| “ | I, long ago, secreted within my person a wee casket of powerful magic. When the spell inside me sensed my life-force ebbing... it went to work. And I was revived. | ” |
— Rowena about the spell
| ||
The spell resurrects Rowena.
The Resurrection Seal is a powerful seal that is able to resurrect any body that was implanted with the seal, so the user can be brought back from their death.
Overview
Based from Rowena's description, this spell was developed by the Grand Coven. She later used it with intention to bring herself back from the dead if she was ever killed.
After Lucifer snapped Rowena's neck, the spell was able to resurrect her from the dead which she later explained to Amara.
When Lucifer killed Rowena for a second time by crushing her head, he burned her body to prevent resurrection, leaving behind a charred corpse. Both Lucifer and the Winchesters stated a belief that this killed Rowena permanently even with the Resurrection Seal.
In War of the Worlds, its revealed that Arthur Ketch made a deal with Rowena at one time so that she implanted him with a Resurrection Seal as well. When Arthur was killed by Mary Winchester, the spell resurrected him. However, it needs to be recharged between uses and only Rowena has the capability to do so for Arthur.
Procedure
The full procedure of the spell is unknown. The only known part of the procedure was by implanting the spell to the user's body through a wide and deep incision. The spell would later be sealed with unknown means.
If the user was dying and their life force fading, the spell will re-activate their heart and recharge their life force. The spell also heals the wound that caused the death of the caster. In Rowena's case, the spell healed her neck and restored it back. In Arthur Ketch's case, it healed a bullet clear through the brain, leaving behind no sign of a scar.
The seal must be recharged between uses. While this is presumably easy for someone like Rowena to do for themselves, someone who is not a witch such as Arthur must get it recharged by the caster.
Appearance
- Season 11
- Season 13
- War of the Worlds (mentioned only)
Trivia
- This spell marks the first time that a witch was shown to be capable of successful resurrection, not counting necromancy, which just creates and manipulates zombies.
- In The Foundry, Lucifer indicates that if he decapitates Rowena, she will die permanently even with this spell. After Lucifer burned Rowena's corpse after killing her for a second time, both the Winchesters and Lucifer believed her to be truly dead despite this spell.