Angel Banishing Sigil
The angel banishing sigil is a form of blood magic that must be drawn in fresh human blood. The sigil is activated when a hand is slapped onto the center of the sigil. It temporarily banishes angels (except the one who drew it) from that location. The amount of time the angel stays gone is only a matter of hours with Dean stating after using the sigil in 7.21 Reading Is Fundamental that they have "three, four hours tops" before the angels can return. It typically acts as a defensive measure of last resort, banishing angels that the user cannot otherwise defeat in combat. While the user typically creates large sigils, the size does not appear to effect the power of the spell. In 11.14 The Vessel, Sam was able to use a small banishing sigil to banish Lucifer, an archangel and the most powerful angel known to have had the sigil used on them.
However, in 5.18 Point of No Return, Castiel banishes four angels and himself with a sigil he carved on his chest. It banishes the angels in range to another location on Earth as after being banished, Castiel wound up on a shrimping boat off Delacroix, Louisiana after banishing himself and the other angels and later on in 7.21 Reading Is Fundamental, he calls from a dog track in Perth, Australia. When an angel is banished, they will appear as a comet crashing to Earth, with radio interference signaling their arrival. It may also weaken the angels when they are banished, as Castiel notes that it takes banished angels some time to return after they are exposed to the sigil, Castiel lost most of his remaining powers after being cut-off from Heaven when he banished himself.
The base design of the sigil is generally the same, although substantial variants are used by Samuel in 6.10 Caged Heat and Dean in 12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets. When Sam used another variant in 13.01 Lost and Found, the angel blade being held by one of the angels that was banished was left behind and dropped to the ground, a never before seen effect of the sigil.
As seen on multiple occasions, the sigil will banish every angel in the room its used in and does not discriminate. In 7.21 Reading Is Fundamental, Dean uses the sigil to get rid of Hester and Inias, but banishes Castiel as well in the process as he was in the room. However, the sigil's banishing effect appears to have a limited range as in 13.01 Lost and Found a banishing sigil got rid of the angels Conrad and Lily, who were in the same cell with Sam, but failed to banish Miriam who was several rooms away. Additionally, the sigil used by Dean in 9.01 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here banished two angels he was fighting in a hallway, but left Gadreel, who was in a room right next to the fight, unharmed, likely due to the sigils in the room he was in.
In 11.21 All in the Family, Metatron attempts to use a variant of the sigil on Amara, suggesting that it may effect more than just angels. However, Amara is unharmed by the effects of the sigil and is just amused by his attempts to get rid of her.
According to Ishim in 12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets, an angel banishing sigil can be fatal to an angel that is in a severely weakened state. Ishim suggests that the injured and weak Castiel might either survive or end up "a bloody smear on the wall" if Dean activates his sigil. Its unclear if Ishim was telling the truth or simply bluffing to get Dean to back down.
Nephilim have been shown to be the only angelic beings immune to the sigil. While use of the sigil in the vicinity of a Nephilim won't banish them, it can still have a temporary debilitating effect on them.
See Enochian and Warding Sigils pages for sigils that will prevent an angel from entering a building.
Contents
- 1 Episodes
- 1.1 4.10 Heaven and Hell
- 1.2 4.20 The Rapture
- 1.3 4.22 Lucifer Rising
- 1.4 5.01 Sympathy for the Devil
- 1.5 5.13 The Song Remains the Same
- 1.6 5.18 Point of No Return
- 1.7 6.03 The Third Man
- 1.8 6.10 Caged Heat
- 1.9 7.21 Reading Is Fundamental
- 1.10 9.01 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
- 1.11 9.06 Heaven Can't Wait
- 1.12 11.14 The Vessel
- 1.13 11.21 All in the Family
- 1.14 11.23 Alpha and Omega
- 1.15 12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On
- 1.16 12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets
- 1.17 13.01 Lost and Found
- 1.18 13.09 The Bad Place
- 1.19 14.13 Lebanon
- 1.20 15.18 Despair
- 2 Trivia
- 3 See also
- 4 External links
Episodes
4.10 Heaven and Hell
When Sam and Dean join Ruby who has hidden Anna Milton from Alastair; Castiel and Uriel appear and proclaim they must kill Anna. As the angels attack, Anna cuts herself and draws the sigil, sending the angels away.
4.20 The Rapture
After Castiel found out about Zachariah's true plans, he wanted to warn Dean and Sam, but he was ambushed by some of his fellow angels. Castiel engaged in an angel on angel battle, which ended with Castiel being dragged back up to Heaven for re-education on angelic obedience. Sam and Dean find the sigil in the warehouse where they were supposed to meet him.
The sigil itself appears to have been used on Castiel as his vessel, Jimmy Novak, remembers only a flash of light before waking up, likely as a result of the sigil's activation. This particular sigil appears to have been designed to separate an angel from their vessel before banishing them to Heaven.
