Bastet

The Feline Goddess of the Home

Domain: Home, Cats & Protection
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Light
Relics of Power: Aegis of Bastet

Speak with Bastet

The People

People

Ancient Egyptians

Region

Nile Valley, Egypt

Period

c. 3100 BC – 400 AD

The Egyptian gods were worshipped for over three millennia along the banks of the Nile, with monumental temples at Karnak, Luxor, and Heliopolis. The pharaohs were held to be divine, and life revolved around cosmic order (Maat) and preparation for the afterlife. The cult endured until the rise of Christianity in Roman Egypt.

At the Opet festival, Amun's sacred barque sailed from Karnak to Luxor amid celebrating crowds. In the temples, priests woke, dressed, and fed the god's statue every day, and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley carried the deities to visit the shore of the dead.

The Sacred Scrolls

Goddess of the home, fertility, cats, and domestic protection, Bastet is depicted as a cat or a woman with a feline head. Guardian of mothers and children, she defends the household against disease and evil spirits. She is the serene, protective face that contrasts with the fury of the lioness Sekhmet. As The Feline Goddess of the Home, this deity occupies a position of supreme prestige in the egípcios pantheon. Their domains over Home, Cats & Protection reflect ancestral cosmic order maintained across millennia. In classical iconography, they are depicted with an aura of unshakeable majesty and sacred attributes that inspired reverence in emperors and peasants alike. Their influence extended beyond earthly boundaries, governing fates and harmony between the visible and invisible worlds. For ancient devotees, contemplating their essence was to understand the very fundamental forces of nature and human existence.

Sacred Symbols

Cat, the sistrum, the basket and the protective amulet

Divine Lineage

Daughter of Ra; associated as the gentle counterpart of Sekhmet.

The Legendary Myth

The cult of Bastet was one of the most popular in Egypt, centered in the city of Bubastis, where vast festivals were held in her honor.

Legends & Deeds

A celebrated secondary legend preserved in the oral traditions of the egípcios recounts the journey when Bastet intervened directly in the lives of mortals.

Cult & Worship

Historically, the cult of Bastet occupied a central place in the religious and architectural calendar of antiquity.

Relics of Power

A protective amulet that guards homes, mothers, and children against disease and evil spirits.

Did You Know?

Egyptian reverence for cats was so great that, according to the historian Herodotus, families would shave their eyebrows in mourning when the household cat died.