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Supernatural: 9 time travel episodes, ranked worst to best.

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I Can't Believe I Forgot This Star Wars Actor Got His Break In Supernatural Season 1

Jared padalecki's supernatural return idea is the only way season 16 can work, potential supernatural reboot gets seal of approval from series creator.

As Supernatural is coming to a close, fans will look back at the 15-year journey taken by Sam and Dean Winchesters. While fighting monsters and demons, Sam and Dean also embarked on some time-traveling in these past 15 seasons.

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While both Sam and Dean have experiences with time-traveling, records show that Dean has the most experience with it. Regardless, both brothers came across new information and periodical wisdom through their time-traveling adventures. While some of the time-traveling episodes were comic-relief for the brothers' stories, several of the time-traveling episodes have some sentimental value to the brothers, especially when seeing their family.

My Heart Will Go On (2011)

In season 6, episode 17, "My Heart Will Go On," Balthazar goes back in time to stop the tragic sinking of the Titanic. He does this simply because he hated the song from the 1997 movie  Titanic . However, the change in timeline leads to a ripple effect and leads to the unfortunate deaths of the Titanic passenger's descendants. However, when Sam and Dean's lives are at risk, they take matters into their hands.

This episode may have the least amount of time-travel shown on-screen and may be considered as more of an alternate timeline than time-traveling. Nevertheless, this time-related episode does have its sentimental and funny moments. "My Heart Will Go On" even had a brief appearance of the Harvelles that allowed fans to see their favorite female characters in  Supernatural .

The Vessel (2016)

Lucifer, who possessed Castiel's body, helps the Winchesters to find a weapon that is needed to defeat Amara. They realize that the Hand of God may be the best option, but it has not been seen since 1944. Both Lucifer and Dean go back to 1944 to find the weapon and stop Amara once and for all.

Though this time-traveling episode is not as humorous or as sentimental as some of the other time-traveling episodes, it does have its emotional moments due to the already tragic ending set to happen on the USS Bluefin. The accepted fate by Delphine and her crew left viewers saddened regarding the consequences of war.

Time After Time (2012)

In season 7, episode 12, "Time After Time," the brothers come across the God of Time. Unfortunately, Dean travels back to 1944 but not without meeting America's most notorious agent, Eliot Ness. In the present world, Sam gets Jody's help to bring his brother back.

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Though this episode was a filler episode, most fans will find that this episode was fun and hilarious, particularly with the pop culture references to mobster movies. However, it was Dean's love for the crime film,  The Untouchables , that left him fanboying through the episode. However, he soon realizes that the movies do not always mimic real-life events.

Frontierland (2011)

When they need answers to stop Eve and the Leviathans, the Winchesters realized that they need to meet the colt maker, Samuel Colt. This meant that the brothers were going back to the Old West in 1861.

Between the brothers, it was Dean who had the time of his life due to his fascination for Western movies and his opportunity to see the Old West. While season 6, episode 18, "Frontierland," had its fun moments, the episode also provided more answers about the colt that was used in previous seasons and even had paradoxical moments that would impact the brother's eventual future.

As Time Goes By (2013)

Given that Sam and Dean have at least met their mother's side of the family, they knew little about their father's side. All they knew was that Henry Winchester had left his family when John was a kid and never saw his father again. However, the full story comes into play with season 8, episode 12, "As Time Goes By."

Contrary to their father's story, Henry Winchester actually time-traveled to the year 2013 in hopes of seeing his son. Instead, he meets his grandsons and learns about everything that happened to John since Henry's disappearance. The Men of Letters story was first introduced in this episode, which became the current precedence to the final seasons of Supernatural . Though the brothers do not time-travel and Henry never goes back to his time, it still gave a great overlook of the relationship between Henry and his grandsons.

The Song Remains the Same (2010)

When an angel named Anna goes back in time to kill newly-wedded Mary and John Winchester to prevent the apocalypse, Sam and Dean travel to 1978 to stop Anna from killing their parents. However, due to Dean's encounter with Mary in an earlier meetup, their chance to save them becomes even more complicated and awkward.

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In one of the more emotional episodes of Supernatural , season 5, episode 13, "The Song Remains the Same" marked the first time that Mary, John, Sam, and Dean were in the same room together. This was perhaps the closest moment for the brothers to have a memory of their family together, particularly for Sam, who never really got to know his mother.

The End (2009)

As the apocalypse is near, Dean gets a glimpse of what the future will look like when Sam eventually becomes possessed by Lucifer. However, not only does he worry about the outcome presented about his brother, but the actions and lack of humility by his future self frighten present-day Dean Winchester.

While several of these time-traveling episodes go back to the past, season 5, episode 4, "The End," is the only Supernatural episode that depicts events from the future. While it is considered more of an alternate universe, the episode shows  scary events that occurred in the future . This episode is also considered one of the darkest episodes in the series. While Padalecki gives a poised performance of Lucifer-Sam, Ackles gives a heartbreaking performance as Dean Winchester witnesses his failure as a big brother.

