Heaven

"There isn't one Heaven, each soul generates its own paradise."

- Castiel

Heaven, also called The Attic, The Penthouse, Paradise, or even Upstairs, is an ageless, ethereal, holy realm created by God, intended to be the home-realm of both himself and his children. It serves as a dwelling place and a base of operations for angels, and is a final resting place of worthy human souls.

Angels are protector of the righteous souls and are responsible of Heaven's maintance. Angels are bound to Heaven and they serve as a power source for Heaven while in it. Without their presence, Heaven crumbles and unleashes every soul it contains upon Earth.

Overview
In its history, Heaven has had two civil wars. The first was when Lucifer became jealous and angry of the creation of mankind and, subsequently, led a rebellion against God. The second was between Castiel and Raphael after the aversion of the Apocalypse. Raphael had wanted to restart it by freeing Michael and Lucifer while Castiel fought to prevent it. 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 Host and directed the affairs of Heaven. Raphael was also an authority.

The appearance of angels in Heaven is not necessarily human, though they usually stay in their vessel, as it isn't always easy to find a suitable vessel for angels. For example, Zachariah says that in Heaven, he has six wings and four faces. Angels draw some of their powers - demonic exorcism, healing, time travel, and resurrection - from Heaven. Those who fall and are "cut-off" from Heaven are weakened and are not allowed to return on their own except for higher angels. It is still possible for the banished to communicate with the ones in Heaven. Anna can hear other angels speaking, even without her grace. Castiel is able to communicate with Sam and Dean Winchester through a link to electronic equipment - such as a radio or TV - in their memories.

Heaven also serves as a destination for deserving human souls after death. They occupy the happy memories they experienced on Earth, reliving them in their personal Heavens. It is unknown how a human soul is allowed salvation in Heaven. Joshua suggests that it is on a case-by-case basis and can be God's decision; this is the case with Sam and Dean. Raphael says that if a person is devout enough, it can trump all sins (which is why the disgraced Enron executive Ken Lay got into Heaven).

Although supernatural in nature, it could be understood with sufficient scientific knowledge and/or technology, as demonstrated by Ash.

Original
The Heaven that God originally created was an endless realm made up of each human's personal paradise. All of these different Heavens were combined into one realm, yet were separated from one another, so that each human would have their own individual domain. Angels are able to travel to any person's Heaven they choose, and can even alter it at will. There are also different sigils that humans can use which allow them to travel to the Heaven of another person. In each individualized Heaven, there is a road, or a representation of a road, which will lead them to the Garden (The center of Heaven).

Remodeled
After the civil war ended, and Heaven was rendered leaderless (due to the death of Raphael, and later Castiel) the Heavenly Host broke up into factions, and recreated the appearance of Heaven. Instead of an endless realm of individualized Heavens, the angels changed Heaven into a massive building like structure, which contained hallways consisting of doors for each person's Heaven. The angels are able to open any of these doors, allowing them to enter any Heaven they choose. There is also a hidden switch or compartment hidden in each Heaven, which, if pulled, will open that Heaven's door, allowing the souls to roam free in the general Heaven, but an alarm will active when that happens, as a soul is not allowed to be out his/her heaven. It seems each heaven is organized by the last name of the soul they belong. For example, there is a hallway only to every Robert "Bobby" Singer, including Bobby.

Foundation and History
Heaven is conceived as above Earth. It is understood by angels, humans, and demons, that Heaven is up. When spirits let go of what ever is holding them in the veil, they go "up" into Heaven.

Conception and Early History
God created Heaven as a realm to house himself and his children. This realm also served as a final resting place of souls deemed worthy.

The center of Heaven is called The Garden (Zachariah refers to it as "Mission Control"), and, like the rest of the realms, each person sees it how they want to. The Garden can be reached by the Axis Mundi, which is often seen as a river or a road, depending on the person.

Throughout the history, angels intefered Earth on certain circumstances, even unleashing Heaven's power on Earth which caused a "nuke" and turn Lot's wife into salt. In Egypt, they murdered every first born infant whose door wasn't splashed with lambs blood.

The Apocalypse
According to Joshua, God is walking the Earth and is not interested in helping the Winchesters stop the Apocalypse. Since God's abandonment of Heaven, Michael has taken command as his right as "Viceroy of Heaven" with some assistance from his younger brother, Raphael.

