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Quote by Laura Shannon

“According to Miriam Robbins Dexter, another possible Semitic root of Asherah is the Hebrew ʾāšar, 'to tread, to go straight on.' In the footsteps of the women, in their procession from water source to threshing ground under gentle raindrops from the sky, carrying their wooden pole dressed as a divine female figure to whom they pray for rain, I see how Asherah too, treads on. Even if hidden from view, her worship was not eradicated after all. It simply went underground, like streams of precious water. This water is there, for those with eyes to see. And it flows straight on.”

Quote by Laura Shannon

Book:Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree

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Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree

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“My name is so depthful, the casual observer only sees my surface. I invite you to dive into my essence, to explore my beauty and to share my visions. I am the tree, the grove, the coolness of the mist-filled orchard. Like tree-rings, I am multi-layered. Like leaves which rustle in the wind, I whisper in harmony with the energies of the land. I am bones, trunk, spinal column, sap, blood. We are the same, you and I. Play with me in the forests, in the loamy soil of the earth, in the salt-filled vessel of the oceans, in the rapids of fresh waters, in the root systems that connect us all. I fly and remain rooted. I reach out and stay centered. Singing is the workforce of my Goddesshood. My melodies lay out vibrational pathways for life’s journeys. My song-fueled undulations dance along with the tidal currents of the air. Time moves, landscapes change, the song remains. . .and holds within, the ancestral memories and collected wisdoms of the Great Mystery. I am the Great Goddess who birthed you. I am the egg, the seed, the sacred cauldron of life. The Song behind the song! Let me hold you, bathe you in my vibration, sing love songs. I will guide you to all the treasures I embody.”

Book:Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree

Source: Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree

“In my training as a psychologist and sex therapist, I have spent years helping others reclaim their bodies from the grip of trauma, repression, and disconnection. I have seen firsthand the ways in which the body becomes a battleground, the ways we learn to leave ourselves in order to just survive… to get by with the bare minimum. But I have also witnessed the profound healing that comes when we return—not just to sensation, but to reverence. When I move, when I breathe with awareness, when I touch my own skin with kindness, I am not merely engaging in self-care. I am performing a ritual of reclamation. I am standing at the base of the Mother Tree, placing my hands against her bark, feeling the pulse of something ancient move through me. This is what I invite those I work with into—not just healing, but remembering.” -Dr. Denise Renye, excerpt from “The Embodied Goddess: Healing, Sensuality, and the Legacy of Asherah” - featured in our upcoming anthology, Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Denise Renye

“To reclaim the Mother Tree is to reclaim ourselves. It is to honor the body as holy ground, to see pleasure as prayer, to root into the truth that we were never meant to be separate from the Divine. In my own life, this has meant surrendering to the wisdom of my own rhythms, embracing slowness, honoring desire, and trusting the deep knowing that lives in my body. For those of us who have spent years estranged from ourselves, this is not always an easy journey. There are times when the old stories—of unworthiness, of shame—rise up like ghosts among the roots. But the tree is patient. She waits for us to return, offering her strength when we feel weak, her shade when we need rest, her roots when we long for grounding.” -Dr. Denise Renye, excerpt from “The Embodied Goddess: Healing, Sensuality, and the Legacy of Asherah” - featured in our upcoming anthology, Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Denise Renye

“But you've always used words so wordily in crafty defense of your Trinity, although He never needed such defense before you got Him from me as a Unity.”

