Rose Iconography and Links Between PsyKid Generations
The meta bug returns. Meandering thoughts and some nonsensical hub-bub behind the cut.
Roses are a common staple in Supernatural’s visual language. They’ve reappeared throughout seasons one and two in various shades (red, yellow, and blue). Their symbolic meanings have been the topic of metas by
missyjack and
sadelyrate. In a previous meta I noted their association with Mary Winchester in both Dean’s dreamworld featured in “WIAWSNB” (2x20) and in Supernatural’s reality. It seemed to me that rose symbolism had been exhausted. But I noticed something strange while watching an episode, which prompted a revisit to rose iconography. This yielded some new symbolism and surprising (at least to me) character parallels. So for your consideration, roses take four.
In this meta, I’ll take a further look at historical and religious rose symbolism, point out characters beyond Mary Winchester who are linked to rose iconography, and draw some parallels between these characters’ color associations, actions, and name meanings. Then I’ll discuss possible back story commonalities (in particular, the PsyKid story thread) and what this could all mean for season three.
Who’s Hanging Out With the Roses?
The rose motif appears in episodes featuring Mary Winchester: the pilot (1x01), “Home” (1x09), “WIAWSNB” (2x20) and to a lesser extent “CSPWDT” (2x04) and “AHBL-1” (2x21). It also reappears in “Hunted” (2x10), an episode that doesn’t mention Mary but does mark the entrance of a new character: Ava Wilson.
In “Hunted” Ava is associated with the color blue and blue roses. Her first scene features her under a bedspread printed with blue roses. Blue roses on her pillow surround her head. She’s wearing a V-neck blue nightshirt edged in blue lace reminiscent of Mary’s V-neck white nightdress with lace trim. The walls of Ava's bedroom are painted blue. She drives a blue VW bug and lives in a blue house.
Caps 1, 2, 3, & 4. Screen caps from Screencap Paradise and
extremefangirl.
But more telling is that Sam is staying at the Blue Rose Motel. This point seems to be important as we're treated to repeated frames of the glowing Blue Rose Motel sign and close-up shots of Blue Rose Motel stationary in which Sam scribbles the address where Dean is held captive. Right before Ava meets Sam, there is a peculiar close-up shot of the blue rose keychain in his hand featuring yet again the name of the motel. I was struck by the similarities between this scene and one in "WIAWSNB" - in both the camera closes in on a rose or roses (blue in Ava's case, yellow in wish!Sam's case) immediately before their (Ava and wish!Sam's) first encounter with the episodes' protagonist (Sam in "Hunted" and Dean in "WIAWSNB").
Caps 5, 6, & 7.
If that’s not enough blue rose overload, in her first scene with Sam in the motel room, Ava is wearing yet another blue V-neck lace shirt under her jacket that is different than the blue V-neck lace-trimmed nightshirt. In the deleted scenes for this episode, it appears that her shirt has a flower print on it. The motel room is blue with white edging and features blue roses (note that the shades of blue are similar to Ava’s bedroom). The camera pans out specifically to show a cabinet filled with blue-rose china to Sam’s left. There are two paper blue rose placards on either side of Sam. In her close-up shots, Ava is framed by blue roses while Sam’s close-ups in this scene feature those jazzy blue circles. Later in the episode, Sam is backed by the roses.
Caps 8, 9, 10, & 11.
Considering that Kripke smacks us upside the head with blue roses in nearly every scene with Ava, I think it’s safe to say he’s purposefully drawing our attention to her. This implies to me that there is something about her that is meaningful to the story beyond the surface plot because we’ve only seen such strong motifs associated with important catalyst characters (Mary and Jess) who fill specific plot niches important to Sam and Dean’s journey. So why could Ava be significant? Let’s dig a little deeper…
What Do Blue Roses Symbolize?
Missyjack noted in her meta:
Blue roses do not exist naturally as roses lack a gene to produce delphinidin, the pigment that produces true blue flowers. They have been created in recent year through genetic engineering. In the Victoria languate of flowers a blue roses signifed mystery or attaining the impossible. Sammy = Blue Rose? ETA: The blue rose is also included on the insignia of Miliary Intelligence as a symbol for secrecy.
I’m not going attempt to link the meaning of blue roses to Ava as I’m not sure I see a direct correlation. But I’d like to revamp missyjack’s hypothesis and suggest that the blue rose as a symbol doesn’t relate to Sam, but to Ava. Furthermore, I’d like to suggest that it’s not the symbol of the blue rose itself that may be meaningful, but it’s the meaning of the color blue AND the religious and historical symbology of the rose that may be significant. So let’s take a look at what roses symbolize and then what the color blue means.