Civil War and Declaration of the New God
After Michael was trapped in Lucifer's Cage, Raphael took over, leading it like a dictatorship. When he announced his plans to free Michael and Lucifer and restart the Apocalypse, Castiel opposed him. This resulted in a civil war between Raphael's forces and Castiel's followers. The war ended when Castiel absorbed all the souls of Purgatory and destroyed Raphael and his followers. He then declared himself God and took control of Heaven. Castiel's first act was to eradicate all those angels who opposed him, thus effectively reducing Heaven's angelic population. However, he then disappeared and was presumed dead, and Heaven once again fell into disarray.

In the aftermath of Castiel's disappearance, Hester, who was once part of Castiel's garrison, took command of the remaining Angels from Castiel's former garrison. She was assisted by Inias, also an angel from Castiel's garrison.

Factionalized Heaven


It's revealed by Metatron that Heaven is currently at war, with multiple factions of angels fighting for supremacy, as without the Archangels and following Castiel's decimation of Raphael's followers there is no clear leader. Naomi is simply the leader of one such factions. Hence, Metatron initiates the plan to close Heaven off until things cool down and also so that the in-fighting doesn't spill onto Earth.

However, Naomi later reveals to Castiel, and Metatron later confirms, that his intent was not to seal Heaven, but to cast all angels out of it. Taking the ingredients Castiel had acquired (the nephilim's death and the cupid arrow) and Castiel's grace, Metatron casts a spell that causes all angels to be expelled from Heaven thus breaking their wings.

Fall of the Angels
Due to Metatron's spell, Heaven has been cleared by all angels except for the scribe. The spell also cleared out Heaven's prisons and dungeons, unleashing angels that were being held prisoners, such as Gadreel and Abner. The spell caused all of the angels to fall from Heaven. As a result of the it, angels lost their wings and most of their power, permanently. Despite this, they remained to be severely factionalized and warred among each other. Most of the fallen angels blame Metatron and Castiel for their fall. Because of this, Castiel became a target of the anger and vengeance of several fallen angels. Afterwards, Metatron closed the gates of Heaven and even reapers lost their ability to travel there, causing every dead human soul not worthy of Hell, became stuck inthe Veil, unable to go to Heaven.

X
Metatron would later begin to realize that Heaven felt empty, and so began a plan that would install him as the new God under the name 'X'. He recruited Gadreel as his ally, to which Gadreel agreed if he would be the second-in-command of the scribe. Metatron formulated plans and created hitlists for Gadreel to accomplish. One of the individuals the scribe wanted dead was the prophet Kevin Tran. Upon Gadreel's successful attempt, Metatron "flipped a switch" in Heaven, preventing the activation of the next prophet and thus effectively stopped the entire prophet line. Metatron eventually convinces all of the angels to unite under his leadership, having attained great power through the Angel Tablet. Using brainwashed suicide bombers, Metatron turns Castiel's followers against him and is able to unite the angels under his rule. However, his methods turn Gadreel against him and he works with Castiel and the Winchesters to stop Metatron. After Gadreel sacrificed himself to convince Hannah to help them, Castiel was able to shatter the angel tablet, reverting Metatron into a normal angel. Castiel then broadcast what Metatron said about his low opinion of humanity and angels to all angels, causing them to turn on Metatron. Metatron is then locked in Heaven's dungeon and Heaven is retaken. The angels turn to Castiel for leadership, but he denies the offer, saying that he wants to be a ordinary angel again.

A Restored Heaven
Following Metatron's defeat, the angels began governing themselves with no set leader. According to Hannah in Black, there's a lot of meeting on rebuilding and reorganization and a lot of reconciliation between the factions that had developed when Heaven was closed. Metatron is permanently locked in Heaven's dungeon and Reapers are now able to travel freely into Heaven and bring the souls of those that died on Earth to their final resting place, having been prevented from doing so while Metatron was in charge. Following Metatron's defeat, Castiel returns to Earth due to his worsening health from his stolen grace and to help find Dean who had disappeared after Metatron killed him. Hannah recruits Castiel to locate angels who don't want to return to Heaven and get them to go back. Castiel is saved by Crowley with Adina's grace and Hannah eventually returns to Heaven to allow her vessel to resume a normal life. In order to try to find a way to get rid of the Mark of Cain, Castiel tries to enter Heaven to retrieve Metatron, believing that as the Scribe of God, he has the necessary knowledge. However, Hannah bars entry as Metatron would demand his freedom in exchange. To get Metatron, Sam and Castiel break into Heaven with the help of Bobby Singer to break Metatron out. After taking his grace, Metatron is rendered human and tells them that he knows of no cure, but offers to lead Castiel to his grace instead. While searching for the grace, Metatron tells Castiel that under Hannah's leadership, Heaven is now in better shape than it has been since God left.