Mystery Spot (2008)

While investigating a disappearance case, Sam is living through his worst nightmare of watching his big brother die over and over again. Despite his attempts to protect Dean, it seems impossible that he could even save him. However, Sam does everything he can to go back to normal, where Dean turns out alive and well.

Though "Mystery Spot" is not necessarily an all-out time-traveling episode, it still integrates elements of time with a time loop. Regardless, this 11th episode in season 3 is considered a fan favorite due to the funny story concept and great performances by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Fans will also not forget one of the best songs played in the show with Asia's "Heat of the Moment." 

In the Beginning (2008)

Before Mary Winchester became an integral character in the show's later seasons , the appearance of Mary Winchester seemed rare in the show's earlier seasons. In season 4, episode 3, "In The Beginning," fans were introduced to a young Mary Winchester and learned about her family's past as hunters.

Most importantly, most fans will know that Dean is a mommy's boy. Unlike Sam, Dean had memories of his mother before her unfortunate murder by the yellow-eyed demon, Azazel. It was a sentimental episode for Dean Winchester to learn more about his mother and to spend time with her. Unfortunately, his moments with his mother are short-lived when he becomes partially responsible for the deal between Azazel and Mary, along with the inability to prevent the deaths of his maternal grandparents.

NEXT:  Supernatural: 10 Biggest Plot Twists (That No One Saw Coming)

• Supernatural

Griffins and Ginger Snaps

-i write, and i have a blog because of course i do-, supernatural lists: time travel episodes.

Time travel.

Love it or hate it, it will give you a headache.

I think the most apt description I’ve ever found for time are a combination of Quantum Leap which relies on the string theory that time is like a ball of yarn and you can jump from one to the other, and Doctor Who where time is a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey ball of stuff, which really sums it up nicely and succinctly.

I thought there were many more time travel episodes in the Supernatural universe, and I could only remember about five. The rest that were in my head were more of flashbacks, which aren’t time travel per se, but in doing my research in the Supernatural wiki , I saw that they counted twelve, which I will list here even though there are a couple that I didn’t particularly consider them for my personal list. For example, in As Time Goes By, Henry Winchester travels forward from 1958 to 2013 and in Lebanon John Winchester travels to current day Kansas despite his being dead canonically. I was looking for the episodes where the brothers traveled through time.

At any rate, these all have something to love, and yes, they will still give you a headache.

1. In the Beginning [4.03] 2. The End [5.04] 3. The Song Remains the Same [5.13] 4. My Heart Will Go On [6.17] 5. Frontierland [6.18] 6. The Man Who Would Be King [6.20] 7. Time After Time [7.12] 8. As Time Goes By [8.12] 9. King of the Damned [9.21] 10. The Vessel [11.14] 11. Family Feud [12.13] 12. Lebanon [14.13]

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Supernatural Wiki

The Winchesters season 1 is currently streaming on The CW and HBO Max.

Time After Time

• Edit source
• 2.1 Two Days Earlier
• 3.1 Main Cast
• 3.2.1 Guest Stars
• 3.2.2 Co-Stars
• 4 Featured Supernatural Beings
• 5 Continuity
• 9 International Titles
• 10 Promotional Images
• 11 External Links
• 12 Navigational

Summary [ ]

Sam and Dean tangle with the God of Time (guest star Jason Dohring ), who sends Dean back to 1944, where he is immediately arrested by none other than the one and only Eliot Ness (guest star Nicholas Lea ). While trying to figure out how to retrieve his brother, Sam is surprised by the reappearance of an old friend.

On a stormy night, Dean and Sam watch a man in a trench coat walk into an alleyway. They split up and follow him, and Dean spots the man leaning over a body, glowing with a red light. He throws himself at the man and they both disappear in a burst of energy as Sam arrives.

Two Days Earlier [ ]

Dean and Sam are at a motel. Sam is sleeping while Dean does research on Dick Roman . The phone rings and Dean has Sam answer it. It's Sheriff Mills, who tells Sam that a corpse turned up mummified in Canton, Ohio, and thought they'd be interested. Sam agrees and they hang up, and Sam points out that Dean will get nowhere reading about Dick over and over.

Sam and Dean arrive in Canton and set up in an old abandoned house. They then go to talk to the man who saw the assault. The witness, who was self-medicating, reluctantly explains that he was out medicating when he heard fighting. Durbin was arguing with a man dressed in an old-style suit and fedora, who grabbed Durbin's neck. Red energy passed through Durbin into the hat guy and the victim aged to death in seconds. The brothers thank him for his help and head back to the house to check their info sources. Sam confirms that a lot of weird dead bodies turn up in Canton going back to 1928. In each case, the victims died the same way as Durbin, each time in groups of three. Dean taps into the local feeds, explaining that Frank taught him how to do it, and accesses the camera near the gas station where Durbin died. They spot the man in the old-style suit and Sam points out that the same man is in photos of the older murders.

