Jewish
people only take about 2-3% of the American population, while Catholics take up
about ¼ of the population. This discrepancy could be the source of the
Christian ideas being heavily favored.
There
are other faith traditions present- pagan gods are mentioned, and there are
Islamic ideas present as well. But the show is very focused on the
Judeo-Christian, specifically Judeo-Catholic ideas.
Although
some people may be insulted by how Supernatural
secularizes many aspects of the different traditions, it is not a new idea.
There are many people who identify as “Secular Jews,” they are Jewish by
culture but not by faith. Although this idea is practically nonexistent in Catholicism,
this show is an example of applying the Catholic tradition in a way that is not
strictly faith based.
Supernatural is well loved by its fans, and
it educates the viewers about various aspects of the two faiths whether they
realize it or not. The different interpretations of Catholicism and Judaism are
interesting to watch and to see develop throughout the show.
Supernatural is about exactly what it sounds
like, the supernatural. Since supernatural ideas and theories come from
religious roots, it is not surprising that the creators of the show borrowed
ideas from Judaism and Catholicism.
The Catholic themes are more prominent and
there are more of them present in the show. Since Supernatural was created and is written by Americans, and the
primary audience is American, there are more explicitly Christian ideas
throughout the show. Since a much larger portion of Americans are Christian than
Jewish, it is not surprising that the show focuses more on Christian ideas,
characters, or themes since they are generally well-known.
There
is an obvious missing piece to Supernatural
that is central to the Catholicism or any Christian faith- Jesus Christ.
Jesus is only mentioned when the characters are swearing. Any Catholic themes
that are based on Jesus are altered so that they no longer need to mention the
existence. Even in season five when an anti-Christ is discovered, the existence
of a true Christ is not mentioned. When Gabriel’s identity is revealed there is
no mention of the Annunciation.
The source
of the apocalypse, Christ’s second coming, is changed drastically to a battle
between the angels. God coming down and becoming Man is central to any
Christian faith, and is left completely out of the show.
This
is not a coincidence. Supernatural incorporates
many faith traditions, Catholicism and Judaism especially. The audience of the
show is not simply Catholics; therefore the writers did not want to make the Christian
themes the central part of the show. They show is meant to be universal and in
some ways a secularized version of these theological concepts.
Although
the Winchester brothers are not part of any religion, there are other
characters they encounter along the way who are Jewish and Catholic. It is
never a main plot point in the show, but the faith of the characters influences
their actions and the show
Rufus
Turner
Rufus
is a retired hunter that helped Bobby Singer, a close friend of the
Winchesters, many years ago. He come out
of retirement to help the boys multiple times, and is killed by a demon in
season six. He never specifically mentions being Jewish, but Bobby mentions the
fact to the boys.
When
Rufus is killed the Winchesters and Bobby bury him in a Jewish ceremony. They
do not burn his body, as is custom with hunters, because it is against Jewish tradition.
Rufus does not keep kosher or follow other typical Jewish customs. Although we
do not get a glimpse into his faith life it is implied that he is Jewish by
custom rather than Jewish by faith. Although he believes in God, that is not
surprising since the existence of God is a known fact among the Winchester’s
friends in Supernatural and this belief
does not appear to affect his actions.
Kubrick
Kubrick's RV, note the two Jesus portraits
Kubrick is a slightly insane, dimwitted Catholic man. He serves as an antagonist in the
show in season three when he is convicned that Sam Winchester is the
anti-Christ. He tries to hunt Sam and kill him because he believes it is God’s
will.
At one
point Sam is cursed and Kubrick finds a picture of him randomly while hunting
him. His extreme luck convinces him that killing Sam is God’s will, so he hunts
Sam down and tries to kill him. His faith affects his actions and clouds his
judgment.
Although
faith is not something that usually affects characters in the show, these two
characters are affected by their faith lives.
As
mentioned earlier in this blog, demons are a common enemy for the Winchester
brothers. In the first two seasons the brothers would fight but rarely exorcised
demons. The only time they could kill a demon was with the Colt, a gun that has
the power to kill any creature. In season three, the character Ruby (a “good”
demon) has a knife that kills demons as well.
Since
demons possess human bodies, any damage done to that body injures or kills the
human host. The brothers learn how to perform exorcisms which can get rid of
the demons without injuring the human bodies. The clip above shows the brothers
exorcising an entire building filled with demons by using a speaker system.
