#mut-bast

[tawaubast]

"She Who Shines in the Horizon" 

Based on this Epithet and the feelings I get from Bast-Mut, it is my UPG that she is the one who brings the Royal Colors to the sky.  In this image, she brings forth the dawn, her gift of beauty to Ra in the first light of Zep Tepi. At dusk, she trails behind him, leaving that last bit of beauty before the long battle at night.

❥Gallery: http://lunacrystal.com ❥Commissions: https://commiss.io/obsydian

[tawaubast]

The Big Bast-Mut Info Post

This is a cross-reference straight from my website at BastMut.org.  Please go there for up-to-date information and bibliography references.

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Bast-Mut is a syncretization of goddesses Bast and Mut, creating Bast in her role as Queen.

Labeled in reliefs as Mut-Bast, she was found in Luxor (Thebes/Karnak/Waset) in in the Karnak Temple, Amun Temple, Medinet Habu, and at Isheru lake, where Mut was prominent.  In those depictions, she appears both as a lioness-headed woman with the solar disk, and as a humanoid woman.  We know that this is her based upon the hieroglyphic inscriptions included with the imagery.

Bast-Mut and Mut-Bast are both the same deity, however, in the Kemetic Orthodoxy Rite of Parent Divination, the Name that comes first is the god that the one divined will best understand.  For the sake of continuity, and because she is my divined Mother, I will be calling her as Bast-Mut throughout the page.

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Syncretization?

Bast-Mut is still Bast, but she is also Mut.  As an example, let us say that Bast is the color Red and Mut is the color Blue.  Syncretized, they form the color Purple.  This creates a whole new color that you cannot separate.  In this fashion, she gets equal parts of both goddesses and forms it into one.  Spend some time researching both goddesses, and you'll get an idea of how Bast-Mut can be.

We can see the goddess Bast-Mut as "Mut-who-is-Bast", which gives us a more queenly and regal Bast upon Her throne.  The deity who is named first will be the exterior "shell" or the "primary," which are both in quotes because it's hard to describe and that is not really what is happening here, but it's the best way my brain wraps around them.  When in the form of Mut-Bast, this is Bast who is in the form of Mut (which could explain her humanoid appearances in the temples, but that is just another personal theory!)

In essence, they are the same goddess, but there may be differences in how Mut-Bast acts versus Bast-Mut.  As we do not yet have any divined children of the former, I have no point of reference as to which to compare.

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When to call upon the Queen

When you need some fierce motherly love.

When you want some direction, and you're in need of a gentle push to get there.

When you are in need of self-care and need a stern but loving Mother to make you do so.

When you're stuck in the past or worrying about the future, and you need a reminder to live in the moment.

When you need some gentle self-care and some help in finding joy.

When you're taking on a leadership role and need help asserting yourself.

For a boost of confidence to feel your best self.

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Working with Bast-Mut

These are my personal experiences with her, and they may differ from yours or from that of others.  However, this is a good guideline to start with if you are new or haven't met her yet.

When you first decide to introduce yourself to the Queen, it's important to be formal and respectful.  Only in spending more time and experiences with her are you allowed to loosen formalities a little.  She is warm and loving, like the sun beaming down in a caress. A nice offering goes over well, as well as honest intentions and being present and respectful in her presence.  She is Bast, a lover of joy, rich things, and perfumes, but she is Queen and more directing rather than acting. There is a regal air about her, and she tends to be more on the formal side of things.  Share your meals with her, speak your mind, and be open and honest.

In my experiences with my Mother, Bast-Mut, she is very much Mut in personality, but with Bast-flavoring and exterior.  I see her as the Royal Cat, large and in-charge, but joyful and kind.  She doesn't roll around like a playful kitten, but instead stands tall and looks into your eyes with the gentlest of smiles.  She shifts between a domestic cat and a black lioness, which I feel brings in a lot of the Mut influence as she too can be a lioness.  I've "seen" her both as a stern queen, but I've also "seen" her in a field of flowers, dancing with sistra in hand, full of light and laughter and joy.

Bast-Mut is like the sun. The warmth and glow of her love shine down and embrace you, never burning. For she is the sun gently kissing the horizon, the one you can glimpse out of the corner of your eyes, still hot and bright, but tender. Regal is her splendor that dusts the clouds in the royal hues of purple and gold. The sky glows for her.

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Click Read More for a TON more information

Disclaimer: Much of the information listed below falls under UPG, or Unverified Personal Gnosis.  These are offerings I feel she likes and other tidbits I find important towards understanding Bast-Mut.  Much of my knowledge of her comes from both personal experiences and those of others who experience her.

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Representation

Feline-headed woman with double or uraeus modii crown.

Lioness, or another big cat.

A domestic cat with cobra between her paws.

Depicted with the Solar Disk as Mut-Bast.

Shown in humanoid form as Mut-Bast.

