Make Room for the New

I'm occasionally contacted by Bast "relatives," only to explain that I chose that name with my daughter Katja Amyx's help.

I'd kept the married name Schwab while my son and daughter were growing up, but when starting my own business wanted a name that was meaningful to me, not my father's name (Ritter), or any other family name that seemed too conventional at a time when I was completely shifting my sense of self.

My daughter suggested we review her book of goddess names and we spent a long phone conversation considering the options. I chose the Egyptian cat goddess Bast because . . . well, cats, but also because followers prayed to her for deliverance from evil spirits--and that pretty much encapsulated my consulting work with corporate leadership.

As far left as I might have moved over the years, Katja has always been ahead of me, and I so admire how she and her family stand against all the evil isms. So I've sent her the Duck Totem, which symbolizes what my daughter represents, releasing the old to make room for the new.