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This Is Appendix 42 From The Companion Bible. 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:
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. |