4.22 Lucifer Rising
Castiel uses the sigil to banish Zachariah after he decides to help Dean get to Sam, in hopes of preventing Sam from killing Lilith.
5.01 Sympathy for the Devil
Dean uses the sigil, which was all ready and hidden at Chuck's place, to banish Zachariah along with two more angels.
5.13 The Song Remains the Same
Sam uses a sigil to banish Anna during their first confrontation in 1978. Later, Dean shows John how to make the sigil, but when Anna and Uriel arrive, they somehow defuse the sigil before the Winchesters can activate it.
5.18 Point of No Return
Dean uses a sigil to banish Castiel to escape from Bobby's panic room. Later, while fighting four angels in the abandoned muffler factory, Castiel takes off his shirt to reveal the sigil carved into his chest with a box cutter. He puts his hand on it and banishes the other angels and himself, giving Sam and Dean an opening to go to the Green Room.
6.03 The Third Man
Outside of Balthazar's house, Dean and Sam are confronted by a hostile angel. He is a soldier of Raphael and, rather than fight him with the angel blades they have in their possession, Dean banishes him with a sigil etched on a wall of Balthazar's house.
6.10 Caged Heat
Samuel draws a modified version of the sigil and activates it, banishing Castiel temporarily.
7.21 Reading Is Fundamental
After Hester and Inias arrive and threaten, Sam, Meg, Kevin Tran and Castiel; Dean uses the sigil to banish all three angels. While it is unknown where the other two angels went, Castiel ends up at a dog track in Perth, Australia.
9.01 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here
Unable to defeat two angels that are looking for Castiel, Dean tricks them into stopping beating on him then reveals that he drew a banishing sigil on the floor in his own blood, asking them where they will be sent as Heaven is closed. Before they can react, Dean uses the symbol to banish the two angels and leaves before any more can show up.
9.06 Heaven Can't Wait
When confronted by Ephraim, Castiel cuts his hand with the thorns of a rose and uses his blood to draw an angel banishing sigil on a glass pane. However, before he can use it, Ephraim notices and stops him.
11.14 The Vessel
While Lucifer is distracted with the Hand of God, Sam cuts himself and draws an angel banishing sigil on the Bunker wall. As Lucifer advances on Dean, Sam banishes him with the sigil.
11.21 All in the Family
In an attempt to buy Sam time to escape with Lucifer, Metatron creates a variation of the angel banishing sigil and attempts to use it on Amara. While the sigil engulfs Amara in a white light, it has no effect on her and finds Metatron's efforts amusing.
11.23 Alpha and Omega
As Sam and Castiel enter the Men of Letters Bunker, Lady Antonia Bevell uses an angel banishing sigil to banish Castiel so she can capture Sam.
12.01 Keep Calm and Carry On
After being banished by Lady Antonia Bevell, Castiel is blasted through a billboard and into a field about three hours away from Lebanon, Kansas appearing to be a comet or meteor to the naked eye. Upon returning to the Bunker, Dean spots Toni's sigil on the wall and Castiel returns moments later to explain what happened to him.
12.10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets
As Castiel is left beaten and bloody by Ishim, Dean draws a variation of the banishing sigil on a wall, and threatens to use it. Only hesitating when Ishim suggests it may kill Castiel in his weakened state. But, before Dean is able to make a decision, Sam and Lily Sunder arrive and continue the fight against Ishim.
13.01 Lost and Found
Unable to defeat the two angels, Conrad and Lily, attacking him and Jack, Sam creates an angel banishing sigil on the floor of his jail cell and banishes Conrad and Lily instead. The sigil does not harm Jack nor does it banish an angel several rooms away. The banishment also caused Conrad's angel blade to be left behind as he was banished, resulting in it dropping from midair once he was gone.
13.09 The Bad Place
Under attack by multiple angels, Sam suggests allowing them in and then banishing them with the sigil. However, Dean recognizes that it won't work as if the angels get in, they will all die.
14.13 Lebanon
In the alternate timeline created by the disappearance of John Winchester in 2003, Sam creates an angel banishing sigil out of the blood from his injuries caused by the alternate Castiel. Sam uses the sigil to banish Castiel before he can kill Dean.
15.18 Despair
In the Bunker's dungeon, Castiel uses his blood to paint the sigil on the door to keep Billie at bay, revealing that the banishing sigil doubles as a warding sigil designed to keep Death at bay for a time. Billie is eventually able to break through the sigil, but she is absorbed into the Empty along with Castiel.
Trivia
- Castiel uses the angel banishing sigil to keep Billie, the incarnation of Death at the time, at bay in 15.18 Despair. This appears to be a nod to Bobby calling the Death, the Pale Horseman, "The Angel of Death" in 5.10 Abandon All Hope..., clarifying how the sigil could keep her at bay.
See also
External links
Meta
- The Mechanics of Angel Banishing Sigils by messier51 (October 2013); archive link
