“ | Okay. When my mom was killed, uh, uh, Rowena tried to bring her back but she couldn't. She needed a body which we didn't have. Turns out, Rowena was working on a way to bring her back, a way around that, a... a way to make the spirit flesh. (...) We ended up finding out that my mom was in Heaven already and happy so... She never finished it. | ” |
“ | Eileen: What are you doing to me? Chuck: Same thing I've been doing for weeks-- helping, helping you to the bunker, to Sam... to romance. It was easy, really, just a nudge here, a conveniently placed spell there. [flashback to Golden Time, as Sam remembers finding "Rowena's" spell, and realized Chuck had planted it] Sam: Wait. That was you? |
” |
The Spirit Resurrection Spell is a resurrection spell created by God as part of his plan to spy on Sam and Dean after he fell out with the Winchester brothers. The spell was found in the hotel apartment of the witch Rowena MacLeod, and mistakenly believed by the Winchesters to have been her unfinished work. The spell turns a spirit into flesh and, in so doing, bring them back to life.
Overview[]
This spell was created by God, and completed by Sam Winchester, in order for Sam to resurrect his late friend, the hunter Eileen Leahy, whom God went on to use as a tool to watch Sam and Dean Winchester.
To make his plan work without the Winchesters realizing it, God planted the spell in the hotel room where Rowena lived before she died in a mission with the brothers. He was careful to manipulate Eileen's spirit to the bunker, correctly predicting that Sam, upon meeting Eileen again as a spirit, would try to help her avoid the tragic alternatives that awaited someone in her condition -- returning to Hell where she would be tortured, or becoming a vengeful spirit if she remained on Earth -- which is why he would be going to Rowena's residence and searching her belongings. Though Sam's initial idea, agreed to by Eileen, was to trap her soul in a Soul Catcher crystal, he, instead, serendipitously found a spell that could bring Eileen back to life.[1]
Upon finding the spell, which conveniently fell off one of Rowena's Journals, Sam was led to think that it had been a project of the great witch, initiated after the death of his mother, Mary Winchester, and left unfinished after Rowena supposedly discovered that Mary's spirit had already happily settled in Heaven. Sam, who had a talent for magic, managed to complete the spell on his own.[1]
The truth is only revealed to Sam and Eileen many days later: Chuck planned the whole story, but left the spell in half, knowing full well that Sam could finish it himself.[2]
After God was wounded by the Equalizer, his powers declined significantly. Among the powers he lost, was that of eavesdropping on the heavily warded bunker, the permanent residence of the Winchesters since Season 8. To make up for this loss, he planned Eileen's resurrection in order to use her (without her knowledge) as his "eyes and ears".[2]
Procedure[]
The spell is relatively simple, requiring a tub full of water which unknown herbs must be poured into and the ghost of the person being resurrected. The ghost of the person who is being resurrected must submerge themselves in the water. Once the ghost is submerged, the caster must recite the following incantation:
- "Mortuum oritur. Rutum revertitur. Ex spiritum incarnatum est. Oriatur et educatur. Oriatur et educatur."
(Rough Translation: "Dead rise. Quickly return. The spirit incarnate. Rises and withdrawn. Rises and withdrawn.")
Once the incantation is finished, the spirit is immediately made flesh again and the person is resurrected. However, even if their ghost is wearing clothes, they come back naked.
Known Users[]
Appearances[]
- Season 15
- Golden Time
- Last Call (mentioned only)
- The Trap (mentioned only)
Trivia[]
- Most likely, the spell lost its effectiveness after being used by Sam, because, as a witch who also went after the spell told him: "Show Death a loophole, and she closes it."[1]