The Mythology of Supernatural

by Nathan Robert Brown

  Alongside the archangel Michael, Gabriel is one of the only two angels referred to by name in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The translation of his name is commonly interpreted to mean “My strength is from God.” However, at times it is interpreted to mean “strength of God” or “hero of God.”

  In both the Muslim and Judeo-Christian traditions, the archangel Gabriel is said to be second in rank only to his big brother Michael. This may be why, in season 5 of Supernatural, Gabriel believes he might be strong enough to take down Lucifer on his own in the “Hammer of the Gods” episode. After all, Gabriel is supposed to be one of the two most powerful angels in Heaven. If any angel other than Michael could take down “Luci,” it’d probably be Gabriel. Of course, this reasoning turns out to be dead wrong when Lucifer shanks Gabriel in the chest with an angel sword.

  Gabriel’s role as an angel is often considered as something like the announcer, bugler, or trumpeter of Heaven. However, Gabriel is much more than just some mouthy angel who “blows a trumpet.” His nature is far too complex for him to be typecast as such. This rather narrow portrayal has even led some to rather mistakenly consider Gabriel as the Judeo-Christian equivalent of the Greco-Roman messenger god Hermes/Mercury. Of course, anyone who saw the “Hammer of the Gods” episode knows that Gabriel and Mercury are portrayed as entirely different characters on the show. So it is probably safe to say that the creators of Supernatural did not adopt this particular stance.

  In angelic lore, Gabriel acts as a divine messenger. In the Muslim tradition it is the archangel Gabriel who is credited with having brought the revelation of Islam to the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad is said to have recited the words of the Qur’an to a scribe after they were relayed to him by Gabriel. Because of this, the Muslim tradition considers Gabriel to be the patron angel of truth.

  The Gabriel of Supernatural has a knack for reconstructing physical reality, or at least manipulating what humans see, hear, and even feel. I mean, we are talking about a guy who once made a frat boy believe he’d been abducted, probed by, and forced to slow dance with . . . wait for it . . . aliens. There are mythological portrayals of Gabriel that support this idea. For example, one story in the Qur’an tells of how the archangel Gabriel came down from Heaven on a holy steed when the Jews constructed the Golden Calf after their escape from Egypt (this would be the Muslim version of the Judeo-Christian story from the book of Exodus). In the story, Gabriel’s holy steed threw up great clouds of dust in its wake. When some of this dust found its way into the mouth of the Golden Calf, it began to move and behave as if it were alive. The Golden Calf then went on a violent tear, showing the Jews the error of constructing a lifeless idol when the one and only living god was Allah.

  The mythological Gabriel displays a very unique set of balanced yet seemingly contradicting characteristics and attributes. His various roles make him a sort of angelic representation of binary and dualistic behaviors. For starters, Gabriel is the patron angel of mercy as well as vengeance. He is not only the patron angel of death but also of resurrection (which definitely matches with the Gabriel in Supernatural, who once killed and resurrected Dean Winchester hundreds of times in a single episode). He is the angel of annunciation (meaning “to announce or tell” but not necessarily “show”) but also an angel of revelation (which means “to show or reveal” but not necessarily “tell”). When one first considers these rather oppositional sounding roles, Gabriel seems to perform many tasks that would require him to possess contrary natures. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that Gabriel instead represents the natural order of existence, which exists as a balance of opposing forces. In mythological circles, Gabriel is sometimes considered a metaphorical representation of the divine balance that allows countless binary forces to assume a harmonious balance, which allows our physical reality to exist (without darkness, for example, there can be no light; without death, there can be no life).

  RAPHAEL: HEALER AND DESTROYER

  You got wasted by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Angel?

  —DEAN WINCHESTER, “FREE TO BE YOU AND ME” (5-3)

  Any fan of Supernatural is aware that Raphael is not the kind of archangel you want to mess with (then again, is there a kind of archangel that you would want to mess with?). When Castiel and Dean meet up with Raphael in an abandoned hovel, he shows up with wings of lightning and knocks out the electricity for the entire eastern seaboard. He is also responsible for smiting Castiel in the season 4 finale. Of course, this was not revealed until early in season 5 when Chuck delivered some of the show’s most hilarious lines yet:

  The archangel smote the crap out of him.