The brothers talk to Terry Cervantes, who was a young girl and found one of the mummified corpses decades ago. She recognizes the man in the photo as Ethan Snider , who lived on her parents' street. The Winchesters go there and wait, and finally spot Snider coming out of a house. He walks down an alleyway and the brothers split up to follow him, and Dean sees Snider killing another victim. He throws himself at the man and they struggle, and Dean catches a glimpse of his ring, with an infinity symbol on it. Snider manages to get away and runs off. When Dean goes after him, he finds himself on a street in 1944. Two cops spot him with his gun and order him to surrender, and a surprised Dean reluctantly does so.

Down at the station, Dean tries to pass himself off as a FBI agent without success. The investigating officer can't figure out what his cell phone is and figures that he's a German spy. Dean finally realizes that he's in 1944. A man comes in and the local cop hastily leaves, and the newcomer demands answers. Dean tells him exactly what happens and the newcomer apparently believes him, asking him more about the red light. Surprised his story is being believed, Dean realizes that the man is a hunter. After a moment, he admits it and introduces himself as Eliot Ness .

In the present, Sam is putting up clippings of the deaths when Jody calls him. She insists on helping and he asks her to come help him drive and lift heavy boxes.

Ness gets some files and comes back to the holding room. Dean admits that time travel isn't common where he came from, and they figure they're hunting the same thing in different centuries. Ness shows him photos of two dead men who were mummified, and figures that the third victim will be killed soon. He takes Dean out but insists that he has to get some new clothing. They stop at a tailor, Ezra Moore, and set up Dean with a suit and fedora.

Jody arrives at the house after stopping at one of Bobby's storage lockers and picking up the boxes.

Dean puts on his new suit and slicks back his hair. Ness tells Ezra that they need her help and that they are hunting a time traveler. Sam and Jody go over photos of the crime scenes and spot Snider, and Sam recognizes the symbol on the ring.

Ezra identifies the symbol on the ring and explains that it belongs to Chronos, the God of Time. Sam explains that the ancient gods aren't what they used to be and are really pissed. Ezra figures Chronos is killing people for his "time-juice." Back in the present, Sam tells Jody that they need to find a way to summon a god.

Ezra tells Ness that she'll find something to stop Chronos, and Dean and Ness head to Snider's house. Ness kicks in the door and they go inside, guns drawn. There's no sign of Chronos but the Chronos is expensively appointed. Dean finds Chronos' appointment book and realizes that Chronos is making money by betting on races he already knows the outcome. They find initials belonging to Lester Young, the local bookie, and track him down and interrogate him. The two men play good cop/bad cop and Lester admits that Chronos was a creepy guy. He finally tells them that Chronos gets his payoffs at a diner and gives them the address.

Jody and Sam finally find a summoning ritual , but they realize that they have to summon Chronos at the exact moment he's touching Dean or Sam's brother will be lost forever. As they consider the matter, Jody finds a bottle of whiskey from Rufus, with a note "Fine, you ass. You win for once. Enjoy. R." . She admits she had no idea about much of Bobby's history and figure that they should drink it in his honor, and Sam agrees.

Ness and Dean go to the diner and spot Chronos. As they wait for him to make a move, Ness takes a drink and admits that he's not the Boy Scout that history made him out to be. He explains that he became a hunter when vampires showed up in Cleveland and started turning people, and that he hunts because it makes him feel free. Dean explains that he doesn't know why he's doing much of anything anymore, but Ness calls him a Nancy and tells him that everyone dies and the best anyone can do is enjoy it.

Both men ogle a waitress, Lila Taylor, as she leaves the diner. Chronos follows her down the street and into an alleyway. Ness goes to his trunk and an arsenal of weapons, and they both grab weapons and prepare to fire as Chronos grabs the woman. However, he kisses her and nothing happens.

Ness and Dean follow the woman out into the country and Ness confirms that Lila owns a nearby house and lives alone. Ness stands watch while Dean drives back to find out what Ezra has. She has a thousand-year-old olive branch soaked in blood, and tells Dean he has to stab it in Chronos' heart. However, Dean realizes that he'll be trapped in the past. Ezra says that it isn't so bad, grabs Dean, and kisses him, assuring him that 1944 isn't so bad. Dean is less than thrilled with the kiss and prepares to leave, but notices a bundle of envelopes on the counter and gets an idea.

Ness is outside the house when Chronos comes after him. He explains that he already stopped by the police station to take care of Dean and realized that Ness was onto him. They fight and Chronos easily knocks him down and through the nearby barn wall. Lila comes out, doesn't see Ness, and Chronos pretends that he's a normal man, since she doesn't know what he really is. When she goes back inside, Chronos realizes that Ness has slipped away. Chronos goes back inside and tells Lila that she should pack a bag. He invites her to come with him and insists that everything is fine, including her.

