Bast, Egyptian goddess of the rising sun, was much admired for her warm and playful nature, not to mention her fierce protective nature. An ancient egyptian goddess, Bast (also known as Bastet) was worshipped for centuries. The Greeks, noting their similarities, referred to her as the "Egyptian Artemis".

Many statues of Bast have been excavated. She is depicted as a shapely woman with the head of a cat. In her myths Bast takes on three forms...as a woman, as half-cat, and in a fully feline form. Bast, as the rising sun, rode with her aged father, the powerful Sun God Ra, protecting him during his ride through the sky. Then at night when Ra was defenceless in the dark, Bast turned into a cat to protect him from the snake Apep who sought to usurp Ra's power.

Being the goddess of all things that give pleasure, it's only natural that Bast's annual festival was a riotous affair.... except with thousands of revelers floating down the Nile, drinking, dancing, gyrating, and shouting to the townspeople on the bank.

Bast offers to teach us to refuse to take things too seriously, to luxuriate in our grace and sensuality, and to never waste our energy.

To read more about the Egyptian goddess Bast use this link.

Favorite Familiars

The temple of Bast was filled with her beloved cats, and Artemis never left home without her hounds. Pets, whether cats or dogs, play an important role in our lives and can actually be important instruments in our spiritual growth. . . only one of the reasons they are often referred to as "familiars".

While doing my research on the goddess Bast,  I ran across a couple of websites that had a page devoted to commemorating beloved cats who had "gone to be with Bast". Visitors were invited to post information and pictures of their pets.

Still grieving the recent loss of my buddy Zak (whom Bast had blessed with twenty years of life), I posted a page. Interestingly, visiting the page seems to have helped me adjust to the loss.

I mentioned this to a friend whose canine companion seems to be on his "last leg", and she thought it a wonderful idea. So we're thinking about adding a webpage (or perhaps two) honoring the goddesses Bast and Artemis and the animal companions whose lives our visitors would like to commemorate.

Any interest in the idea? Would you like to post an entry telling about the pet you loved? If so, start thinking about it, searching for a photo, and please let me know you're interested . . . if there's enough interest, I'll start work on the page.

Is This What Some of You Have Been Waiting For?

While reviewing our website statistics in preparation for Goddess Gift's monthly progress report, I noticed that more than half of the subscribers to The Goddess Path Newsletter have yet to take the Goddess Quiz and receive their Goddess Report.

A sad state of affairs for those of you who have been missing out, since those who have taken the Quiz have consistently sent us "rave reviews"!

Is this what you've been waiting for?

From time to time we allow our loyal readers a chance to "catch up" with their sisters by making a Limited Time, For Newletter Readers Only, Special Offer of the Goddess Quiz and Report For Only $12 (a 30% savings). Click here to order.  (Note: you will receive a gift certificate by email that you can use to take the Goddess Quiz.)

Those of you who've already gotten your reports can use the same link to order a gift certificate for a friend. Our way of saying thanks for your patience while we "worked out the kinks". (They won't have to suffer through the old, cumbersome process of ordering them... it's now much improved!)

A Gathering of Goddesses

Last month, I promised you a new page full of ideas about how to have a "Goddess Party" and invited you to send in your experiences and ideas.  So many wonderful ideas came to me, but alas, my computer woes got me hopelessly behind schedule so the page is still "under construction". . . but it WILL be up next month, I promise.

And just so you want be horribly disappointed, I'll share with you this email that I received. It says it all so beautifully:

My family owns a vacation home in the Pocono Mountains, and for several years a group of my dearest friends and I take over the house during the Pennsylvania Wine Festival. 

We came from four states,  bringing presents of medallions, t-shirts, bumperstickers, cards and more.  We gather together, enjoy the wine, share our laughter and sorrows and our advice, and draw strength from the different traits that each one brings. 

This year, our theme was Celebration of the Goddesses.  Before the event we had email discussions to select our special names. We chose individual names that we felt represented the wonderful wisdom or special "gift" of feminine strength that each one of us brings to the group.

Since I am the central point through which everyone has met over the 20+ years, I was named Goddess of Friendship.  Our youngest friend is in her early 20's, balancing full-time school, full-time work and a full-time social schedule, so she was christened Goddess of Energy. Another friend has taught us to always spoil ourselves, that we are allowed to do so, and she was voted Goddess of Fine Things.

Likewise for our Goddess of Laughter (even though she tells terrible jokes!), Goddess of Nature (teaching us that we are one with nature both environment and our animal friends), Goddess of Secrets (learning to protect our inner self) and Goddess of Perseverance (for never giving up no matter how tough it gets.)

I think that our gathering will now be known as the Goddess weekend, and the gifts of Friendship, Laughter, Energy, Perseverance, Secrets, Nature and Fine Things are what get us through each year.  What a wonderful celebration of true and lasting friendship!

Our Goddess ritual still spills over into our every day lives.  When any of us need energy, laughter, friendship or any other strength, we bond together via email, visits, and phone calls to get each other through whatever challenges we face or joys we share.  We never thought we'd be trendy too!

Darlene, Goddess of Friendship

Just Can't Get Enough of It! More Women's Humor

Whatever Ails You: Modern Medicines for Modern Women

F L I P I T O R
Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the
urge to flip off other drivers.

M E N I C I L L I N
Potent antibiotic for older women. Increases resistance to such lines
as,"You make me want to be a better person ... can we get naked now?"

B U Y A G R A
Injectable stimulant taken prior to shopping. Increases potency and
duration of spending spree.

Extra Strength BUY-ONE-AL
When combined with Buyagra, can cause an indiscriminate buying frenzy so severe the victim may even come home with a Donnie Osmond CD or a book by Dr. Laura.

J A C K A S S P I R I N
Relieves headache caused by a man who can't remember your birthday,
anniversary or phone number.

A N T I-T A L K S I D E N T
A spray carried in a purse or wallet to be used on anyone too eager to
share their life stories with total strangers.

N A G A M E N T
When administered to a husband, provides the same irritation as nagging
him all weekend, saving the wife the time and trouble of doing it herself.

Highlights From Our Progress Report:

Here's a link for those of you who like to read our monthly progress report in full: http://www.goddessgift.com/blog.htm

• We put up an Amber Alert notice on the Goddess Connection page. Please check it when you visit the site . . . who knows, it might save a child's life and restore them to their family.

• We're doing a "Goddess Dance" around the 75,000th mark (remember our goal of joining the ranks of the 75,000 most popular websites). We crossed over on August 20 to 74,319 but apparently have back-slid, and just keep "hovering" ...over, then under, then over the mark.

Thanks to all of you for your constant support and enthusiasm. We could never have done it without you!

Blessings,

Sharon
The Goddess Path

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