THE ASHERAH POLE, ASSY, ASSYA
THE ASHERAH POLE is described, or called a sacred pole, it is said to be made of wood. A pole or more correctly poles, straped together. It was a Totem like object standing close to the altar in early Shemitic sanctuaries. It was part of the equipment of the temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem, till that is, the Deuteronomic reformation of Josiah (2 Kings 23:6).
The 1234 B.C. Cypriot 11cm high stand above, which I recognise as a bronze age cibarium, holds within it what look like stylised trees or straped together poles, which I posit is an Asherah Pole, in the British museum.
Aša is a word of Babylonian origin that established the graphic SS, to represent the idea of the mean in subjective and objective reality. The reality that embraces all existence. Recognized in it is the great cosmic principle since all things happen according to it.
In Hebrew the plural of "ashera" is "asherim," it is said to denote statues, images, columns, or pillars.
ASSA or ASHA, says the Jewish Encyclopedia is a name of Babylonian origin. ASSA is the Accadian name for the Myrtle, Aphrodites Tree, the one that gave birth to Adonis the resultant of sacred prostitutio. Assa and Asy are both generated from the SS Akkadian root both representing the great cosmic principal, one as love and the other as Myrtle the ulimate symbol of UNITY. For the sea people of the Mediteranean it was "ASU,' the cuneiform tablets from Nineveh read therapeutic “asu.” Asi' as love, see Luwian Dic. In Hittite assija is too love, the original name of Cyprus was Asy, in Latin As- stands for union.
An Ashu, Ashur, or Assu-Rah, was referred to as the "Assyrian Tree of Life." The original Assyrian representation of the concept 'Ashur' was a pillar with seven branches on each side surmounted by a globular flower with three projecting rays, it was their metaphysical symbol. On the banks of the Euphrates the prayer uttered before the Ashur was to the 'Merciful One, in the image of EL who was later said to raise the dead back to life'. The 'Merciful One,' was also referred to, as the higher abstract triad within and without of man; the triad of birth, life and death, which was also symbolized by the globular bud or flower with three rays.
According to the wiki, an Asherah pole is a sacred tree or poles that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El.
Asherah , Hebrew: אֲשֵׁרָה), in West Semitic mythology is mother goddess, who appears in a number of ancient sources including Akkadian writings by the name of Ashe ra tum/Ashe ra tu and in Hittite as Ashe rdu(s).
Asherah as a symbol of unity is generally considered as close to all other fertility goddesses especially with the Ugaritic goddess ishtar, ester,Astarte/Aphrodite and Hadassah.Macrocosmic Hwh (Eve) (Gen 3:14,15): In these verses, YHWH threatens both Eve and the serpent that tricked her into eating the forbidden fruit: “YHWH said to the serpent because you have done this, cursed are you above all the cattle and all of the wild animals; you shall crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman (Eve), between her offspring and your offspring, he (her male offspring) will bruise you in your head and you shall bruise him in his heel.” The reference in these verses is to the constellation Virgo whose feet are pointed toward the constellation Serpens (the Serpent). Above both constellations is the constellation Bootes. This constellation was known as Enlil to the Sumerians. Enlil was the patron of farmers, the profession of Adam and his offspring.
Asherah/Athirat as Eve/Hwh: Asherah is the goddess mentioned throughout the Old Testament. She began her reign as an Aegean goddess of the seas which explains why her name means ‘sea treader’ in the Canaanite language of Ugarit. This goddess was merged with the Egyptian goddess, Hathor, during the Egyptian occupation of the Negev and Edom. The Egyptians named this merged goddess, Qetesh; the Egyptian pronunciation of the Hebrew word ‘qodesh’ which means holy. As a goddess adopted by the Semites who traded with the Aegean Islanders and were occupied by the Egyptians, she became the consort of El, the Queen of Heaven and the Creatrix of the gods. Asherah was also incorporated into the character of Eve/Hwh. Her name, Asherah, is often translated as ‘groves’ in the King James Bible (See Ex 34:13, Deut 7:5, 12:3, Jdg 3:7, 1 K 14:15 etc., etc.). The sycamore tree was sacred to Hathor/Qetesh which explains the presence of ‘poles’ or ‘groves’ next to the Hebrew altars. The tree of knowledge of good and evil (tree of wisdom or knowledge of magic and the healing arts), the serpent and Hwh (meaning serpent) also represented the goddess Athirat/Asherah, wife of El/Baal/YHWH/Wadd.