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Patronage

Empowerment & Confidence

Self-Love

Protection

Leadership & Royalty

Living in the Moment

Inner Strength

Joy & Beauty

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Epithets

Lady of Heaven

(She) who Shines as Gold(en)**

(She) who Creates Sunbeams**

Lady of the Palace

Lady of the Great House

Lady of the Isheru Waters

Lady of All the Lands

The (Great) Young Lioness

Lady of Life

Great of Strength

She of the Beautiful Face

Lady of Red Linen**

Lady of Cobras

Lady of Joy**

The (ruling) Queen

The Daughter of Ra

The Greatly Beloved

The Greatly Feared

She of the Powerful Heart**

Lady of Food

Great of Magic

The Head of the Goddesses

(A favored selection of epithets that both Bast and Mut have in common. Translated from the LAGG by Akhytsenu.) **Denotes Extra Love

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Family

Wife of Amun-Ra

Mother of Khonsu

Mother of Mafdet (UPG)

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Offerings

Food

Dark Chocolate

High-Quality Meat

Sushi

Fruit

Bread

Cheese

Honey

Drink

Chai Tea

Catnip Tea

Cream Liqueur

Cool Water

Hot Chocolate

Stones and Colors

Lapis Lazuli

Labradorite

Carnelian

Malachite

Jade

Amber

Gold

Greens

Deep Red

Royal Purple

Scents

Sandalwood

Lotus

Vanilla

Jasmine

Cinnamon

Florals

Activities

Self-Care

Perfumery

Song and Dance

Drawing and Painting

Volunteer Work

Anything done with Passion and Love

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Bast-Mut (Mut-Bast) in the Books

"As on the east jamb of the doorway, one expects Mut with a syncretistic name for the lioness-headed goddess. If she is not simply labeled as Mw .t nb .t p .t, she could be Mut-Bastet (as on the east jamb) or Mut-Sekhmet; there is not enough space for Mut-Weret-Hekau. One notes that in the dedicatory text on the east wall in the bark shrine of Mut in the triple shrine of the Ramesside Court, Ramesses II refers to having made the monument for his mother Mut-Bastet (KRI 2, 615/16-616-1). The prominence accorded to Mut as Bastet on the east wall of the triple shrine mirrors the importance of the lioness-headed goddess in the first register scenes on the east and west jambs of the north portal of the Colonnade Hall. One may also note that the word ms survives in the words spoken by Mut-Bastet on the east wall of the Mut shrine (KRI 2, 616/6), recalling the texts accompanying the lioness goddess on pl. 149."  - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 116

"Words spoken by Mut, lady of heaven, Bastet who resides in Asheru: "O my beloved son, lord of the two lands, Djeserkheperure-Setepenre, I am your mother.  I am giving you your suck, that you may suck from my milk, may it enter into you in life and dominion..joy...I have given to you millions of jubilee like Re."" - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 116

"Mut the Great, Lady of Isheru, Bast, Mistress of Karnak, possessor of graciousness, sweet of love: I have given you the throne of Geb and the lifespan of Re in heaven." - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 107

"Mut, lady of heaven, Bastet residing in Karnak, as she gives all life: I have given to you all life and dominion, all health and all joy like Re." - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 1 Part 3

[tawaubast]

Various Mut-Bast in temples.

[tawaubast]

A website dedicated to Bast-Mut/Mut-Bast with images, information, and sources. Always being updated, so please take a look!

I’ve made some updates to Mom’s website.  There is always a ton of information to be found, and I’m always looking for more, but in the meantime, this is probably the biggest collection of Bast-Mut information you’re gonna find in one place. Probably.

[mekhatsenu]

Statuary

This is my commissioned statue of Bast-Mut, made circa 2007 from polymer-based clay. The artist’s name is Nebra, and I can no longer find her website on the internet. I later had a custom Wepwawet made to match her.

All images are mine, I cannot claim to have made Her though.

[mekhatsenu]

Bast-Mut

I have been working with Bast-Mut as my spiritual mother for 14 years and have uncovered some information about her. She is still rare to find historical attestation to, but there is some. 

First is from Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Volume 83 page 36, (Medinet Habu Volume V - The Temple Proper, Part I The Portico, the Treasury, and Chapels adjoining the first hypostyle hall)

This is from the Second Court, Column 32, South Face (A)

We have Ramses III offering clothing to Bast-Mut. Bast-Mut here is fully human with the double-feather crown often seen on Amun, and the Hethert crown (cow horns and a solar disk)

Next up is from OIP 93 (Medinet Habu Volume VII - The temple proper, part III, The third hypostyle hall and all rooms accessible from it with friezes from scenes from the roof terraces and exterior walls of the temple).

This is Plate 558 from page 148 - this is actually a very wide image, and I am cropping it to just Bast-Mut (the full image is available upon request).

Here we have another fully human Bast-Mut, wearing the vulture cap and the double-crown. The text in the OIP says: “Ramses III thurifying an offering to Amun-Ra in the presence of Bast-Mut, Khonsu, and Amunet” from the Temple proper, roof terraces, south wall, east end

I’ve partially recreated the glyphs in the 7 beside her head.

Next two are both from the OIP 116 (Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple Vol 2 - The Façade, portals, upper register scenes, columns, marginalia and statuary in the collonade hall)

This is the king presenting the temple to Amun-Ra in the presence of Bast-Mut.

First is plate 144 on page 147. It reads: “Words spoken by Mut, lady of heaven, Bastet who resides in Asheru: "O (my) beloved son, lord of the two lands Djeserkheperure-Setepenre, I am your mother. I am giving you your suck, that you may you suck fr[om] my m[ilk; may] it (lit. they) en[ter] into y[ou] in life and do[minion...] jo[y...] (I) have given to you millions of jubilees like Ra"”

Here we have a lioness-headed goddess with the solar disk on her head and a staff in her hand.

The last historical attestation might be Bast-Mut or Sekhmet-Mut, but the part with the name is damaged. This lioness-headed goddess is represented the same way Bast-Mut was depicted in the previous image.

This is plate 149, on page 152. It reads: “[Words spoken by Mut...] who resides in Opet: "You are my beloved son, [...] I have fashioned your members of [electrum and] all your [limbs] of biA-metal. [I have] created/distinguished [you as the heir] of Re, you remaining upon the [throne] of Geb. (I) have given to you millions of jubilees like Ra"”