We received the following question from Claudia; "Donnell, Good morning. Groves and high places were places of worship erected to Canaanite gods and goddesses. ASHERAH/ISHTAR WORSHIP in BIBLICAL TIMES. Might I suggest that strip clubs and pole dancing are nothing more then a place to gather and worship Asherah... And since Baal worship from Men is closely tied to Asherah worship. First we must look back in time, and see how Baal was worshiped. Asherah was a fertility goddess. Ask Donnell: Asherah Poles In US Nightclubs? This would mean that “Yahweh and his asherah” = “Yahweh and his sacred tree cult object.” Again, this would point to one of many forms of Yahweh worship in Canaan (think of how many forms of Christianity there are today and you get the idea of diversity within one theological tradition). Asherah was also identified as the moon goddess who belonged to the family of gods associated with Baal the sun god (Judges 3:7; 6:28). 4. Baal worship is alive and well in America and the world – though they do not call it that today. It is widely accepted that although the religious leaders frowned on the worship of Asherah, the common people, mainly women, would still have small figures of Asherah in their households. Let me explain. As the sex trade with strip clubs revolve around a pole. Asherah, or Ashtoreth, was the name of the chief female “deity” worshiped in ancient Syria, Phoenicia, and Canaan. Actually, there were two gods which were essentially worshiped the same … But it is still a pole. I am reading now the book of 1st and 2nd Kings, and reference is made to the putting up of asherah poles in Israel, in pagan worship. Asherah (Hebrew אשרה), also spelled Ashera, 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.. The Lord God, through Moses, forbade the worship of Asherah. The Law specified that a grove of trees was not to be near the altar of the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:21). The Phoenicians called her Astarte, the Assyrians worshiped her as Ishtar, and the Philistines had a temple of Asherah … The priests and priestesses of Asherah also practiced divination and fortune-telling. The leader of the gods, Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans), took on the role of Baal, the god of weather or storms. They were primarily devoted to the worship of Baal and Asherah (or Asherim, Asheroth). In the Judeo-Christian tradition Asherah is considered a false Canaanite deity and a major source of temptation to the Israelites. I did some research on what really is an asherah pole. Child sacrifice was a fundamental aspect of Baal worship. Gideon in the book of Judges attacks the cult and Baal cult, but this act for a few generations anyway, seemed to be an isolated incident and Asherah worship continued to be popular. Baal was simply the title (literally, Lord) of the pagan god Molech. Despite God’s clear instructions, Asherah-worship was a perennial problem in Israel. Artemis, the goddess of childbirth and fertility, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, continued the Today, a pole to Asherah might not be wood, but instead be modernized. Therefore, Asherah worship often took place in forested areas, under a tree, or in an area marked by a carved "Asherah pole," such as the one made by the evil King Manasseh (2 Kings 21:7). The attacks on the Asherah cult were not a continuous affair in Hebrew history.