Exorcisms,
though not common, still take place in the Catholic Church. Since demons are
believed to be real, so is demonic possession. Only priests can perform
exorcisms, and then only with permission from their bishop. Exorcisms are
performed through prayers and are viewed as confrontations between priests and
demons. Exorcisms used to be performed exclusively in Latin, as is done in Supernatural.
Although
the characters never directly reference Catholicism in terms of exorcisms, the
idea and practice comes directly from the Catholic Church. The brothers recite
Latin words that translate roughly to “We exorcise you, every impure spirit, every satanic power, every
incursion of the infernal adversary, every legion, every congregation and
diabolical sect.” Sometimes Psalms are included, giving the exorcisms a
Biblical foundation.
In the New Testament, Jesus drives out spirits with prayer.
Priests of the Catholic Church do so as well, asking for the help of God and of
Jesus Christ. In Supernatural
exorcisms are not prayers, they are just a magical weapon to get rid of demons.
The first time the brothers exorcise a demon they are not even convinced of God’s
existence, they are certainly not praying to Him to help exorcise these demons.
In Catholicism and exorcism is usually a long, hard process, but in Supernatural the process is simplified
to an incantation. The exorcisms seen on the show are based on the Catholic
practice, but simplified to keep the show exciting and easy to understand.
In Supernatural
there are two characters taken from the creation story- Eve and Lilith. Eve, in
name at least, comes from the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis.
Eve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISSu4i1JgCQ
The Biblical character of Eve is tempted by Lucifer into
disobeying God, and condemns humanity in the process. The character Eve is the
mother of all demons. Eve was trapped in purgatory before she is released by
two Dragons, other supernatural creatures with no Biblical basis. She created
the first of all the monsters that the Winchesters fight, such as vampires.
When Eve is released from purgatory in season six (after the apocalypse has
ended), she decides to create a new hybrid monster and plans to convert all
humans into this new type of monster.
Eve has very little in common with the Biblical character in
the literal sense. There is no mention of Eve being human, and she claims to be
older than Castiel, which does not fit with the Biblical account of creation.
But in the Book of Genesis, Eve damns humanity by biting the apple, losing the
perfection of the Garden and the perfection of human beings. In the same way
that Eve created monsters of perfectly good men, the character of Eve is
attempting to corrupt every human on the earth by making them literal monsters.
Lilith
In Jewish mythology, Lilith was the first woman created by
God, not Eve. She was created the same way that Adam was, from dust, but was
disobedient to Adam. She wanted to be treated as an equal and ran when that did
not happen. She swore vengeance on the sons of Adam, or all of humanity.
The character of Lilith is the first demon, it is implied
that Lucifer created her. She is immensely powerful, and contains the last seal
to Lucifer’s cage. She is the demon that sends Dean’s soul to hell, and when
she is finally defeated at the end of season four her death opens Lucifer’s
cage.
Lilith is considered extremely evil. She likes to possess
the bodies of little girls and torture and kill members of the possessed girl’s
families. Although her only stated motivation for killing is that she is a
demon, she clearly hates human beings. Her name is not a coincidence.
A main difference n
the Supernatural universe is that Eve
is the mother of all demons, not Lilith. Lilith is the mother of all demons in
Judaism, and in Judaism and Catholicism Eve is human and the mother of all
humans. Lilith hates humans and wants to kill them, but Eve is the one who
wants to turn all humans into monsters.
"Apocalypse"
means "Revelation," hence why the Book of Revelation is sometimes
called the Book of the Apocalypse. When the Winchesters fail to prevent the
Apocalypse they encounter many of the Biblical symbols and figures that are taken
out of the Book of Revelation and adapted to modern times, and to fit the show
as necessary.
The Four
Horsemen
War
Famine Death
“Then
I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living
creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, “Come!” 2I
looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to
him, and he came out conquering and to conquer.
“3When he opened
the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, “Come!” 4And
out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from
the earth, so that people would slaughter one another; and he was given a great
sword. 5When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living
creature call out, “Come!” I looked, and there was a black horse! Its rider
held a pair of scales in his hand, 6and I heard what seemed to
be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat
for a day’s pay, and three quarts of barley for a day’s pay, but do not damage
the olive oil and the wine!” 7When he opened the fourth seal, I
heard the voice of the fourth living creature call out, “Come!” 8I
looked and there was a pale green horse! Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades
followed with him; they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to
kill with sword, famine, and pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth.”