Humor Religion Christianity Judaism

Book:A Canticle For Leibowitz

Source: A Canticle For Leibowitz

“Fortunately for us, the roots of the mother tree were too deep for these redactors. Asherah can still be found throughout the texts if one looks closely. It is in the very fact that most of the biblical narrative is about unsuccessfully trying to eradicate her. The most glaring examples are how many of the kings and their wives were condemned by the Yahweh prophets for still paying homage to her. And the only kings who are judged good in the narrative are those who keep having to destroy any signs of her presence over and over again. -Excerpt from “Roots Too Deep for the Redactors,” featured in Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Duann Kier

“Asherah is the Great Mother Goddess and the Queen of Heaven. She is among the most powerful members of the Elohim, the host of heaven who came to earth. She taught us how to work with mother nature as an active life force of our planet, and she left us the Tree of Life as her representation. When we partake of her fruit as Eve did, our eyes are open to all knowledge and understanding. We become divine. We learn to look inward rather than outward for our reference points and find we are connected to all that there is—both the physical and nonphysical. There is no need to worship anyone or anything outside of ourselves for all is made of the same essence. -Excerpt from “Roots Too Deep for the Redactors,” featured in Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Duann Kier

“This time she will be coming with her own Elohim. These powerful ones will set the record straight about our origins and history, including religion. They will set the record straight about the Heresy of Monotheism—that the One Original Source of All Creation does not equate to one male god who demands obedience and worship at the threat of torture and death. We hasten her return by nurturing the mother tree of life still alive within each one of us. We ground our roots and fortify our trunks and spread our branches to the sky—connecting our place here on earth with her place in heaven. We stop giving our fruit to those who demand our blind faith and devotion whether they be family, friends, co-workers, bosses, businesses, religious institutions or political parties. We connect our roots with others who are of like mind and spirit and from where we give and receive nourishment. And we each celebrate her return in our own ways. We gather our wood. We kindle our fires. We pour our libations. We do our weaving. We knead our dough. We bake our cakes and mark them with her image. We make offerings to her on high places and under every green tree. She calls not for our worship, but for the embodiment of our divinity. -Excerpt from “Roots Too Deep for the Redactors,” featured in, Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Duann Kier

“The roots of the mother tree were too deep for the redactors of the biblical narrative, and her roots are still too deep for the archeologists who desire to relegate her representations to mere fertility or sex objects. That is not who she is and it is not who we are. She could not be eradicated. And neither can we. -Excerpt from “Roots Too Deep for the Redactors,” featured in, Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Duann Kier

“As a tree goddess, Asherah connects us all just as trees connect the earth to the sky. Yet, she, like trees, does more than that. In a way, perhaps, she is the Jewish version of Gaia. For, trees provide animals, including humans, with food, medicine, and shelter. Their leaves provide cool shade from the heat and their bodies warmth in the cold. Trees keep soil in place and displace the heat generated within cities. Trees also delight in the joy of existence and the renewal of the seasons as they bud and flower and their early lime green leaves emerge. Trees trap carbon from the atmosphere and are essential for mitigating the ravishes of patriarchal environmental destruction. We need to plant more of them, not just in the high places but everywhere. Excerpt from “Asherah and the Trees” - Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Ivy Helman

“If it wasn’t for the campaign of King Josiah, Asherah might still be a significant figure within Judaism. In the first temple, built by King Solomon, there were her ritual objects (2 Kings 23:4) and an image of her (2 Kings 23:6). In addition, women would spend time in the temple weaving for Asherah (2 Kings 23:7). She was worshipped on high places and poles were erected in her honor (2 Chronicles 14:3). In addition, throughout Canaan and the lands of Judah and Israel, where the Israelites lived, there was regular worship by the Israelites of various other deities as well: the sun, the moon, the stars, and the hosts of heaven (2 Kings 23:5). It was only with the reforms of King Josiah, who reigned from roughly 640 to 610 BCE, that the argument for monotheism came to the fore, and even he struggled to instill it resorting to violent clashes with adherents. In the end, his reforms did succeed, and it is often said that his ending of Israelite polytheism also signifies the end of the worship of Asherah and the other Israelite/Canaanite deities. While this is the case with other deities, it is not the case with Asherah. She appears in various forms with-in Judaism. Excerpt from “Asherah and the Trees” - featured Asherah: Roots of the Mother Tree.”

Author:Ivy Helman