What Do Roses Symbolize?
I’m going to add to what Sadelyrate has started in her rose meta, concentrating on the religious symbolism and the rose’s relationship with pentagrams.
The rose carries the meaning of purity or heaven as well as passion, transmutation, completion, achievement, and perfection. It’s also an ancient symbol of joy. In Greco-Roman cultures it was the flower of Aphrodite/Venus and symbolized beauty, love, and springtime.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the rose was incorporated into the Catholic Church as the flower of the Virgin Mary who was deemed the "rose mystica". After the 17th Century, the round, symmetric, stained-glass windows featured in Gothic-style cathedrals were give the name "rose window" as they were frequently dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. But recently, the Catholic Chuch has associated the rose windows with the Virgin Mary due to her being the "mystical rose". The Catholic rosary is thought to have originated as rolled, dried roses made into beads. Has anyone written a religious!Mary meta yet? *grins*
The rose also represents the five stages of female life: birth, menstruation, motherhood, menopause, and death. Thus, the flower refers to the next world - in Rome the feast called "Rosalia" was a feast of the dead. Roses were used in conjunction with lilies in early Christian art in scenes depicting the next world (Paradise). Recall that Mary and Jess both have roses engraved on their tombstones.
The rose, with its characteristic five-petal shape, imitates the pentagram - a five-sided star that has a variety of meanings, but specific to SPN it’s used as a form of protection from evil. The rose and pentagram are so similar that a common technique used to draw roses requires sketching a pentagon and then filling it in with smaller, off-set pentagrams. Like the rose, the pentagram is associated with the Goddess Venus and it’s also used in Virgin Mary-associated symbolism. It’s the Christian symbol for the five joys Mary had of Jesus: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and the Assumption. To me this rose and pentagram relationship seems like it should be important given both are reoccurring symbols in the show and both have mythic, historic, and religious significance that seem meaningful to the story.
What Does Blue Symbolize?
Blue is between black and white which are opposing forces (good = white, evil = black). Therefore, blue is considered the most neutral of all colors. It denotes truth, intelligence, and trustworthiness. These meaning can be molded to fit Ava in “Hunted” easily enough as she had yet to have taken a definitive stand for or against the YED and she was eventually willing to help Sam uncover the truth about her visions (if any of that is meaningful is another thing *shrugs*). However, it’s interesting to note that Ava in “AHBL-1” was not associated with blue roses or the color blue. Perhaps this disassociation was intentional and meant to signify Ava turn, untruth, and distrust. I think I may be reaching a bit here. But more interesting and what I think is significant is that blue also represents the Virgin Mary as depicted by her blue mantle.
What Could It All Mean?
So we have two references to the Virgin Mary through two separate vehicles: roses and the color blue. These two items combined are attached to Ava Wilson. The rose motif is also linked to Mary Winchester. Roses symbolically are tied to pentagrams, an important symbol SPN (see cap 12. ETA: Sadelyrate made the very astute observation that the spikes on the pentagram resemble rose thorns). Then consider the similarities between Mary and Ava’s clothes (always v-neck laced collars in character-specific colors) as well as the religious undertones of Mary’s role in the series (her name being the most prominent and the fact she’s given birth to Sam, the chosen one, the potential leader of an army … a supposed new movement) and couple this with the religious symbolism of the rose and the color blue, and the parallels between Ava and Mary are compelling.
Cap 12.
Note that “Ava” is derived from the name “Eve”. Symbolically the Virgin Mary and Eve have been embodied by the rose - Mary being associated with the bloom itself and Eve being associated with the thorns. This contrast inspired the Christian Latin poet Sedulius, to write (between 430-450) a comparison between Eve, our first mother (and the one who also gave into temptation, a parallel with Ava’s turn in “AHBL-1” perhaps), and Mary, the Mother of Jesus the Savior.
Perhaps Kripke is suggesting a link between Mary and Ava by planting symbolic and visual clues (the color blue and the rose motif). Could Kripke be hinting that Mary is an older generation PsyKid?
