyphics which were drowning in Christian influence. And other groups say that they didn't see it as anything different because of how Atum made Shu and Tefnut and the contest between Set and Heru.

They briefly mention her being one of the oldest deities but don't ever touch on her other forms (beside being a cat). Her earliest depiction is a women with a lion head. I don't remember exactly when it changed. But I do know that there is also debate over if her more well known images are actually domestic cats as we think of them now or if they were of a smaller wild cat (I really need to find where I found this again).

As for the symbols section Sandalwood is the only one on the list I've seen as offered to Bast. But I think it was Sandalwood was a staple offering (checked my one source for that and it was incense in general along with the beer that was also listed). Personally I would wait before trying anything on that list. But I take this from a Recon point of view. With your cats around I would probably suggest water to begin with. People would also suggest onion but there's debate over that one as well.

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I'm just not sure tho, Some say she's related to the sun, some say the moon, some say both. I don't know.

Per Bast goes over that a bit here in the second paragraph. The solar comes from her having the title of Eye of Ra. The lunar purely came from her association with Artemis.

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That's the only website I saved. Others were Dutch, I doubt you can read that.

Not really cat_whee And I wouldn't really trust Google Translate.

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And some information I found on tumblr.

Tumblr can be iffy depending on the sources people are pulling from and a lot of it is probably UPG if its likes and dislikes.

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Hm, another deity I could possibly use for this purpose?

Who? Set?

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Other than that, I feel awfully awkward and uncomfortable using deities, but I just want to give it a try. sweatdrop

If you feel that way you can always wait and perform the magic without calling on Bast. Maybe wait to try to contact Bast after working the protection spell for your cats so that won't be on your mind and get in the way if/when you do try to introduce yourself to Bast.
One thing to keep in mind though is, the first meeting might seem scarier than it actually will be. I'm not saying that if something happens a deity won't hold back but if you're polite about your introduction you might find that you won't have anything to worry about. I was scared of ever having to meet Sekhmet because a lot of what you'll first read of her is how fierce she is and all I had ever read of her mythos at the time was that she nearly killed humanity. But when I got really sick I was shown her protective side and that she wasn't as scary as I thought she was.  

[Morgandria]

Dianda Panda

Hm, another deity I could possibly use for this purpose?

Other than that, I feel awfully awkward and uncomfortable using deities, but I just want to give it a try. sweatdrop

What you're looking to do here is invoke Bast's aid in your spell - all you can do is petition her and ask she participates. She's not an ingredient and you can't just add her to the spell whether she likes it or not. When you ask a deity to aid a magical working, it's a toss of the dice.

Sometimes you can ask deities or spirits you don't know well to do something, and they might, simply because you are asking their aid or favour in a matter over which they have a vocation - essentially, it's their job to help you. In such cases you can return to those deities again and again on the same matters, and they will continue to help.

But other times we might be making more personal pleas or asking for aid on matters that aren't in their direct purview, and they may be more fickle about such requests. In essence, if it's not the deity's job to aid your request, they respond on a more personal level - and no different from people, They love some people, and want nothing to do with others. Sometimes we clash personality-wise. Other times, we may be sufficiently foreign or offensive enough to the deity's sensibilities that they just don't want to associate with us.

It's also possible to develop working relationships with deities that never go beyond that level. Like we have professional relationships with people in all sorts of jobs, we may be able to create and produce and get things done with some gods but not develop a deeper rapport. It's possible to be associates with gods, and it shouldn't be a worry to you if that doesn't go farther into friendship, or patronage.

'Using' is not a term that should ever be applied to deities. It's very disrespectful. You are working with them, honouring them, invoking them, or seeking their aid - you should never approach them as if they are a device to plug into a spell or working, to get a specific effect from.

A lot of the initial parts of meeting the Gods, and developing working relationships, will be about learning and reading and adjusting our mindset and outlook to be both receptive to them, and to petition and project to them in a way they approve of.

If you have worked with Bast in the past and she has not been negative in response, you don't have to stop. But at the same time it's definitely worth taking the time to take what is maybe a step backwards, and just get to know her a little more.

Whether or not you can alter a spell to invoke different deities depends largely on how it's built. It comes down to whether you're working your will, or asking the Gods to work their will on your behalf, to the desired effect.

If it is primarily a spell working from your own self- you are raising the energy, and sending our your will and intent in whatever vehicle you choose - a charm, a sigil, a candle spell, whatever works - then it might be possible just to change a few elements inside the spell to better suit the deity you plan to work with and it won't negatively effect the working of your will. You could also leave the spell slightly open - ask the aid of any deity (or deities) who would work on your behalf. If you do so, however, you should also include some kind of phrasing that it be for the good of all involved, and only those who have positive intent. You do want to maintain some kind of filter - there's all kinds of way that s**t gets started, otherwise.

If you do leave the spell open to whomever would work on your behalf in a positive way, and it is successful, you will have to be attentive for signs or signals that would communicate to you who has done so. Then you can properly thank them at a later time.

If the spell is primarily based on prayer and petition - as in you set up the spell more like a temporary shrine and are making offerings and then asking the deity involved to work on your behalf for the desired effect - then you will have to do the same homework for that deity as you would with Bast, and make introductions. You can expect the same sort of thing I described above - results will vary based on things like whether or not it's within the scope of the deity's vocation, how much you're asking from them, whether or not your offering is appropriate and is enough to allow the deity to work on your behalf, and whether or not that particular god wants to associate with you.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Here's some personal experience: Once my cat was injured quite badly, and I asked Bast for Her help. She was put out, because I didn't really know Her, hadn't made any effort or promised any offerings in return.

