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Aired: Thursday February 1, 2007

Baddies: Up to interpretation.

Sources: tv.com

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arrow 2nd Post: Lore
arrow 3rd Post: Screen Caps
arrow 4th Post: Video Caps
arrow 5th Post: Interesting Facts
arrow 6th Post: Quotes

Lore:

The Work of God

In the Bible, angels are a medium of God's power; they exist to execute God's will. Angels reveal themselves to individuals as well as to the whole nation, to announce events, either good or bad, affecting humans.

The angels of the Bible generally appear in the role of God's messengers to mankind. The word Angel comes from the Latin word angelus, which came from the Greek word, angelos, meaning “messenger”. They are His instruments by whom He communicates His will to men, and in Jacob's vision they are depicted as ascending and descending the ladder which stretches from earth to heaven.

The number of angels is enormous. The general conception is the one of Job, “Is there any number of his armies?” The Book of Revelations, gives the number as, "a thousand thousands, and many tens of thousands".

Angels are portrayed as powerful and dreadful, endowed with wisdom and with knowledge of all earthly events, correct in their judgment, holy, but not infallible: they strive against each other, and God has to make peace between them. When their duties are not punitive, angels are beneficent to man.

It is the Fathers’ belief that it is the angels who put into execution God’s law regarding the physical world. Many Old Testament Bible chapters mention an "angry God" who sends His angel to smite the enemies of the Israelites.

In Islam, angels are benevolent beings created from light and do not possess free will. They are completely devoted to the worship of God and carry out certain functions on His command. As such, angels do not eat, procreate or commit sin as humans do. According to the majority of Islamic scholars, angels are incapable of committing sin, and therefore cannot fall from grace.

The distinction of good and bad angels constantly appears in the Bible, but it is instructive to note that there is no sign of any dualism or conflict between two equal principles, one good and the other evil. These evil angels are often referred to as “fallen angels,” angels who had been exiled or banished from Heaven. Often such banishment is a punishment for disobeying or rebelling against God.

Archangel Michael

The Catholic Church honors Michael with four main titles or offices. He is the Christian angel of death, carrying the souls of all the deceased to heaven, where they are weighed in his perfectly balanced scales (hence Michael is often depicted holding scales). At the hour of death, Michael descends and gives each soul the chance to redeem itself before passing, thus consternating the devil and his minions. Michael is the special patron of the Chosen People in the Old Testament and is guardian of the Church; it was thus not unusual for the angel to be revered by the military orders of knights during the Middle Ages. Last, he is the supreme enemy of Satan and the fallen angels.

Redemption

A concept referring to forgiveness for absolution for past sins and protection from eternal damnation.

Séance

A séance ritual is an attempt to communicate with the dead. The séance or sitting is led by a medium who goes into a trance that theoretically allows the dead to communicate through him or her. “It’s based on early Christian rights.”

The 700 Club

The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing on cable's ABC Family and in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966. The show presents news stories from Robertson's religious and political perspective, often relating stories to passages from the Bible which are generally followed by commentary from the hosts. The style of news reporting on the show has been criticized by many as unfairly biased, allegedly framing stories in a manner said to reflect Robertson's views.

Wormwood

Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with between 200-400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. It comprises hardy herbs and shrubs known for their volatile oils. They grow in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, usually in dry or semi-dry habitats.

Common names used for several species include wormwood, mugwort, sagebrush and sagewort, while a few species have unique names, notably Tarragon A. dracunculus and Southernwood A. abrotanum. Occasionally some of the species are called sages, causing confusion with the Salvia sages in the family Lamiaceae.

Video Caps:

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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Quotes:

Another amazing episode. I feel so badly for Sammy, he really needed the knowledge that something out there was looking out for him and wanted to help save him.

I loved the brotherly dynamic in this episode, it was spot on, and true to the old Sam and Dean, with the atheist vs. not. As well as the vibrating bed=) Cause we all want Dean on a vibrating bed.

Yeah, try and prove me wrong.

I can't remember now. But the one that sticks out the most for me was the hotel from Provenance all retro and weird. And the boys are just like, 'huh'. I loved that hotel room.

Yeah... Provenance is the one on the top of my head... But given they clearly only have SO many props and sets... Well, you can tell they're re-using stuff... lol. And I think it's an absolute RIOT that they're re-using the Retro Swingers props. lol. That Do Not Disturb sign? With the 70s Disco pose? AWESOME! *wants*

And I was just reading... One of the Supernatural Fan MySpace pages posted a Bulletin.. Sourced as from supernatural.tv. Had TONNES all about the lore and stuff... Was brilliant... Explained a whole lot about the Angels and EVERYTHING... And given I was brought up an atheist, well, I loved them explaining bits... Especially things like the 700 Club smile

I was referring more to simply the vibe... And the Do Not Disturb sign (cos I remember it swinging as they enter and say, Huh! in provenance)

The 700 Club is this news program on The Christian Broadcasting channel where they associate everything with verses for the bible. ie. Make everything related to Religion.