• Septimaeus@infosec.pub
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    23 hours ago
    Background

    YHWH (“Yahweh”) was the storm god of the Canaanite pantheon that was likely referred to as the “host” or “council” in the Old Testament book of Job. El was the “father” god or head of that pantheon. When gendered in the text, both El and YHWH were male, but are technically considered genderless. Some have speculated that the Shekhinah represents an expression of the feminine aspect of YHWH, but no Abrahamic religion officially regards either YHWH or El as gendered.

    Judaic tradition championed the storm god YHWH above the other gods, perhaps due to the oral tradition of a storm parting the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) described in Exodus. Other gods in the pantheon came to be regarded as pagan/false, and their worship was considered idolatry (religious infidelity) but the older religious traditions proved difficult to stamp out, with numerous examples of the Israelites turning to the old gods and being punished for it.

    One such instance in the book of Hosea (echoed in Isaiah and Jeremiah) detailed an old tradition of offering “sacred raisin cakes” and “flagons of wine” to an unnamed god.

    That god was almost certainly Asherah, aka Ishtar, Esther, “Queen of Heaven,” and “She of the Womb” in different surviving tablets. She is named many times in the Hebrew text, more often than Ba’al, another prominent god of the Canaanite pantheon.

    Asherah was a fertility goddess, the wife of El, and sister to YHWH (sometimes consort; pantheons are often pro-incest). Asherah’s religious tradition featured the baking of raisin cakes in the shape of her body and the pouring of wine into the earth, matching the traditions described in the Hebrew text.

    So to answer your question, while none of the Abrahamic religions officially worship a god with an exclusive female gender identity, their holy books technically do recognize at least one goddess, and that’s Asherah.

    BONUS: her raisin cakes are still made in the Jewish tradition during Purim, though they are now triangular, contain various fillings, and are named after Haman, the villain of Esther’s story. They’re quite good.