Pasht

The name "Pasht" derives from the Egyptian word "pakh" meaning "to scratch" or "to tear," reflecting her protective and aggressive nature. She is also known as Bast or Bastet. Her worship dates back to at least the Third Dynasty of Egypt, around 2600 BCE.

The cat-headed goddess, the Moon, called also Sckhd. Her statues and representations are seen in great numbers at the British Museum. She is the wife or female aspect of Ptah (the son of Kneph), the creative principle, or the Egy])tian Demiurgus. She is also called Besrt or Bi(hastis, being then both the re-uniting and the separating principle. Her motto is: "punish tlie guilty and remove defilement", and one of her emblems is the cat. According to Viscount Rouge, her worsliip is extremely ancient (b.c. 3000), and she is the mother of the Asiatic race, the race that settled in Northern Egypt. As such she is called Ouato.

The goddess Pasht, or Bastet, as she is more commonly known, emerges from the mists of ancient Egypt not merely as a deity but as a living symbol of primal forces. Her feline visage, at once serene and predatory, speaks volumes about the Egyptian worldview, which embraced the inherent duality of existence. Mircea Eliade, in his profound explorations of the sacred, often highlighted how ancient cultures perceived the divine as immanent in the natural world, and Pasht is a prime example. The cat, with its nocturnal wanderings, its silent stalking, and its fierce defense of its young, embodied qualities the Egyptians deeply respected and sought to invoke.

Pasht was not merely a domestic goddess; she was a potent protector against malevolent spirits and disease, a role that resonates with Carl Jung's concept of the archetype of the Great Mother, whose protective aspects can be both nurturing and terrifyingly fierce. Her worship, as noted by scholars like Jan Assmann, was deeply interwoven with daily life, particularly in her cult center at Bubastis, where vast numbers of mummified cats were discovered, attesting to the profound reverence she commanded. Her connection to the moon further links her to cycles of renewal and the hidden, intuitive aspects of the psyche, a theme explored by figures like Ann Ulanov in her work on the feminine psyche. In the modern search for balance, Pasht offers a powerful reminder that true strength often lies in embracing the full spectrum of our being, including its wilder, more instinctual dimensions, a wisdom that transcends the ages and continues to beckom.