When I was a kid – we’re talking seven or eight years old here – I got really into a computer game called Age of Mythology. You probably know about Age of Empires – this game was a spin-off of it and it remains one of my favorite Real-Time Strategy games to this day. Instead of focusing on European imperialism, it focused on what I (jokingly) call the “Big Three” of paganism: the Norse, the Greeks, and (you guessed it!) the Egyptians.
I’ve always had a fondness for cats. We don’t know where it came from. I was cuddly with the bulldog and romped about on all fours beside him, joining him to drink from water puddles. The cat was vicious, and, even though I just wanted to pet her, would often attack him when I got too close. We moved away from this house of a Dog and a Cat to live with my aunt, who at the time had two huge mutts, and no cats. All things considered, I should have been a dog person, but I paraded around school on all fours with my friends and (with the brief exception of a point when I was a Wolf) declared myself a cat.
You can imagine my excitement when I saw Bast in Age of Mythology, then.
I don’t remember her looking so warriorly! But it all makes sense now.
Part-human, part-cat, all AWESOME! I scampered about with Her on my mind nearly as much as Jesus Christ, and prayed to Her at least half as often.Even then, I was developing in my head my own theology – one in which God takes multiple forms so that everyone can experience its love. That. Sounds. Familiar.
So, even when I felt desperately alienated by my religion-at-the-time, I had Bast. She loved me and kept me whole and never failed to offer me advice. Naturally, when I decided to take up Wicca, I chose Her to be my matron. And even when Wicca didn’t work out for me, She stayed at the forefront of my thoughts and prayers. It was researching Her that lead me to the House, a trait that she and Yinepu (or, in the Greek, Anubis) apparently tend to share. My devotion to Her lead to my first big issue within the House when I became a beginner.
Beginners are asked to contemplate God as a whole (Netjer) rather than its individual names. I clung to Her, I loved Her, I didn’t want to let Her go, but She convinced me to try this. She also reminded me of something She had been telling me for a while – that I wasn’t a child anymore and that when She came back, things were going to be a LOT more serious.
Cue Bast-Mut? Possibly. I don’t really know. It’s a new development (as in, five days ago New). I had a Fedw reading done by Tuwer, in the name of her Mom, Bast-Mut. I could have asked Wasi to read for Aset, but somehow, asking Bast-Mut felt fight. And now I feel like I ought to be spending time with Her in this new form, this Bast who is Warrior but also Queen, this new twist and understanding on a goddess I thought I had mapped out. I don’t really know Mut at all, let alone Her combined with Bast to create a SHINY NEW THING. If any Bast-Mutlings happen to see this post and want to leave a comment about Her, please do. In the mean time, I’m starting a new adventure appreciating the coming together of old and new, and learning how to make better choices.
Senebty!
Words of a Fledgling Kemetic 
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