Bast

BAST (Alt. Spellings: Bastet, Ubasti - Greek/Roman: Bubastis) "She who devours" or "Devouring Lady" Possibly also “She of the bas-jar” a bas-jar being a heavy perfume or ointment jar.

A frequent spelling of Bast is Bastet, however, the ending "ET" is silent, so Her name should always pronounced Bast. "T" is a feminine ending in the ancient Egyptian language. At a point in Egypt's history, the "T" ending was becoming silent on many words, so an additional ending was put onto Bast's name, making it Bastet, to show that the original T needed to be pronounced.

"Bast guards the Two Lands. He who worships Her is sheltered by Her strong arms."

Bast is a goddess of protection, especially so of Egypt and its ruling house. She was associated mostly with lower Egypt. Since She was a protector of the king on earth, so She also became a protector of the king of the Gods - Ra. As such, She was one of several solar Goddesses given the title "The Eye of Ra."

Bast did not become associated with the moon until Greek times, since the Greeks associated Her with their Artemis. It was also during this time that much of her association with sexuality occurred, as well as becoming a daughter of Wesir(Osiris) and Aset(Isis). None of this was part of Her Egyptian form.

In addition, the idea that She is a goddess of marijuana and lesbians is very modern, and as far as I have been able to tell was made up by a few folks who scam people for money online... Luckily, these misconceptions seem have faded recently.

Because of Her name Bast is also associated with perfume and ointment jars. Bas being a type of heavy jar, which often held expensive perfumes, oils, and ointments.

It was partly due to this gentle association that the image of Bast became that of a domestic cat, rather than the lion or wild cat of earlier times. In this form, She is regarded as a patron of cats. A large number of cats were mummified and buried at her central temple. Some say these cats were killed as offerings, but it is also likely that these were the pets of local people, or even of cats who lived and died in the temple, instead. Cats were very important in Egypt, due to their ability to kill mice, as well as dangerous animals such as snakes.

Bast is often shown with kittens around Her, and as such as thought of as a goddess of fertility and a protector of children.

Bast is the mother of Maahes, and wife to Ptah. She is the daughter of Ra. Bast is also sometimes said to be the wife of Yinepu (Anubis), and the mother of Nefertem.

Bast is often associated with many other Goddesses, such as Het-heret (Hathor), Sehkmet, Mut, and Tefnut.
There is often confusion about Bast's connection with Sekhmet, since they are similar protective goddesses, with lion heads. Bast is not the gentle side of Sekhmet - it is Het-heret who becomes Sekhmet in myth.

Bast is shown either as a female with a feline head, or as fully feline. She is sometimes shown wearing a sun-disk upon Her head in her partly human form.

In later times She is occasionally shown holding a sistrum, as well as a lion mask. The lion mask perhaps hinting at Her wilder beginnings. It is sometimes thought that it may also represent the fierce protection laying under a more docile exterior.

Classical offerings to Bast include sweet food and drink (such as honey), cold water, red wine, onions, mint, perfumes, ointments, copper, meats, and cat figurines. Modern worshipers also often add things like chocolate, limes and other citrus, cinnamon, plum wine, perfume bottles, knives/swords, and stained glass items.