In future I would ask Freyja, because I have put effort towards forming a relationship with Her. But I wouldn't recommend going to Her with no prior relationship either.

Bast seems like a goddess Who needs a lot of "upkeep" relationship-wise, but Who could be very kind and generous once you get to know Her. UPG based on my very minor experience.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Sanguina Cruenta

Bast seems like a goddess Who needs a lot of "upkeep" relationship-wise, but Who could be very kind and generous once you get to know Her. UPG based on my very minor experience.

Not trying to discredit your experience, just giving my view. There's a conversation in KIN and I think it had gotten posted there after being brought up in the KO about deities that used to be majorly popular in AE aren't now (like Bes, Tutu, etc) and how nowadays its mainly Bast, Anpu, Set, etc. And part of the conversation fell down to they're usually the ones bringing people to Kemeticism. So maybe its partly that she's busy? But I really don't have much more to go on. I've only spoken to one Kemetic from the KO that was divined at a daughter of Bast and let's just say that I would prefer not to speak with her unless I have to. And on the other side of that "children" (using loosely because only one was divined by the KO the rest mostly try not to bother with the KO) of Anpu seem to always warn "If you take Anpu shopping put a spending limit!!!11!! And don't take him to video game stores!!!111!!one!!"

I don't know. Tell me if it makes sense. I really need to stop posting while I'm waking up.  

[Zabora Lionheart]

I think this topic has pretty much been covered I just wanted to add that some believe Bast is a twin of Sekhmet one belonging to lower Egypt and one to upper. Im not saying sub one for the other but some of their traits are similar. I would deffinetly introduce yourself to each God/dess before demanding things of them.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Zabora Lionheart

I think this topic has pretty much been covered I just wanted to add that some believe Bast is a twin of Sekhmet one belonging to lower Egypt and one to upper. Im not saying sub one for the other but some of their traits are similar. I would deffinetly introduce yourself to each God/dess before demanding things of them.

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That said, Bast and Sekhmet were paired, but not as foils. The main place of Bast's worship was in Lower Egypt, while Sekhmet (as a form of Het-hert) was a Southern god. Just as Nekhbet and Wadjet are paired (Nekhbet being the vulture and Wadjet the royal cobra) as the Two Ladies, so Bast and Sekhmet are paired, one representing Lower Egypt (Bast) and the other representing Upper Egypt (Sekhmet). This is traditionally a "She of the North and She of the South" representation, and not necessarily a "She of the Content and She of the Really Ticked Off" kind.

Testimonies to Bast's protective nature can be found in the dozens of war shields with Her device on them that have been unearthed in excavations. However, at no time in the history of Kemetic religion were Sekhmet and Bast associated in a "sister-sister", "mother-daughter", "aunt-niece" or "big bad lioness/nice kitty" context. The phrase, "She rages as Sekhmet, She is pacified as Bast." is a fairly late one (150 BCE [13]), and in specifying "Kemetic religion", one is implying the state of the theology previous to the Third Intermediate/Late Period.

Sisters in ancient Egyptian theology did exist, but were extremely important and rare occurences, and Bast and Sekhmet in particular are simply not mentioned in this sort of relationship. Aset [GR: Isis] and Nebt-het [GR: Nephthys], Who are sisters, share a distinctive relationship that carries through into Their iconography and depictions. Rarely do you see one without the other in funerary scenes, and there are numerous paired statues of the two, as well as extant mythology relating Them as born of the same parents.

The same is not true in antiquity with Bast and Sekhmet, aside from references of Ra as Their father -- a designation that rings true at one time or another for nearly every ancient Egyptian goddess.

Per Bast on Bast and Sekhmet

What a lot of people don't realize about Egyptian mythology is there ends up being a lot of mixing and over lap. And that's because it wasn't one huge unified religion all across the country.  

[Zabora Lionheart]

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What a lot of people don't realize about Egyptian mythology is there ends up being a lot of mixing and over lap. And that's because it wasn't one huge unified religion all across the country.

Completely true and even then different generations wotshiped dfferent gods in the same area. I think I should have said mirror instead of twin.  

[X-Yami-no-Ko-X]

Zabora Lionheart

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What a lot of people don't realize about Egyptian mythology is there ends up being a lot of mixing and over lap. And that's because it wasn't one huge unified religion all across the country.

Completely true and even then different generations wotshiped dfferent gods in the same area. I think I should have said mirror instead of twin.

I don't even think I would call them mirrors of each other. They still have different mythology. Its kinda like the situation with Anpu and Wepwawet. People will say they're one in the same because their mythology is similar.  

[Zabora Lionheart]

X-Yami-no-Ko-X

Zabora Lionheart

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What a lot of people don't realize about Egyptian mythology is there ends up being a lot of mixing and over lap. And that's because it wasn't one huge unified religion all across the country.

Completely true and even then different generations wotshiped dfferent gods in the same area. I think I should have said mirror instead of twin.

I don't even think I would call them mirrors of each other. They still have different mythology. Its kinda like the situation with Anpu and Wepwawet. People will say they're one in the same because their mythology is similar.

Oh im not talking about their mythology but their attrabutes. Like both being feirce protectors and Goddesses of the sun. Im kinda new to the Egyptian pantheon I just ordered the book of the dead and a book on their mythology. I know they arnt totaly the same but they do have overlapping attrabutes. This my well be because like you said it is not a unified religion even after upper and lower egypt merged. Each brought their own gods with them and suddonly Hathor has been obsorbed by Isis and Ra has merged with Osirus and Ptah.