The
word 'Asherah is from the root 'ashar, to be straight,
erect, or upright. From this comes the meaning, in a moral
sense, to be upright, hence, to prosper or be
happy. The 'Asherah was so called because it was something
set upright or erect in the ground, and worshipped.
The word occurs forty times, and only a careful study of each passage will give
a correct view.
Compared with this, all that men may think or say about the
'Asherah is of little value. The word is always rendered grove
or groves in the Authorized Version; and always left as a proper
name in the Revised Version.
From a conspectus of the passages, we learn that it was
either a living tree with the top cut off, and the stump or trunk fashioned into
a certain shape (Deuteronomy 16: It is often coupled with mazzevoth, or stone "pillars"
(Revised Version) (and rendered images in Authorized Version), connected with
Baal-worship.
That it could not have been in a "grove"
is clear from While it is distinguished from Ashtoreth the
goddess, it is yet associated with that goddess, Ashtoreth being
representative of the productive (or passive) principle of life;
and Baal being representative of the generative (or
active) principle.
The image which represents the Phoenician Ashtoreth
of Paphos, as the sole object of worship in her temple, was an upright
block of stone, anointed with oil, and covered with an embroidered
cloth.
Such stones are to be met with all over the Semitic world;
especially in Babylonia, in Syria, Palestine and Arabia. Even the Mahommedan
sacred stone (kaaba) at Mecca remains an object of reverence.
The place Beth-el was so called because of its anointed
stone. There was another Beth-el in Northern Israel.
Two columns of stone stood before every Phoenician temple.
Those at Tyre are described by Herodotus (ii.
44); and the "pillars of the sun" are mentioned in Like every form of "religion," it
had to do with the "flesh;" and hence, by the law of
evolution (which is seen operating only in human affairs) it soon became
corrupted. Evolution is seen in the progress of man's works, because he begins
from ignorance, and goes on learning by his mistakes and failures. From the
moment he ends his works devolution at once sets in and deterioration begins.
This is specially true in the "religious" sphere. All
religions have become corrupt.
So with the 'Asherah. Originally a tree,
symbolical of the "tree of life," it was an object of
reverence and veneration. Then came the perversion of the earlier idea which
simply honoured the origin of life; and it was corrupted and debased into the
organ of procreation, which was symbolized by the form and shape given to the 'Asherah.
It was the Phallus image of Isaiah 57: These symbols, in turn, became the incentive to all forms
of impurity which were part of its libidinous worship, with the swarms of "devotees"
involved in its obscene orgies.
The serpent was accepted as the symbol of the nexus, and
was thus associated with the "pillar" and the "tree".
Hence, it too became an object of worship.
The principal factor in this form of Canaanite idolatry is
that it was not a primitive conception of a religious rite, but the
corruption of an earlier idea which began with honouring the origin of
life.
All the ancient systems of idolatry, connected with
Astrology and Mythology, etc., were, in the same way, not original inventions of
what was new; but the corruption of what was old, and the perversion of
primitive truth.
There can be no doubt about its being, in its essence, Phallic
worship pure and simple, whatever may have been its origin. This abomination was
common to all the ancient nations; and relics of it are found to-day in various
forms, in India and elsewhere. The menhirs of the Celtic religion
are the true descendants of the 'Asherim.
At first it was centred in the Canaanitish nations; and
from them it spread to the others. It was the great abomination of Canaan, and
that is one reason why the Canaanites, as the descendants of the N It led to Israel's banishment from the land; and
subsequently to that of Judah's.
It is still preserved in veiled language in secret
fraternities, Freemasonry, Theosophy A recrudescence of this is more than hinted at; and it will
be better understood when "the abomination" of
Antichrist shall stand once again The following passages will show further the nature of this
form of idolatry :- Jeremiah 5: The word 'Asherah is noted in the margin of
each passage where it occurs in The Companion Bible, but the
following complete list is given to put the student in possession of the whole
of the data; and thus to enable him to form his own conclusions.
Exodus 34:
Deuteronomy 7:5;
12:3;
16:21.
Judges 3:7;
6:25, 26, 28, 30.
1
Kings 14:15, 23;
15:13;
16:33;
18:19
(sing).
2
Kings 13:6;
17:10, 16;
18:4;
21:3, 7;
23:4, 6, 7, 14, 15.
2
Chronicles 14:3;
15:16;
17:6;
19:3;
24:18;
31:1;
33:3, 19;
34:3, 4, 7.
Isaiah 17:8;
27:9.
Jeremiah 17:2.
Micah 5:14.
1 See The Perfect Way, page 2, and The Computation of 666, pages 105-9. 2 Matthew 24:15; compare Daniel 9:27; 12:11.