no such roses do I see in her cheeks
Watching The End, two distinct points of color jump out in The Garden scene: Sam's Boss Hogg suit, and the rose bush.
Most caps are from oxoniensis, one is from Screencap Paradise.
(Wait. If Sam is Boss Hogg, does this make Dean into Bo, Castiel into Luke, Bobby into Uncle Jesse, and the Impala into the General Lee? Jo could be Daisy, Ruby could be Roscoe, and a Hell Hound could be Flash. And Dean and Castiel could spend some time thwarting Sam's plans to rule the county and drive around in the backwaters of the Deep South saving people and hunting things and listening to-- OH MY GOD IS SPN A DUKES OF HAZARD HOMAGE?)
Er. Anyway.
The rose. This scene got me wondering about other appearances of roses in the show, and about the rose in Christian imagery. The first thing that came to mind was the Rosary. "The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary."
As soon as I read this, I went back and looked through caps of Mary's appearances and sure enough, Dean's imaginary Mary in 2x20 looks like her home decor was inspired by the Tournament of Roses Parade. Or my Nana's plates. And young Mary in 4x03 has prominent roses on the shoulders of her shirt.
Next thing that came to mind were rose windows, so called because of their obvious resemblance to a rose. They are sometimes specifically dedicated to Mary, but not always. It seems many of them were built before the term (and the gradual association with Mary) came into use. Anyway, there is a prominent one in 4x09:
Windows, and the light coming through them, are more closely associated with the angels in this show than with Mary (think of the way both electric lights and windows are used around both Castiel and Anna in Season 4). A rose window is apparently also sometimes called a Catherine window, for its resemblance to the Wheel. St. Catherine was one of Joan of Arc's voices; I rambled on about a potential connection between Joan of Arc, St. Catherine, and Anna, here.
And then we have the Blue Rose Motel, which has stuck in my memory since Sam met Ava (so close to Ave, Eve) there in 2x10.
Then, Ruby finds Sam and Dean at the Blue Rose Motel in 4x09.
Red, white & blue come up so much in this show, too. They're obviously the colors of the US flag, (and there is something so American about this show), but they frequently appear in Christian iconography. The Madonna is always in blue, for example. The Archangel Michael is almost always in blue & red. Priests generally wear white robes (vestments?) to conduct services; white of course signifies purity, peace, and sometimes death.
So, besides Sam's speech about perfect creations (and roses are often emblematic of beauty, perfection, and, of course, love) roses seem to correspond to women who are not what they seem? Instead of friends, Ava and Ruby betrayed Sam and both turned out to be working for Azazael; instead of being an innocent victim of a terrible and strange circumstance, Mary turned out to be a hunter and the person who made the first deal; and instead of a random girl who heard voices, Anna turned out to be an angel.
Bela didn't seem to have any roses around her, unless I missed them? There were lots of roses in the dream-garden of Bobby's dream-house, though that & gardens are enough for a whole other post.
So, is this rose bush a clue to why future Sam said yes? It has something to do with Mary? Jess? Another woman? If this whole thing was a fake out by Zachariah, was it a pointed reminder for Dean?
I know there is an interesting post out there about flowers in Supernatural, but I couldn't find a link. Anyone know anything about the rose in Christian iconography? Please, jump in!
Most caps are from oxoniensis, one is from Screencap Paradise.
(Wait. If Sam is Boss Hogg, does this make Dean into Bo, Castiel into Luke, Bobby into Uncle Jesse, and the Impala into the General Lee? Jo could be Daisy, Ruby could be Roscoe, and a Hell Hound could be Flash. And Dean and Castiel could spend some time thwarting Sam's plans to rule the county and drive around in the backwaters of the Deep South saving people and hunting things and listening to-- OH MY GOD IS SPN A DUKES OF HAZARD HOMAGE?)
Er. Anyway.
The rose. This scene got me wondering about other appearances of roses in the show, and about the rose in Christian imagery. The first thing that came to mind was the Rosary. "The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary."
As soon as I read this, I went back and looked through caps of Mary's appearances and sure enough, Dean's imaginary Mary in 2x20 looks like her home decor was inspired by the Tournament of Roses Parade. Or my Nana's plates. And young Mary in 4x03 has prominent roses on the shoulders of her shirt.
Next thing that came to mind were rose windows, so called because of their obvious resemblance to a rose. They are sometimes specifically dedicated to Mary, but not always. It seems many of them were built before the term (and the gradual association with Mary) came into use. Anyway, there is a prominent one in 4x09:
Windows, and the light coming through them, are more closely associated with the angels in this show than with Mary (think of the way both electric lights and windows are used around both Castiel and Anna in Season 4). A rose window is apparently also sometimes called a Catherine window, for its resemblance to the Wheel. St. Catherine was one of Joan of Arc's voices; I rambled on about a potential connection between Joan of Arc, St. Catherine, and Anna, here.
And then we have the Blue Rose Motel, which has stuck in my memory since Sam met Ava (so close to Ave, Eve) there in 2x10.
Then, Ruby finds Sam and Dean at the Blue Rose Motel in 4x09.
Red, white & blue come up so much in this show, too. They're obviously the colors of the US flag, (and there is something so American about this show), but they frequently appear in Christian iconography. The Madonna is always in blue, for example. The Archangel Michael is almost always in blue & red. Priests generally wear white robes (vestments?) to conduct services; white of course signifies purity, peace, and sometimes death.
So, besides Sam's speech about perfect creations (and roses are often emblematic of beauty, perfection, and, of course, love) roses seem to correspond to women who are not what they seem? Instead of friends, Ava and Ruby betrayed Sam and both turned out to be working for Azazael; instead of being an innocent victim of a terrible and strange circumstance, Mary turned out to be a hunter and the person who made the first deal; and instead of a random girl who heard voices, Anna turned out to be an angel.
Bela didn't seem to have any roses around her, unless I missed them? There were lots of roses in the dream-garden of Bobby's dream-house, though that & gardens are enough for a whole other post.
So, is this rose bush a clue to why future Sam said yes? It has something to do with Mary? Jess? Another woman? If this whole thing was a fake out by Zachariah, was it a pointed reminder for Dean?
I know there is an interesting post out there about flowers in Supernatural, but I couldn't find a link. Anyone know anything about the rose in Christian iconography? Please, jump in!