Sheol refers to a pit or an abyss of death and suffering. When the Christian Bible was first translated into Greek, the word Sheol was mistranslated to words such as Hades (Lord of the Underworld) or Necropolis (City of the Dead). When the Bible was later translated from Greek to English, the word was translated as Hell, which was an alternative spelling of Hel, the name of the Saxon and Norse goddess of the underworld and death.
Oddly enough, Christians often believe that Lucifer was condemned to a horrible prison in an actual place called Hell. However, this is not exactly the Judaic tradition’s view on the matter. In the Judaic interpretation (further supported by the events documented in the book of Enoch) Lucifer and his fellow rebel angels were barred from Heaven and condemned to live in the terrible world of physical reality, of “suffering.” Think of it like this: when compared to the blissful paradise of Heaven in which these angels previously resided, spending the rest of existence stuck on Earth would have been a fate worse than death. Other traditions believe that the condemned angels were imprisoned within the Earth itself. This makes sense when you compare the story to its older counterparts from the book of Enoch and the Zohar, which tell of the rebel angel Azazel being imprisoned beneath the sands of a desert called Dudael for corrupting humans with indulgent knowledge and destructive technology.
DEMONS AND FALLEN ANGELS
One thing you need to know is that not all demons are former/ fallen angels. As you read earlier, many are actually the demonized versions of deities from preexisting religions. Simply put: while all fallen angels are categorized as demons, not all demons are fallen angels. Interestingly enough, it would seem that the creators of Supernatural are aware of this. When one looks at the eye color of the different demons on Supernatural, it becomes clear that these colors are designations of demon types. Consider the following list:
1. White Eyes: Demons with white eyes are malevolent demonic figures that come from pre-Judaic or pre-Christian traditions, such as Lilith (see chapter 8), Samhain, and Alastair.
2. Colored Eyes: Colored eyes, excluding red, black, and white, designate fallen angels, such as the yellow-eyed Azazel. As of the early episodes of season 6, Lucifer has not yet revealed any special eye color (though in some of the online Supernatural fan fiction, writers have speculated in their stories that Lucifer’s eyes are blue or amethyst in color).
3. Red Eyes: This eye color appears to be exclusive to crossroads demons (more on these former colleagues of Supernatural’s Crowley in just a moment). However, it is interesting to note that Crowley, self-proclaimed “King of the Crossroads,” was never portrayed with red eyes.
4. Black Eyes: Black eyes denote lower-order demons, which are the corrupted souls of humans that have been transformed by the evil influences of Lucifer or from spending too long in the torments of Hell.
The most interesting addition Supernatural makes to preexisting demonic lore is the idea that human souls can turn into demons as a result of the corrupting influence of living in Hell. Ideas similar to this can be found in certain Eastern mythical traditions but are not commonly found in Judeo-Christian traditions. For example, in Japanese Shinto lore, a human who is murderous or takes joy in violence can transform into a demonlike creature called an oni. One demonic concept that has been around for thousands of years, however, is the crossroads demon.
So . . . what’s your soul worth?
A FIDDLE OF GOLD AGAINST YOUR SOUL
You know, I usually like to be warned before I’m violated by demon tongue.
—DEAN WINCHESTER, “CROSSROAD BLUES” (2-8)
Crossroads demons, or similar mythical concepts and superstitions, have been around pretty much as long as there have been roads that cross. Crossroads lore is surprisingly universal and can be found in cultures from Europe, Greece, India, ancient Mongolia, Japan, and Native America. The list of supernatural beings to be found at crossroads varies from one culture to another but includes angry spirits, witches, sprites, ancestral ghosts, fairies, and (you guessed it) demons. Some cultures used crossroads as burial spots for the undesirable dead, such as murderers, thieves, and suicides. Others reserved crossroad burials for the bodies of parricides (those who were guilty of murdering one or both of their parents). In post-Christian medieval lore crossroads were the meeting places of witches, who would use them to conduct their dark ceremonies.