  He like . . . exploded . . . like a water balloon full of chunky soup.

  and

  Oh, God. Is that a molar? I have a molar in my hair . . . It’s been a really stressful day.

  —“SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL” (5-1)

  The name of the archangel Raphael is usually interpreted to mean “God has healed.” Behind the archangels Michael and Gabriel, Raphael is widely considered the third-highest ranking angel in Heaven. As his name suggests, Raphael is widely considered an angel of healing and medicine, science and learning. However, one day his healing will come to an end and he will turn to destruction as one of the Seven Angels of the Apocalypse.

  Raphael is not mentioned by name in the Christian Bible. However, he is named in a number of apocryphal texts, the oldest being the book of Enoch. Raphael is also referred to by name in an apocryphal text called the book of Tobit, the validity of which has long been a matter of religious debate. The mention of Raphael’s name in the book of Tobit has led some to mistakenly believe that Raphael is one of three angels named in the Bible. However, Raphael’s name has not been among the biblically named angels since the book of Tobit was removed from the Judeo-Christian canon.

  In the book of Tobit, the archangel Raphael is responsible for guiding and protecting Tobias, the son of Tobit (from whom the text received its name), during his journey to the great ancient city of Nineveh. In order to travel alongside Tobias without freaking him out, Raphael assumes the guise of a normal human being. It is not until Tobias reaches Nineveh that Raphael reveals his true form and “uncases his wings.” Raphael then explains to Tobias that he is one of the Seven Holy Angels that are allowed to stand or kneel before God’s throne.

  Like his brother Gabriel, Raphael has a varied nature and is known by a number of titles and roles. Many of his roles, as in the book of Tobit, involve protecting people and places. Raphael is known by the title “Protector of the Eden Tree,” because after God’s expulsion of Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit of the Eden Tree he was tasked with guarding the tree, while outside his fellow cherubim guarded the gates. He is also the Guardian of the Western Horizon. His heavenly role is Prince of the Second Level of Heaven. In some of the more recent Judeo-Christian traditions, Raphael is considered the angel of happiness, light, love, and prayer. He also belongs to the angelic orders of both the cherubim and seraphim.

  Even before Raphael was introduced on the show, his name had already been mentioned on at least one occasion. In season 2, episode 13, “Houses of the Holy,” a priest named Father Reynolds performs last rites for the wayward spirit of a fellow priest named Father Gregory, in order to send his spirit to the “other side.” As he is reciting the last rites, Father Reynolds says, “I call upon the archangel Raphael, angel of the air.”

  This invocation of Raphael is not a part of the standard, authorized last rites that are used by priests of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, it comes from a lesser-known version of last rites that is used by a priestly order known as the Holy Order of Mans. This order is no longer endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church, but it is believed that many members of the priesthood remain members in secret to an order called the Christ the Savior Brotherhood.

  Here is an excerpt from the last rites of the Holy Order of Mans, which were recited by Father Reynolds in the “Houses of the Holy” episode:
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  Oh Holy Hosts above, I call upon thee as a servant of Jesus Christ, to sanctify our actions this day in preparation for the fulfillment of the will of God. I call upon the great archangel Raphael, Master of Air, to open the way for this to be done. Let the fire of the Holy Spirit now descend that this being might be awakened to the world beyond and the life of the earth, and infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. Oh Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful, Lord of Earth we ask that you receive this child into your arms, that he might pass in safety from this crisis.

  ANNA MILTON: RAGUEL OR REMIEL?

