Bastet

*Mistress of the Oracle; Great Conjuress of the Casket*

**Pantheon**: Egyptian

**Title**: Goddess of Cats

## Information

Bastet, great cat goddess, has dominion over sex, fertility, marriage, magic, music, childbirth, prosperity, joy, dance, and healing—in short, the pleasures of life. She protects humans against infertility, dangers of childbirth, evil spirits, illness, and bodily injuries, especially those caused by venomous creatures. A tomb inscription says Bastet bestows “life, prosperity and health every day and long life and beautiful old age.”
Bastet offers special protection to women and children and serves as matron of mages and healers. Her cult began in the Nile Delta swamps. The earliest known portrait of Bastet dates to circa 3,000 BCE. By about 950 BCE, she was worshipped throughout Egypt. For a while, she was the most popular goddess in the kingdom. Her veneration reached its zenith during the reign of Osorkon II (874–853 BCE), when a major temple was erected at her cult city, Bubastis. Devotion to Bastet officially survived until 30 BCE and the Roman conquest, the Romans having little sympathy for animal-shaped gods.

Her annual festival in Bubastis was Egypt’s most popular. A precursor of modern Mardi Gras, it was renowned for parties, revelry, and drunkenness. Herodotus, the Greek traveller and historian writing in the fifth century BCE, claimed that more wine was consumed in Egypt during this festival than during the entire rest of the year. Although many details are lost, Bastet’s festival celebrated female sexuality and generative power. Boats sailed up the Nile toward Bubastis. As each barge approached towns and settlements, it would halt and the mainly female celebrants on board would loudly hail local women congregating on the riverbanks. They would shout sexual obscenities to each other, dance wildly, and perform anasuromai, the ritual act of lifting up the skirts to expose the vulva, associated with laughter, healing, and defiance of grief.

Bastet may be the wife and/or daughter of Ra, the sun. Among the spirits described as her sons are Maahes, Khonsu, and Nefertem.

**Iconography:** She is depicted as a cat, often bejewelled, or as a woman with a cat’s head, sometimes surrounded by kittens and fashionably dressed in a green or blue dress.

**Attributes:** Basket and ankh (symbol of life)

**Planets:** Sun and moon

**Colour:** Green

**Animal:** Domestic cats are her servants and sacred animals.

**Offerings:** Her name may be related to a word meaning “perfume.” Ancient Egyptian perfume was typically in the form of a salve. Offer her precious cream perfumes or offerings that benefit her sacred animal, cats.

**See Also:** Baubo; Khonsu; Nefertem; Sekhmet

## Smite Lore

Revelling in the joys of life, Bastet, daughter of Ra, is the sensual embodiment of her feline form. This cat, however, has the fiercest claws.

Cats are creatures that demand worship. They are regal, nonchalant, and insatiable. Though, as much as they languish in the sun and rumble with purrs of pleasure, cats are agile and deadly hunters. Mercilessly, they cull the populations of invasive vermin and stinging scorpions, protecting the home from vile invaders. Perhaps, the most troublesome enemy of the cat is the serpent, and there was no greater snake in the world than the horrendous Apep.

Circling the world along the horizon line, Apep's scaly girth waited in ambush each morning for Ra to rise and bring light to the world. To fend off this beast, Ra kept the company of his daughter, Bastet. Since time began, as Ra lifted into the Eastern sky, Bastet would spit and howl, claws bared against the treacherous Apep. Countless battles were fought, countless mornings faced uncertainty, until, at last, Bastet tore the foul serpent apart.

With her greatest enemy gone, Bastet is free to prowl as she pleases. Now, she is the guardian of home and hearth, idol to women - especially those desiring children and exploring their sensuality - and patron of arts, wine, and any occasion of revelry. Like any cat, though, Bastet can still pounce without warning, shredding her enemies once her claws come out.

## Appearances in Modern Media

From SmiteFrom Age of MythologyFrom Blood BrothersFrom Rage of BahamutFrom puzzle & DragonFrom Age of IshtariaFrom Kamihime ProjectFrom Monster StrikeFrom Tower of SaviorsFrom unison LeagueFrom Dawn of GodsFrom Force of WillFrom Shin Megami TenseiFrom Dislyte
## Information Source

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes