Asherah--Hebrew: אֲשֵׁרָה, in Semitic mythology, is a mother goddess, who appears in a number of ancient sources including Akkadian writings by various names. The Book of Jeremiah written circa 628 BC possibly refers to Asherah when it uses the title "Queen of Heaven" (Hebrew: לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם) in Jer 7:18 and Jer 44:17–19, 25.[5] ( I can hear the catholics roaring in protest already!)
In Israel and Judah
Scholars have claimed that Asherah was edited out of the Bible and that most Israelites worshiped multiple gods, including Asherah, before 586 B.C. [8] The majority of biblical scholars the world over now accept that Asherah at one time was worshiped as the consort of Yahweh (the national god of Israel).[9] The evidence includes, for example, an 8th century combination of iconography and inscriptions discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud in the northern Sinai desert[10] where a storage jar shows three anthropomorphic figures and an inscription that refers to "Yahweh … and his Asherah".[11][12] Further evidence includes the many female figurines unearthed in ancient Israel, supporting the view that Asherah functioned as a goddess and consort of Yahweh and was worshiped as the Queen of Heaven.[11] Then Yahweh decides that he wants to be the only god in the pantheon and sets about erasing his "queen of heaven"--and other co-deities--from sight.
1. Judges 3:7 [ Othniel ] So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs.
2. 1 Kings 15:13 Also he removed Maachah his grandmother from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah. And Asa cut down her obscene image and burned it by the Brook Kidron.
3. 1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
4. 2 Kings 21:7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; (apparently a no-no to Yahweh, but he didn't seem to have the power to stop this "blasphemy" from happening).
5. 2 Kings 23:4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
6. 2 Kings 23:7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah (pole).
Let's see if we can stir things up a bit. All other gods in mythology had wives, as well as children. Was it Yahweh who denied his wife? Or was it the jealous, male-centric writers of the torah/bible who threw her out of Jewish mythology? Only the blue lettering is my work. Credits include Wikipedia, biblegateway.com, and Patti Wigington's pagan newsletter.
Since I believe that man created gods and religion, it would have to have been a patriarchal society and the men who ruled it that decided to erase any mention of female deities, and men who decided to remove any images or references in their "holy" book that challenged the notion of a single, male deity.
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