In the Supernatural episode “Crossroad Blues,” Sam and Dean make a reference to the musician Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil in order to become the greatest blues musician in the world. Believe it or not, this story has been around for a long time. Whether true or not, during his time Robert Johnson did become the greatest blues musician in the world.
Robert Johnson was born May 8, 1911 or 1912 (new evidence has called his birth year into question), in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. His mother, Julia Dodds, was the wife of a wealthy plantation owner named Charles Dodds. Problem was, Robert’s biological father wasn’t Charles, but a man named Noah Johnson. As a baby, Robert’s mother was chased out of Hazlehurst by a lynch mob. Some say it was due to a quarrel her husband had with some white plantation owners. Others claim it was because her husband found out that the child wasn’t his. Regardless of why she was run out of town, she took Robert with her. Two years later, she sent the boy to Memphis, Tennessee, to live with her husband who had, for some reason, changed his name to Charles Spencer. Many believe that it was in Memphis that Robert was first exposed to the blues.
In 1919, when Robert was eight (or seven) years old, his mother had remarried, this time to a much younger man named Dusty Willis. She sent for Robert to come live with her in Robinsonville, Mississippi. According to the stories, it was at this time that Robert also began following around a legendary blues musician named Son House, trying to learn from him. House, however, did not see any special talent in the enthusiastic young boy. Robert received a formal education during this time and lived in Robinsonville until 1929. This was also the year Robert married Virginia Travis, who died shortly after during childbirth. This is also where the story starts to get just a little weird.
After his wife’s death, Robert disappeared. No one knows where he went or what transpired during his absence. Only a few months later, however, he reappeared—with an incredible new guitar technique, the likes of which had never been seen before. No one knows where he learned it, but the story goes something like this:
When Johnson went missing, people said he found work on a Mississippi plantation, most likely the Dockery Plantation. While there, his grief over the loss of his wife led him back to his love of the blues, and he decided he would become a great blues musician. After consulting with a local hoodoo-voodoo mambo (kind of like a priestess), he was told to take his guitar to a crossroads near the plantation and start playing. Once at the crossroads, Johnson had barely struck a chord when he was met by a very large and well-dressed black man (perhaps Baron Samedi? See chapter 9). This man, whom the lore claims was the devil himself, took the guitar from Johnson, tuned it, and began to play. He then offered the guitar back to Johnson, who took it with the knowledge that this was a deal with the devil, and that the collateral was his soul. Johnson took back his guitar (sorry, no awkwardly homoerotic kiss to seal the deal in this story), and with it he gained musical ability that was far beyond that of any blues guitar player ever before. His ability would make him famous in his time as well as that of future generations who rediscovered his music in the 1960s.
Johnson even toured with the man who had once not believed he possessed the necessary talent to become a great blues man—Son House. In fact, many believe that it was Johnson and House who likely began spreading the “crossroad pact” story. House may have even believed it, some theorize, in order to explain how Johnson achieved such an extreme amount of guitar ability in what seemed like such an impossibly short amount of time. If the story is true, of course, Johnson’s dream of becoming the greatest blues musician in the world also came with a very hefty price: his soul.
And the weirdness continues. Johnson died young, at the age of only twenty-seven (or twenty-six). His death also came under very odd circumstances on August 16, 1938, only nine years after his supposed crossroad pact. Of course, there is nothing in a pact that says the person giving up his body cannot die and have his soul collected sooner than the contract’s expiration date. Sometimes, the devil might even find a way to help you along. And, for Robert Johnson, it would seem the devil was doing a little nudging.