Hawa or Chawa (Eve) was an alternate name for Athirat/Asherah/Ilat, who was represented by the sacred sycamore tree or Asherah pole beside the altars of both Baal and El. In Serabit El Hadem she was known as Dat Bathani or Lady of the Serpent. In Phoenicia she was known as ‘rbt chawa ‘lt’ or Lady Snake Goddess. She was identified with the Egyptian goddess Hathor by the Kenite/Midianite miners at Timna. Asherah/Athirat as the goddess of Wisdom and consort of El/YHWH is described in Proverbs 8:22-31 and 9:1-6.
Athirat/Asherah, as a co-creator or demiurge, would have been equal to El/YHWH since she was uncreated and with him in the beginning (see Proverbs 8). As Hwh, she shared the same name as YHWH (het & chet are interchangeable in Semitic languages) which was a confirmation of her equal status. The epithet assigned to YHWH, ahyah asher ahyah, which is often translated as ‘I am that I am’, may be a formula praising Asherah. The middle word, ashr, may be a truncated form of her name which is spelled Ashrh in Hebrew. The ‘h’ suffix may have been chopped off by the Masoretes or the original Hebrew authors who then co-opted a phrase of praise to Asherah and applied it to YHWH. The Bible contains numerous verses which were originally written in praise of the Canaanite gods and applied them to YHWH. Psalm 82 is an excellent example of this use of Canaanite mythology in the Bible.
YHWH, like Asherah, was also represented by a serpent (nehushtan) which indicated that both gods began as serpent cults associated with trees. So, there was rivalry between the patriarchal serpent cult of YHWH and the corresponding matriarchal serpent cult of Athirat/Hwh. Yahwists were rigid proponents of ‘patriarchism’. Hwh/Athirat had to go, so the authors of Genesis had YHWH cripple her ophic icon and expel her from the Garden of Eden to live in pain and die a mortal death. That left YHWH, the patriarchal serpent creator god, who still shared her name, in control of both her icon snake and her tree. Asherah/Athirat had her own priestly cult called the Qadeshot meaning the ‘holy ones’. YHWH’s priestly cult was the Lawiat (Levites) meaning the ‘coiling ones’.
The word ASY or ASHI is a triliteral, a triad, which affirms the idea of god/unity/love. Thus the symbol, sigil or graphic S, or SS must be the root for it represented the idea elusive mysterious god particle, love or unity or the goddess or the Myrtle. S, the letter represents the idea of cause of unity. The SS in Assah, suggests the "still point" the bridge the "golden mean," the One with the first and last of every earth creation.
ACE, ISSI, OSY, ASSY, AES all suggest the cause of a union, or a monad, a balance, a pair, BR. "As" in Latin and French represents UNION. AZA in Turkish is like the space between two complimentary opposites, like say the copula is in a verb uniting subjective with objective, love and desire between a man and a woman, the space that connects two poles together, a knot or a hinge between the door and the post a BRidge between two ends and AZI again in Turkish is the name for the Bosphorus passage into
Asherah, articulated what is the last of the four spiritual worlds of the Cabala - Aẓilut, Beriah, Yeẓirah, 'Asiyah. According to the system of the Palestinian Cabala, 'Asiyah is the lowest of the spiritual worlds containing the Ten Heavens and the whole system of mundane Creation. The light of the Sefirot emanates from these Ten Heavens, which are called the "Ten Sefirot of 'Asiyah"; and through them spirituality and piety are imparted to the realm of matter. This is the seat of the dark and impure powers (Cordovero, "Pardes Rimmonim," (The garden of Pomegranates.)
