5,713
edits
Changes
From Super-wiki
Heaven
,no edit summary
Heaven was created by [[God]]. It serves as a dwelling place and a base of operations for [[angels]], and is a final resting place of worthy deceased souls.
God resided in Heaven with his angels until his departure sometime in the distant past. In God's absence, the [[archangel]] [[Michael]] led the angelic [[The Host of Heaven|Host]] and directed the affairs of Heaven, where [[Raphael]] was also an authority. The appearance of angels in Heaven is not necessarily human, even though they may be perceived in that manner by deceased souls. For example, [[Zachariah]] says that in Heaven he has six wings and four faces, but Sam and Dean's human minds are too limited to perceive his true form. Angels draw some of their powers -- demonic exorcism, healing and possibly resurrection -- from Heaven.<ref name="five02">[[5.02 Good God, Y'All]]</ref> Those who [[Fallen Angels|fall]] and are "cut-off" from Heaven are weakened, and are not allowed to return on their own. It is still possible for the banished to communicate with Heaven. Anna and Castiel were able [[Angel Radio|hear other angels speaking]], even without their [[grace]]. Castiel was able to communicate with Sam and Dean through a psychic link to electronic equipment, such as a radio or TV, in their shared Heaven.
Heaven serves as a destination for deserving human [[soul]]s after death. They occupy the happy memories they experienced on Earth, reliving them in their personal Heavens. A human soul is allowed salvation in Heaven based on God's decision, after he leaves Heaven the task is allocated to [[Anubis]]. Raphael said that if a person is devout, it can cover all sins when Castiel questions Ken Lay's admittance into Heaven.<ref name="six20">[[6.20 The Man Who Would Be King]]</ref> Souls that have gone to Hell will not subsequently be accepted by Heaven, unless God intervenes as he did with [[Bobby Singer]] and [[John Winchester]].<ref>[[15.02 Raising Hell]]</ref>
Following Michael's and Lucifer's imprisonment in [[Lucifer's Cage|the Cage]], civil war raged between Raphael and his angels loyalist traditionalists against [[Castiel]] and his angels. This civil war ended when [[Godstiel|Castiel]] killed Raphael along with his followers after absorbing the souls from [[Purgatory]] and declaring himself the new "God." The aftermath caused the number of angels to dwindle significantlydue to frequent cases of infighting.
When Castiel disappeared after inadvertently releasing the [[Leviathans]], a power vacuum formed which led to factions vying for control. When [[Metatron]] returned from exile, he enacted a plan of revenge, ejecting all the angels from Heaven and locking the gates, preventing anything, even souls from entry until he decided to open up a [[Playground|pathway]], which became the only known entrance into Heaven until the arrival of the [[Cosmic Entity]]. In search of [[Jack Kline]]'s soul, the Entity stormed the gates and reopened all ones that were closed by Metatron. The Cosmic Entity threatened to destroy Heaven until Castiel made a deal to save Jack in exchange for his own life.<ref name="fourteen08">[[14.08 Byzantium]]</ref> Despite all of the gates being reopened, the angels continue to use the [[portal]] in the playground for access to Heaven since they still have no wings.<ref name="fourteen18" />
When [[Dumah]] was killed by Castiel with an [[angel blade]] in Heaven, she left behind no blood on the weapon even though Dumah was known to use a [[vessel]], possibly because Heaven is a non-physical realm.<ref name="fourteen19" />
After [[Jack]] takes over Heaven, he reshapes it with Castiel's help, tearing down all of the walls and allowing the souls to exist together. [[Bobby Singer]] tells Dean that Heaven is now what it should be and people no longer have to relive their fondest memories for the rest of existence, but coexist in an a more peaceful version of Earth. He also made it possible for souls from Hell to enter Heaven as Sam and Dean entered heaven despite both being sent to Hell upon at least one of their many deaths.<ref name="fifteen20">[[15.20 Carry On]]</ref>
===[[The Host of Heaven]]===
Angelic society in Heaven is arranged into a rigid, militaristic hierarchy. Each angel is a member of an [[angel garrison]] with its own supervisors who report to higher authorities. This arrangement has been breaking down since God's departure from Heaven. Following the imprisonment of Michael in [[Lucifer's Cage]], Castiel describes the situation there as civil warchaotic.<ref name="six03" /> Garrisons now seem to be breaking up due to the conflict in Heaven. After civil war ended, and Castiel disappeared, there was a void in the leadership of Heaven; though angels still appeared to have a hierarchy, there were many factions vying for control. One of the leaders of those factions was [[Naomi]], who held an unknown rank, but was in charge of Heaven's Intelligence Division. After [[the Fall]], and second angelic civil war on Earth, the remaining angels formed a quorum to govern, with the angel [[Hannah]] as a high-ranking membertheir leader until her death at the hands of [[Efram]].
