Scrying in the Temple of Bast

You will need two silver candles for the altar, some Bast incense and flowers for the alter, as well as food and drink to give in offering in the feast afterwards.

The majority of this ritual is visualisation and requires no special equipment. For people who are experienced at scrying and prefer to use a black mirror, then open your eyes at the appropriate time and imagine that you are scrying in Bast's temple. We find it easier to see images if the whole thing is visualised and for this reason use the temple pool as our scrying mirror but it is a matter of personal preference.

Prepare your space by constructing a simple altar and having everything you need close at hand. Then have a bath and give yourself time to relax. When you feel ready light your altar candles and incense.

Spend a few minutes breathing deeply and slowly then, when you feel ready, begin to construct the cone of power that will be your vehicle back to ancient Egypt.

Imagine first a pinprick of light appearing on the ground behind you. See it begin to travel around you in a clockwise direction as if following an invisible pattern for a circle. The cone can be as wide or as small as you like. It can pass through walls and furniture, but it should encompass yourself, any other people present and the altar. See it moving as clearly as you can. Hold that image in your mind until you feel it is fixed. The more energy and intention you can put into this process the more effective your cone will be. As the light moves, your intention feeds it with energy, and it begins to grow in size. See it move more rapidly around you, picking up speed, growing larger and larger. When it is about the size of a ping-pong ball, visualise it beginning to grow a tail, like a comet. It is a streaking ball of radiant blue-white light, whizzing around you at ground level. See the ball moving so fast, it eventually catches up with its own tail to create a vibrating ring of vibrant blue-white light around you at ground level. Keep this image firmly in your mind for a few moments. Now, the ball is still growing and the ring begins to build upon itself like a snow-ball gathering snow as it rolls along. A wall is being built around you of blue-white light. Visualise that you can still see the expanding ball circling round, rising up and up. See the wall grow up behind your back, your shoulders, your head. As it rises it begins to taper inwards to form the cone. Its apex will be high above your head. Continue to build the cone until it comes to a point at, or just above, the ceiling. For a few moments, keep the image in mind of sitting within a vibrating cone of blue-white light. It is spinning around you, thrumming with energy.

Now, see rays of light spiral in towards the centre of the cone at ground level. They swirl around and around to create a carpet of blue-white light beneath you. As the light reaches the centre of the circle, it pushes up into a column, like a fountain. Concentrate on this image. See the light pulsing upwards in a column, and flecks of light raining down from it, just like water in a fountain. Push the column right up to the apex of the cone. Feel the light raining down upon you, filling the cone with its radiance. Feel the light pushing through your skin. Breathe it in. You are becoming part of the cone itself. Feel your body tingling with its energy. You feel relaxed yet powerful. Once the cone is filled with light, and you feel you are totally part of it, imagine that the backdrop of the room behind it is fading away and all that exists is the spinning cone of light in a black void.

Now, visualise that the cone is moving. Try to really feel that movement. It is your vessel, and it is going to take you back in space and time, to the ancient land of Khem, of Egypt. Visualise the cone rushing through a black void. You may see stars and clouds of coloured gases. Feel the years stripping away, sense that you are going back in time. Ahead of you, you see a jewel of light hanging in the void. As you approach it, you realise it is the Earth, but an Earth far older than the one you left behind. You rush towards it, down through the atmosphere towards the land of Khem. Visualise the cone alighting in this land. See a doorway open up in the wall of the cone. Stand up and walk through it.

Outside, you are surrounded by a desert of reddish sand. Nearby, you see the mighty pylon of a temple. The sun is low in the sky and in the distance you can see the glistening waters of the Nile as it winds its way through the delta. Walk towards the temple. Feel the heat of the sand beneath your feet, and the warmth of the sun on your body. The heat is not searing but gentle as it is evening here and the sky glows orange with the light of the setting sun. How are you dressed in this world? Take note of your surroundings. Use your inner eye to look around. What can you see? Although you are being led in this visualisation, there is still plenty of space for you to add detail. No two people would ever see exactly the same imagery. Begin to build up your inner world. Make it real in your mind.