-Revelation
6:1-8, NRSV
The
brothers encounter each of the four horsemen of the apocalypse: War, Famine,
Pestilence, and Death. Besides Death, the riders of the colored horses in
Revelation are not explicitly stated, but have been interpreted as these other
three. When the brothers meet each rider they do not ride actual horses,
instead they drive Mustangs in the color they are said to ride in the Book of
Revelation.
In Supernatural
the brothers are trying to steal the rings that the four horsemen wear because
when the rings are combined they open the door to Lucifer’s cage. They defeat
War, Pestilence, and Famine, but Death cannot be defeated. He hands the ring
over to Dean because Death does not want to answer to Lucifer. Death is more
than just a horseman, he is actually Death. He says he will reap everyone one
day, even God.
The Whore of Babylon
“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to
me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great whore who is seated
on many waters, 2with whom the kings of the earth have committed
fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the inhabitants of the
earth have become drunk." 3So he carried me away in the spirit
into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full
of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4The
woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and
pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities
of her fornication; 5and on her forehead was written a name, a
mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of whores and of earth's abominations."
Revelation
17:1-5, NRSV
The Winchesters and Castiel encounter
the Whore of Babylon, who has killed and taken the appearance of a girl named
Leah. The Whore’s purpose is to lead people to sin so they go to Hell, and that
is what the main characters find her doing in episode 17 of season 5.
The Whore does not appear riding the
beast described in Revelation, and ironically “Leah” is chaste, she does not
fornicate with anyone. This is the opposite of the Biblical Whore “with whom
the kings of the earth have committed fornication” (Rev. 17:2).
Since the Book of Revelation was
written in code, there are many interpretations of who the Whore of Babylon is.
In Dante’s Inferno the Whore of
Babylon is corruption and simony, not a literal creature. During the Protestant
Reformation some reformers claimed that the Catholic Church is the Whore of
Babylon, leading souls to hell. There are even some within the Catholic Church
that claim the Church since Vatican II is the Whore of Babylon, a fake Church
that leads souls astray. The counterfeit-Church leads true Catholics away. Many Biblical scholars believe the Whore of Babylon is code for the Roman Empire that was persecuting Christians at the time. As often happens with Supernatural, creatures are based on Biblical ideas and twisted to make them fit with the show or to make them more exciting for the audience.
Symbolic v. Literal
Supernatural uses many of
the characters from the Book of Revelation literally. The show never takes into
account that the Book of Revelation was written in code and symbols to avoid
persecutions. Although the Book of Revelation is hard to interpret, very few
Christian sects take every word literally.
The biggest difference between the
apocalypse of Supernatural and the Catholic
apocalypse is the cause. In Supernatural
the world will end because of a battle to the death between Michael and
Lucifer. Supposedly, if Michael wins there will be Heaven on Earth, and if
Lucifer wins there will be Hell on earth. The Catholic apocalypse is the Second
Coming of Christ, where each person will be sent to Heaven or Hell based on
their righteousness. Since Supernatural
never mentions the existence of Jesus Christ (except for swearing), it would be
hard to tie in this cause of the apocalypse.
Prophets were very important in the Hebrew Scriptures which Catholicism and Judaism share. In Supernatural, there are two prophets of significance. These prophets are not known to be prophets as they are in Biblical times, they do not even know they are prophets until they encounter the Winchester brothers. They do not behave in the same way that the ancient prophets did, but the basic concept is the same: hear the Word of God, write it down, and pass it on. Chuck Shurley
Chuck is first introduced as a fiction writer who writes about the Winchester brothers. He believes that he is making these stories up, not realizing that he is actually seeing the future and writing it down. He is supposed to write the "Gospel of Winchester" which, at least according to the Catholic angels, will explain how the apocalypse came to take place and what happened. Chuck does not fit into the same role the ancient prophets did, he is closer to one of the early evangelists who recorded the gospels. He does not perform miracles or interpret the Word of God, he simply writes what he thinks not realizing until later that they are visions. Chuck also helps prevent the apocalypse. Kevin Tran
Kevin Tran first appears in season seven. He is a high school senior, test scores and AP classes are the most important part of his life until he meets the Winchesters. After the Winchester brothers acquire stone tablets, Kevin is drawn to them and is the only one who can read them. It is revealed that Kevin can read the scrolls because he is the next prophet, after Chuck. A high school boy is not the ideal prophet. He is irresponsible and can barely take care of himself, but is supposed to save the world by translating. He can read the Word of God that Metatron recorded on stone tablets, and this makes him valuable to Crowley. Kevin may be just a high school boy but he is very brave, a characteristic he shares with the ancient prophets.