It is later revealed that the existence of angels is what maintains Heaven, and due to the significant loss of angels through the Fall and various wars and battles only nine remain in existence to watch over the souls in the Heaven, and that once they are all gone, Heaven will fall crumble, releasing billions of souls on to the earth. Naomi explains that there were at most 11 angels in Heaven and Earth by [[13.19 Funeralia]], but a few new angels were forged by Jack Kline from a prayer group, slightly increasing their ranks and prolonging Heaven's current state until they eventually burn out. After Jack becomes the new God, he reshapes Heaven into what it was always meant to be, possibly eliminating Heaven's need for angels to power it. What becomes of the last few angels remains unknown, though it's likely that the last of the angelic host remained in Heaven to oversee its new state.
===Axis Mundi===
}}
The Axis Mundi is a path that runs through Heaven. Different souls in Heaven see it as different things -- for [[Dean]] it is "two-lane asphalt." According to Castiel, some view this axis as a river. The road will lead the traveler to the Garden.
In mythology the Axis Mundi is the path between Heaven and Earth, and is depicted symbolically in different ways in different cultures -- from the Totem pole of American indigenous people to the Pyramids of Egypt and the Bodhi tree where Buddha found enlightenment ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi Source]).
}}
In Heaven, humans occupy their happy memories, reliving them in their own, separate worlds. When [[Sam]] and [[Dean]] are killed and find themselves in Heaven,<ref name="five16">[[5.16 Dark Side of the Moon]]</ref> they move along the ''axis mundi'' from one happy memory to another -- although the memories that are happy for one brother are not always so for the other. When they meet [[Ash]], he explains that everyone has their own “Heaven,” and at the center of all of them is Heaven's Garden (see below).
According to Ash, most people cannot leave their own “Heaven,” although Ash had worked out a way to do so using his practical application for string theory, he has also rigged a device that allows him to listen in to the angels. Other people Ash has met in Heaven are Johnny Cash, Andre the Giant, Einstein, [[Pamela Barnes]] and Mallanāga Vātsyāyana who wrote the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kama_Sutra ''Kama Sutra''.] Ash tells Sam and Dean that he has been unable to locate [[John]] or [[Mary Winchester]].<ref name="five16" /> Nine years later, its confirmed that John made it to Heaven and is now sharing a special Heaven with Mary who had recently died for a second time and the two are at peace together.<ref name="fourteen18">[[14.18 Absence]]</ref> [[Dumah]], as the current leader of Heaven, threatened that she could end their shared Heaven with a snap of her fingers, leading to Dumah's death at Castiel's hands to end this threat.<ref name="fourteen19">[[14.19 Jack in the Box]]</ref>
Angels do monitor the individual Heavens. [[Jofiel]] is seen checking on the occupants with a specialized instrument, before he is killed by Lucifer<ref>[[11.18 Hell's Angel]]</ref>
Angels can choose to spend time in the personal Heavens for their own reasons. Castiel enjoys an autistic man's "the eternal Tuesday afternoonof an autistic man who drowned in a bathtub in 1959" Heaven, which is a peaceful park scenewhere the autistic man flies a kite, and Raphael uses [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Lay Ken Lay's] Heaven for meetings.<ref name="six20">[[6.20 The Man Who Would Be King]]</ref>
[[Image:Eden.jpg|350px|right|thumb|The Garden as interpreted by [[Dean]] and [[Sam]].]]
===[[Portal]]===
There is a portal to Heaven located in a [[playground]] somewhere in the Midwest of the United States, is an area that the angels have designated as the sole Earthly gate to Heaven after the Fall. The gate is a special sigil known as [[Metatron's Cube]], drawn into a sandbox. The playground is typically guarded by one or two angels.The playground, located somewhere in the Midwest of the United States, is an area that the angels have designated as the sole Earthly gate to Heaven after the Fall. The gate is a special sigil known as Metatron's Cube, drawn into a sandbox. The portal is typically guarded by one or two angels.
==Internal Conflicts==