Bast, The Cult Of The Cat

The only fully developed cult of the cat existed in Egypt and it lasted for over 3,000 years. No one knows when the cat was first sanctified in Egypt. Bast wasn't associated with Isis until the New Kingdom, about 1600 bc and later. When associated with Isis it came to be recognised as the incarnation of deity, and it was the daughter of Isis and her husband, the sun-god Osiris (Osiris was also a Moon-god) (Isis was also a Sun/Moon/Earth Goddess by then).  The worship of Bast overlapped that of Isis, Hathor, Mut and others depending on the district in Egypt.  Bast had a solar son, Nefer-tum (He is associated with unguents, perfumes, aromatherapy, alchemy, Lotus) by the Sun God Amen-Ra, and Khensu, the Moon God, by Ptah.

Bast or Bastet, was originally a lion headed goddess, associated in powers and attributes with Sekhmet and Tefnut, and as such, Bastet has powers of ferocity and rapacity.  It is her later cat-headed form that Bastet became so immensely popular, although she never ceased to be worshiped as a lion headed goddess. The earliest known portrait of Bastet was found in a temple of the 5th dynasty, a lion-headed goddess who was known a "Bastet, lady of Ankh-taui." One of the earliest forms of her as a cat headed goddess is in a papyrus of the 21st dynasty.

Bast cult centre was at Bubastis, situated east of the Nile delta, and hence, Bast became known as the "Lady of the East" (also because of her association with the sun).

She then, is almost without exception, invoked while facing the East, and is one of the Goddesses of the Four Directions. In the XII dynasty, Middle Kingdom, she had her own temple at Bubastis. In the 22nd dynasty, about 950 bce, she was known as the Lady of Bubastis and became an immense power in Egypt, due to the Pharaohs embracing her as a national goddess.

The temple of Bastet has been vividly described by the historian Heroditus, who travelled in Egypt about 450 bce. It stood in the centre of the city of Bubastis and was virtually on an island, since it was surrounded (except at its entrance) by canals from the Nile, which were a hundred feet wide and overhung with trees. While the houses were gradually raised, the temple remained on its original level so that the whole city commanded a view down into it.

The temple was a building in the form of a square, and was made of red granite. Stone walls carved with figures surrounded the sacred enclosure, which consisted of a grove of very tall trees within which was hidden a shrine. In the centre of the shrine was a statue of Bast. Note: this is the only temple in Egypt known to have had a sacred grove of trees in the centre of it, and a shrine in the centre. There are other sacred groves, some with shrines; but instead of being inside of temples, these are all out in the open.

Cats were found within the sacred temple area and were ritually fed. Temple maidens carried cats or kittens in baskets. April and May were the chief festivals and rituals for Bast. All cats were revered in the Temple of Bast. Of course, Bast is also associated with Lioness, so small cubs and adult lionesses were also sacred to her. Of the principal Egyptian festivals, that of Bast was one of the most popular. Herodotus describes how, in April and May, thousands of men and women set off on the pilgrimage in parties which crowded into numerous boats. The voyage was gay if not positively orgiastic. Men played the flute, women a type of cymbal called crotala, and all joined in singing and hand-clapping. As they passed towns, the boats drew near to the banks and the women shouted bawdy jokes, often flinging their clothes up over their heads. Eventually they arrived at Bubastis, sacrificing many animals, and consuming vast quantities of wine. Cats were portrayed in every conceivable activity, sculptured every material from gold to mud, and in every size from colossal to minute size. A orange brown cat is depicted on tomb walls, and so is a ginger cat, and grey tabbies. During the Bubastite period (XXII dynasty), cat cemeteries became popular, and a huge profusion of cat amulets were being made.

During the entire time of Egypt, household cats were treated with the greatest respect. Many of them were bejewelled, and they were allowed to eat from the same dishes as their owners. Sick cats were tended with solicitude, and stray cats were fed with bread soaked in milk and with fish caught in the Nile and chopped up for them. Cats love basking in patches of sunlight, and Bast was first worshipped as a form of the sun, the source and sustainer of life and light. Some of the Egyptians believed that when the Sun went down, a combat of cosmic proportions took place in the underworld. One of the legends had a persea tree with a cat with a knife leaping on a spotted serpent and cutting off its head. During solar eclipses people would gather in the streets and shake knives and rattle sistrums in an effort to spur on the celestial cat and to terrify the threatening serpent in their struggle beside the Tree of Life. From the cat's identification with the sun arisen the "cat's cradle", a name given to certain string-games. The cats cradle was used to control the movement of the Sun through sympathetic magic.