Dean goes to the house where they're staying in 2012 and tells the owner that he has to do an inspection for termites. The owner lets him in and Dean goes to the bedroom and moves the bed. He lies where Sam lies in 2012 and spots the floorboard he needs to send his message.

Jody comes back and discovers that Sam has fallen asleep. She sends him into the bedroom to sleep and he lies down on the spot where Dean was working. Sam spots his name carved into the floorboard and pulls it loose, and finds a message from 1944 from Dean. He shows it to Jody and they realize that Dean knows what is going on and is going after Chronos. The letter is dated and they know what date Dean touched Chronos. Now they need the time, and track down a now-elderly Lila at the retirement home. They ask her about Chronos and she recognizes him as her lover, Snider. She tells them that the last time she saw Snider was at 11:34 in November 5 when every clock in the house stopped. Lila tells them that Snider said awful things and then strangled one of the two policemen that came to arrest him. Sam shows her a photo of Dean and she identifies him as the man that Snider strangled to death.

Dean goes to Lila's house with the olive stake and calls for Ness without getting an answer. He then goes into the house and Snider grabs him. They struggle but Ness comes in with Lila as a hostage. Present time, Sam and Jody prepare the ritual.

Snider begs Ness not to hurt Lila. He explains that he's a god and that he's only killed for Lila. As the time approaches 11:34, Dean tells Lila that Chronos kills three people to travel through time, and Chronos admits that he used to wander, killing three people each time. However, he met Lila and fell in love. When Ness mentions the people that Chronos killed, Lila realizes that one of them was a customer from the diner and calls Chronos a monster. Dean tries to stab him with the stake and Chronos starts strangling him while Ness shoots him to no effect.

At 11:34, Sam casts the ritual. Chronos begins to glow with a red light. He disappears and Dean goes with him. As they disappear, Ness tosses Dean the stake. Dean reappears and Chronos throws him aside. Sam attacks him and manages to stab him with the olive stake. As he dies, Chronos tells them that their future- "its covered in thick black ooze. It's everywhere. They're everywhere."

Characters [ ]

Main cast [ ].

• Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester
• Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester

Recurring Cast [ ]

Guest stars [ ].

• Kim Rhodes as Jody Mills

Co-Stars [ ]

• Nicholas Lea as Eliot Ness
• Jason Dohring as Chronos
• Melissa Roxburgh as Lila Taylor
• Linda Darlow as Ezra Moore
• Gabe Khouth as Lester Young
• Catherine Barroll as Lila Taylor

Featured Supernatural Beings [ ]

• Deity ( Chronos )
• Leviathans (referenced only)
• Shapeshifters (mentioned only)

Continuity [ ]

• Jody finds a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue among Bobby's things with a note from Rufus Turner about a bet Bobby won with it. The origin of this bottle and the exact nature of the bet is revealed in Season 11 's Safe House .
• This episode marks the first time that Jody Mills actively takes part in a hunt by choice rather than by circumstance and that she called the Winchesters in on a case. She would later go on to call the Winchesters in on other cases over the years and ultimately become a hunter herself.
• While stuck in 1944 Dean jokes to Ezra Moore about traveling to Europe and punching Adolf Hitler in the neck. Dean does eventually meet Adolf Hitler in Season 12 's The One You've Been Waiting For .
• Several unnamed people (mentioned only)
• Lila's customer (mentioned only)
• Eliot Ness (mentioned only)
• The title may refer to various famous things .
• The last time time travel was used in an episode was in Season 6 's Frontierland . It is also the third episode, and the first since Season 5 's The End that Dean has been sent to the past alone.
• Sam and Dean's dialogue in the opening scene doesn't exactly match what is said when they redo the scene in the car and alley fifteen minutes later into the episode.
• Last time a god was featured in an episode was in Season 7 's Defending Your Life .
• This is the first episode where Dean played a different hand other than scissors. Somehow, he still managed to lose. This is known because he says "How does paper beat a rock?"
• The date that Dean writes on the letter, Nov. 5 1944, is a reference to Nov. 5 1955 , which was the day Marty McFly traveled back to, and it is also the day that Doc Brown conceived the flux capacitor, which made time travel possible.
• Dean's mention of the "Biff strategy" is a reference to Back to the Future Part II , where Biff Tannen used his knowledge of future sporting events to bet on the outcomes and win.
• Dean reveals to Eliot Ness that the President of the United States is a black man, likely a reference to then-president Barack Obama .
• Dean makes multiple references to the movie The Untouchables while working with Eliot Ness . Ness just shows confusion whenever Dean imitates a scene or a line from the movie.
• Eliot Ness says they need to get Dean new clothes because he "looks like some kinda bindle stiff," an old slang term for a drifter or hobo, especially one carrying a bundle containing a bedroll and other gear.
• Sam: I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I hope you're watching cartoon smut. Because reading Dick Roman crap over and over again is just... self-punishment.
• Dean: It's called anime, and it's an art form.
• Eliot: Let's kill that bastard because that...
• Dean: Is the Chicago way.
• Ezra: Chicago way?
• Eliot: Who talks like that?
• Dean: Sean Connery.
• Sam: You gonna look up more anime, or are you strictly into Dick now?
• Ness: Yeah, hunting sets me free. Isn't that why you hunt?
• Dean: I used to do it because that's what my family did. But they just seemed to keep dying. Tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm doing much of anything anymore.
• Ness: Boo hoo, cry me a river, you nancy. Tell me, are all hunters as soft as you in the future? Everybody loses everybody and then one day, boom, your number is up. But at least you're making a difference. So enjoy it while it lasts kid, because hunting is the only clarity you're going to find in this life. That makes you luckier than most.

