goddessing

Aniconic is a word that has several meanings and uses, specifically in religious vocabulary. For today's purposes, we'll stick with this one — the non-anthropomorphic, non-representational image of a deity.

Breaking it down into its root parts we have the Greek prefix an (without, not) and the root word icon (likeness, image, portrait).
I run across this word frequently when reading about pagan religion and theology. Here are some examples from Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick's A History of Pagan Europe, chapter 2, "The Greeks and the Eastern Mediterranean":

"Fully developed temples preserved and revered the original sacred objects... Temples were erected around stones that contained sacred virtue. The most famed of these is the aniconic image of Aphrodite, a beatyl (a meteorite which still exists in the Cyprus Museum, Nicosia) revered at the shrine in Paphos, Cyprus... "

Discussed also in the "Temples and Images" section of the chapter are trees as aniconic representations of goddesses:

The scholiast of Aristophanes states that the olive tree was Athene's temple and her image before the times of built temples and images...

Sacred trees were often considered more holy than the altars associated with them... According to tradition, the Greeks started religion by fencing off groves of trees... No temple was dedicated unless there was a holy tree associated with it...

The oldest temples which have been found so far are all dedicated to Hera... The original cult image of Hera at Samos was, according to Phoronis, simply a plank. In Argos it was a pillar.

We learn also that the tree sacred to Aphrodite was the myrtle; for Hera, the willow.

Labels: ancient pagan religions, goddess, sacred trees, thealogy / theology

Hi Terri. Yes, the asherah were poles, trees, sacred groves. The quote ("The oldest temples that have been found....") refers to Greece. My guess is the asherah were older.
 

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