A few days before his death, Johnson had been playing for a rural country dance hall in Greenwood, Mississippi. After his set was over, Johnson took a seat. The bar owner sent over an open bottle of whiskey, compliments of the house. For reasons unknown (though some say it was because Johnson was flirting with the bar owner’s woman), the whiskey had been laced with strychnine, a very potent poison (and, in small doses, a hallucinogen). As he raised the bottle, fellow bluesman and close friend Sonny Boy Williamson knocked the bottle from Johnson’s hand. Sonny Boy then warned Johnson that it was dangerous to drink from a bottle that he didn’t open himself (after all, it could be poisoned, right?). Johnson was annoyed by this and told Sonny Boy, “Never knock a bottle out of my hand.” The bar owner, being the generous fellow he was, immediately sent over yet another open bottle of whiskey, laced with an equally generous amount of strychnine.
Shortly after finishing off the entire bottle of whiskey, Johnson fell suddenly ill and had to be helped back to his room. Of course, it would be safe to say that most people would need a little help getting around after drinking a whole bottle of whiskey. Over the next few days, however, Johnson’s illness only worsened. He died in agonizing pain, according to those who were present, in a fit of convulsions (which, by the way, is a standard symptom of strychnine poisoning).
There are some, of course, who claim that the accounts of Johnson’s poisoning death are wrong. Rationalists, such as the toxicology experts cited in Tom Graves’s book Crossroads: The Life and Afterlife of Blues Legend Robert Johnson, claim that a fatal dose of strychnine would kill a person in hours (not several days, as in Johnson’s case). Not to mention that even whiskey would be unlikely to cover the strong taste and odor of the poison. Then there are others, of course, who would say that it was not poison that killed Robert Johnson—it was the devil come to get his due.
CROWLEY: KING OF THE CROSSROADS
Let’s just say, when they get their Grammy, they shouldn’t all be thanking God.
—CROWLEY, “THE DEVIL YOU KNOW” (5-20)
Long before his bones were charred and he was sent packing, the Supernatural character Crowley, self-proclaimed “King of the Crossroads,” was one of the few demonic allies the Winchesters ever had. And after their experience in their alliance with Ruby, can you blame them? However, Crowley was at least a bit more honest about his dishonesty than Ruby. While Crowley made for an interesting character, he is problematic when it comes to finding a mythical origin for him; there is no demon named Crowley, not in any legitimate demonological tradition. Still, though there may not be a mythical origin for Crowley, there is a historical one.
BOBBY: Why’d you take a picture?
CROWLEY: Why’d you have to use tongue?
—BOBBY SINGER AND CROWLEY, “TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT” (5-21)
Crowley was likely modeled after a man named Aleister Crowley, born in 1875 as Edward Alexander Crowley. It is generally believed that Crowley changed his name in order to give himself a more effective air of mystery. He took his name from the demon name of Alastor. However, he purposely changed the spelling. Using the numerical values that are given to letters in the practice of isopsephy, the Greek equivalent of a similar Hebrew practice of gematria, Crowley altered the spelling until the sum of all the letters in his name came to a total of 666, the “number of the Beast” spoken of in the Christian Bible’s Revelation. Crowley even claimed to his father that he was the Beast, basically proclaiming himself the Antichrist (for more on this, see chapter 11). Apparently, plain old Alexander didn’t quite have that “I’m the Antichrist” ring to it.
Opinions on Crowley vary. Some call him a self-styled mystic. Others claim that he was just a world-class con man, like Edward Talbot, who used theatrics and superstition to relieve the rich and gullible from their money. He wrote several books on “White Magick” (which include a surprising number of ceremonies that require sexual acts). But Crowley wasn’t into one kind of magic. He was into all kinds of magic. To be honest, most who are familiar with his work agree that if he had come across any dark forces that would give him powers, he would have taken them. Considering Crowley’s background as a swindler, a mystic, and the kind of man who lusts for power, the name is certainly fitting of the Supernatural character.
SUPERNATURAL FACTS
Dean Winchester is a big Led Zeppelin fan. Believe it or not, guitarist Jimmy Page was obsessed with the work of Aleister Crowley. Page even purchased Crowley’s former estate, the Boleskine House, which was used to film certain fantasy sequences in the band’s film The Song Remains the Same.
