| “ | Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be, Michael. The measure of a person, be it a human, an angel, a god, or demon, is how well they succeed at being who they are. | „ |
| ~ Asherah to Michael |
Asherah, also spelled Ashera, is the wife of God and the co-creator of existence alongside Him.
Overview[]
She is also the mother of the angels and the creator of the Primordial gods thus being the progenitor of the deities the humans have come to know and worship in mythology and culture.
In Semitic mythology She was a major northwest Semitic mother goddess, appearing also in Akkadian sources as Ashratu, in Hittite as Asherdu and in Ugaritic as Athirat. She was the consort of the chief deity El and the mother of 70 other gods.
History[]
Genesis[]
In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness. An endless, shapeless, and formless void of nothingness. The only things that existed at the time was God and Asherah alongside Night and Chaos whom were the void. Asherah was present when God declared "Let There Be Light!" and when the light cast a shadow upon the seas of Chaos, the shadow took the form of Azathoth which became the Shadow of God. Azathoth was exposed to Creation which brought about its anger and began a terrible war, with them having their own creations to fight with them.
Her role during the battle between God and Azathoth is mostly unknown as the ancient manuscripts in both Heaven and Earth do not detail Her partaking in the conflicts at all, although this is likely due to Her husband forbidding Her from interfering as She is integral to His plans. This was proven to be somewhat untrue as during the battle it was She that breathed life energies into the waters of chaos that took the shape of the Primordials whom then assisted the Almighty, showing that She, in some way, did interfere but only to aid Her consort. Moreover, Asherah also helped in the creation of the first five angels that being Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel in that order for them to help in combating against the Ogdru Jahad that were spawned from Azathoth.
Mother of Creation[]
After the war and the creation of all existence, Asherah settled within the Pleroma, the highest of Heavens next to the Empyrean, the abode of God, and the nexus of all life and creation itself, becoming its very source while having equal share in ruling all of creation as well. On the sixth day, Asherah and God created the angels who acted as both their emissaries and soldiers. While the Primordials recognize Her as their mother alongside the Second-Generation Primordials, the gods that came after are unaware of Her existence. Asherah also allowed the Primordials to the Earth, where they would reproduce and spawn the countless polytheistic pantheons of deities. These polytheistic deities protected the Earth from the Ogdru Hem, the spawn of the Ogdru Jahad.
After Asherah and God plant the Tree of Life, the sovereigns begin to rest on the seventh day after the task was done. It is said that they rested beneath the Tree of Life, where the aroma from the dews from its leaves gave them comfort. As they rested, the inexhaustible profusion of their thoughts overflow, and a new being, Barbelo, emerges from that intellectual flood which traversed through the stem of the tree, and blossomed into a flower. From the flower, emerged Barbelo, the first emanation. And this resulted in the spontaneous emergence of other Aeons from the Tree of Life, becoming the conceptual embodiments of principles for creation and all that dwell within it.
Despite the defeat and imprisonment of the Old Ones, Asherah was convinced that the threat of these Eldritch abominations would loom over them in the foreseeable future. As a result, she created seven individual primordial entities whom were named the Sentinels of Creation or the Light Sentinels. They were then given seven spears which were said to be more than capable of killing an Old One even one as powerful as Nyarlathotep himself. As eons pass, the Aeons would tend to Asherah's gardens and the Tree while the Sentinels protected her. Aeons were regarded as gardening aids for Asherah, helping Her cultivate all of creation through their principles.
Leaving the Family[]
However, Her stay within Heaven and with her family would not be for long. For it is said that after Lucifer's rebellion, the destruction of the Sentinels, and the fall of the Watchers, Asherah could bear it no longer seeing how much Her family was destroyed by Her consort's decisions. Some believe that what truly made Her leave was when God forbade Asherah from seeing Lucifer which was said to be a decision that He regretted ever since. It is also revealed that when Lucifer and his cohorts were banished, Asherah confronted Yahweh, angered by His decision, and pleaded with Him to reverse His decision but He shut Her down each time.
