In ancient Semitic religions, a goddess or her sacred symbol (often a wooden pole or tree) representing fertility and the divine feminine.
From Hebrew 'Asherah,' the name of an ancient Canaanite/Ugaritic goddess; the word refers both to the deity and to wooden cult objects used in her worship.
Asherah was so important in ancient Levantine religion that her symbols were found in Israelite homes for centuries—the Bible's repeated commands to destroy 'Asherahs' shows how fierce the competition was between old goddess worship and newer monotheistic beliefs.
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