In one of the oldest myths, Bastet first appears as the wild lioness Sekhmet. When Ra wants to punish humanity, he sends her down – but her fury goes too far. To calm her, Ra floods the land with red beer. She drinks, becomes intoxicated, and transforms into the peaceful Bastet.

Transition from destruction to protection, blood to wine, war to peace.

From the Book of Day, Book of the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian mythology, Bastet escorts the sun on its journey through the underworld. There, she defeats the chaos serpent Apep – as a giant cat – keeping the sunlight from being swallowed.

Symbol of victory over chaos, balance between light and darkness.

Once a year, hundreds of thousands of worshippers make a pilgrimage up the Nile to Bubastis to celebrate Bastet—with music, dance, wine, and ecstatic revelry. Women allow themselves to be filled with the goddess's energy; it was a celebration of female freedom and divine trance.

Bastet as the goddess of intoxication, ecstasy and letting go – not a quiet kitten, but an ecstatic primal force. "You won't hear her coming. But you'll know when she's there."