Raising Hell...Literally: SPN S2 Meta
spnnewsletter, it'd rock if y'all could snag this for the newsletter. Slight spoilers for season 2 overall.
I may have to offer a DVD-style commentary on one of my damned fics just so that I'm not the only one giggling about the stupid jokes that, like, me and maybe one retired Hungarian professor who specializes in Church history and speaks eight languages can get. I am such a lameass, all a-squee because I not only remembered which of the four kings of hell also runs hell's gambling houses but I remembered where to check in the Pseudomonarchia daemonum.
A quick warning before you click that link: it's wonderfully overwrought, with its garish red-font-on-black-background but OMG it's so fun. The two pics on the bottom of this particular page always, always make me laugh. It even provides the original Latin text (again, in that hilariously ridiculous red-on-black) as printed in 1563.
The scoop on my guy:
Sydonay, alias Asmoday, Rex magnus, fortis & potens: Visitur tribus capitibus, quorum primum assimilatur capiti tauri, alterum hominis, tertium arietis. Cauda ejus serpentina, ex ore flammam eructat, pedes anserini. Super dracone infernali sedet, in manu lanceam & vexillum portans. Præcedit alios qui sub potestate Amaymonis sunt. Cum hujus officia exercet exorcista, fit fortis, cautus & in pedibus stans: si vero coopertus fuerit, ut in omnibus detegatur, efficiet: Quod si non fecerit exorcista, ab Amaymone in cunctis decipietur: Sed mox cum ipsum in prædicta forma conspicit, appellabit illum nomine suo, inquiens: Tu vero es Asmoday. Ipse non negabit: Et mox ad terram. Dat annulum virtutum: Docet absolute Geometriam, Arithmeticam, Astronomiam, Mechanicam: Ad interrogata plene & vere respondet: Hominem reddit invisibilem: Loca thesaurorum ostendit & custodit, si fuerit de legionibus Amaymonis. In sua potestate legiones septuaginta duas habet.
This got me to thinking about the Winchesters in general, rather than in the context of my story. (GO FIG.) Want a translation that might make sense if you didn't stick to Latin in college because the only accents you can do are Texan and Real Damned Texan or, you know, if you're Sam Winchester on a lazy day? Try on Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, printed in 1584. It makes more sense while still being full of delightfully archaic spelling:
Sidonay [Sydonay], alias Asmoday, a great king, strong and mightie, he is seene with three heads, whereof the first is like a bull, the second like a man, the third like a ram, he hath a serpents taile, he belcheth flames out of his mouth, he hath feete like a goose, he sitteth on an infernall dragon, he carrieth a lance and a flag in his hand, he goeth before others, which are under the power of Amaymon. When the conjuror exerciseth this office, let him be abroad [brave], let him be warie [courageous] and standing on his feete; if his cap be on his head [if he is afraid he will be overwhelmed], he will cause all his dooings to be bewraied [divulged], which if he doo not, the exorcist shalbe deceived by Amaymon in everie thing. But so soone as he seeth him in the forme aforesaid, he shall call him by his name, saieng; Thou art Asmoday; he will not denie it, and by and by he boweth downe to the ground; he giveth the ring of venues, he absolutelie teacheth geometrie, arythmetike, astronomie, and handicrafts [mechanics]. To all demands he answereth fullie and trulie, he maketh a man invisible, he sheweth the places where treasure lieth, and gardeth it, if it be among the legions of Amaymon, he hath under his power seventie two legions.
Still feeling daunted? Want something that possibly wouldn't make Dean huck the book at Sam's head? This same site offers a modern English translation of the Elizabethan English. Behold. Alas, it's only for a few chapters but, dude, they are the best chapters. If you take the time to actually read this, it's all about how to debunk frauds; written to protect innocents against persecution from superstitious clergy. It was completely Scot's protest against the witch hunts that swept through Europe during the 1500's. He worked with John Cautares, a ledgermain artist, to debunk the tricks and prove that the devil and his minions weren't at work, but instead nifty tricks that made for wicked-fun entertainment were. It's wonderful. These chapters are all about how to call bullshit on frauds with the goal of saving lives and identifying the real bad guys.
I HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS FOR MY LOVE OF THESE CHAPTERS. In fact, my love for the entire damned book transcends all that is natural in this world. If you ever get the time, read the entire work here and take a moment to be fuckin' amazed at the brass ones this dude had. Scot was taking on the entire Catholic Church in general and the Spanish Inquisition in particular. He did it in part by going to all of the major books of magic at the time, including the The Lesser Key of Solomon, which is one of the books Sam and Dean have through Bobby, and the comparable Ars Goetia. (That link will take you to the king of hell I'm using as an example through this.) *flails* Scot is so totally my fuckin' badass historical boyfriend.
Btw, you can hit that link to the Lesser Key of Solomon to find the seals of each demon. For fun, here's Asmoday's:
And there will be a throw-away line not even thisbig of the blink-and-miss-it variety in my next story that I will desperately love because I've done this kind of reading for my own lame-o amusement. \o/
This reading resonates for me in relation to where we are in the second season of SPN. I love that the writers have managed to mess around with the original concept that all things supernatural are automatically outright evil. We've had an explanation from a reaper about where the malevolent spirits come from. We've met vampires who learned to feed on something other than humans. We've had an undead girl who was still essentially herself despite her post-mortem homicidal rages. We've watched a dead little girl who was just lonely and mostly hurt. We've seen the well-intentioned spirit of a priest who needed to be put to rest. We've had the joy of a tricksy Trickster who only went after dickheads and officially ♥s the boys, which bodes cracktastically-ill for them should we get a third season. We've met a ghost who couldn't let go of the love of her life in order to move on. We've even learned that good people can be monsters and have no idea and no control over what they do when they are these monsters. (Sam's brief possession was fortunately curable; Madison's plight wasn't.)
Right alongside these things, we've had Dean reluctantly forced to constantly consider the grey areas in a world he prefers to consider black and white. At the same time, we've watched Sam increasingly hold to hope and faith, yet balancing that with doing what he can to make plans to be stopped if, in the end, his hopes and faith aren't enough. I think that's why I didn't feel that the anvils in "Heart" (which I discussed here and will finally be able to get to the comments tonight) were actually that bad. It wasn't about "See, if Sam can do it, then omg now we gotta be scared that Dean knows he has to!" or whatever. Sam's relationship to Dean isn't a damned thing like his relationship to Madison. (Hush, Wincesters. *g* Y'all know what I mean.) Yes, she did ask Sam to save her in much the same way Sam has asked Dean to save him. That wasn't what they (and we, IMO) were supposed to take away from this ep, though.
Instead, in keeping with the themes of duality and the personal character arcs of each boys, we watched in part Dean have to internalize that sometimes someone who is truly good, who deserves to live, can be a monster that can't be saved but can only be stopped from killing others in the most final way. Yeah, his grief was so much about not being able to protect Sam in the end, but I think it went to that deeper place of having to admit they do face the threat of Sam becoming evil then finding they've exhausted all the other options that might save Sammy.
Sam, OTOH, was confronted both with the reality that his hope and his prayers -- things his character has held on to at least as far back as S1's "Hookman" and "Faith" and certainly throughout this season -- truly might not be enough.
In both cases, with both boys, the show has introduced something distinct to this season: what it takes to truly scare the Winchesters. Death, hell, demons, pain...they're not scared of those things. But now they both have whispers of doubt introduced into their respective cores of belief. What makes this amazing to me is that the show has done this without giving them reason to doubt that hunting itself is a right and necessary thing. The doubt rests solely within the convictions that have respectively comforted and sustained them: for Dean, that the world is black and white; for Sam, that hope and faith can make a difference.
This doubt, moreso than the actual event itself in the final scene of "Heart" (again, IMO), is where the unvoiced fear that has to be crawling beneath their skins exists. They're being stripped of essential parts of their identities. The changes themselves may not be bad things but, let's face it, changes on that level are terrifying while they're happening. This has been too consistent all season-long, right alongside the themes of duality and siblings, to be an accident.
