Who Has Met Bastet? Options

I am interested to know if anyone has met Bastet. The earlier version preferred lol.

There is a lot written about her, but I think that maybe even half is inaccurate.

Anyone got reliable information?

Actually the closest modern breed to the Egyptian tomb paintings is the Abysinnian, not the Burmese. The Burmese originated in Thailand sometime in the eighteenth century.

I wouldn't worry too much about how you treated Kitty when you were younger, so long as you don't do that anymore. If you treated her cruelly as a child (as a lot of kids do), then realised the error of your ways, felt genuine remorse, and worked to correct what you did, then everything should be cool. And they say pets rescued from abuse situations often show real gratitude to the people who rescue them and give them decent homes. It sounds like that one you rescued from the neighbours was *your* cat--they tend to pick their owners. I live with three cats, two are mine, but the third was abused prior to him coming to live with us and is terrified of me still after five years. I have no idea why, perhaps he was abused by a teenage boy. Most young teenage boys are about my size, so that would make sense. I'd like to be friends with him but he just won't let me.*sigh* He's definitely my mother's cat, follows her everywhere, sleeps with her, cries when she's not home, etc. So...it really doesn't bother me *that* much, as I've got my hands full with two toddlers with fur. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) And there's a difference between discipline and abuse, too. If one of mine is being annoying I'll yell at them--then I'll ignore them, as any sort of attention only reinforces the behaviour you're trying to stop. No attention=no reinforcement. The Burmese is a vocal breed, though, so you may just have to learn to live with it.

And I've noticed Sekhmet is a lot like Kali in a lot of ways. They both can be quite snarky if the situation calls for it--and when they choose to sit on the sidelines and watch, they'll bail you out if you really really really need it, but usually they know you don't, so they're trying to teach you a lesson that the gods help those who help themselves. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Actually the closest modern breed to the Egyptian tomb paintings is the Abysinnian, not the Burmese. The Burmese originated in Thailand sometime in the eighteenth century.

True. From memory they looked somewhat similar; although it's possibly true that the Abysinnian doesn't have a black face like our Burmese does.

I wouldn't worry too much about how you treated Kitty when you were younger, so long as you don't do that anymore. If you treated her cruelly as a child (as a lot of kids do), then realised the error of your ways, felt genuine remorse, and worked to correct what you did, then everything should be cool.

He has a lot of problems with furballs and regurgitation. He has brought up food on the carpet before, and that is very unsanitary, so I won't let him do that. I clap my hands, and sometimes yell at him a little, purely in order to get him to leave the room if he starts coughing. My younger brother, whose cat it is, doesn't like me doing that, but the cat is very wilful and if I don't do that, he won't move.

The other thing which he does that bothers me, is that sometimes he will simply stand still and yowl, even if he doesn't actually want something; and if he does it late at night or when I've just woken up, I have been known to yell at him to shut up, occasionally. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

If he is actually asking for something, like to be let out, or to be fed, that is legitimate and I don't have a problem with it. Although it isn't me who feeds him every day, I have done it before. He is, however, in addition to being wilful, very spoiled, and my brother and mother usually have the attitude that he should be allowed to do whatever he wants, and other people should just put up with it. So sometimes he just wants to make sure he's still the centre of attention, and that pisses me off.

With one exception however, which I'm not proud of, (booting him, though not hard enough to cause real injury) I haven't been physically abusive of him since moving into my grandfather's house. The stuff that I was doing to him was ten years ago, when the family lived together somewhere else.

Also, although I terrorized him somewhat, I never did anything that caused serious (or even minor, really) injury; it was more along the lines of corporal punishment. He is just a brat and needs to be reminded of who is at the top of the food chain at times, is all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

I knew a guy once who'd had about 5 cats, and the reason why he had a lot of respect for the 5th one was because it had survived what he did to them. I would never go that far with an animal, or anywhere near it.

And they say pets rescued from abuse situations often show real gratitude to the people who rescue them and give them decent homes. It sounds like that one you rescued from the neighbours was *your* cat--they tend to pick their owners.

She was a long haired tortoise shell. We were very kindred spirits in some ways; I'm not normally hugely sentimental any more, and I also can't have close contact with cats because I am generally allergic to them, but she didn't mind that because she was traumatised due to the abuse she had received, and didn't want a lot of physical contact. I think she did know she was my cat, yes; even though my mother was the one who fed her, most of the time. I was very out of it a lot of the time back then; drinking etc. Fortunately I have moved on since, however.

We think she was also epileptic; as she got older, my father would have to try and calm her down after a seizure. She was taken to a vet, but from memory he said there wasn't much he could do. I didn't live with her in the end, but she stayed with my father. I got the impression that she died happy, though...which was very different to how things had been when she was young.

If one of mine is being annoying I'll yell at them--then I'll ignore them, as any sort of attention only reinforces the behaviour you're trying to stop. No attention=no reinforcement. The Burmese is a vocal breed, though, so you may just have to learn to live with it.

To a degree I feel bad for yelling at our Burmese when he coughs up sometimes, but the vet says it's normal for the breed. Mum got him some dry food with a formula that is supposed to help, as well. I don't have a problem with him coughing up outside if he needs to; I just don't want him doing it in here when we eat.

And I've noticed Sekhmet is a lot like Kali in a lot of ways. They both can be quite snarky if the situation calls for it--and when they choose to sit on the sidelines and watch, they'll bail you out if you really really really need it, but usually they know you don't, so they're trying to teach you a lesson that the gods help those who help themselves.

Yep. Pretty much the exact words were, "I am not here purely in order to act as your personal bodyguard. If something happens which you weren't responsible for, I will help you, but if you take stupid risks, (such as Ouija board sessions, which she also told me not to do) you'll sometimes be on your own."

The risk I'd taken was a stupid one. I was feeding a servitor, but hadn't drawn up a circle or done anything else first; so some other joker showed up, trying to get some of the energy.

On the flip side, though, I used to have all sorts of problems with phobia of the Greys in particular; partly because I'm pretty sure I was getting actual presences, (they have an acorporeal component, as you may know) but ever since initial contact with Kali, with only one or two rare exceptions, that is no longer a problem, and neither are the nightmares I used to get on occasion.

There was also once during the gout episode where the pain was that bad that I couldn't sleep, but after visualising Durga, (same being, different aspect, as you say with Bast and Sekhmet) it eased sufficiently that I was able to get back to sleep. Then there was, of course, the last and most dramatic incident where, when the steel mailbox came through my window, I'd had some "closed eye," (as in, in the proverbial eyelid blackness) Kali-related visuals before going to sleep that night. Also, despite waking up with broken glass actually underneath me, I walked away literally without a scratch...and the manner in which it happened was to some extent in line with something she'd shown me probably a year and a half or so earlier, as well.

So yes, Mother is a very effective protector; as you say though, she doesn't like people who expect to be spoon fed.

This post has been edited by Petrus: Apr 16 2009, 11:09 PM