Bastet
Bastet, depicted as a lioness or domestic cat, guards households and childbirth while delighting in music and scent. Once a fierce solar guardian, she grew into a patron of joy, perfume, and the protective power of companion animals.
Story beats
- 1) As Bast, she was a lioness linked to Ra’s eye, burning enemies; later, softer cat imagery emphasized domestic protection.
- 2) Cats sacred to Bastet roamed temples; harming them was taboo under threat of divine and legal penalty.
- 3) Festivals in Bubastis drew pilgrims for music, perfume, and Nile revelry in her honor.
- 4) Statues and amulets of cats carried her blessing into homes, guarding mothers and children.
Context & symbolism
Bastet’s shift from lioness to house cat mirrors Egypt’s changing needs—frontier defense to internal well-being. Cats’ vermin control protected grain; divine association elevated everyday companionship to sacred duty.
As an eye of Ra, she retains ferocity toward chaos; as hearth guardian, she channels it into nurturing boundaries.
Motifs
- Cat-headed woman with sistrum (rattle)
- Perfume jars and kohl
- Protective amulets of bronze cats
- Joyful festivals on the Nile
Use it in play
- Guard a Bastet festival barge from saboteurs; music and scent become weapons.
- Recover a stolen cat statue that shields a city from plague.
- Seek Bastet’s blessing for childbirth or safe haven; prove respect for taboos.
- Face an avatar that shifts from purring ally to lioness when angered.