Ashera was an old-school
Semitic fertility goddess worshipped by the
Phoenicians and other
pagans...the
Canaanites probably threw up a few
altars now and again. She is the consort of
El in the
Ugaritic texts.
Asherah poles, like simple totems, are upright wooden objects that were considered sacred symbols of the goddess.
see also Astarte or Ashtoreth