Unbeknownst to God, however, Asherah has been visiting Lucifer in secret from time to time and would send him books to read, doing everything in Her power to make him comfortable and not caring that She is going against Her husband's orders. Asherah also tried to reassure him that he was loved and an integral part of the family. She then emphasized that everything his Father did was for a purpose but it was not satisfying for Lucifer though he did appreciate Her comforting presence. After several visits, Asherah informed Lucifer that Her current one would be the last which angered the Morning Star considerably and made him believe that She was abandoning him like his Father and siblings did. Asherah approached the sullen Lucifer and told him that no matter what She will always love and cherish him before cryptically telling him that he will see the "big picture" sooner than later. And with that she left, leaving Lucifer to contemplate what she said.
Asherah's current whereabouts are unknown as well, as very few beings in creation know where She resides. Some, however, believe that She might be the Tree of Life though Gabriel states that the Tree is merely an extension or avatar of the Goddess and not truly Asherah Herself.
Personality[]
Asherah is a benevolent, kind-hearted, fair and wise being. She was beloved by all Her family. Unlike Her husband, Asherah was ready to forgive Lucifer, even after his deeds, and had hope for the Morning Star despite his actions as well. She also was willing to accept her children's relationships with others and was even accepting of Lucifer's offspring the Hesperides and the Horae. The Archangels, despite their more prominent focus to their Father also recognize Her as their Mother. In fact, from the way they speak highly of Her, She is known to be very affectionate, compassionate, and extremely caring towards Her children to the point where Lucifer himself harbors no ill-will towards Her at all even after his fall as he, in his own words, "could never in all his existence hate or resent someone like Her."
Asherah was arguably the person closest to Lucifer as he genuinely loved and cared about his Mother to the point where he lashed out in anger upon being told that She would visit him for the last time showing how important Her presence is to him. This was further shown when Lucifer tackled the Scarlet King in a terrifying display of rage for daring to harm his Mother. Even after Lucifer's rebellion and his attempted remaking of the universe in order to establish himself as the new ruler of creation Asherah's love for him never faltered, though She was particularly heart-broken from his actions. This also had an impact on Lucifer to where he appeared remorseful for what he has done upon hearing that Gabriel would not allow him to break their Mother's heart again. Nevertheless, She was willing to forgive him after everything that has transpired. Asherah loved Her children equally which had created a more stable relationship between Her and the angels than God.
Much like God She does not interfere with the affairs of mortals or other gods. She spends the majority of Her existence tending to the Tree of Life alongside Her handmaidens. She respects and follows the rules of the Natural Order, the same rules that She established with Yahweh. Despite Asherah's warm and maternal nature She can be extremely wrathful when provoked, especially when Her children are threatened. This was first shown when She openly defied and even somewhat threatened God upon realizing that He cruelly punished Lucifer for his rebellion as well as call Him out for His unfair methods, but this was more out of Her kind nature. When God asked Asherah what She would've done, She states She wouldn't have had the heart to banish Lucifer. God calls Her out on this, saying that while He grieves as well, He knew it was the necessary action and His position demands Him to make these difficult decisions.
Powers and Abilities[]
As the consort of Yahweh and the Supreme Goddess of Creation, Asherah is said to be every bit as powerful as God. As such She is commonly attributed to omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, and divine simplicity. She is viewed as an omnipotent supreme being of divine creation and life that has always existed. Alongside God, She is the supreme unlimited creator of all life in Heaven and Earth. She along with El, were worshiped as the supreme gods in the Canaanite religion, and was worshiped as God's wife by the Hebrews as well, showing that despite not participating much in Earthly events, the fame of Her power travels across the worlds.
The only beings that are equal to Her are Chaos, Night, and God Himself. Much like Azathoth and the Ogdru Jahad, She has no power over Chaos but like God She can also use the components of Chaos to create what is now known as Multiverse. When the Scarlet King was confronted by Lucifer, and the Fallen Sentinel declaring himself as the one who would slay Asherah, Lucifer scoffed at such a declaration stating that he knows his Mother more than the Scarlet King ever will and despite his frightening power he will never be a match for Her.
Asherah is also capable of appearing as avatars with the most notable ones are Shekhinah and presumably Barbelo. Shekhinah is at times dubbed as the Presence of the Divine Lady or the Mother's Presence meaning that this particular avatar represents Asherah's very presence manifesting in front of those who are worthy enough to be graced by Her magnificence. She represents the Moon as God is the Sun with the two even interchanging or sharing the roles showing their unified selves of overseeing and nurturing all of creation. She is also presumably the Aeon known as Barbelo who is often regarded as the mother of Jesus Christ and is part of the Holy Trinity in Gnosticism.
