Chapter 30 Summary

The Librarian tells Hiro that the artifact that looks like a tree is a totem of Asherah. The Librarian continues saying that Asherah was a consort of Yahweh, and her symbol is a serpent coiling around a stick. Asherah was worshiped as the consort of Yahweh until the precursors to the Pharisees removed Asherah from religious texts. Hiro surmises that the Torah was like a virus, in that man replicated the Torah at each generation, preventing mutation. The Librarian says that Lagos regarded the Bible as a benign virus, whereas he considered the Asherah virus capable of being spread through bodily fluids. Since there is evidence that Asherah worship used cult prostitutes, the virus could be easily spread among the people. Hiro returns to the discussion of Asherah's association with serpents. The Librarian notes that Eve was also associated with trees and serpents...