  Anna Milton is a powerful angel who chose to rip out her grace, fall to the Earth, and become mortal. While her angelic name is never clearly identified, the creators of the show do offer some clues. We already know that when she was an angel, Anna was the boss of many of the angels, including Zachariah and Uriel. Needless to say, this would mean she was very powerful. Anna also claims that she and Uriel “shared the same foxhole,” which would suggest that she was once an archangel. Since Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Saraqael (Zachariah) have already been identified, there are only two options left: Raguel or Remiel.

  Given how powerful Anna is after she regains her lost grace, it is more than likely that she is the vengeful archangel Raguel instead of Remiel. Raguel would have been on the front lines during the war in Heaven, which would explain the various sorts of battlefield references that Anna Milton makes on the show.

  SUPERNATURAL FACTS

  Anna Milton may or may not be the archangel Raguel or Remiel. However, it is more than likely that her last name, Milton, was chosen as a reference to seventeenth-century English poet John Milton. Milton penned a well-known poem titled Paradise Lost, which concerns the history of humanity’s fall from grace. Considering Anna’s more literal “fall,” after tearing out her own “grace,” the last name Milton seems more than fitting.

  “CUPID” AND THE CHERUBIM

  In season 5, episode 14, “My Bloody Valentine,” Sam, Dean, and Castiel come face-to-face with a cherub named Cupid. In mythology, Cupid is the name of a Greco-Roman god of love, not an angel, and in the Judeo-Christian tradition the cherubim have nothing to do with human matchmaking. However, there have long been artistic portrayals of cherubim as bow-wielding, youthful (almost infantile) winged beings. Cupid is also often portrayed with wings and a quiver of arrows, so it is likely the creators of Supernatural simply decided to integrate the two traditions.

  In the Judeo-Christian tradition, cherubim are the winged angels tasked with both holding up the throne of God and acting as guardian angels for humans. In Ezekiel the cherubim are said to carry around the chariot of God (which also held God’s throne). In relation to the angelic order of the seraphim, cherubim are ranked under them as the second-highest order of angels.

  SUPERNATURAL FACTS

  The strange, somewhat heart-shaped symbol that Dean and Sam discover etched into the actual hearts of the Horseman of Famine’s first victims (who, grossly enough, ate each other to death) is the Enochian magic sign for the word nach, which sounds like “knock” but with more phlegm at the end. When Castiel uses an Enochian incantation to summon Cupid in the back of the restaurant, you can hear him say this word.

  When Adam and Eve were booted out, and the gates became closed forever under the guard of Raphael, the cherubim were the guardians of the Garden of Eden. Before this, it is likely that the cherubim protected Adam and Eve from the dangerous world outside of Eden’s protection. As it is written in Genesis 3:24: “So God drove out Man; and he placed the cherubim at the east side of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned in all directions, to bar the way to the tree of life.”

  The cherubim are referred to again in Exodus 25:18–20, in which it is written, “They [the cherubim] were placed at the Garden’s gates to prevent humans from returning and gaining access to the Tree of Life. They also formed the seat of mercy on the Ark of the Covenant.”

  WHEN ANGELS GO BAD

  So, what happens when angels go rogue? Well, God usually shows up, amps up the loyal angels with superpowers, and has them smite the crap out of the rogue angels. If you need proof, just look at what happened to Lucifer and Azazel. So why hasn’t God shown up and done this yet in Supernatural? Why haven’t the angels who kick-started the Apocalypse been sent to rot alongside Lucifer? All this chaos, and God has done nothing to the rogue angels . . . or has he?

  When you think about it, justice has been served to a point. Zachariah got skewered by Dean wielding Castiel’s angel sword. Michael fell into the pit with his brother Lucifer (both of whom, unfortunately, were still wearing Adam and Sam as meat suits), just in time for Dean to reseal it. So, in a sense, Zachariah and Michael have both been made to suffer. Even Uriel got his just desserts. Was this a way for the writers of Supernatural to suggest God’s involvement? Of course, now that Sam is back out of the pit, and finally has his soul back . . . only time will tell.

  5

  LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL

  What is it with you Winchesters? You . . . your dad. You’re both just itchin’ to throw yourselves down in the pit.

