Asherah

If, like Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code, you think the Church gave Mary Magdalene a hard time, just take a look at what they’ve done to Asherah.

According to several on-line articles, and an upcoming BBC television series, early Hebrews worshipped Asherah as God’s wife, but when they decided to go mono-theistic, she was all but deleted from the bible.

Here’s a link to one of the stories - God's Wife

Using an on-line searchable Bible brings up several references to Asherah – none of them flattering – and the King James Version doesn’t even mention her by name, calling her “the Grove.”

Part of the problem may have been that Asherah was a little too sharing.  The Canaanites thought she was the wife of El, and the mother of Baal.  Once Baal killed his father and took over the god business, she also became Baal’s wife.

Another possible reason the Jews dumped her is that she was

(a) Goddess of the sea, and

(b) Goddess of fertility. 

If you were a tribe of goat wranglers, wandering in the desert, she probably wouldn’t be a huge priority to you, either.