SUPERNATURAL FACTS
For some time fans speculated that the demon Alastair, who tortured Dean Winchester in Hell, was based on Aleister Crowley. When the crossroads demon Crowley came on the scene, however, these theories were proven wrong. This may have even been the reason for naming Crowley as they did, so that fans would have to look again. The mythical origins of Alastair will be discussed later in this chapter.
AZAZEL: THE YELLOW-EYED DEMON
That was for our mom, you yellow-eyed sonuvabitch.
—DEAN WINCHESTER, “ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE: PART 2” (2-22)
Supernatural’s portrayal of Azazel, or the yellow-eyed demon as he was known for much of his time on the show, is pretty accurate when compared to the myth. However, Azazel is not exactly a demon. At least, he is not a demon like Ruby or Meg. In fact, he is a fallen angel like Lucifer. His eyes are not black, after all (or white or red, for that matter), but yellow, which fits with the idea that the fallen angels in Supernatural have colored eyes.
According to the ancient book of Enoch, Azazel was among those leading the charge of the rebel line when the war in Heaven broke out. Originally, he was a member of the Grigori (or Watchers) angelic order, tasked with keeping watch over humankind (as one would assume, since they are called “Watchers”). According to the text, however, Azazel wasn’t content with just watching. He seems to have had a thing for messing with humans. He especially liked human women and wasn’t pleased that they were supposed to be off-limits to angels (a rule that a number of other angels also seemed to have considered more of a suggestion). However, he managed to keep his extracurricular exploits on the down-low—for a little while, anyway.
After Azazel fathered children with his many human female lovers, he decided that the humans could use a little help when it came to technology, and so he taught them a vast number of new and inventive ways in which to destroy themselves. Azazel is said to have granted humans an impressive array of progressive, but ultimately self-destructive, knowledge. To human men, Azazel taught the arts of metalworking, and he showed them how to make tools to improve their quality of life and to construct weapons with which to wage war upon one another. He also wanted to make his human female lovers even more attractive (Azazel really seems to have had a thing for the ladies back in the day—a bit of a change from the nun-slaughtering maniac on Supernatural), so he taught women how to make and use cosmetics. At first Azazel was just banished to Earth for the trouble he caused. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to mind all that much.
His punishment was upgraded, however, when Azazel’s many crimes were brought to the attention of the Lord of Light (in the book of Enoch, God is generally referred to by this name). Afraid that Azazel would only corrupt humans further, the accused Grigori was judged and punished. The archangel Raphael was given orders to confine the troublesome fallen angel in the sandy depths and bury him beneath the crushing weight of a desert calle
d Dudael, commonly translated to mean “Despair/Isolation from God.”
In “Lucifer Rising” (4-22), just before he locks them in the church and slaughters them all as sacrifices so that he can talk to the caged Lucifer, Azazel tells a roomful of nuns that he feels as if he has been, “quite literally,” wandering in the “desert.” More than likely, old yellow eyes is talking about his banishment to the wasteland of Dudael when he says this. The question is, of course, how did he get out? For his crimes, the book of Enoch states that Azazel will remain imprisoned beneath the sands of Dudael until the Final Judgment Day. In Supernatural, however, it seems that Azazel found a way to bust himself out of his cage ahead of the intended schedule.
As already explained, the Azazel of myth and demonology has a thing for messing with humans. Perhaps this is why he chose to use human children as his weapon against Heaven in Supernatural , using God’s own creations against the angels as final weapons for Armageddon.
AZAZEL’S “SPECIAL CHILDREN”
I don’t need soldiers . . . I need soldier. I just need the one.
—AZAZEL, “ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE: PART 1” (2-21)
The powers of Azazel’s “special children” vary from one individual to the next. Sam can expel demons and has psychic visions, Jake has super strength, Andy has mind control, and Ava also has visions and can control demons. Not all of their powers are so useful, however. One girl, Lily, has the unfortunate ability to kill with a touch (in fact, she tells the others that she has already accidentally killed her lesbian lover).
The Mythology of Supernatural Page 6