Before you dismiss this as ridiculous, consider this: there are striking similarities between Mary’s posture (right hand raised, fingers curled and tensed) in “AHBL-1” and PsyKid Scott Carey’s (right hand raised, fingers curled and tensed) in “Hunted”. To me, it’s an offensive position, suggesting the intent to take action rather than just an accidental positioning of the hand. In “Salvation” (1x21) we see this posture repeated with Monica, Rosie’s mother, as she’s sliding up the wall just as Mary did in “AHBL-1”. Can the body positioning of two separate murders and one attempted murder committed by two different people in three different states twenty-three years apart simply be fortuitous?
Caps 13, 14, & 15.
Let’s look at Monica and Rosie more closely. First of all, there’s the fact that the YED is after Rosie, which confirms that she is a PsyKid or else has PsyKid potential. This places Mary and Monica in parallel roles, both being mothers of children who have been targeted by the YED. Then there’s Rosie’s name *grins* which symbolically links her with Mary and Ava. There’s the strong pink flower motif in Rosie’s nursery (recall from a previous meta that Mary is associated with pink and white and she is often surrounded by pink and white blooms in addition to roses). There are flowers imprinted on the white curtains, both throw rugs, the lamp on the dresser, Rosie’s blanket, and possibly Monica’s white nightdress (although it’s hard to tell for certain due to lack of clear close-up shots), which is similar to Mary’s. Every time we see her, Rosie is wearing pink. I’ve not seen another instance outside of Mary’s appearance where the pink flower motif pops up so obnoxiously like this.
Caps 16 & 17.
When Mary sees the YED hovering over Sam’s crib in “AHBL-1”, she says, “It’s you.”
When Monica sees the YED bending over Rosie in “Salvation”, she says, “What are you…?”
Mary’s words strongly suggest she knew the YED prior to his nursery visit, making it not impossible that she could be an older generation PsyKid. Monica’s words, although they don’t suggest the same degree of recognition as Mary’s, strike me as slightly strange. Hypothetically speaking, if you were to find a stranger in your house at night, leaning over your infant child would you be asking, “What are you … [doing]?” I’d tend to say this to someone who I recognized who was doing something strange and reserve “Get away from my baby, you freak!” for the random stranger. But that’s just me who may be over thinking freaky-man-in-the-house scenarios XD.
Another interesting coincidence is Monica’s clothing when Sam first meets her in person in “Salvation”. She’s wearing a vibrant blue coat, the same shade of blue associated with Ava, a confirmed PsyKid. In fact, the color scheme in Rosie’s nursery is an interesting amalgam of symbolically significant colors: pink and white together (colors associated with Mary and Mary’s plot counterpart, Jess), deep blue (a color linked to Ava), and yellow and red together (colors denoting demons/YED/Sam’s abilities … more on this in a demon/Sam-centric meta to follow in a couple of weeks). Although admittedly the nursery colors could be chalked up to circumstance, but take the other suggestive links (roses, names, actions, dialogue) and the fact that Kripke has blatantly banged us over the head with other color associations in the past and I begin to doubt that it’s all just an huge accident.
ETA: The final female PsyKid of Sam's generation that Kripke introduced is Lily. Interestingly enough, lilies also have religious significance: the Easter Lily symbolizes the Virgin Mary and lily of the valley sprang from Eve's tears when she was ejected from the garden. Is it a coincidence that her name also links to Mary and Ava in a round about way?
Caps 18, 19, & 20.
Considering Monica’s parallels with Mary and Ava and her relationship with Rosie, could Monica be another surviving PsyKid from a previous generation? Or perhaps Monica is another PsyKid of Sam’s generation who happens to have a child.
An aside regarding the first question: We don’t have any definitive confirmation that the birth/creation of PsyKids must be bound to a twenty-two year cycle. Currently, we only have two known PsyKid birth years: 1983 and 2005, and until we learn the birth year of the previous PsyKid generation, a definitive trend can’t be discerned. It’s like trying to create a connect-the-dots picture by using only two dots - the more dots (dates) the more complete the picture. And when trying to draw meaningful conclusions from linear data at least three points are necessary as any random interpolation can be made between any two points (or dates in this case). Wow, that was completely dorky. Anyway … until there’s a third date cementing a twenty-two year cycle, it’s not impossible that Monica or Mary could be members of two previous PsyKid generations. Although, admittedly I like it when events are cyclical and use nice even numbers, total randomness isn’t half as fun.
