Bast

Bast came calling to me in an odd but somewhat predictable way. Back in the late fall of 2008 my now ex husband kept seeing a small black cat on the porch. After two weeks I thought he was making the whole thing up until I came home from work at 1 am (I worked the night shift) on the night of the first snow a little black cat followed me into the house. I promptly called for my ex to get out of bed, come downstairs and unceremoniously throw "his friend" out. Over the next few weeks the little black cat became my friend. She kept leaving me presents on the porch and she came when I called for her. After some deliberation, a search for her former owners and a trip to the vet, and begging on my part, I finally brought her into my home. I noticed that this little cat whom I called Thorne really liked hanging around while I did ritual and she really thought my altar was the place to hang out. I should have known then there was maybe a reason that a black cat would choose the only witch in town as her new "owner" (lets be for real here...she owns me and she knows it!).

My marriage fell a part and we discovered that I have severe endometriosis. These two things are pretty bad news when all I really wanted was to have a baby. Some people have lofty career goals, I just want to be someone's mom. It was really then, in honor of my cat that I started working with the Egyptian goddess Bast.

I'm sure someone who is ascribes to Kemeticism, or even an Egyptologist could tell you more about Bast and her history that I could. I only know what I have learned through my own research and through what my working relationship with her has been.

Bast originally (maybe 5 millenia ago) had the head of a lion and was much more fierce. Over time she came to have the head of a desert or domestic cat and became more soft. This is perhaps more due to goddesses melding. In Lower Egypt she was associated with the delta and fertility. That association at least is somewhat understandable. These things are often lesser known qualities of Bast, these are her qualities that  speak to me the most. I find Bast in her own extremes.

I have worked with Bast for about five years, in the laid back way I pay tribute to deity. I light a candle in her honor, sometimes I burn incense, mostly though, I take care of my own cat. All cats are sacred to Bast. Perhaps Bast has returned the favor. My fears over my own doomed fertility are eased. Thorne and I (and her doggy brother Tank) have started over. I am in a serious committed relationship and found out that my endometriosis did not cause me to be infertile as far as anyone can tell.