*~* About the Goddess Bastet *~*
Bastet"Devouring Lady" (from bas, to devour, with feminine ending)
Bast is first and foremost a protectress; specifically of the royal house and the Two Lands. Later she got the life-preserving goddess of joy and protector of women. However, Bast's original role did not include the "cat as sex symbol" archetype. Worshiped in the Delta city of Bubastis and usually depicted as a cat or in human form with the head of a cat, Bast was seen as a protector of cats and those who cared for them.
The Tearer" is first and foremost a protectress; specifically of the royal house and the Two Lands.
According to Herodotus, Bast was a happy and benign Deity who brought good fortune, music, dance and joy to all. Statues of cats are commonly passed off as facsimiles of Bast, but this is incorrect. The cat was indeed her sacred animal and the people of the time tended to see the Goddess in every cat that walked past, but her original depiction was as a royal lady or priestess with a cat's head. In addition to the symbols already discussed, her other accoutrements were the Aegis, a kind of small protective apron, and a basket often containing kittens. Bast expressed the qualities of the lion or cat family, beauty of movement, agility, strength, caution, fidelity to the pride, etc., all of which could equally be interpreted at the spiritual level.
During the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BC), she became equated with Sekhmet, the lioness deity of war.
Into the Greek period, She would be equated with the virgin huntress Artemis and considered the protectress of children and pregnant mothers, musicians and a goddess of all sorts of excess, especially sexual excess.
Her Signs and SymbolsIn 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.
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.
<-- Sistra
Offerings exclaim Thousands of small cat sculptures, probably left with offerings to the Temple by devotees, have also been recovered at Bubastis.
exclaim Sweet liquids and foodstuffs, mint, catnip, honey, raw meat, perfumes and ointments (especially in the "bas" jars which are a pun on Her name).
exclaim Never offered: cats (The penality for killing a cat was getting killed !)
Short Information on Bastet
exclaim Bast ( Bastet, Bastis, Bubastis, Pacht, Ubast) is a name well-known in the West.
exclaim She was responsible for Joy, Music, and Dancing, also Health and Healing.
exclaim She also protected humans against contagious diseases and evil spirits.
exclaim Her cult can be traced back to about 3200 BC, and she became a national deity when Bubastis became the capital of Egypt in about 950 BC.
exclaim Her origin is said to be in this city Bubastis, although her association with the lion-goddess Sekhmet makes it likely that her cult was also celebrated at Memphis.
exclaim Temple honoring Bast were found at Bubastis, Memphis-Sakkara and Dendera.
exclaim Cats, as manifestations of Deity, were sacred; they protected the grain from mice and rats.
exclaim Killing a cat was punished with death.
exclaim Bast is the daughter of Ra, the God of the Sun.
By AmanraEmeraldoak 
