Called by the Gods of Egypt?

[Darkhawk]

Do you have any experience working with Bast? I think that she would fit well with the many female warrior deities I already worship as a Hindu. Besides meat, which is off limits for me, what does she prefer as an offering? I've read online that she likes beer, which is a no-no for Hindu gods (not bad for Hindu worshipers to actually consume, just bad for religious offerings). Is this substantiated?

Bread, beer, cool water, incense, and light are all stock offerings to Egyptian gods; it's a very consistent pantheon that way.  Bast has perfumes and protective oils in her portfolio (I occasionally wisecrack that she's the goddess of sunscreen) and might particularly appreciate those or components like flowers (which are also common generic offerings).

Food taboos in Egypt were largely regional; all food is nutritive and thus acceptable unless there is an overriding local rule that says otherwise, basically.  Sharing a meal with the gods is common modern practice with ancient origin (very similarly to Hindu practice).  I have commented that there is something of a distinction between beer festivals and wine festivals in terms of which drink is more extensively offered, both are acceptable.  Formal temple ritual involves dressing the icon, doing their cosmetics, anointing, and some people with a more ritualistic bent carry that over into home practice.

Scent, light, and cool water are what I'd consider "core" offerings in modern practice; bread, beer, wine, milk, flowers, fruit, vegetables, meals, etc. an expansion on that; other practices an expanion on *that*.

[Hariti]

Formal temple ritual involves dressing the icon, doing their cosmetics, anointing, and some people with a more ritualistic bent carry that over into home practice.

That's very similar to Hindu temple rituals; the icon, which we typically call a deity, get's dressed in elaborate clothing and anointed with a Bindi to represent the opening of the third eye.

Many home shrines replicate the bindi part of the ritual by putting a dot of red saffron on the forehead of the statues in the shrine.

[Darkhawk]

That's very similar to Hindu temple rituals; the icon, which we typically call a deity, get's dressed in elaborate clothing and anointed with a Bindi to represent the opening of the third eye.

The Brahmin I chat with occasionally comments about the many profound similarities between the liturgical stuff.

[Hariti]

The Brahmin I chat with occasionally comments about the many profound similarities between the liturgical stuff.

It's probably just a coincidental human-nature thing; I've seen some Catholic practices that really resemble Hinduism as well, especially in south America. The way that images of Christ or the Blessed Virgin are treated, for example, is rather similar; they are dressed in fine clothes, addressed with respect, and even even taken out of the church and paraded publicly during festivals (which I believe is less common in European Catholicism).

I think that it's natural for people, when presented with a likeness of their God or gods, to treat them as if they (the likenesses) were actually divine. That's part of why Islam forbids making such images!

And how would you treat your God? I imagine you would want to keep them clean, well fed, well dressed, and generally treat them like a very important person. 

[Zlote Jablko]

It's probably just a coincidental human-nature thing; I've seen some Catholic practices that really resemble Hinduism as well, especially in south America. The way that images of Christ or the Blessed Virgin are treated, for example, is rather similar; they are dressed in fine clothes, addressed with respect, and even even taken out of the church and paraded publicly during festivals (which I believe is less common in European Catholicism).

I think that it's natural for people, when presented with a likeness of their God or gods, to treat them as if they (the likenesses) were actually divine. That's part of why Islam forbids making such images!

And how would you treat your God? I imagine you would want to keep them clean, well fed, well dressed, and generally treat them like a very important person.

Yeah, it can be hard to separate human nature from the equation when comparing traditions. This reminds me a bit of how sacrifices were treated. To sacrifice something literally meant “to make sacred.” So if it was a bull for example, it would be cleaned, decorated, well treated compared to the rest of the herd, etc. In effect, the bull became associated with the deity itself.

Sacrifices, purification rituals, and sacred water/ fire are probably part of the religious tool kit of human nature.