Since I love cats so much, I figured a little research on the Egyptian goddess Bast was in order and some of what I found was very interesting.
Bast, also known as Bastet, patron of cats, women, and secrets appears as a desert cat or a woman with the head of a cat (this form possibly dates after the domestication of the Egyptian wild cat). She is described as probably the most famous Egyptian goddess after Isis and Bast was said to be the daughter of Ra though long after he created the primal gods.
She was originally a sun goddess but after contact with the Greeks, she changed to a moon goddess probably due to the Greeks associating her with Artemis. Like Artemis, Bast was a wild goddess and to those who were in her favor, she gave great blessings, but her wrath was legendary and she was sometimes listed as one of Ra's avenging deities who punished the sinful and the enemies of Egypt. This is of course in keeping with her totem animal the cat. Cats were sacred to Bast and to harm one was deemed a great transgression.
Bast's importance in the Egyptian pantheon might be due to the great value placed on the domesticated cat by the Egyptians. Cats curtailed the spread of disease by killing vermin and though the idea of microbes was unknown to the ancient Egyptians, they must have noticed the connection between rats and disease. Her worship was widespread, and her followers apparently had a great deal of power. Bubastis was even the capital of Egypt for a time during the Late Period and some pharaohs took her name in their king-names. Herodotus' description of her temple at Bubastis is that of a place of great splendor and beauty, rivaled only by the temples to Ra and Horus Worshiped widely throughout Egypt...... her center of worship was at Bubastis.
Cats have an air of mystery about them and some do not care for them as pets because of this but I have always understood them and knowing their royal history only makes me love them more!
When the subject of tarot is mentioned, most people envision a gypsy woman in flowing robes, leaning over a small table in a candle lit room, foretelling impending doom but in reality this is simply the stuff of Hollywood. Most modern tarot readers are far removed from the popular scenes we often see on our television screens.
How did tarot come about you may ask, well that is an interesting question...let’s take a look. Researchers have tried for years to pinpoint the true origin of the Tarot and many are still in disagreement as to who created the first deck. Some believe they were in use as long ago as the early 1300's in Italy, others say in Egypt.
Here’s what we do know...The designs of the 22 cards in the Major Arcana can be traced back as far as 1440, when the first known deck appeared in Italy. The 3 decks called the "Visconti Trumps" are generally regarded as the forefathers of the decks that are widely available today. It is believed that they were originally created as a game for Nobles. It is not until centuries later that the cards reemerged, this time as a tool of divination.
By the 18th and the 19th centuries, the mystics and occultists began using tarot cards. Their use started after a study on religious symbolism by a Swiss clergyman called Antoine Court de Gebelin was published. He proclaimed the name tarot to have originated from the Egyptian word, 'tar' that meant royal and 'ro' meaning road. He suggested that the word tarot signified a royal road to wisdom.
The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot was published by A. E. Waite in December 1909, the English Christian occult philosopher who worked with the artist Pamela Coleman Smith to produce the 78 card deck that we use today. It replaced the traditional designs with the portrayals of symbolic scenes. This deck remains popular in the English-speaking countries even today.
There are many decks available from the “mainstream’’ Rider-Waite deck to tarot cards with woodland images for Pagans, feline images for Cat lovers, as well as pictures of beautiful lands both real and imagined. The decks come with complete instructions and meanings for all of the cards, so the true mystery of the tarot can be as easy as trying it for yourself, if you’re game and absolutely no gypsies needed .
Stela
A stela is a tall, narrow slab made of stone or wood, usually inscribed or carved in relief with names, laws, pictures, designs, or dedications for the dead. They were used throughout Ancient Egypt, the Near East, Greece, and even
