“God is not your step-and-fetch-it,” my husband would sometimes say when he was a believer. So why do I pray to Bast only when I have a sick cat?

Since my conversion (the 17th anniversary of which I just celebrated), I have had kind of a distanced relationship with Bast. It was Aset, Hathor and Nephthys who came to my rescue that night. I confess I was disappointed that Bast was not also there (that I could tell, nor have I had any indication since).

I had always figured myself as a Bast follower even before I became Kemetic. I love cats; Bast was a cat goddess. Easy math. But I guess this was more of a fannish interest rather than a serious following. And She seems to have sensed that.

Nevertheless, I have prayed to Bast throughout my time as a Kemetic, but it mostly seems that I reach out to Her whenever one of our cats is in trouble.

This time, it’s our Miss Charley. Officially, her name is Charley, but I’ve started calling her Miss Charley because especially at the vets, where we have gone since before we adopted her from my parents years ago, there’s a repeated, annoying tendency to misgender her.

Charley has had ongoing problems with inflammatory bowel and hyperthyroidism. We knew that if her condition didn’t improve, lymphoma was probably the ultimate destination.

Well, we arrived there yesterday, with the addition of two masses that, because she could be anywhere from 14 to 17 years old, they don’t think she would make it out of anesthesia if we tried to get them biopsied.

So of course last night, after we had received the news, I did rite to Bast. I asked Her to watch over Charley, to help us figure out the best course of action to take, and to help us figure out when she’s telling us she’s ready to move on.

Because I don’t think she is, yet. I had taken her in to the vets two days ago for an exam, and yesterday for an ultrasound. Two days ago, when Charley was able to walk around the exam room, she was curious about what was going on outside. She looked toward the outside-facing window whenever we heard a car door.

So, anyway, here I am with my imperfect relationship with Bast. I want to deepen that relationship. To that end, I’ll be researching Bast feast days and writing a ritual or rituals so I can honor Her on those days. I don’t want to keep treating Her like a step-and-fetch-it. I will do my part to make our relationship better.

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