Asherah

"I'll get you, my little pretty! And your little ~~God~~ dog, too."

Light iron-age reading
The Bible

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* Old / New Testament
* Apocrypha
* Annotated Bible

Analysis

* King James Only
* Genealogy of Jesus
* Slavery in the Bible

Woo

* Black Hebrew Israelites
* Steve Quayle
* British Israelism

Figures

* Joseph of Arimathea
* Jesus
* Satan

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Asherah is a Semitic Mother Goddess, wife or consort of the Ugaritic El. Many modern scholars of ancient Israelite mythology suggest, in part based on Jeremiah's claim that she is the Queen of Heaven, she was the wife or consort to the warrior god/sky god, Yahweh: in other words, Mrs. God. Assuming this is true, this makes her the victim of a horrible editing job by later monotheists and chauvinists.

## Contents

* 1 Early history
* 2 Her fall from fame
* 3 Today (sort of)
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
* 6 Notes
* 7 References

## Early history[edit]

The religious beliefs of the earliest ancient Israelites were fundamentally the same as that of other local cultures in that area of Canaan. The supreme god of all creation was El, and under him were the gods of particular domains or tribes, such as Baal, Moloch, and of course Yahweh. Asherah was a fertility goddess, and in some traditions was considered to be the wife of El and the mother of most other gods.[1] In this function she was also called Elat, which, if El is God-with-a-capital-G, would mean Goddess. Like her counterparts in other pantheons, such as Isis, Hera, and Frigg, Asherah was the Queen of Heaven and in her case it was considered that she lived with her husband in a tent located in a mountain, from where all the fresh waters of the world originated.[2][3] This title was eventually stolen by that goddess wannabe Mary.

Eventually, the distinction between supreme god El and the tribal god Yahweh was muddied in the religion of the Hebrews, and Asherah found herself married to someone who was previously her son. There is copious archaeological evidence of Asherah worship in Hebrew territory, including explicit mentions of Asherah and Yahweh together. She was typically venerated by the construction of a wooden pole or statue, or by dedicating living trees in her honor.[4] "An Asherah" as a noun in an ancient text is understood to mean one of these idols. They are mentioned a few dozen times in the Bible.

## Her fall from fame[edit]

In later times, polytheism became unfashionable, and worship of Asherah became in contrast to Yahweh instead of in addition to him. (Seems even gods get divorced sometimes; what're you gonna do?) The prophet Jeremiah was particularly unhappy with Jewish women who worshiped the Queen of Heaven.[notes 1] A large portion of the Old Testament as we know it was written by the source known as the Deuteronomists, who were unambiguously anti-Asherah (and transparently anti-Baal). Thus, in the Deutoronomist Judges 6:27, the character Gideon performs a literal hatchet job on his local Asherah trees, while Josiah had a similar itchy axe hand in 2 Kings 23:14.

Judaism underwent substantial revision from the time of King Josiah onwards, destined to become true monotheism. Asherah was essentially forgotten, leaving only indirect references scattered throughout heavily edited biblical texts. Modern translations often render her name as "a pole" or "a grove," which fails to convey to most readers that it is in fact the idol of a particular goddess.

It has also been argued the concept of the Shekhinah (the presence of God), present in rabbinic Judaism but not before and that is considered to be feminine as well as related to the way the Holy Spirit is seen in such religion, has its origins in Asherah. Archaeologist and historian Joan Taylor has also argued for a connection between Asherah's sacred tree and the menorah.

## Today (sort of)[edit]

Leaving aside scholars or, for example, some characters named after her as as happens in the Fire Emblem and Xenoblade franchises, a rock song by Lana Lane, or a serval-domestic cat hybrid, Asherah is still remembered today by some neopagans who worship her (or at least a version of said deity), as well as fundies who identify the traditional Christmas trees with worshipping her[5] even if similar traditions were developed independently in several other cultures or consider her along Baal and other deities, Semitic or not, a demon, ignoring what she actually was.

## See also[edit]

* Goddess religion

## External links[edit]

* See the Wikipedia article on Asherah.

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Hmm. Worshiping the Queen of Heaven. While frowned upon by Jewish and Christian clergy, it sounds… vaguely familiar.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Oxford Companion to World Mythology
2. ↑ The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel
3. ↑ Stories from Ancient Canaan (2nd Edition)
4. ↑ Deuteronomy 16:21 states that Yahweh hates these poles
5. ↑ http://www.ltradio.org/articles/?admin=linkto&link=18

