{"id":3311,"date":"2010-03-01T01:10:05","date_gmt":"2010-03-01T06:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2010-03-01T12:40:22","modified_gmt":"2010-03-01T17:40:22","slug":"myths-and-legends-journeys-through-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/03\/01\/myths-and-legends-journeys-through-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"black-cat\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mysterious, intelligent, independent, needy, curious, adorable, cunning and whimsical. These are<\/p>\n

a few of many adjectives used to describe an animal. Particularly an animal that thousands<\/p>\n

millions even, own or are owned by worldwide. That animal is the closely watched and<\/p>\n

regarded with great suspicion sometimes. None other than feline domesticus, the common<\/p>\n

cat. Cats are most often accused of being a witch’s familiar or too darn smart for their own<\/p>\n

good. Aside from that black cats especially are thought to bring about bad luck and ill news.<\/p>\n

Some cultures believe that if a cat goes near a corpse or jumps over one, that person will<\/p>\n

return to life as a vampire. Other cultures praised the cat because of their cleanliness and<\/p>\n

their wisdom. There is one culture though that held cats in the highest regard. The Ancient<\/p>\n

Egyptians held cats in such a high regard that they were considered demigods. Not beings of<\/p>\n

of this plane entirely but beings of both this plane and the god’s plane. Cats were so very<\/p>\n

important to the Ancient Egyptians that anyone caught killing, or harming one even if by acci-<\/p>\n

dent, were killed themselves. The cats guarded the royal granaries and kept out mice and<\/p>\n

vermin that would have otherwise depleted the food supply. It’s no wonder then that the<\/p>\n

people of Ancient Egypt worshiped a goddess whose duties included protecting cats.<\/p>\n

That goddess would be Bast, also known as Bastet. There are many interpretations as to<\/p>\n

exactly what Bast was the goddess of. Some interpretations have her as the goddess of fire,<\/p>\n

dance, good fortune, music, and secrets. All accounts however agree that Bast was the<\/p>\n

Goddess of cats, a goddess of fertility and a protector. The Ancient Egyptians associate with<\/p>\n

Ra making her a solar deity. However to the Greeks she is a lunar deity as they most likely<\/p>\n

associated her with\u00a0 artemis. As with most Ancient Egyptian deities, Bast has a temple<\/p>\n

of worship as well as a town and cult that worshipped her. The town is called Bubastis,<\/p>\n

or Per-Bast. Named after Bast and is located in Lower Egypt. There are many other temples<\/p>\n

and many other cities that also worship Bast but the most holy and revered place is Bubastis.<\/p>\n

Bubastis is so important because when the prefix “Per” is added to the beginning of a name<\/p>\n

the meaning of the name translated loosely to as “home of” so Bubastis, was considered the<\/p>\n

home of Bast. Originally Bast was seen as a protector of Lower Egypt and in fact her name<\/p>\n

means “Fierce Devourer”. Before her name was changed to Bastet she was depicted as a lion<\/p>\n

headed goddess and in charge of protecting the sun god, Ra. This association with Ra lead to<\/p>\n

her gaining the titles ‘Lady of the Flame’ and ‘Lady of the East’. Some account say that Bast is a<\/p>\n

daughter of Ra’s and that’s why she fights so hard to protect him. Other accounts say she is<\/p>\n

simply a protective and avenging deity, a war type deity if you will. When Bast was renamed<\/p>\n

Bastet which translates to “female of the ointment jar”, Bast also became known as a goddess<\/p>\n

of perfume and eventually as the wife of Anubis, as he was known as the god of embalming.<\/p>\n

As Lower Egypt lost more and more wars, Bast’s position in the deity order went lower and<\/p>\n

lower, leading to her name change and her being seeing as less fierce and more motherly. It<\/p>\n

was at this point at time that she began being depicted as a cat-headed goddess instead of a<\/p>\n

