The early Canaanite Yahweh had a wife and equal, Asherah, goddess of cakes, etc. The misogynist Hebrews demoted her to a stick, which they could not eliminate b

The early Canaanite Yahweh had a wife and equal, Asherah, goddess of cakes, etc. The misogynist Hebrews demoted her to a stick, which they could not eliminate because she was still essential to important rituals, for centuries after. (Evidently a stick sufficed.) They finally managed, but there are still traces in the Torah, hard to scrub out. After the Temple was razed c.70 CE, none of the rituals could be worked anymore, anyhow.