The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 3.3 Asherah 3

In looking at the Canaanite gods and their similarities to the Egyptian gods, remember, Canaan was the son of Ham, the son of Noah, who survived the flood, probably bringing that theology with him from Cainite theology. Remember too, that Ham’s people went down into Egypt. Abraham encountered this there as well, but these gods were part of the religion that Abraham was raised up under, and that his father Terah made, which is why his father wanted them to go to Canaan, and subsequently caused the “delay” he is named for.

The claim concerning these goddesses is that the Hebrew women worshiped them because they felt no connectivity to an all male Hebrew God. In light of the fact that women were treated much like cattle and property, this is almost understandable, but scripture is specific about not worshiping false gods. This will bring us back into present times, but before I go there, there are a few more things about this goddess that you need to know; her identity in other cultures so that you will recognize her and be able to distinguish between falsehoods and the truth. Then I will show you where all of this originates from.

Hathor was worshipped in Canaan in the eleventh century BC, which at that time was ruled by Egypt, at her holy city of Hazor, or Tel Hazor which the Old Testament claims was destroyed by Joshua (Joshua 11:13, 21).

Hathor

The Sinai Tablets show that the Hebrew workers in the mines of Sinai about 1500 BC worshipped Hathor, whom they identified with their goddess Astarte. Some theories state that the golden calf mentioned in the Bible was meant to refer to a statue of the goddess Hathor (Exodus 32:4-32:6.).

The Greeks, who became rulers of Egypt for three hundred years before the Roman domination in 31 BC, also loved Hathor and equated her with their own goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite.

When Horus became identified as Ra in the changing Egyptian pantheon, under the name Ra-Horakhty, Hathor’s position became unclear, since in later myths she had been the wife of Ra, but in earlier myths she was the mother of Horus. Hathor became identified only as the mother of the new sun god. However, this left open the unsolved question of how Hathor could be his mother, since this would imply that Ra-Herakhty was a child of Hathor, rather than a creator. Such inconsistencies developed as the Egyptian pantheon changed over the thousands of years becoming very complex, and some were never resolved.

In areas where the cult of Thoth became strong, Thoth was identified as the creator, leading to it being said that Thoth was the father of Ra-Horakhty, thus in this version Hathor, as the mother of Ra-Horakhty, was referred to as Thoth’s wife. In this version of what is called the Ogdoad cosmogeny, Ra-Herakhty was depicted as a young child, often referred to as Neferhor. When considered the wife of Thoth, Hathor often was depicted as a woman nursing her child.

Some of the Black Madonna icons are believed by some to derive from depictions of ancient goddesses, in particular the Egyptian Goddess Isis with her child Horus sitting on her lap.

There is no dispute that many ancient cultures worshipped female deities who match the modern conception of a “mother goddess” as part of their pantheons. The following shows the many names given to these deities in different parts of the world, but it is one and the same…the same false god we first hear of from Eygpt. For example, as you saw above, the Hathor and Isis’ name changes and inconsistencies were all concerning the same deity. So the following are examples from different parts of the world. Also, please note the sun shaped dial or crown on her head. That represents the sun god Baal or Ra as he was known in Egypt. That sun crown moved in position from the top of the head to the back of the head, surrounding or illuminating it in light as the gods/goddesses evolved within different cultures.

The goddess Asherah, whose worship Jeremiah so vehemently opposed, was worshipped in ancient Israel and Judah as the consort of Yahweh and Queen of Heaven (the Hebrews baked small cakes for her festival):

Asherah’s name means “Lady of the Sea,” and she was considered the “tree of life” by her followers. (I think this rendering resembles Susan Lucci.)

Her followers believe that Moses and Aaron both carried one of these Asherah “poles” as a sacred staff of power, and that the children of Israel were once dramatically healed simply by gazing at the staff with serpents suspended from it. This symbol, the snakes and the staff, has become the modern universal symbol for doctors and healers.* Asherah was also widely known in the Middle Eastern ancient world as a Goddess of Healing.  

This looks so much like an accurate depiction of the bondage of serving an idol. Other representations of this symbol are as follows:

Examples of the original version:

“Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.”

—Jeremiah 7:17–18

” A rudely carved wooden statue planted on the ground of the house was Asherah’s symbol, and sometimes a clay statue without legs. Her cult images— “idols”— were found also in forests, carved on living trees, or in the form of poles beside altars that were placed at the side of some roads. Asherah poles are mentioned in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy, Judges, the Books of Kings, the second Book of Chronicles, and the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah.

The Cross version: