The Mythology of Supernatural Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  Chapter 1 - THE WINCHESTER ARSENAL

  Chapter 2 - SIGNS, VISIONS, SEALS, AND SIGILS

  Chapter 3 - A CRASH COURSE IN DEMONOLOGY

  Chapter 4 - ANGELS . . . THEY SMITE FIRST AND ASK QUESTIONS LATER

  Chapter 5 - LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL

  Chapter 6 - BEYOND THE GATES OF HEAVEN

  Chapter 7 - DEMONIC POSSESSIONS AND EXORCISMS

  Chapter 8 - LILITH IS ONE SCARY BITCH

  Chapter 9 - ANCIENT ORIGINS OF A FUTURE APOCALYPSE

  Chapter 10 - THE WINCHESTER GOSPEL— SUPERNATURAL AS MYTH

  Chapter 11 - ARMAGEDDON IT!

  CONCLUSION

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  INDEX

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  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  This book is not authorized or endorsed by anyone associated with the Supernatural TV show.

  Copyright © 2011 by Nathan Brown

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  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley Boulevard trade paperback edition / August 2011

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Brown, Nathan Robert.

  The mythology of Supernatural : the signs and symbols behind the popular tv show / Nathan Robert Brown.—Berkley Boulevard trade paperback ed.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN : 978-1-101-51752-9

  1. Supernatural (Television program : 2005–) 2. Horror television programs—History and criticism. I. Title.

  PN1992.77.S84B68 2011

  791.43’6164—dc22 2011014848

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  This book is dedicated to the legendary

  1967 Chevy Impala 327 V-8 four-barrel—the only car with

  enough awesome to be driven into an Apocalypse

  by Dean Winchester.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would like to thank my editor, Danielle Stockley, for her work, guidance, and input on this project. I would also like to thank my new agent, Kim Lionetti, who is working hard to fill the big shoes left behind by her predecessor. I extend my most sincere thanks to everyone who was involved in the creation of this project.

  INTRODUCTION

  Ever since human beings took their first steps into the dark and frightening realms of existence, heroes have walked among us. And for just as long, human beings have loved heroes.

  Perhaps we adore heroes because they are models for us. They display honor, loyalty, courage, and skill at levels we may never reach but strive for nonetheless—and we are better for it. Heroes represent the hope of every one of us: that, when it matters most, we will prove to be greater than we appear, braver than we feel, and stronger than we ever thought possible.

  Perhaps we care about heroes because they are immortal, in a sense, in that even after death they are never forgotten. They live on within the hearts and minds of those who hear tell of their perilous journeys, violent battles, and courage in the face of almost certain defeat. Myths are meant to immortalize their heroic journeys.

  For as long as there have been heroes, those half-brave, half-mad souls willing to dash headlong against things that would send most of us screaming in the other direction, there have been stories to immortalize their journeys. Through triumph and tragedy, through sin and salvation, through it all, we love them. And in the end, it doesn’t matter whether or not any hero was ever, in the historical sense, truly alive. What really matters are the ways in which their myths affect those of us who are.

  Sam and Dean Winchester are heroes—no doubt about that. Reality doesn’t play into it. Who cares if they are real? They are real to the Supernatural fans who love them, and that is real enough. These fans have found a new set of brave, capable, headstrong, and often irreverent heroes to admire, each with their own unique set of strengths and weaknesses, virtues and flaws. Dean, Sam, John, Bobby, Ellen, and Jo, and even Castiel—we love them for all of it, the good along with the bad. This is what sets the heroes of Supernatural apart from cookie-cutter, run-of-the-mill TV tough guys—we love them for their flaws.

  Being a mythologist by nature, I began the undertaking of this book with the preconceived idea that I was simply going to be identifying the mythologies and folklore used to create various monsters, events, and other elements of the Supernatural universe. And while I admit that much of the task of writing this book consisted of just that, something unexpected happened. As I watched more episodes of the show (and, I must admit, became an avid Supernatural fan in the process), I discovered that Supernatural isn’t just a show that was developed by using mythology; it is mythology. The show is not just based on mythological figures and events; it is a new kind of myth, all its own.

  The stories of Supernatural’s heroes are new manifestations of age-old myths, tales that have existed since the dawn of humankind. They are certainly not just carbon copies of old lore or mythical archetypes, however, but are unique in their own right. And the show encompasses the scope of mythology to such an incredibly broad degree that there are probably few traditional myths in existence that cannot be compared to some figure, event, relationship, or element of Supernatural.

  Even the basic premise of the story, if summed up in general speech, sounds like it could come from the pages of some ancient epic:

  Two young brothers, who are polar opposites in personality, lose their mother at the hands of a demon. They are raised as warriors by their father and, once of age, seek to take revenge on the demon that killed their mother. When their father dies, sacrificing his life and soul in order to save his oldest son, the brothers are guided by a wise, bearded mentor, a longtime friend and rival of their father.

  The path to vengeance, of course, never leads one straight to its destination. Before facing their nemesis the demon, the brothers face numerous setbacks and endure many difficult trials. Against terrible odds, they manage to clear every hu
rdle put in front of them until finally they have their chance. Using an enchanted weapon given to them by their father, they succeed in destroying the demon and avenging their mother’s death.

  Vengeance, however, rarely (if ever) has a happy ending in such stories. There is an old proverb that warns, “When plotting revenge, you should dig two graves—one for your enemy, and the other for yourself.” Often there is a price to pay for vengeance, the cost of which can be dire. The Winchesters may have killed the demon, but a gate to Hell is opened in the process and an army of new demons is unleashed upon the Earth. The land is flooded by evil spirits, and now the brothers must act in order to make amends for the horror they have set free.

  Yet there are some things that can’t be redeemed. As the brothers try to stop the demons, they unwittingly begin the end of times, and what began as vengeance becomes something far greater. The brothers must now face a demon far more powerful than the one that killed their mother. They must fight for more than vengeance, more than love or a sense of obligation. Long story short—they gotta save the world.

  As with any mythology, there are going to be people who disagree with at least one interpretation or another, and I don’t expect that this book will prove to be any different. I have done my best to create a book that explores the mythology of Supernatural as well as its mythos—the collective myths that make up a work or universe—in a way that is accurate, informative, and most of all interesting to read. Considering the broad and often hard-core scope of the Supernatural fandom, however, I am sure that there will be some who feel that this book does not do the show justice. In fact, this concern plagued me throughout the writing of this work. Yet I was often able to find some solace in the words of Supernatural prophet Chuck Shurley (aka Carver Edlund), which I think would make a fitting end to this introduction:

  You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There are always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a nagging pain in the ass.

  —CHUCK, “SWAN SONG” (5-22)

  1

  THE WINCHESTER ARSENAL

  If one is going to dance with the devil, it helps to know the tune. In their war against the forces of evil, the Winchesters are far from unarmed. Choosing the right weapon for a particular supernatural foe is a crucial part of a hunter’s everyday work. Interestingly enough, many of the weapons used by the Winchesters (salt, holy water, iron, and silver, for example) have very real origins in history, religion, and mythology. Furthermore, many of the detection tools, such as electromagnetic field (EMF) readers and infrared thermal scanners, employed by Sam and Dean to hunt down angry spirits are the very same instruments being used by today’s real-life paranormal investigators.

  The Winchester arsenal contains a unique weapon for just about every supernatural baddie one could conjure up. Covering the lore and origins for all of these tools in detail would take a book all its own. However, in this chapter you will learn about the mythology, lore, origins, and uses of some of the most commonly used hunter tools in Supernatural.

  SALT: IT’LL KILL YA (OR AT LEAST IT’LL HURT LIKE HELL)

  Well, then get the hell off my property before I pump you so full of rock salt you crap margaritas!

  —BOBBY SINGER, “THE DEVIL YOU KNOW” (5-20)

  These days, we use salt mainly for stuff like flavoring our food and melting ice during the winter. In the early days of human civilization, however, salt was thought to have magical properties. And this shouldn’t be all that surprising when you think about it. After all, the salting of meats and vegetation made it possible for the earliest nonnomadic peoples to survive during the barren winter months when they could not grow food. Salt preserved the stored foodstuffs that would have otherwise turned rotten and putrid before they could be consumed.

  Symbolically, various European cultures (such as the Celts) viewed the element of salt as associated with fertility and prosperity. During many ages of early human history, in fact, workers were paid their wages in salt (which is where we got the saying “A man worth his weight in salt”). As a result, salt also came to be associated with good fortune, which is why “spilling the salt” is considered a bad omen. This is where we get the old superstitious practice of tossing a pinch of spilled salt over one’s left shoulder, which is meant to ward off bad luck.

  Salt also has a religious significance, especially in the Judeo-Christian traditions. Canonical Hebrew texts mention salt in thirty-five different verses. When Lot abandons the doomed city of Sodom, knowing that the wrath of God is imminent, he is told that none in his family should look back as they flee (Genesis 19:17). Not heeding the warning, Lot’s wife turns to glance over her shoulder and is immediately transformed into a pillar of salt. Though there is no way to validate it, there is a belief that associates this “look over the shoulder” of Lot’s wife with the previously mentioned superstition of tossing salt over the shoulder to ward off bad luck. In the book of Judges (9:45), King Abimelech destroys the city of Shechem, and the verse explains that he had “sown salt upon it.” Salt water can cause otherwise fertile farmland to turn barren. More than likely, this reference to salt was meant as a curse to prevent the ruins of the destroyed Shechem from being reinhabited.

  The Christian messiah Jesus was also a big fan of salt. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to those who follow him as the “salt of the earth.” The apostle Paul of Tarsus once said in Colossians 4:6, “Let your voices be filled with grace, seasoned with salt.”

  Other traditions imbue salt with special properties, too. In the Hadith texts of the Muslim tradition, it is written that Muhammad once said, “Salt is the master of everyone’s food. Four blessings were sent down from the sky from Allah: Fire, Water, Iron, and Salt.”

  Salt is also used as part of a number of Hindu Dharma religious ceremonies and festivals, and it is revered in Vedic/Hindu Dharma mythology as a divine element. For housewarmings, a mixture of salt and water is used to ward off any evil spirits that may try to enter the home. In the elaborate tradition of Hindu weddings, after the marriage ceremony and before the celebratory reception, the bride sits before each member of the groom’s family one at a time. A bowl of salt is placed between the bride and the family member, who then places a coin into the bowl and simultaneously scoops up salt into his or her cupped hands. The bride and family member then take turns transferring the salt back and forth with cupped hands. This is repeated until all members of the groom’s family have passed salt with the bride.

  There are many other instances in which salt is used for religious or spiritual purposes. In the various Wiccan traditions (yes, there is more than one form of Wicca), for example, salt is seen as a purifying substance, often used to prepare an area for ceremonial use, and as a symbolic element of the Earth. Wiccans also use a salt-and-water mixture, sprinkled across the thresholds of doors and windows, to bar evil spirits.

  In Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, salt is also used for purification rituals. Shinto priests and nuns use salt in the blessing of houses, meant to ward off evil spirits. A similar use of salt to bless an area, which has its roots in Shinto, can be viewed in the sport of Japanese sumo wrestling. During a before-bout ceremony, the enormous competitors first firmly stomp the ground once with both feet to frighten away evil spirits and then toss a handful of salt into the dohyo (wrestling ring) to purify the area.

  In Supernatural, salt is portrayed as a pretty handy substance when it comes to barring demons and spirits. This is not a surprise since just about every mythological tradition claims that demons and evil spirits have an aversion to the stuff. Whether they are pouring it in front of a doorway or shooting it into a pissed-off ghost, the Winchester boys make it clear that no hunter “worth his weight in salt” should leave home without an ample supply of the stuff.

  In the episode “Clap Your Hands If You Believe” (6-9), Sam Winchester found yet another us
e for salt while battling a rather nasty leprechaun. The writers integrated an old piece of lore that states certain fairy folk, when confronted with a spilled pile of salt or sugar, have an uncontrollable compulsion to count every single grain one by one.

  GOOFER DUST

  Goofer dust . . . Oh, you boys think you know somethin’ about somethin’ but not goofer dust?

  —GEORGE, “CROSSROAD BLUES” (2-8)

  Goofer dust is a powder used in voodoo, a religion brought to the Caribbean islands and southern United States by African slaves. The word goofer is believed to have derived from the Kikongo word Kufwa, meaning “to die.”

  While Supernatural portrays goofer dust as a substance that wards off demons, its traditional voodoo use is nothing of the sort. Goofer dust is a mixture of various ingredients, commonly believed to include things like white and/or black salt, sulfur, ashes, ground-up snakeskin (some sources say skin that is shed; others say you must actually skin a snake), powdered animal or human bones, iron shavings from a blacksmith’s anvil, dried or ground-up manure, and graveyard dirt.

  While Sam and Dean might not have touched the goofer dust George gave them if they’d known about the manure, it is actually the last ingredient, graveyard dirt, that seems to have the most influence on how the dust is used. Some sources say any dirt from a cemetery will do, but others claim it must be dirt from an actual burial plot. Either way, the idea is that spirit energy is taken from the dirt and mixed with the energy of the salt as a catalyst for all sorts of spells—love spells, good-luck spells (a favorite among gamblers), minor curses, or even spells meant to kill. The nature of the spell often requires dirt from a particular type of cemetery or grave site. For example, a love spell might require dust from the grave of a sibling, child, or close adult relative of the person casting the spell as these spirits would want the person to be happy and loved. Spells meant to cause injury, misfortune, illness, or death may require dirt from the grave of a person who died from illness, was murdered, or committed suicide, or dirt from a graveyard reserved for criminals. However, as with many magical practices, voodoo dictates that malevolent or harmful spells, which often require conjuring some pretty nasty spirits, may eventually backfire on the ones who cast them.