"It only got pathetic when I started having to do it myself. Because of that hippie from Bethlehem; before him, they practically threw virgins at me. When those trollops are about to die soaked in their juicy fear, I...eat...their...livers! Because that's the only part of them still working to purify the body that they've trashed."—Vesta, to Jody Mills, Rock and a Hard Place
Vesta was the Roman goddess of the hearth. She used chastity groups as a means to find virgins to sacrifice to her hearth.
History
Background
Some time when the Roman pantheon was still in power, Vesta received six virgin sacrifices every year. The sacrifices had to have been virgins for thirty years, otherwise, they would be killed by being buried alive, in return Rome got a good harvest. The goddess claimed that people begged to be offered up to her. During the rise of Jesus, and subsequently, Christianity. Vesta lost many of her followers. Since then, she has adapted to the dominant religion, using purity as a front to lure and locate virgins within the Christian faith.
Season 9
Vesta in her disguise.
During the events of Rock and a Hard Place, Vesta had moved to Hartford, South Dakota, which was around Sioux Falls, in her search for her virgin sacrifices. Her activities caught the attention of Jody Mills, who then called the Winchesters to aid her solve the case of the missing members of the Abstinence Purifies Us (APU) group. She ate one of the victim's liver when he was near death and kept the rest in an old fallout shelter till they were near dead from starvation and thirst.
Sam and Dean sign a pledge of purity to join the group and find out more about the victims. Dean went home with the group councilor, whom Dean insists he knew somewhere before, to borrow some books, while Sam went to their motel room to work with Jody. When Dean and the counselor had sex, Vesta kidnapped them and locked them in the fallout shelter with the rest of her victims.
Vesta being killed by Jody Mills.
Eventually Sam and Jody figured out what she was and where the victims were. As they found the group, Vesta knocked out Sam and attacked Jody who taunted her with her knowledge of Vesta's true nature and how what she was doing was pathetic. Vesta started tying Jody down, explaining what she was doing and why, intending to eat her liver next, but caught Jody's arm when Jody tried to kill her with a stake that she vulnerable to. Vesta tried to kill Jody with the stake, but was stopped by Sam though she did manage to non-fatally wound Jody. Vesta tried to eat Sam's liver but stopped, shocked, because his body was in bad shape and she couldn't consume it. As she spoke to Sam, Jody stabbed her from behind with the stake, causing her to emit fire from her face and killing her.
Powers and Abilities
Vesta demonstrating precisely controlled pyrokinesis.
Vesta was an incredibly powerful deity and had similar strength seen from other deities. However, she possessed unique abilities of her own, and showed to be very powerful, stronger than most deities.
- Immortality - Vesta was thousands of years old and retained the appearance of a young woman. She was much older than Jesus, making her well over 2,013 years old at the time of her death.
- Invulnerability - Vesta was not subject to physical harm, human weapons, disease or any other natural causes of death.
- Super Strength - Vesta had immense superhuman strength, immensely stronger than humans, and even stronger than most other deities. She could easily lift pickup trucks over her head with her bare hands, flip them over like a feather and effortlessly overpower, lift, toss, and hurl grown humans and send them flying in the air with great force and ease. Her extraordinary strength is such that it is safe to assume she can easily lift anywhere from 5,000+ lbs - 33,000+ lbs as pickup trucks are found anywhere in that weight range. With only one hand she easily pinned Jody against a wall and snapped her arm with ease, lifted her up a few feet off of the ground with one hand by her throat, beat her to a bloody pulp, and easily overpowered Sam and sent him flying over 30 feet all the way across the barn and knocking him unconscious.
Vesta demonstrating a greater intensity of pyrokinesis.
- Advanced Pyrokinesis - As the goddess of the hearth, she could create and control blue flames on a highly advanced level. These flames could knock people unconscious and could be used with extreme concussive force. Vesta could alter the intensity of the flames to varying effect, ranging from maiming to killing people. When she died, flames burst from her face.
- Supernatural Perception - With a touch, she could somewhat sense the presence of Gadreel in Sam, or at least she could see the damage that the Three Trials had done to his body and that his physiology was such that he couldn't be alive, let alone his own liver fit for her to consume, and was actually repulsed by what she perceived.
- Blessings - In return for the virgin sacrifices, much like the Vanir, Vesta gave Rome a better harvest. She apparently dropped this part of the ritual, once she lost her worshipers.
- Clairsentience - Vesta could sense when a virgin or born-again virgin broke their vows to her.
Vulnerabilities
- Oak Stake stained in virgin blood - Vesta was killed by an oak stake stained in the blood of a virgin.
Appearances
- Season 9
- Rock and a Hard Place
- Holy Terror (mentioned only)
Trivia
- Whether or not the Greek and Roman names of the Greco-Roman deities are interchangeable in the Supernatural universe has yet to be clarified; if they are, she is the older sister of Zeus and Roman counterpart to Hestia.
- In the series, Vesta is portrayed as a villain. However, in mythology, Vesta, as well as her Greek counterpart, was a gentle and kind goddess, and a protector of virgins, children, and families. Notably, she did not take part in war or fighting, instead choosing to tend to the hearth of Olympus.
- Vesta is the oldest daughter of Saturn and Ops, and is the older sister of Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Pluto, and Ceres.
- In Roman mythology, Vesta was a pacifist, and hated violence, this is in stark contrast to her depiction on the show.
- In addition to being a peaceful and loving goddess, Vesta in both mythology and Roman history did not require nor demand any human sacrifices (a practice that the Romans considered barbaric). Her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, were required to tend her temple and her Eternal Flame and to remain chaste for thirty years but none were expected to offer up their lives to her.
- Vesta said she ate the livers of her sacrifices because it was the only organ that continued to cleanse or purify the corrupted body. However, other organs have similar filtering and cleaning functions, such as the spleen.
- Ironically, the stake used to kill Chronos was created by the Vestal Virgins, who functioned as priestesses of Vesta in Rome.
- Lindy Booth, the actress who portrays Vesta, starred in the 2005 thriller Cry Wolf, which also starred Jared Padalecki.
- Vesta is portrayed in the show as having red hair, this is symbolic of the colour of fire. While Sam and Dean wouldn't immediately expect a red-haired woman to be Vesta, it is quite ironic.