International Titles [ ]

• Brazil: O Tempo Além do Tempo (Time Beyond Time)
• French: Les Incorruptibles (The Untouchables)
• German: Die Zeit heilt keine Wunden (Time heals no pain)
• Hungarian: Az idő ura (Lord of Time)

Promotional Images [ ]

External Links [ ]

• Supernatural: "Time After Time" Review IGN.com

Navigational [ ]

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• 3 Jack Kline (Nephilim)

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News, Notes, Talk

This is the supernatural, time-traveling romance series YOU SHOULD be watching.

Despite having watched several seasons of Outlander I confess I eventually gave up. Sure, the scenery is gorgeous (The Grampians! The Highlands!), and the leads are very easy on the eyes, but the incessantly soap operatic twists built around a highly dubious time-travel premise eventually wore me out (not to mention the discordantly rapey “sex” scenes that seem to permeate the first few seasons).

I understand that we’re all desperate for endless and immersive narrative distraction to occupy these grim winter nights, but if you’re going to watch one super-natural, time-traveling romance adapted from a blockbuster book series, may I recommend A Discovery of Witches ?

Based on the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches is built around a very familiar supernatural trope: all those mythic creatures of human lore—the vampire, the witch, the demon—are in fact real, live among us, and (reluctantly) co-exist in a loose confederacy of so-called creatures. As commonplace as this premise might feel, though, its simplicity makes it very easy to enter into the show’s world, its logic, and its rules, which allow the writers to focus on the good stuff like character, back story, and the specific supernatural arcana that underpins the lives of the show’s non-human characters. Basically, once you accept that magic is real, and that vampires are immortal, it can be an awful lot of fun to encounter someone else’s conception of how those realities might work. Also, a big budget, shiny production values, and decent acting go a long way these days (Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer are both very good—and attractive—as the romantic leads).

I don’t want to spoil too much (the show isn’t so brilliant that it can survive its mysteries revealed) but the plot involves much talk of destiny and prophecy and—shocker—there is some interspecies creature love! But A Discovery of Witches draws its most obvious comparisons to Outlander because of its time travel arc, which has the protagonists living in Elizabethan London, hanging out with “Kit” Marlowe, and just generally larking around Europe, all of which is set against the kind of cinematically grand backdrops that are so often missing from TV series’ like this.

Now, I must make my second confession: not only do I “watch” TV while I am cooking or folding laundry, I also have it on in the evening while I’m doing the less focus-heavy work involved in putting out a daily website. This is why I have such a low bar for quality. Much to my frustration, however, I have found that A Discovery of Witches not infrequently draws me completely away from my other tasks! How dare a TV show do this!?

Does that make it art? Not really. But I’m very glad to have found it.

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Frontierland

• Episode aired Apr 22, 2011

Castiel sends Sam and Dean back in time to 1861 to collect the ashes of a phoenix. Castiel sends Sam and Dean back in time to 1861 to collect the ashes of a phoenix. Castiel sends Sam and Dean back in time to 1861 to collect the ashes of a phoenix.

• Guy Norman Bee
• Eric Kripke
• Andrew Dabb
• Daniel Loflin
• Jared Padalecki
• Jensen Ackles
• Misha Collins
• 7 User reviews

Top cast 18

• Sam Winchester

• Dean Winchester

• Bobby Singer

• Samuel Colt

• Elias Finch …

• Judge Tye Mortimer

• Demon Cowboy #1
• Demon Cowboy #2
• (as Steve Bradley)
• Old Man at Hanging
• Saloon Girl
• (uncredited)
• Catholic Priest (1861)
• Horse Trader
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Dean introduces Sam as "Walker, he's a Texas Ranger", which is the name of the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger (1993) starring Chuck Norris in the title role. Jared Padalecki stars in the title role in the reboot Walker (2021) for the CW.
• Goofs Just before Cass sends Sam and Dean back in time, Sam is wearing his jacket. He was not wearing it during the scene until a second before Cass touched them.

Dean Winchester : I'll stay here, hook up with the posse.

[Dean tries to keep a serious face]

Dean Winchester : Because you know me, I'm a posse magnet. I mean, I love posse.