The "Material World." is the final, the fourth in a logical progression and said to be the most dense of the four Kabalistic worlds or stages of manifestation. Assiah is a conceptual word/logos that is synonymous with any earthly materialization. Ashiah makes its appearance in the making of the material world, the making, the creating; therefore it could be said to be the cause, the 3 that enters the 4, the cayse of the union of Being and Becoming of the OneAll." The unity within diversity, the eternal element.
Asah is the most relevant Hebrew synonym for bara. Bara translates as “maker” or “doer” it is a verb that represents the eternal cycle, the One with the first and last of every earth creation. Bria in the Veda also represents, the flow, as in the eternal cycle. This logical abstraction, this idea of a live word/verb, a logos in triad, as the holy spirit within the phenomenal world of every universe is a singular universal truth. ASY, is the power within all manifestation responsible for every living thing.
Bara, or the phonemes BandR were the first and last of the cycle, the circa, translating to 'Poisis' in Greek, a combining form, as is A-Z, or Bau and Tau in Hebrew. If I am on target in Hebrew as assah and bara express, the OneAll.
ASY = 
ASY/ASHA the uniting principal of creation, the ancient Egyptian name for Cyprus was expresed as above in Hiorogliph. For more detail on this Hierogliph see post on 'Trilingual' that posits that Asy was substituted by Kypri as the name for Cyprus, and how the root consonant 'K' become the graphic representing the same still-point of conjunction, as the graphic SS.
The Cypriot "KY" symbol, which you can see on the coin below and in the stylized form is the Asherah Pole, the Key Pole. the Asy Pole. The coin is marked by the Greek word KOINON which stands for union, suggests the AllOne, a thing that makes common, the cause of unity. The Koi of Non (heaven) the catalist that trigger creation. Today the word implies and is used to suggest universal labor, a collective, workers union!
To repeat the Dictionaries say that As- means (to be) from [IE *es- (to be)]. In the Luwian Dic. Asi' means (to love). In Hittite assija means (to love). In th Luwian Dic and also in Latin it is used for union. As in Latin in French it is for union. As is the word for conjunction in English, now that should seal it for the sceptic is as good as gold?
ASSAY is the measure ie gold in the balance. ACE, ISSI, OSY, ASSY, AES ( old post) all suggest union, unity as in the "MONAD" the cause of a compound, the force that binds two into one and lives as a triad. The seed of life two in one. EN-OSIS in Greek is the call for union, unity.
Which brings me to the still point, SUNDAY. The missing seventh in the Asherah Pole or the KY Cypriot root abjad phoneme. The missing SEVENTH in the KEY or KY or ASY. I posite that the missing seventh is the ASHY and or KY, is the unseen positive or negative, the black or white or grey power that unites "All", both on the first day of creation as well as creation as in the continous "becoming of the bocoming of the becoming".
ASSAY is the measure ie gold in the balance. ACE, ISSI, OSY, ASSY, AES ( old post) all suggest union, unity as in the "MONAD" the cause of a compound, the force that binds two into one and lives as a triad. The seed of life two in one. EN-OSIS in Greek is the call for union
The Rah, or Ma suffix to the triad ASHY could represent the fourth. The fourth through which the triadic cause manifests. Like in Ashy/Union through Rah or Ashy/Union through Ma. Each a regenerative power, like water and fire. Ashera was known as the consort of Yahweh, EL then Ba then Ya, each were the Lords of Being and of the "Becoming of the Becoming of the Becoming"
Ashima, was a designation, or the Sign-of-Baal or even the Name-of-Baal. In its Aram [region of Syria] form the meaning or 'the Name.' As such it is said that it would likely refer also to Asherah of the Sea the consort of El. Designations such as the Face-of-Baal, Name-of-Baal, are not uncommon for a goddess, like for example my posit for Baphos in Cyprus, I have "Light of Ba". This seems to indicate that the goddess in each case like place names, is a particularized manifestation of Baal.
ASHI (Asi) is also the daughter of Ahura Mazda and Spenta Armaiti. Asi was the sister of Sraosha. Love and human sexuality is what the name is translated to there. Offerings of Haoma mixed with milk were made in her honor "Those who sacrifice with libations to Asi sacrifice with libations to Mithra." (Piras: 1996).