I may have to offer a DVD-style commentary on one of my damned fics just so that I'm not the only one giggling about the stupid jokes that, like, me and maybe one retired Hungarian professor who specializes in Church history and speaks eight languages can get. I am such a lameass, all a-squee because I not only remembered which of the four kings of hell also runs hell's gambling houses but I remembered where to check in the Pseudomonarchia daemonum.
A quick warning before you click that link: it's wonderfully overwrought, with its garish red-font-on-black-background but OMG it's so fun. The two pics on the bottom of this particular page always, always make me laugh. It even provides the original Latin text (again, in that hilariously ridiculous red-on-black) as printed in 1563.
The scoop on my guy:
Sydonay, alias Asmoday, Rex magnus, fortis & potens: Visitur tribus capitibus, quorum primum assimilatur capiti tauri, alterum hominis, tertium arietis. Cauda ejus serpentina, ex ore flammam eructat, pedes anserini. Super dracone infernali sedet, in manu lanceam & vexillum portans. Præcedit alios qui sub potestate Amaymonis sunt. Cum hujus officia exercet exorcista, fit fortis, cautus & in pedibus stans: si vero coopertus fuerit, ut in omnibus detegatur, efficiet: Quod si non fecerit exorcista, ab Amaymone in cunctis decipietur: Sed mox cum ipsum in prædicta forma conspicit, appellabit illum nomine suo, inquiens: Tu vero es Asmoday. Ipse non negabit: Et mox ad terram. Dat annulum virtutum: Docet absolute Geometriam, Arithmeticam, Astronomiam, Mechanicam: Ad interrogata plene & vere respondet: Hominem reddit invisibilem: Loca thesaurorum ostendit & custodit, si fuerit de legionibus Amaymonis. In sua potestate legiones septuaginta duas habet.
This got me to thinking about the Winchesters in general, rather than in the context of my story. (GO FIG.) Want a translation that might make sense if you didn't stick to Latin in college because the only accents you can do are Texan and Real Damned Texan or, you know, if you're Sam Winchester on a lazy day? Try on Reginald Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft, printed in 1584. It makes more sense while still being full of delightfully archaic spelling:
Sidonay [Sydonay], alias Asmoday, a great king, strong and mightie, he is seene with three heads, whereof the first is like a bull, the second like a man, the third like a ram, he hath a serpents taile, he belcheth flames out of his mouth, he hath feete like a goose, he sitteth on an infernall dragon, he carrieth a lance and a flag in his hand, he goeth before others, which are under the power of Amaymon. When the conjuror exerciseth this office, let him be abroad [brave], let him be warie [courageous] and standing on his feete; if his cap be on his head [if he is afraid he will be overwhelmed], he will cause all his dooings to be bewraied [divulged], which if he doo not, the exorcist shalbe deceived by Amaymon in everie thing. But so soone as he seeth him in the forme aforesaid, he shall call him by his name, saieng; Thou art Asmoday; he will not denie it, and by and by he boweth downe to the ground; he giveth the ring of venues, he absolutelie teacheth geometrie, arythmetike, astronomie, and handicrafts [mechanics]. To all demands he answereth fullie and trulie, he maketh a man invisible, he sheweth the places where treasure lieth, and gardeth it, if it be among the legions of Amaymon, he hath under his power seventie two legions.
Still feeling daunted? Want something that possibly wouldn't make Dean huck the book at Sam's head? This same site offers a modern English translation of the Elizabethan English. Behold. Alas, it's only for a few chapters but, dude, they are the best chapters. If you take the time to actually read this, it's all about how to debunk frauds; written to protect innocents against persecution from superstitious clergy. It was completely Scot's protest against the witch hunts that swept through Europe during the 1500's. He worked with John Cautares, a ledgermain artist, to debunk the tricks and prove that the devil and his minions weren't at work, but instead nifty tricks that made for wicked-fun entertainment were. It's wonderful. These chapters are all about how to call bullshit on frauds with the goal of saving lives and identifying the real bad guys.
I HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS FOR MY LOVE OF THESE CHAPTERS. In fact, my love for the entire damned book transcends all that is natural in this world. If you ever get the time, read the entire work here and take a moment to be fuckin' amazed at the brass ones this dude had. Scot was taking on the entire Catholic Church in general and the Spanish Inquisition in particular. He did it in part by going to all of the major books of magic at the time, including the The Lesser Key of Solomon, which is one of the books Sam and Dean have through Bobby, and the comparable Ars Goetia. (That link will take you to the king of hell I'm using as an example through this.) *flails* Scot is so totally my fuckin' badass historical boyfriend.
Btw, you can hit that link to the Lesser Key of Solomon to find the seals of each demon. For fun, here's Asmoday's:
And there will be a throw-away line not even thisbig of the blink-and-miss-it variety in my next story that I will desperately love because I've done this kind of reading for my own lame-o amusement. \o/
This reading resonates for me in relation to where we are in the second season of SPN. I love that the writers have managed to mess around with the original concept that all things supernatural are automatically outright evil. We've had an explanation from a reaper about where the malevolent spirits come from. We've met vampires who learned to feed on something other than humans. We've had an undead girl who was still essentially herself despite her post-mortem homicidal rages. We've watched a dead little girl who was just lonely and mostly hurt. We've seen the well-intentioned spirit of a priest who needed to be put to rest. We've had the joy of a tricksy Trickster who only went after dickheads and officially ♥s the boys, which bodes cracktastically-ill for them should we get a third season. We've met a ghost who couldn't let go of the love of her life in order to move on. We've even learned that good people can be monsters and have no idea and no control over what they do when they are these monsters. (Sam's brief possession was fortunately curable; Madison's plight wasn't.)
Right alongside these things, we've had Dean reluctantly forced to constantly consider the grey areas in a world he prefers to consider black and white. At the same time, we've watched Sam increasingly hold to hope and faith, yet balancing that with doing what he can to make plans to be stopped if, in the end, his hopes and faith aren't enough. I think that's why I didn't feel that the anvils in "Heart" (which I discussed here and will finally be able to get to the comments tonight) were actually that bad. It wasn't about "See, if Sam can do it, then omg now we gotta be scared that Dean knows he has to!" or whatever. Sam's relationship to Dean isn't a damned thing like his relationship to Madison. (Hush, Wincesters. *g* Y'all know what I mean.) Yes, she did ask Sam to save her in much the same way Sam has asked Dean to save him. That wasn't what they (and we, IMO) were supposed to take away from this ep, though.
Instead, in keeping with the themes of duality and the personal character arcs of each boys, we watched in part Dean have to internalize that sometimes someone who is truly good, who deserves to live, can be a monster that can't be saved but can only be stopped from killing others in the most final way. Yeah, his grief was so much about not being able to protect Sam in the end, but I think it went to that deeper place of having to admit they do face the threat of Sam becoming evil then finding they've exhausted all the other options that might save Sammy.
Sam, OTOH, was confronted both with the reality that his hope and his prayers -- things his character has held on to at least as far back as S1's "Hookman" and "Faith" and certainly throughout this season -- truly might not be enough.
In both cases, with both boys, the show has introduced something distinct to this season: what it takes to truly scare the Winchesters. Death, hell, demons, pain...they're not scared of those things. But now they both have whispers of doubt introduced into their respective cores of belief. What makes this amazing to me is that the show has done this without giving them reason to doubt that hunting itself is a right and necessary thing. The doubt rests solely within the convictions that have respectively comforted and sustained them: for Dean, that the world is black and white; for Sam, that hope and faith can make a difference.
This doubt, moreso than the actual event itself in the final scene of "Heart" (again, IMO), is where the unvoiced fear that has to be crawling beneath their skins exists. They're being stripped of essential parts of their identities. The changes themselves may not be bad things but, let's face it, changes on that level are terrifying while they're happening. This has been too consistent all season-long, right alongside the themes of duality and siblings, to be an accident.