Lion-headed goddess. It was also around this time that she became associated with fertility<\/p>\n

and motherhood as domesticated cats are very gentle with their young. As cats were asso-<\/p>\n

ciated with Bast and so very important, they were mummified. The cat owners would even<\/p>\n

go so far as to shave off their eyebrows to show mourning when their cat died. At the temple<\/p>\n

of Bast in Bubastis, more than 300,000 mummified cats were found. Also, when an owner died<\/p>\n

they were buried alongside their cat. As the years changed Bast’s identity merged with those<\/p>\n

of other similar goddesses which lead to the Greeks naming her “Ailuros<\/em>“which is Greek for<\/p>\n

cat and associating her with the moon goddess, artemis.\u00a0 All in all the stories, history of this<\/p>\n

cat goddess is very intricate and has many different facets. Presented here are some of the<\/p>\n

basic and more well known facets of this goddess. Also, presented are some slightly lesser<\/p>\n

known facets. Suffice to say, this goddess is every bit as mysterious and unpredictable as<\/p>\n

the charges to whom she gives protection are.<\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

www.touregypt.net\/godsofegypt\/bast.htm<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

www.crystalinks.com\/bast.html<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

www.moggies.co.uk\/bastet\/bastet.html<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Myths and Legends: Journeys Through Time The Cat Mysterious, intelligent, independent, needy, curious, adorable, cunning and whimsical. These are a few of many adjectives used to describe an animal. Particularly an animal that thousands millions even, own or are owned by worldwide. That animal is the closely watched and regarded with great suspicion sometimes. None other than feline domesticus, the common cat. Cats are most often accused of being a witch’s familiar or too darn smart for their own good. Aside from that black cats especially are thought to bring about bad luck and ill news. Some cultures believe that if a cat goes near a corpse or jumps over one, that person will return to life as a vampire. Other cultures praised the cat because of their cleanliness and their wisdom. There is one culture though that held cats in the highest regard. The Ancient Egyptians held cats in such a high regard that they were considered demigods. Not beings of of this plane entirely but beings of both this plane and the god’s plane. Cats were so very important to the Ancient Egyptians that anyone caught killing, or harming one even if by acci- dent, were killed themselves. The cats guarded the royal granaries and kept out mice and vermin that would have otherwise depleted the food supply. It’s no wonder then that the people of Ancient Egypt worshiped a goddess whose duties included protecting cats. That goddess would be Bast, also known as Bastet. There are many interpretations as to exactly what Bast was the goddess of. Some interpretations have her as the goddess of fire, dance, good fortune, music, and secrets. All accounts however agree that Bast was the Goddess of cats, a goddess of fertility and a protector. The Ancient Egyptians associate with Ra making her a solar deity. However to the Greeks she is a lunar deity as they most likely associated her with\u00a0 artemis. As with most Ancient Egyptian deities, Bast has a temple of worship as well as a town and cult that worshipped her. The town is called Bubastis, or Per-Bast. Named after Bast and is located in Lower Egypt. There are many other temples and many other cities that also worship Bast but the most holy and revered place is Bubastis. Bubastis is so important because when the prefix “Per” is added to the beginning of a name the meaning of the name translated loosely to as “home of” so Bubastis, was considered the home of Bast. Originally Bast was seen as a protector of Lower Egypt and in fact her name means “Fierce Devourer”. Before her name was changed to Bastet she was depicted as a lion headed goddess and in charge of protecting the sun god, Ra. This association with Ra lead to her gaining the titles ‘Lady of the Flame’ and ‘Lady of the East’. Some account say that Bast is a daughter of Ra’s and that’s why she fights so hard to protect him. Other accounts say she is simply a protective and avenging deity, a war type deity if you will. When Bast was renamed Bastet which translates to “female of the ointment jar”, Bast also became known as a goddess of perfume and eventually as the wife of Anubis, as he was known as the god of embalming. As Lower Egypt lost more and more wars, Bast’s position in the deity order went lower and lower, leading to her name change and her being seeing as less fierce and more motherly. It was at this point at time that she began being depicted as a cat-headed goddess instead of a Lion-headed goddess. It was also around this time that she became associated with fertility and motherhood as domesticated cats are very gentle with their young. As cats were asso- ciated with Bast and so very important, they were mummified. The cat owners would even go so far as to shave off their eyebrows to show mourning when their cat died. At the temple of Bast in Bubastis, more than 300,000 mummified cats were found. Also, when an owner died they were buried alongside their cat. As the years changed Bast’s identity merged with those of other similar goddesses which lead to the Greeks naming her “Ailuros“which is Greek for cat and associating her with the moon goddess, artemis.\u00a0 All in all the stories, history of this cat goddess is very intricate and has many different facets. Presented here are some of the basic and more well known facets of this goddess. Also, presented are some slightly lesser known facets. Suffice to say, this goddess is every bit as mysterious and unpredictable as the charges to whom she gives protection are. Works Cited www.touregypt.net\/godsofegypt\/bast.htm www.crystalinks.com\/bast.html www.moggies.co.uk\/bastet\/bastet.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}