Oh well as always the Indus valley pops its head; Varan-asi, or BaRa-n-ASY root p-r-s, was the City of
The Assi
ASY/ALASSYA/ASE/ASY/ASHIRAH/ASSIA/ASYTR/ ASHIRA are all designations that allude to the mystery of "existence," the central cause of unity in diversity, the most vital mystery, the cause of unity. It seems that no matter how one defines existence, one ends up with the very early sound of ASY, ie ASIA. More often than not the reference is feminine. I posit again that the root A-s-y like the root K-p-r both allude in IE to the idea of god as triunity; the governing principal of life. The Keeper.
ASHUR was always represented as the solar disc with wings and appearing frequently in Assyrian iconography with horns. The evidence indicates that AS of ASSUR represented the liquid fire with them, the energy that flowed from the sun, not the sun itself, but the blue flame and all else one associates with the sun, its light and potency became the fire on earth, the Reh and Rah as masculine and feminine. Many Assyrian kings had names that included the name Ashur, including, above all, Ashurnasirpal, Esarhaddon (Ashur-aha-iddina), and Ashurbanipal.
The symbol of the masculine sun god Ashur/Shamash was a disc, from which flowed streams of firewater; his rays apparently were "fertilizing tears", like the rays of the Egyptian sun god Ra. Horus, the Egyptian falcon god, was also symbolized as the winged solar disc.
ASHERA the Canaanite mother goddess was associated with lions, serpents, and most importantly with sacred trees. The word “asherah” in the Bible, most often refers to a stylized wooden tree. Asherah originally had roots in many of the early cultures of the Ancient Near East. Especially in the literature of ancient Ugarit.
I believe that the original AHERAH POLE, looked exactly like the picture above, and that it was originally made with the cut branches of a WILLOW tree. I made the one above, it is an exact copy of the original seen on the Cypriot 11cm high cibarium in bronze. Sacred it appears, very remenicent of the wooden pole or poles, said to be standing close to the altar in early Shemitic sanctuaries, part of the equipment of the temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem till the Deuteronomic reformation of Josiah. I for one am sure that I have an exact representation of the Asherah Pole in all its original stylized glory, on the Cypriot stand above, where it stans as the central focul point of unity, attracting the craftsmen to bring together the fruits of their labors, while the mainman with the HARP assists by setting the mood of unity, harmonically and with voice uniting the above and below as well as uniting the four corners of the world, the elemental powers, EarthAirFireWater, the four with the triad from above.
According to the Empedocles, a Greek philosopher, scientist and healer who lived in Sicily in the fifth century B.C., all matter is comprised of four "roots" or elements of earth, air, fire and water. Fire and air are outwardly reaching elements, reaching up and out, whereas earth and water turn inward and downward.
In his Tetrasomia, or Doctrine of the Four Elements, Empedocles described these elements not only as physical manifestations or material substances, but also as spiritual essences. He associated these elements with four Greek gods and goddesses - air with Zeus, earth with Hera, fire with Hades, and water with Nestis (believed to be Persephone):
Now hear the fourfold roots of everything:
Enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus
And Nestis, moistening mortal springs with tears.
Enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus
And Nestis, moistening mortal springs with tears.
In Empedocles' philosophy, the interaction of the four elements is influenced by the relationship between the two great life energies of Love and Strife:
Empedocles explained that there are two great living forces in the universe, which he called Love (Philotês) and Strife (Neikos) and assigned to Aphrodite and Ares. According to Hesiod, the Goddess Love and the God Strife, offspring of Night (Nux), were ancient deities, predating the Olympians. The original Greek golden age was the Reign of Aphrodite, when all things were united and Lovepermeated the length and breadth of the well-rounded cosmic sphere. But Strife, as the River Styx surrounding the Sphere, broke its Unity, and cleaved the One into Many. It divided the four elements, which ever since combine and separate under the opposing actions of Love and Strife to produce the changing world with its manifold objects and qualities. As Heraclitus said, "Through Strife all things come into being." Empedocles said that Strife also divided the one immortal soul of Love into many individual souls, each comprising both Love and Strife in some proportion; these immortal souls are reborn time and again into mortal bodies, which are animated by mortal souls compounded from the four elements.