Heavenly Portal
The angel Ezra revealed a sigil exists, that when drawn, will open a direct portal to Heaven. The portal is apparently in the image of Metatron's Cube, however it is unknown if Metatron or God made it in the first place. It is also unknown if you only need to draw the sigil to get the portal, or if there is an incantation, or a ritual. Fallen angels, who no longer have the ability to fly, used this door to return to Heaven under Metatron's leadership. Following Metatron's imprisonment, the gates remain closed, while the angels have reclaimed Heaven. The portal is currently the way in and out of Heaven and is located behind door number 42 in Heaven. It can be opened from the Heaven side by anyone by just opening the door. After Metatron's escape, the angels moved the portal's location. In The Future, it was revealed that any human that passes through the portal would have their body vaporized and their matter returned to the universe while their soul would ascend.

Heaven's Dungeon


Heaven's Dungeon is a series of dungeons in a special part of Heaven that was created to imprison rebellious angels. Prisoners here endure horrendous torture and Anna stated that it was worse than Hell for angels. Metatron was imprisoned here after being overthrown. He was eventually broken out by Bobby Singer and Castiel in hopes of finding a way to cure the Mark of Cain and escapes (though human) before he can be returned. According to a comment by Metatron, the keys to the cells are kept in the prison area itself, not far from the cells. Before his demise, Thaddeus was the torturer of the dungeon.

Angels Depleting
With so few angels left alive, Heaven was revealed to be running out of power. In Funeralia, Naomi was revealed to be alive and explained to Castiel that the angels acted as batteries that kept Heaven running and with only 9 angels currently in heaven including Castiel and one or two left on Earth, Heaven would soon fall with all of the angels in it burning out in an attempt to maintain it. Were Heaven to crumble, all of the souls in it will end up on Earth as ghosts.

Hierarchy
The angels of Heaven are assigned to various tasks and factions for different purposes. Most of them were soldiers and warriors and they served in garrisons. Castiel's garrison, for example, was assigned to watch and protect the Earth. Each garrison is led by a Captain. Garrison Captains report to higher authorities, such as Zachariah, who in turn answer to the archangels themselves who are in charge of Heaven. Other angels served as agents, scribes, guardians, etc.

Garrisons can, to some extent, be compared with military special ops units. The lowest angels on the celestial chain are equivalent to Privates and Corporals. More powerful angels have ranks comparable to Sergeant, while a specialist like Uriel could be described as a Master Sergeant, aiding the lieutenants. Castiel was a soldier in Ishim's flight before his promotion. Anna Milton was his superior before her fall. After a while, Castiel became a garrison captain, serving under Zachariah. Highest-ranking officer of the garrison, reports to their superior, higher, more powerful angelic beings who rank as Colonels. They in turn report to the archangels; the generals.

A secretarial division was described by Metatron, who was originally a part of the said group.

Heaven also had an intelligence division. These group was led by Naomi and their job was to gather information and fix corrupted angels.

Rit Zien, were angels who worked as medics, and whenever on battlefields, they tend to the wounded and heal those that can be healed.

Cherubim, also known as Cupids, are angels of lower class who were responsible of matchmaking. For example they made Mary Campbell and John Winchester to fall in love with each other in order to create the vessels of Michael and Lucifer.

There are angels, who are assinged to special positions. Thaddeus, was in charge of Heaven's dungeons, Gadreel was the gurdian of Eden, Joshua was the gardener of Heaven's Garden, Virgil was the Keeper of Heaven's Weapons and Metatron was the Scribe of God.

Millennia ago, there was a special squad of angels known as the Grigori who served Heaven and were amongst the most elite angels. There were hundreds and they were among the first angels to walk the Earth. However, they were corrupted and believed wiped out millennia ago. Unknown to the angels, at least some survived, though how many is unknown and are currently feeding on human souls around the world. Only Castiel is aware of their existance.

Heaven's hierarchy is extremely strict. All the angels are expected to obey orders from their superiors and the Archangels without question. Emotions are highly discouraged amongst angels, as many of the higher ranking angels see them as doorways to doubt. Disobedience or lack of faith is punishable by demotion, banishment, torture, and even death.