As you draw closer you pass by an oasis pool surrounded by tall palm trees. Lionesses doze in the shade of the trees and as you pass by they lift their heads as if to grant you passage into the temple. Walk on, past the lionesses, towards the temple. As you get closer you begin to realise what a massive structure it is. It is constructed of vast columns, which are intricately carved with symbols and hieroglyphs. Ahead of you there is a wide sandstone path leading up to the main entrance which is flanked on either side by two huge obelisks. These are constructed of rough golden sandstone and are so tall that they seem to reach up to the sky. Walk up the path and amongst the columns. Once you are in their shade the air feels cool and refreshing. In the middle of the day this is like a haven from the relentless heat of the desert but for now it is the place that evening settles first. You can smell a strong fragrance of cut blooms on the air and the subtler scent of an exotic musky incense.

You find that you are standing in the outer courtyard of the temple. There are trees cultivated here and in the centre you can see a large circular pool. This pool reflects the burning gold of the sun in the daytime and the silver light of the moon by night for these are both aspects of the Goddess. There are temple staff around you, all going about their duties. Many of them smile at you in greeting but none approach you. It is as if you are expected Walk over to the pool and sit down at its edge. Sit here for a while as the sun goes down and darkness begins to seep amongst the trees. Time passes quickly here and you sit and watch as the moon becomes visible overhead. It is a full moon and it seems to hang low over the temple. You know that you are approaching the sacred time when the moon is reflected in the pool before you and you can search the water for answers.

See the water reflect the moon, see it shimmer on the glassy surface and when you are ready look into the pool. Spend as long as you need now visualising. Let any pictures or impressions come to you. Perhaps you will see nothing in the water but will hear words whispered by one of the priestesses. Just relax and clear your mind so that you can allow thoughts to come to you.

When you feel you are ready to finish scrying run your hands through the water and erase any pictures or images that remain so that it is cleared for anyone else who may wish to scry. Stand up then and make your way through the hall of columns and pass through a door-way on the rear wall.

You find you have entered a small shrine. Against one wall is a large black basalt statue of a seated cat, the sacred cat of Bast. The statue has golden earrings and a collar of faience. Bowls of incense smoulder before her and she is flanked by flickering flames. At her feet lie offerings left by visitors to the temple. You can see many flowers and perfume jars as well as statues and figurines.

You see priests and priestesses are in the shrine. They are surrounded by cats, some sitting on the floor, some lying in niches in the walls. The air is full of the music of the cats; their purrs and cries. Pause to pay respect to the sacred cat of Bast. You can talk to the priests and priestesses if you like. They may have something to tell you, or a gift to impart. Stroke the cats around you. Before you leave the shrine see yourself leaving an offering of some kind behind in thanks for what you have learned. When you are ready, say farewell to the priests and priestesses and leave the shrine.

Walk back through the temple, past the scrying pool and through the columns to the entrance. Go out into the desert and walk back towards the cone, which you can see shining ahead of you. When you reach the cone, step inside it, and see the doorway sealing behind you. Sit or lie down for the journey home

This time, see the backdrop of the land beyond the cone fading away into blackness. Then feel the cone begin to move again, but this time forwards in space and time. Feel the years mounting up as you travel. Again, see a jewel of light ahead of you in the void, which is our own Earth. Visualise travelling back to your own land, your own town, your own house, or wherever else you might be doing the visualisation. Imagine the cone landing in this place and the backdrop of the room appearing again behind it. Take a few moments to become fully aware of your physical body. Re-establish yourself firmly in the real world.

When you have completed your journey, see the imagery of the room reappearing outside the cone. To dismantle the cone, begin to unwind it in an anti-clockwise direction. Visualise the ball of light at the apex of the cone and see it reverse its spin. As it does so, the cone diminishes and the wall of light comes down. Imagine that all the energy is going back into the ball, including all the light that filled the cone. Take down the cone until you have a vibrating ring of light around you at ground level. Then see that begin to break up, so that it is just a ball of light with a tail. The tail gets shorter and shorter as the ball of light slows down. As it decelerates, it gets smaller. Shrink and slow down the ball until the tail has vanished completely. Then see the ball shrink even further until it is a pinprick of light travelling slowly around you at ground level. Slow down this spark of light until it comes to a halt and goes out.

Now it is time to relax and enjoy the food and drink that you have arranged before the altar. You could also make a more practical offering, perhaps donate some cat food to a local animal charity.