To address the second question and play devil’s advocate: It’s hard to say how old Monica is exactly. However by her appearance I think it’s safe to say she’s not beyond her mid-twenties, making it not impossible that she could be Sam’s age. However, if Monica was of Sam’s PsyKid generation, then she was wiped out by Ava in Cold Oak, South Dakota prior to Sam’s arrival because the YED confirms in “AHBL-2” (2x22) that Jake is the “winner” and all other PsyKids (of that generation at least) are dead at that point.
Either way, both scenarios are still up for grabs until we get more information. *headdesk*
So to summarize, I think rose and flower motifs, color associations, wardrobe, names, actions, and the symbolic meanings of the aforementioned suggest links between Mary, Ava, Monica, and Rosie. The only commonality I can currently think of is the PsyKid thread. But one thing I think is certain for season three is as Sam takes ownership of his powers, he'll seek answers about the past, specifically the origins of his powers. I believe this will be the vehicle that gives us more information about Mary her relationship with the YED. And hopefully in doing so, we’ll get a glimpse into the back story of the other women who seem to have ties to Mary. Afterall, in order to save the future, one must understand the past. Oh, what a twisted ball of multi-colored yarn we have to play with all summer. Go re-runs. Go show. :)
The following is gratuitous arm waving and unsubstantiated rambling, which is why it’s not part of the real meta. Read at your own risk. *grins*
Addendum: Plot Holes, Questions, and Many Grrrs
If you for a millisecond entertain any of the ideas spewed forth in this meta, then there are annoying questions that need to be addressed (BTW, my ramblings are not really me definitively answering any of these questions, they're just my attempt at laying out any arguments I can think of, so feel free to offer your own answers):
IF Monica was a PsyKid, then why wouldn’t she have said anything to Sam or Dean when they saved Rosie in “Salvation” (besides the fact it would’ve revealed too much of the future plot prematurely)?
But we’ve already seen an example of Kripke conveniently withholding key information and revealing it later when the plot necessitated it (Mary’s “It’s you” line and wall-sliding posture in “AHBL-1”). So who knows if he’s going to employ the same procedure again and give us another piece of the puzzle later on. Grrr.
IF Mary and Monica were PsyKids, then were they also visited by the YED and fed demon blood? If so, how did they “escape” going darkside (that is IF the YED had been trying to start his I’m-storming-Samuel Colt’s devil’s trap-and-assembling-an-army scheme with previous PsyKid generations)? Or could Mary and Monica’s (and Sam, Rosie, and Ava’s) abilities be inherited from their mothers and not related to YED’s demon blood whatsoever? Could the YED be using his blood to taint/influence/mark those that otherwise have the power to defeat him? Could his SurvivorPsyKid Challenge just be his way of culling down his opposition and keeping the lone winner under his thumb?
Could there be a yet-unseen, but opposing force to the YED and demons? Could the PsyKids be tied to it? Why does Kripke concentrate so much on women/mothers? Wouldn’t a male PsyKid also be able to pass along abilities just as easily?
There is a legend about the Sisterhood of the Rose which is composed of twelve women who work for the betterment of mankind. Sadelyrate mentioned one of the many meanings of the rose is secrecy. Also recall that roses and pentagrams are geometrically similar and have a common religious meaning (the Virgin Mary) and in this show pentagrams are used as protection from evil which is suggestive of a counterforce. Oo. A secret sect of female psychic demon butt-kickers. ;) lol. Take that Dean and Sam.
IF abilities are passed from parent to child, then does Dean have some sort of latent abilities? Or is the inheritance hit or miss and it skipped Dean?
This seems strange to me, considering the significance traditionally placed on the first born son. Grrr.
Does anyone else find it unsatisfying that Mary's death (and Max's, Andy's, and Scott's mothers' death as well as Monica's almost death) was accidental as the YED maintains in "AHBL-1?"
This whole thing almost necessitates a commonality that links these women, especially considering the pains Kripke took to show the similarities between Mary and Monica’s nursery experience. If Kripke wanted to be convincingly random so we’d buy YED’s words, he should’ve tacked some toasted fathers on the ceiling (and how likely is it that no fathers ever check on their sleeping children?). However, there’s the fact that Jess died in the same way and we have no evidence that she was psychic (but unlike Mary, Scott, and Monica she died with her left hand raised, not her right). Grrr.
Like anything worthwhile, more questions are generated than answered apparently. Thanks for reading. Still cognizant?
Sources:
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//rosarymarkings36.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagram
http://itrs.scu.edu/students/winter04/french/symbol/rose.htm
http://secretsofthemagdalenescrolls.blogspot.com/2006/06/rose-its-symbology-and-mary-magdalene.html