Dean Winchester : Make that into a T-shirt.

Sam Winchester : You done?

[Dean breaks into a smirk]

• Crazy credits Title card altered for this episode, resembles flaming map title from Bonanza TV series.
• Connections Referenced in DC's Legends of Tomorrow: The Magnificent Eight (2016)
• Soundtracks Reprise Composed by Collin Hegna Performed by Federale (plays during the opening title card)

User reviews 7

• May 20, 2019
• April 22, 2011 (United States)
• United States
• Warner Bros. Television
• Wonderland Sound and Vision
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour

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Timeline (Mythological Arc)

Dates are tricky in Supernatural . Some dates are significant dates are made explicit in the script, but most are not. Sometimes dates that appear within an episode relate to the the date when an episode was shot rather than when the events are supposed to occur.

It is generally accepted by fans that the time covered in each season roughly corresponds to the air dates e.g. from September/October to May.

Dates here taken from killa's timeline and hells_half_acre's timeline , canon where available and some wild speculation. The episode an event relates to is included so readers can make their own decision.

See the timelines category for other alternative dates.

In the Beginning

• God and his sister the Darkness come into being.
• Wanting to create against his sister's wishes, God splits away from the Darkness causing the Big Bang and forming the universe.
• God and the Darkness go to war. With the help of the archangels , God was able to beat back and trick the Darkness, locking it away. God creates a Mark to act as both lock and key to keep the Darkness imprisoned.
• Death comes into existence.
• God entrusts the Mark to his most loyal lieutenant, Lucifer .
• God creates the Leviathans , but grows concerned that they will try to destroy His other creations. He creates the realm of Purgatory to contain them, and seals the Leviathans away.
• God then creates celestial beings known as angels , all of which will dwell in Heaven with Him, creating an angelic society collectively known as the Host of Heaven .
• God creates hellhounds to serve as his companions/pets. The hounds prove to be too vicious and God has them destroyed, but not before Lucifer saves a pregnant female named Ramsey .
• God builds himself into the framework of the universe, in order to allow him leave to create other universes.
• Castiel joins Anna's garrison and is stationed on Earth. He watched the very first fish crawl onto land and an older angel told him not to step on it, because God had big plans for that fish.
• The Grigori are some of the first angels to be placed on Earth to watch and protect humanity. However, when they begin feeding on the souls of humans, they are believed to have been wiped out.
• The Mark begins asserting its own will and begins to corrupt Lucifer, amplifying his jealously of mankind. When God instructs the angels that they should bow down to humanity, Lucifer refuses because he sees humanity as flawed and unworthy. Lucifer entreats his brother Michael to support him but he refuses.
• Gabriel tires of the family arguments and leaves Heaven, hiding on Earth he discovers Loki bound in a cave, freeing him, the two come to an agreement with Gabriel assuming the Trickster's identity.
• Lucifer persuades Gadreel to allow him access to the Garden/Earth.
• In defiance of God, Lucifer takes humans, strips them of their humanity and creates demons . The first of these is Lilith .
• God instructs Michael to cast Lucifer out of Heaven.
• The first generation of demons are created after Lilith, the Princes of Hell , with the purpose leading Hell's army against Heaven.
• Lucifer begins communicating with Abel, when Cain realizes what Lucifer has planned he strikes a deal with the archangel: Abel's soul in Heaven, for his in Hell . Lucifer accepts the terms, on the condition that Cain be the one to kill Abel.
• Lucifer passes the Mark on to Cain. Unwilling to become the killer the Mark wants him to be, Cain attempts to kill himself with the First Blade , but is resurrected as a demon.
• Lucifer hand picks humans for Cain to turn into demons (of which include Abaddon ), and has him create the demonic order known as the Knights of Hell .
• Having seen enough, God imprisons Lucifer in the deepest regions of Hell in cage, with six-hundred seals, sixty six of which have to be broken for Lucifer to escape his confinement .
• Zeus took away fire from the humans, leaving them dependent of him and defenseless against monsters . But, Prometheus gave it back to them to protect them from the monsters in the world. Zeus cursed Prometheus to die every day, and imprisoned him in a mountain range.
• In the 10th millennium BC Eve finds her way from Purgatory to Earth, and begins birthing the first monsters -- the Alphas , before she is sent back.
• 2200 B.C. Castiel witnessed the fall of the Tower of Babel.
• The angels were recalled to Heaven on Michael's orders, not returning to Earth until the coming of the Judeo-Christian Apocalypse two thousand years later.