  —BOBBY SINGER, “ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE: PART 2” (2-22)

  One doesn’t have to watch Supernatural very long to become aware that all three of the Winchester boys tend to die a lot—especially Dean. In one episode alone, it is suggested that Dean Winchester dies well over a hundred times (though we are only allowed to see him killed on about a dozen of those occasions). Bearing all this in mind, perhaps it should be no surprise that the Winchesters have a rather intimate relationship with the afterlife—Heaven and Hell and everything in between.

  HEAVEN ABOVE, HELL BELOW

  The belief in some form of “Heaven above” and “Hell below” has existed in human mythological traditions since ancient times, and the concept is surprisingly universal. For example, the ancient Norse believed in a heavenly Valhalla, as well as a dark underworld ruled over by the goddess Hel.

  Even in Supernatural, Heaven and Hell are portrayed as existing in reference to vertical directions; Heaven is thought of as being “up there,” and Hell is said to be “down there.” However, upon more detailed consideration, most people would not agree with the idea that Heaven truly exists somewhere in the sky or that Hell can literally be located in some subterranean location. So why do we humans still tend to look up to the skies when we think of Heaven and think of Hell as someplace below our feet? The answers to these questions likely lie in the earliest human understandings about life and death.

  The skies above were, in ancient times, considered an eternally unreachable place. In the same way, what lay beneath the Earth was a mysterious and dark place into which humans feared to venture. Both places represented great mysteries to the human mind and were therefore associated with the ever-greater mysteries of the divine and the afterlife. Only gods could ascend to the skies, and only devils could exist in the dark below.

  When someone died, the ancient mind must have reasoned that the body would begin to rot and so had to be buried in the Earth or in some other way disposed of properly. Perhaps the metaphorical concept of Hell as a place within the Earth was a subconscious human acknowledgment that our bodily desires and physical limitations were preventing our souls from transcending, that is, ascending to Heaven. To reach Heaven, one had to forever vacate one’s physical body and transcend physical reality. Therefore, one had to escape Earth itself, which, it may have been reasoned, meant going up into the unknown realms of skies above.

  One interesting element to the mythology of Heaven and Hell is that one is seen as absolute while the other is, well, not exactly absolute. Often, a heavenly reward is considered permanent. For example, one rarely hears mythological tales of humans (not angels, mind you) who initially dwelled in Heaven only to be later thrown down into Hell. However, there are tales of souls who find salvation and are allowed to ascend to Heaven, or at least to some less terrible plane of existence, after being cast into the pit of Hell. In fact, this
idea plays a large role in Christian (especially Catholic) mythology, in the story of Christ’s Harrowing of Hell, which is laid out in lines 4 to 6 in the Apostles’ Creed of the Roman Catholic Church:

  Line 4: He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was entombed.

  Line 5: He descended into hell, and on the third day he rose.

  Line 6: He then ascended to Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.

  Similar versions of this creed exist in the Anglican, Lutheran, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. The creed does not specify the reason Christ went into Hell or the tasks he performed while there. In Catholicism, however, it is believed that Christ descended to Hell in order to liberate the souls of some who died before his coming. Many of those said to have been rescued during Christ’s Harrowing of Hell are specified in Dante Alighieri’s poem Purgatorio (his better-known poem, Inferno, will be discussed in the next section). They include Greek philosophers, such as Socrates and Plato, whose teachings had become central to the education of the clergy. This mythological idea was mainly introduced in order to give some sort of justification for the church’s authorization and endorsement of works written by pagans, who, according to their dogma, would have to be in Hell.

  The narrow dogmatic view that only those non-Christians included in the Harrowing of Hell story can enter Heaven is not, of course, endorsed by Supernatural. In “Dark Side of the Moon” (5-16), Ash explains to the Winchester brothers that he has met Vatsyayana, the author of the Kama Sutra, and who is most definitely a Hindu, during his time in Heaven. So it would seem that religious affiliation, as far as the Supernatural mythos is concerned, has zero effect on whether or not a person is allowed a place in Heaven.