(One Person’s View) Who Is Bastet? Complete Guide to the Egyptian Cat Goddess

Bastet/Bast

Lion and cat and woman, goddess of war and fertility—the Egyptian goddess Bast (also known as Bastet) contains multitudes. While she’s not the only cat goddess from ancient history, Bastet is probably the most famous cat goddess today. She has a strong presence in pop culture and a select few even still worship her!

In this complete guide to Bastet, we’ll go over exactly what makes this Egyptian cat goddess so compelling. We’ll describe her attributes, how she was depicted in ancient Egypt, her major relationships, how she was worshipped, her major myths, and the history of her worship. We’ll close out with where you might encounter Bast, goddess of cats, today.

Who Is Bastet? What Are Her Attributes?

The goddess we most frequently call “Bastet” today was known as both “Bast” and “Bastet” in ancient Egypt.

“Bast” was her earlier name. It possibly meant either “Soul of Auset” (Auset being an alternative name for “Isis,” who is sometimes considered her mother), or “devouring lady.”

Later, priests called her “Bastet” to indicate that the “t” in her name should be pronounced. “Bastet” shares one of the same hieroglyphs for the bas jar, which held perfumes and ointments. So “Bastet” also meant “she of the ointment jar.”

Bast was originally a lioness goddess, but as time went on, she was more closely associated with the housecat. The cat was her totem animal.

As one of the main goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon, Bastet had a huge number of attributes and aspects:

• She was a goddess of cats, the sun, of the East, of fire, of love, intoxication, music and dancing, joy, celebration, fertility, secrets, magic, and sex.
• However, she was also a goddess of war known for her wrathful vengeance.
• She protected households and individuals from disease and evil spirits, guarded pregnant women, and protected cats.
• She served as the divine nurse and mother of the Pharaoh.
• Due to Bastet meaning “she of the ointment jar” she also became known also as a goddess of perfume, and was called the “perfumed protector.”
• Bast/Bastet was the protector and guardian of Lower Egypt.
• She was the patron goddess of fire fighters, because the Egyptians believed that a cat running through a building on fire would draw the flames out.
• She was also one of the goddesses who was known as the “eye of Ra” or the “eye of Atum,” the sun. In this aspect she symbolized Ra’s feminine counterpart and was sent out to take vengeance on his enemies. The “eye of Ra” was both a part of Ra and a separate being from him, and was considered his mother, sister, wife, and daughter simultaneously. She had life-giving, protective and also destructive capacities.

Depictions of Bastet: Her Symbols and Totems

Bast was first depicted primarily as a lioness, then later as a cat or cat-headed woman. In her aspect as a cat-headed woman she frequently holds a sistrum decorated with cats and Click here to read the rest of this article