Recent Past

• The human Ruby sold her soul to the demon Astaroth and became a witch. During the Black Plague epidemic in Europe (1348-1350), she died and her soul went to Hell, where she was tortured and eventually became a demon.
• Sister Agnes writes the Book of the Damned . After receiving visions of darkness, Sister Agnes locked herself away for decades, using slices of her flesh to make the pages of the Book of the Damned
• Crowley is born in Scotland as Fergus Roderick McLeod in 1661 to Rowena and an unnamed wealthy father, whom was engaging in an affair with Rowena.
• Rowena intended to sell Crowley in exchange for three pigs, however dismissed it.
• Rowena after being forced to flee Scotland after being charged with practicing witchcraft came across a Polish family who helped her out of her poverty. In return, she granted the family's dying son, Oskar , immortality.
• Crowley seeks out a crossroads demon to whom he sold his soul for a longer penis. After a decade, he was killed by a hellhound and his soul was taken to Hell. In Hell, Crowley was tortured brutally until he became a demon. He would eventually become the right-hand to Lilith, and King of the Crossroads.
• Cain gives up being a Knight of Hell when he falls in love with the human Colette Mullen , and attempts to live of life of peace.
• Abaddon kidnaps Colette in an attempt to lure Cain back into the Knights of Hell.
• Cain slaughters the entire demonic order while searching for his wife.
• Cain tracks Colette down to a cabin in Jasper Springs, Mississippi and kills the demons guarding her. When he realizes Abaddon has taken possession of his wife, he attempts to kill her with the First Blade. Abaddon escapes just before the blade pierces the body. As Colette lays dying, she asks Cain to not seek revenge as there has been enough killing.
• Cain disposes of the First Blade in the deepest part of the ocean.
• Castiel along with a small contingent of angels led by Ishim appear on earth under the belief that a Nephilim had been born.
• The first known time the wendigo of Blackwater Ridge claimed victims.
• At a dinner party, H.P. Lovecraft and his associates perform a ritual opening a doorway to Purgatory , allowing a creature to take possession of Lovecraft's maid, Eleanor .
• Eleanor kills Lovecraft to keep anyone else from obtaining the ritual to open the door to Purgatory.
• The six other people who performed the ritual with Lovecraft either disappear or die over the course of the year.
• Delphine Seydoux posing as Befehlsleiter Gumprecht mistress, stabs him in the neck and steals the Hand of God on orders of the Men of Letters .
• Dean Winchester is sent back in time back by Lucifer (masquerading as Castiel ) to a World War II submarine, the USS Bluefin to try acquire an artifact known as the Hand of God. When the sub is attacked by a German destroyer led by Befehlsleiter Gumprecht, Delphine Seydoux activates the Hand of God destroying the Bluefin as well as the German destroyer.
• The wendigo of Blackwater Ridge gets into a cabin of a family of three. It dragged away the parents off into the night, but left their son, Shaw , wounded and alive for reasons unknown.
• Azazel possesses Father Lehne at St. Mary's Convent Ilchester, Maryland. In the chapel he kills eight nuns. This enables him to speak to Lucifer , who tells him he needs Lilith to be released from Hell to break the 66 Seals that hold him captive. Lucifer tells Azazel he also needs to find a very special child .
• Mary Campbell and her parents - Samuel Campbell and Deanna Campbell - are hunters living in Lawrence, Kansas. People in the area are dying, and it appears their deaths may have been caused by a man with "yellow-eyes" who makes a deal with someone who wanted the person dead (for example the son of a violently abusive man, a woman whose father is terminally ill) in exchange for permission to return to them in ten years time.
• Dean Winchester is sent back to this time by Castiel , and warns the Campbells that the being is a demon. He steals the Colt from Daniel Elkins , but fails to kill the demon we will later know as Azazel .
• Azazel meets Mary Campbell and likes her bravery and hunting prowess.
• Azazel possesses Samuel Campbell and reveals to Dean that he makes the deals with people he deems "perfect parents" so he can return and feed demon blood to babies, which will endow them with demonic powers.
• Azazel tells Dean that the aim is not only to create beings to lead a demon army and taunts that "my end game's a hell of a lot bigger than that."
• Azazel kills both Samuel and Deanna Campbell and Mary's fiancee John Winchester . He offers to bring John back to life if Mary will make a deal to allow him to enter her home in ten years time. He adds "as long as I'm not interrupted, nobody gets hurt, I promise."
• Mary agrees to the deal and Azazel seals it with a kiss.
• Mary is pregnant with Dean.
• The angel Anna travels back in time to kill John and Mary before Sam can be born in order to avert later events.
• Castiel takes Sam and Dean back to stop Anna.
• Anna enlists Uriel 's help to kill the Winchesters.
• Anna kills Sam.
• Michael possesses John Winchester and kills Anna .
• Michael wipes John and Mary's memories, heals Sam and sends Dean and him back to the present.
• Dean Winchester is born
• The wendigo of Blackwater Ridge kills eight people.
• Sam Winchester is born
• Sam is 6 months old.
• Azazel enters his nursery, and slicing his own wrist, drips demon blood into infant Sam's mouth.
