ASSOCIATIONS OF BAST AND
OTHER DEITIES

Another tricky area. The Egyptians were not exactly polytheistic – they believed
in one godly being (to avoid male or female) which they called Netjer. All the
other gods were just different aspects of Netjer. Thus we find Ra associated
with Horus, and Isis with Hathor, because they share some or more similarities.
Now, seeing with whom Bast was often associated may throw more light on her
personality.

As Mut-Bast she is the personification of the moon in Thebes and she is shown
as a woman wearing horns on her head with the solar disk between them. As
Mut-Bast she seems to have been the counterpart of Amen-Ra-Temu-Khepera-
Heru-Khuti. Take a deep breath before trying to pronounce that name!

She was also associated with Sekhmet as a feline/lion goddess and goddess of
solar powers. She was also associated with the cow goddess Hathor, as Hathor
was, like Bast, a daughter of Ra, and she too represents joy, music and dancing
but also, when she wants to, the deadly power of the sun.

This quote is from Michael Poe’s e-text on Egyptian Metaphysics:

"Now as to relationships with Bast/Sekhmet/Mut. Think of fire and
think of sun/moon. Think of opposing sections of the same thing
(burning fire, gentle heat; light of day, dark of night) and you have
some basic differences between Bast/Sekhmet. Have you seen the
National Geographic special on cats: our pets and how they relate to
the big cats. think of the attributes of the big cats and think of
Sekhmet; think of the attributes of the domesticated cats (really, cats
domesticate people) and think of Bast. The shared attributes of Bast
and Sekhmet are the same as the shared attributes of big vs. little cats.
Mut is a maternal cat, big or small. Sekhmet destroys, but she is also a
healer Bast is playful, but also protective When the Christians decided
to kill all the cats in Egypt in the 700's ad, they did so. Two years later,
the Black Death came out of Egypt and devastated Christian Europe.

Was this revenge by Sekhmet and Bast onto the Christian population
for destroying their physical symbols, the little kitties? Or was it
because the amount of cats kept down the rat population enough that
the Black Death (a rat flea borne disease) didn't come out until the
decline of the cats? Or both?"

Also of importance is the unusual mix of male and female deities in the tripartite
figure of Sekhmet-Bast-Ra. However there was never any major public worship
of this figure, and was only used for symbolic reasons in ceremonial magic.

The Pictures from top to bottom are: Hathor, the cow goddess of joy and love,
and Sekhmet, the lion goddess.