Bast is a Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) Goddess.
Bast was considered to be the same Goddess as the Roman Diana. The Greeks believed that Bast and Artemis were the same Goddess. By 930 BCE Bast was acknowledged for thousands of miles. Her image grew tamer to that of a cat.
Great celebrations were head at Bubastis, (house of Bast.) Hundreds of thousands of worshipers came to these celebrations. Followers believed that Bast bestowed mental and physical health in return for these reverent celebrations. Egyptians honoured live cats as part of their worship of Bast. Cats had the important purpose of keeping the rodent population down. However they were also cherished creatures who were often adorned with golden jewelry. When a cat died it was mummified and buried at the vast cat cemetery at Babasitis. In ancient artwork, Bast is typically shown as a beautiful girl with the head of a cat. She is commonly shown with black, white, yellow, or glowing skin. Sometimes She is shown as a light-skinned European girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She is often shown as fully cat. Bastet is the name of Bast when She is in fully cat form. Pasch is recorded in extremely ancient documents as being an older version of Her name. We get the modern English word 'passion' from Pasch.
Bast is the Goddess of the moon and possessor of the Utchat, the Eye of Her twin brother Heru Sa Aset [Horus]. Bast is seen as the Maiden of the Triple Goddess. Bast is the Goddess of : cats, lesbians, the rising sun, enlightenment, truth, bounty and plenty, household and protector of the home, creation, sex, physical pleasures, fertility, birth, music, dance, and the arts.
Bast's holy days include: Monday, Ostara, (The Wiccan holy day Ostara is the Germanic version of Bast. Celebrated on March 21.) The Greek holy day of the Sagittarius Festival, (dedicated to Artemis/Diana, whom the Greeks considered to be the same Goddess as Bast.) The Feast of Sekhmet and Bast: is a holy day dedicated to Sekhmet and Bast. It was an early version of Halloween, celebrated on October 31.
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