Over those many thousands of years, Bast's characteristics and attributes developed, until the time arrived for them to drastically begin to change. Since approximately 1,000 B.C.E., Bast was, and still is to this very day, the Goddess of Cats and those who care for cats. She has also been known as the Goddess of Truth, Wisdom and Enlightenment, and the Goddess of Bountiful Positive Energy, as well as the Goddess of many of the creative abilities, such as music, dance, writing and the arts. Bast also holds, with great happiness and pride, the title “The Goddess of Pleasure.” This has been the everlasting definition of Bast, which has continued to stand strong throughout modern times.
Throughout those many years, Bast was also known as the Goddess of Civilization, Creation and Re-Generation, the Goddess of Sex, Fertility and Birth, the Goddess of Children and Pregnant Mothers, and thus the Goddess of Life, Family and the Home. It was during that period, as well, that Bast epitomized the enduring and positive aspects of Egyptian life.
In her earlier years, Bast had many aggressive and warlike characteristics that eventually merged into, and then split with, the qualities of her powerful, lion-headed, twin sister, Sekhmet. Sekhmet eventually took over many of the titles and duties which had previously been held by, or shared with Bast, such as the Defender and Protectress of the Egyptian people, the Royal Family and the Two Lands.
In approximately 1,000 B.C.E., Bast was still a Protectress of Lower Egypt where her City, and her temple of worship, Bubastis, was built. Sekhmet's rule as a Protectress, however, grew even stronger, and it was then that she took on the role of the Protectress and Defender of Lower Egypt, as well as the dry, hot, and scorching desert of Upper Egypt. Until that time, Sekhmet and Bast had always personified the duality of the archetypal Goddesses of the Sunrise and the Sunset. It was then that the Goddess Bast, who had been the fierce wildcat, protectress and Sun Goddess changed into the more domesticated Bast, and she took on her new role as a Goddess of the Moon.
In looking at Bast's family relationships, one must realize that the Egyptian deities, who were known as Netjer, often married their brothers, sisters and even their mothers and fathers, and Egyptian family ties can appear to be quite unusual to people in modern times.
During a variety of different periods in time, Bast was known as the Daughter of Mut and Amun, the Daughter of Osiris and Isis, and the twin sister of Horus, the Daughter of Ra, and the sister of Thoth, Seshat, Het-Heret, (Hathor), and Ma'at, as well as the twin sister of Sekhmet.
She is also believed to have been the wife of Ptah (although there are stories which claim that Sekhmet was also married to, or was the consort of Ptah), the Wife of Ra, and Wife of Horus, as well as the Mother of Khensu and Maahes, and of the lion-god Mihos.
Over those many thousands of years, Bast had been associated with both the Sun and the Moon. In the earlier years, she was known as the Goddess of the Rising Sun, The Eye of the Sun, The Eye of the Flame, and The Eye of Ra.
As a Sun Goddess, Bast personified warmth, light and purification, through the life giving powers of the sun. Then, as things slowely began to change, Bast, the Sun Goddess, slowely evolved into Bast, the Moon Goddess; and she eventually took on the title, “The Eye of the Moon.” Because of that change, some people believed that Bast might be related to Neith, the Goddess of the Night.
At one point in time, the Romans believed that Bast was an aspect of their Goddess Diana, the Maiden in their Triple Goddess trinity, with Selena as the Mother and Hecate as the Crone. The Greeks also laid claim to Bast, believing that she and their Goddess Artemis, who was so strongly associated with the Moon, were one and the same. In actuality, Diana and Artemis were both so similar to each other that they were often represented as one and the same Goddess, although in slightly different aspects, each was allowed to portray a few separate and distinct characteristics of her own.
Bast was usually depicted having the body of a woman and the head of a cat. She frequently appeared, either holding an amulet of the all-seeing sacred eye, known as the utchat, which was believed to have magical powers, or the sacred rattle, which was known as the sistrum.
Like most Goddesses, Bast was able to change her form, or shape-shift. She was known as Bastet, when she was in her fully feline form, although there is no evidence whatsoever, that she even once chose to appear in a fully human form. That is food for thought.
There have been those who wished to speculate, by claiming that the name Bast had been taken from the name "Pasch," which was a name that was recorded in some extremely ancient documents. Others, however, have gone even further, claiming that the modern English word "passion," is derived from the word "Pasch,” and thereby from the Goddess Bast herself. Unfortunately, no evidence exists to either affirm or deny those allegations.
Bast has also been recognized as representing that part of the Divine Feminine which is known as the anima, with all the intuition and creative aspects associated with that archetypal personality. As the anima, or earth mother, Bast takes on the very act of creation itself, and it is for that reason that the rise in the importance of Per Bast, which means the temple, household or domain of Bast, has become a religious and sociological phenomena, and which might just be, the beginning, of mankind's true spiritual awakening.
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to the best of my knowledge,
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