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Articles about the Bible

Old Testament: |  Goliath • Tamar • Tower of Babel • Abel • Joseph (Old Testament) • Firmament • Baal • Noah • Isaac • Ishmael • Amalekites • Curse of Ham • Jacob • Sodom and Gomorrah • Ezekiel's wheel • Lot • Nephilim • G'Tach • Joseph was Imhotep • Moses • Global flood • Cain • Gibeah • Abraham • Old Testament • Incubus and succubus myths • King David • Serpent seed doctrine • Leviathan • Messiah • Mark of Cain • Nimrod • Sirach • Jezebel • Adam and Eve • Moloch • Book of Joel • Garden of Eden • Satan • List of actions prohibited by the Bible •
| Torah: |  Torah • Book of Exodus • Book of Genesis • Book of Leviticus • Book of Numbers • Book of Zechariah • Book of Deuteronomy •
| Old Testament History: |  Book of Esther • Book of Ezra • Book of Judges • Book of Ruth • Books of Chronicles • Books of Kings • Books of Samuel • Book of Joshua •
| Old Testament Wisdom: |  Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Book of Job • Book of Proverbs • Book of Psalms •
| Major and Minor Prophets: |  Book of Daniel • Book of Ezekiel • Book of Isaiah • Book of Lamentations • Book of Jeremiah •
New Testament: |  Mary Magdalene • New Testament • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Joseph of Arimathea • Paul of Tarsus • Good Samaritan • Authorship of the New Testament • Magi • John the Baptist • Principalities and powers • Joseph (husband of Mary) • Nag Hammadi library • Messiah • Jesus • Gospel of Barnabas • Peter the Apostle • Pontius Pilate • Judas Iscariot • Book of Revelation •
| Gospels and Acts: |  Acts of the Apostles • Gospels • Q gospel • Gospel of John • Gospel of Mark • Gospel of Luke • Gospel of Matthew •
| Pauline Epistles: |  Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Colossians • Epistle to the Philippians • Epistle to Philemon • Epistle to the Romans • Epistle to Titus • First Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to Timothy • First Epistle to Timothy •
| General Epistles: |  Epistle of Jude • Epistle of James • Epistle to the Hebrews • First Epistle of John • First Epistle of Peter • Second Epistle of John • Second Epistle of Peter • Third Epistle of John •
Bible analysis: |  Apocalyptic literature • Authorship of the New Testament • Bible interpolation • Biblical sexism • Bibliolatry • Documentary hypothesis • Evidence for the Exodus • Gospels • Horizontal reading • King James Only • Pesher • Q gospel • Septuagint • Skeptic's Annotated Bible • Ten Commandments • Torah • Bible translation • Word of God • Biblical literalism • Biblical contradictions • List of mistakes made by God • Abomination • Firmament • G'Tach • Arsenokoites • Genealogy of Jesus • Nag Hammadi library • Noah's Ark • Annotated Bible • Slavery in the Bible • Examples of God personally killing people • Herod • The Brick Testament • Evidence against a recent creation • EvilBible.com • List of actions prohibited by the Bible • Biblical scientific errors •
| Bible translations: |  Cockney Bible • Douay-Rheims • Jefferson Bible • King James Only • Septuagint • Vetus Latina • Bible translation • Annotated Bible •
| Apocrypha: |  Didache • Apocrypha • Nag Hammadi library • Book of Judith • 2 Maccabees • 3 Maccabees • 4 Maccabees • Books of Enoch • Books of the Maccabees • Gospel of Judas • Gospel of Mary • Gospel of Philip • Gospel of Thomas • Infancy Gospel of James • Infancy Gospel of Thomas • 1 Maccabees •
Biblical figures: |  Abel • Cain • Ishmael • Jacob • Joseph of Arimathea • Joseph (Old Testament) • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Noah • Paul of Tarsus • Mary Magdalene • Lot • Goliath • Nephilim • Moses • YHWH • Amalekites • Baal • King David • Joseph (husband of Mary) • God • Jesus • Nimrod • Habakkuk • Adam and Eve • Herod • Pontius Pilate • Jezebel • Tamar • Judas Iscariot • Satan •
Bible woo: |  Jesus diet • Name it and claim it • Snake handling • Speaking in tongues • Spiritual warfare • The Bible Code • Gematria • Stigmata • Biblical longevity • Hanzi of Genesis • Dr. Bronner's Soap • Presidential Prayer Team • Trinity Broadcasting Network • Zecharia Sitchin • James Ussher • Creation Week • Zion Oil and Gas • The Drama of the Lost Disciples • Roman Piso • Jose Luis de Jesús • Prayer • Black Hebrew Israelites • Jonathan Otto • Benny Hinn • Presents Of God Ministry • Solfeggio frequencies • Ken Ham • Harold Camping • Institute for Creation Research • Steve Quayle • Kabbalah Center • Acharya S • Christian Identity • Peter J. Peters • Ezekiel's wheel • Creation Research • Biblical scientific foreknowledge • British Israelism •
| Scientific foreknowledge: |  Gaps between Science and the Bible • Scientific Facts in the Bible: 100 Reasons to Believe the Bible is Supernatural in Origin • Science Confirms the Bible • Eternal Productions: 101 Scientific Facts and Foreknowledge • Modern Science in the Bible • Biblical scientific foreknowledge •