Vessels and Souls

[hells_half_acre]

This is really just a rec for missjack 's recent post about Vessels and whether Adam and Jimmy are home right now.

Check it out here.

Basically though, it points out that it's the non-definitive way the show has treated vessels that have led some of us to be very confused as to things like: why does no one seem to care about Adam? Is Castiel making Jimmy cheat on his wife? etc...

I mean, I do hate to point out discontinuity in the show - but...but....Sam being basically an empty but sentient being has really thrown a spanner in the works in terms of knowing how this whole soul business works. I suppose the difference between Sam's sentient body and brain and Ruby's empty vessel of S4 was that Ruby's vessel was brain-dead? 

Anyway, all rather confusing, but at least know I know WHY I'm confused.

Because the other day I was thinking about it, and the only other episode that we had Sam's soul someplace else was in Swap Meat (which I hated, btw)...and in that case, Sam couldn't remember what Gary had done with his body when he got back into it (or at least, we assume he couldn't)...and Gary obviously couldn't read Sam's memory when he was in Sam's body... (or Sam read Gary's)....so, that must mean that the soul overwhelms the brain when it is present.

Anyway, interesting fodder for speculation.

Comments

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

The soul seems to be the person (I mean, Dean wouldn't have any hell-angst/PTSD if that wasn't the case.)

I'm a little mystified with Castiel's not wanting to get Sam's soul back because it might hurt "Sam". I mean, surely "Sam" is just a bunch of meat walking around. The man he's actually talking about is (i guess) suffering over a century's worth of torment from a couple of vengeful archangels. (Damn it. I really hope that's not true. 40 years was too over the top to begin with. Just say no, supernatural!)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely! :P

[isoldam.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Castiel was really concerned that the condition of Sam's returned soul might be more painful for Dean than hanging around with his brother's empty meat suit? He did say that he and Dean had a more profound bond.

[isoldam.livejournal.com]

A lot of people are having trouble accepting that the soul and body can separate in the SPN universe, and I'm not sure why. I haven't seen anything in the show previously that would really contradict it. It actually fits in well with some non-Western concepts of what a soul is. Several non-Western religions, including the ancient Egyptians and the Navajo, describe the soul as having multiple parts, some of which stay with the body upon death.