Who Is Bast?
Copyright © 2000, Rev. Stephanie Cass
People say she's crazy
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that's one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of your shoes
"So Who Really Is Bast?"
Without a doubt, the number one question this site generates is this one.
Most of the time it comes accompanied with the statement that I've told
everyone what Bast isn't -- now they want to know what She is.
It's not a struggle for me to present the
historical information on Bast. It is a struggle to explain
why She is my god. In doing so, I am reminded of the so-called "Negative
Confession" that is mentioned in The Book of the Dead. For
those of you unfamiliar with it, it is a list of things one has not
done that is recited in the afterlife in order to attain purity. Perhaps
inadvertantly, perhaps not, this website is written in the style of the
Negative Confession. I tell you what Bast is not. I leave you from there
to decide what She is.
To recap:
She is not the goddess of sex.
She is not the goddess of truth.
She is not the goddess of dawn.
She is not the goddess of lesbians.
She is not the goddess of marijuana or drugs.
She is not the daughter of Aset [G/R: Isis].
She is not the sister of Sekhmet.
She is not just a goddess of cats.
She is not an object of art on a mantelpiece.
For those of you who did not read the
essay and want to know what I mean by all this, please -- go read
it now. All of these subjects are covered in the fourteen pages that precede
this one.
What can I tell you about Bast? I can tell you what I tell anyone about
any form of God -- She loves you. No matter what you do to Her, She is
there. She protects you. She understands.
Netjer is there. Netjer protects you. Netjer understands. Even if you
choose to, you can't really turn your back on God. The idea of picking
a direction to face Netjer in is an illusion from the get-go. Like trying
to find up or down in the vast emptiness of outer space, there is no turning
away from what is everywhere.
So here is my best description, which will no doubt frustrate some of
my readers:
Bast is Bast.
The essay I've written about what She is not has been my attempt
to wipe away some of those predeterminations, to allow the layperson to
know Who She was historically, and the spiritual seeker to know Her beyond
the narrow constraints of modern misconception.
I am not saying Bast does not have a personality. There is a reason She
is my spiritual Parent and not, say, Set or Nit or Ra. But just as I doubtlessly
have a different view on my physical mother and father from that of my
siblings, so also is my relationship with Bast going to differ slightly
from the relationship that others have with Her.
In my experience, Bast reveals Herself. It's not my role to tell you what She is. Ultimately, I make no
decisions for anyone. All decisions come from you and you alone.
If you choose to listen rather than predetermine, I guarantee you that
She will reveal Herself. You just have to be willing to open your heart,
eyes, ears, and hands to the possibility.
Ankh udja seneb (life, prosperity, and health),
S.D. Cass
meryBast ("Whom Bast Loves")
Shemsu-Ankh, House of Netjer
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