Animals Divine - 2 The High Priestess - Bast

Ivy Rhiannon

Picture: http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd443/TrinityQueen/2-TheHighPriestess-Bast.jpg

First Impression: My first impression of Bast was one of excitement. I love Egyptian Culture and Mythology. I have a cat, and she being the Feline Goddess I have a special attraction to her. At first I was a bit disappointed they featured her resembling a house cat anthro. I personally see Bast as more of a wild, dark panther type. Sleek, black and supremely graceful. Still I can see why the artist did use this interpretation, as every cat is in touch with their wild side. :D


Description: Bast is standing in front of the night sky that has cat spirits in the leaping through the astral background. She is wearing a robe over her (feline but not so feminine) body. In her left hand a spiral of energy is glowing over a lion head breastplate (didn't recognize what it was at first). She is adorned in jewels, with one gemstone at her third eye.

Gender: Feminine

Colors: Gold, Browns, Teal, Aqua, & other Blues, Grey, White, & Black.

Senses: I can see her intense stare peering into my soul, the exact way a cat would look at you as if she is seeing your bones. A warm energy pulses in her hand. I can hear silence, the kind it takes to listen to the heart and the voice of intuition. I taste the fresh air and can smell hot sand cooling under the stars. I feel her confidence, her majestic presence and the power that flows from her hand.

Symbols: Bast, Jewel at third eye, Lion head breastplate, spiral energy, stars, astral cats.


Story [Intuitive]: The Great Goddess Bast stands before me as I near her majestic presence. She lets out a hushed purr and eyes me with that piercing stare. I do not look away for my soul is naked before her and I have nothing to hide. She blinks long and slow as the corners of her mouth turn into a slight smile. The air doesn't have the courage to shift across the cooling sands. All stands before her in awe and reverence. The open stars call to me, their brilliant light stirring an ancient and indescribable feeling within me that somewhere among them was a place I once called home. The gentle caress of her touch pulls me to the present moment. She strokes my cheek and then with a quick scratch of her nail she opens my third eye. A trickle of blood drips from the wound, a red tear of release. A whisper comes into my mind then, You are ready my child. Go find your heart and follow it well. Listen to its secrets. The mind can trick the tongue into telling lies, but alas the heart cannot. Above her the ancestors leap through the heavens and roar in celebration. They will be my guides on the long journey ahead, and I would serve my Goddess well.

My Experience as the High Priestess: Tarot, Reiki, and life experience has taught me much about intuition. For me the High Priestess isn't about fancy titles and exuberant rituals. Its about being a powerful teacher. A mostly humble and mostly thankless job. You are the giver of wisdom learned. The helper, the servant. I have learned the hard way the more you try to "be" someone the more labels and titles you take on. When you just stop, you are free to "be" yourself. This is the High Priestess to me.


Astrological Reference: The Moon

Cultural Reference: Egyptian culture highly revered cats for their ability to fight vermin and cobras that threatened food supplies. Many were seen as parts of the family and were mourned and mummified beside their owners. Killing a cat was punishable by death. Bast, also called Bastet is a modern adaptation of the Goddess' name. The original meaning has been long forgotten. She was pictured either as a fierce lioness or a woman with the head of a cat. She was the protector of lower Egypt and defender of the pharaoh. She was said to be the married to the Sun God Ra and it earned her the title (the Eye of Ra). One of the most important festivals in Egypt was in honor of Bast. The woman engaged in music, song, and dance. Great sacrifices were made and large amount of alcohol were drank. [source wikipedia]

Elemental Reference: Air because of all the wide open sky and energy she is working with, water because of the moon astrology and veil between the worlds.

Numerology Reference: 2 - Duality, Harmony, Choices, Unity


Keywords: Intuition, Initiation, Guidance, the Unknown, Teacher

Possible Meanings: Using your intuition, Following advice or receiving help from guides or a spiritual teacher, Feminine character who is connected to the divine source.

Reversed: Secrets or mysteries in one's life, Not listening to your inner voice, feeling disconnected from the flow of life and knowledge.

Quote: "Your vision will only become clear when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside: dreams. Who looks inside: awakes." ~ Carl Jung
 

divinegoddess

First Impression: Definitely one of the most interesting High Priestess’ I’ve seen. At first I wasn’t too keen on it, something was off but when I look at it closer, it is a beautiful card!

Symbols*: The seed of knowledge has been planted: the spirals represent the unending quest for wisdom and the continuous season of change and renewal. The gemstone on the forehead us the third eye, gateway to enllightenment. The power of the gemstone imbues us with purity and self-illumination. The ethreal cats in the background are our spiritual guides; the stars are beacons of deeper understanding, illuminating our path as we continue on our journey to new heights of personal awareness.

Description*: The Egyptians revered a cat goddess, Bast, whose livelt precense protected the population from vermin and assured fecundity and health. She was a benevolent deity whose worshipers responded to her kindness with much jubilation. Every year thousands would make the pilgrimage by barge to Busbastis, the center place of her worship. Music, dance, drink, and victuals were plentiful during one of the most popular festivals in ancient Egypt.

As the daughter/wife of the sun god Ra, Bast was the deliverer of the morning sunrays and was also associated with the lunar mysteries of the night. She was known as the “eye of Ra” and protected her father/husband from his enemies. Sometimes she is depicted as a lion-headed goddess. This image draws parallels to the leonine goddess Sekhimet; some think that this earlier Egyptian goddess incarnation represents a feroucious, darker side of Bast. Later representations show Bast as a regal, approachable cat-headed goddess who is adorned with jewels and is carrying a breastplate with a lion head attached to it.

In ancient Egypt, a cat reinforced the well-being of a household and to kill one was punishable by death. So important were the domestic beasts thaat upon a cat’s death, the ffamily would mourn the loss by shaving their eyebrows and having the cat mummified and buried in one of the many cat cemeteries scattered throughout Egypt.

Possible Meanings*: Cats are still one of the most popular animals in the world. Many believe that cat possess certain powers of intuition and their connction with nocturnal activities supports the belief that they are symbols of magic, fertility, and lunar cycles.

Senses: I can’t make it up if the person in the image is woman or a man, maybe they’re androgyn or shapeshifter. In any case, they’re very secretive. I feel as though they know more than they let on. The ball of light with spirals tells me that it has to do with predicting, the lion in the other hand is about strength. It seems as if the person is smiling. The bstarry background with four cat animals behind, represents the ever-changing Universe. I’m not sure what to think of the card as pf yet, whether to trust it or not..it can go either way…


Thoughts/Points to Ponder: What is the person thinking? What are they hiding? Do they know something I should know?