from Exercise for Unity by Apollonius Sophistes
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/EaU.html
from Exercise for Unity by Apollonius Sophistes
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~mclennan/BA/EaU.html
Empedocles explains the nature of the universe through the interaction of two governing principles, Love and Strife, on four primary elements. Unlike his predecessors, Empedocles claims that there are four elements in the universe; air, fire, earth, and water. Particular and indestructible, these elements foreshadow later developments in atomic theory by philosophers such as Leucippus and Democritus. Earlier philosophers believed that the quality of matter depends on the quantity of a particular element.....
Empedocles adds a moral dimension to his argument by associating Love with good and Strife with evil. The influence of each principle waxes and wanes in a cycle of opposition that Empedocles calls "The Vortex." At the beginning of time, Love completely dominated the universe. As a consequence, the four elements were unified into a sphere and segregated according to their type-- a quarter of the sphere was water, a quarter was air, and the remaining half was divided equally by earth and fire. However, with the introduction of Strife "The Sphere" was gradually dissolved, slowly scattering the elements throughout the universe. The complete dissolution of The Sphere was achieved by the eventual predominance of Strife. However, Love began to gather strength again, causing the elements to congregate in clusters, and thereby creating life. Eventually, the elements will form a second unity, a second "Sphere," and the cycle will reset.
from Empedocles of Akragas by Jesse Weidman:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/GreekScience/Students/Jesse/Jesse.html
from Empedocles of Akragas by Jesse Weidman:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/GreekScience/Students/Jesse/Jesse.html
THE ASSYRIAN name for Cyprus 2345 B.C. which is the earlyest referrence we have was "Ki" or Gi, pronounced KEY in English and in Greek, writen KY/Ku.
The Cypriot Bronze Age Stand shown above, I call the Ciborium/Kyborium was dug up in my back yard in Cyprus, at Curium to be exact. It is dated, approximately 1300 B.C. I write volumes about it in my posts, but what I posit is that it is a perfect representation of the Legend and tradition that Kinyras Father Sandan, came to Cyprus with a large clan about the year 1450 B.C. and brought with him the latest technology of the then industrial world, (1. the potters wheel. 2. the industrial Loom. 3. the high tempreture Furnace. Plus most importantly for enlightenment he brought the knowledge of the word the song and the heavenly Lyre/Kinar/angle Harp).
ASHIA THE MATERIAL WORLD. THE ABOVE EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPH READS ASHIA, THE BRONZE AGE NAME FOR CYPRUS. THE FIRST SYMBOL A FEATHER STANDS FOR THE FIRST, THE ONE, A BEGINNING. THE SECOND SYMBOL I SEE AS A GRAPHIC THAT SUGGESTS A UNITING IN MOTION IN FLOW, IN TIME AND THE THIRD TWO FEATHERS STAND FOR TWO, DYAD, MANY, THE RESULTANT. THE FORTH, IS THE A DETERMINATE. A SYMBOL THAT REPRESENTS LAND, TERRA, PLACE, THE EARTH THE FOURTH. THE FIRST FEATHER SOUNDS OUT AI THE SECOND SS, THE THIRD IA, TOGETHER THE TRIAD ARTICULATES THE LOGOS, AS THE PLACE NAME, THE HOLY CREATIVE SPIRIT. AISSIA; ASY.
For what it is worth 'Asherah' when translated from the Bible, came to mean "groves" in old English grove was written graf . In Norwegian greivla translates as to intertwine. I believe the translation of Asherah would make more sense as "graft" instead of grove?
Back to KYPRI and the symbol on the stand the ASHERA or the TREE OF LIFE KNOWLEDGE.
The IX monogram or XI monogram is a type of early Christian monogram looking like the spokes of a wheel, sometimes within a circle. The IX monogram is formed by the combination of the letter "I" or Iota for Iesous which before the Greek change to Iota, the phoneme was represented by the Y, and "X" or Chi was for Christos. The spokes often stand-alone, without the circle.
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