Heaven's hierarchy was completely undone as all angels but one were cast down to earth. The remaining angel, Metatron, planned to announce himself the new god, with Gadreel as his second-in-command. Metatron was soon able to return all of the angels to Heaven under following his leadership. However, with the help of Gadreel, Sam, Dean and Castiel manage to overthrow him. Afterwards, Castiel refuses to lead Heaven again and Hannah later tells him that the angels have no set leader and are leading themselves. In contrast, Metatron indicates that Hannah herself is the new leader, telling Castiel that Heaven is run better than it has been since God left under Hannah's leadership.

After the release of the Darkness, Hannah, the elected leader of Heaven was killed of by Efram. From then on, Heaven was forced to rely on collective work, and decisions tended to be made together. They briefly accepted command from an unnamed angel and Lucifer. The angels however, declare their loyalty is to God, but in God's absence they continue to work as a team. It is implied however, that without a proper leader the angels do struggle to maintain order, leading Joshua the gardener to unite angels against the Nephilim threat.

Lucifer's Return
After escaping from Winchesters and Castiel, a weakened Lucifer accidentaly travelled to Heaven along with Anael. Angels wanted to kill him however Lucifer deceived them and promised to create new angels and give back their wings. After his promises, Lucifer then became the ruler of Heaven.

After a while, when Castiel return to Heaven in order to seek help from angels for his search for Gabriel, he was informed that very few angels remained in the existence and Heaven was running out of power. It is unknown what happened to other angels and Lucifer.

Inhabitants

 * Angels
 * Abner
 * Ambriel
 * Anael
 * Anna Milton
 * Azrael
 * Balthazar
 * Bartholomew
 * Castiel
 * Daniel
 * Duma
 * Ezekiel
 * Ezra
 * Gadreel
 * Hael
 * Hannah
 * Hester
 * Inias
 * Jofiel
 * Joshua
 * Malachi
 * Metatron
 * Naomi
 * Samandriel
 * Sophia
 * Thaddeus
 * Theo
 * Uriel
 * Virgil
 * Zachariah
 * Thousands of other angels
 * Five other angels
 * Archangels
 * Gabriel
 * Lucifer
 * Michael
 * Raphael
 * God
 * Humans
 * Abel
 * Adam
 * Adam Milligan
 * Ash
 * Bobby Singer
 * Charlie Bradbury
 * Eve
 * Kate Milligan
 * Kelly Kline
 * Kevin Tran
 * Pamela Barnes
 * Billions of other humans who have died

Appearances

 * Season 5
 * My Bloody Valentine
 * Dark Side of the Moon
 * 99 Problems
 * Swan Song 
 * Season 6
 * Caged Heat 
 * The French Mistake
 * The Man Who Would Be King 
 * Season 7
 * Meet the New Boss
 * Season 8
 * A Little Slice of Kevin 
 * Hunteri Heroici 
 * Torn and Frayed 
 * Goodbye Stranger 
 * Clip Show 
 * Sacrifice
 * Season 9
 * Meta Fiction 
 * Stairway to Heaven 
 * Do You Believe In Miracles?
 * Season 10
 * Reichenbach
 * Inside Man
 * Angel Heart
 * Season 11
 * Form and Void
 * The Bad Seed 
 * Beyond the Mat 
 * Hell's Angel
 * We Happy Few
 * Season 13
 * The Big Empty 
 * Devil's Bargain
 * Bring 'em Back Alive
 * Funeralia
 * Season 14

Trivia

 * Ash tells the brothers that Heaven is comprised of many places, like 100 billion individual Heavens. Dean then states that everyone gets a piece of paradise, thus hinting to that Heaven is infinite. This also means that religion is not the deciding factor for who gets in to Heaven when they die.
 * Heaven's whereabouts and state of existence in Supernatural is unclear. It is indirectly implied to be part of the same universe as Earth, and characters frequently refer to it as being above Earth and/or in the sky; it has also been shown that when angels travel from Heaven to Earth through means other than teleportation (i.e., when they fall from Heaven) that they seem to fall to Earth from the sky. When Amara caused disturbances in Heaven, it was noticeable on Earth by strange effects in the sky.
 * It is the only other plane of existence that has been seen the most, going on at 5 seasons, with Hell at 3 and Purgatory 2.
 * The Door number 42 is a reference to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the answer 42 to "the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything".
 * Since its introduction in Season 5, Season 12 is the only season to not feature Heaven.
 * Currently the only angels confirmed to be alive and serving Heaven are Castiel, Naomi, Duma, Duma's Henchmen, and Indra