• Mary Winchester enters the room, and recognizes the Yellow-Eyed Demon . He kills her and burns the nursery.
• John Winchester learns from Missouri Mosely that something supernatural killed Mary.
• Soon after he takes to the road with Sam and Dean to hunt down the creature that killed Mary.
• John is on a shtriga hunt and entrusts Dean to look after Sam. Dean gets bored and goes out, and comes back to find the shtriga attacking Sammy. John returns in time to scare the shtriga off.
• Adam Milligan , the son of John Winchester and Kate Milligan is born.
• People associated with Mary Winchester including family, friends and her doctor are killed by Azazel .
• Sam reads John's Journal and finds out that Mary 's death was supernatural, monsters are real, and that John hunts them. He confronts Dean , who confirms it.
• Sam gives Dean an amulet as a Christmas present.
• Dean loses the food money gambling when John is on a hunt, and is arrested for stealing peanut butter and bread. John allows Dean to stay at a boys home, and ships Sam off to Bobby's while he continues on his hunt.
• Bela Talbot makes a deal with a crossroads demon to kill her abusive parents.
• Sam 's college friend Brady is possessed by a demon , on instruction from Azazel , while on Thanksgiving break.
• Brady introduces Sam to Jess with the aim of killing her and propelling Sam back into hunting.
• Sam's prescient visions of Jess' death start ( 1.05 Bloody Mary ).
• Max Miller 's telekinetic abilities surface ( 1.14 Nightmare ).
• John Winchester cuts off contact with Dean (John is in Jericho, Dean in New Orleans) ( 1.01 Pilot ).
• Possession of Meg Masters begins ( 1.22 Devil's Trap ).
• In 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One the Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals he killed Jessica because he wanted Sam to return to his training and hunting, in order to prepare him to lead the demon army.
• Sam has visions of Max Miller 's father and uncle dying.
• Max Miller reveals his mother died in a nursery fire.
• Sam uses his powers to move a sideboard that is trapping him in a closet.
• Max Miller kills himself.
• Death of Pastor Jim .
• Death of Caleb .
• Death of Meg Masters .
• While possessing John Winchester, the Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals that he has "plans for Sam and all the children like him."
• John Winchester makes a deal with the Yellow-Eyed Demon offering his own life to save Dean. John reveals that he has known known the "truth" about Sam and the other children for "a while."
• Before he dies John tells Dean a secret about Sam.
• John Winchester dies and goes to Hell where over the next year he is tortured by Alastair , who recounts that he never broke.
• Sam and Dean meet Andy Gallagher and his evil brother, who are more of the Special Children and find out that not all of them had a mother who dies in a nursery fire when they were six months old.
• Dean reveals to Sam the secret John told him - that he has to save Sam "that nothing else mattered; and that if I couldn't save you, I'd have to kill you."
• Sam proves to be immune to a demon virus that spread and infected nearly an entire town.
• Scott Carey , one of the Special Children , is visited by the Yellow-Eyed Demon who tells him a war is coming and he will be part of the army.
• Gordon Walker kills Scott Carey and tries to kill Sam after learning of his destiny to lead a demon army.
• Sam meets Ava Wilson , another of the Special Children, after she has a vision of Sam.
• Ava disappears, and her fiancee is killed. Sam and Dean find sulfur at the scene, indicating the involvement of demons.
• Ava is taken by the Yellow-Eyed Demon to Cold Oak, South Dakota. Over the months she learns how to use her powers to summon demons. Other Special Children arrive at intervals, and Ava uses the demons she controls to kill them.
• Sam is possessed by the same demon who had possessed Meg Masters .
• The Yellow-Eyed Demon brings together Sam and the other Special Children to choose a leader for a demon army.
• The Yellow-Eyed Demon reveals to Sam that on the night of the nursery fire, he fed his blood to Sam, and that Mary Winchester recognized him.
• Ava kills Lily , Andy Gallagher and is about to kill Sam when she is killed by Jake Talley .
• Sam is killed by Jake Talley.
• Dean makes a deal with a Crossroads Demon to bring Sam back to life, which leaves Dean with a year to live.
• According to the Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 2 Dean's deal takes place on May 2, 2007
• Jake Talley opens the Devil's Gate unleashing an uncountable amount of demons and souls including Lilith and John Winchester .
• The Yellow-Eyed Demon tells Dean that Sam may have been changed somehow after being bought back.
• The Yellow-Eyed Demon is shot by Dean using the Colt , with help from the spirit of John Winchester .
• The demon Pride refers to Sam as "the Boy King"
• A demon named Ruby tails Sam, and helps him fight the Seven Deadly Sins
• Following a hint from Ruby , Sam learns that after his mother's death, all her friends and "her doctor, her uncle -- everyone who ever knew her" were killed by the Yellow-Eyed Demon
• Ruby helps Bobby restore the Colt .
• The demon possessing Casey tells Dean that the Yellow-eyed Demon was actually Azazel , and that after his death, the demon hordes that escaped the Devil's Gate in Wyoming are in chaos, since Sam did not take on the role Azazel had planned for him to lead the demon army. She says that she would've followed Sam. She also reveals that demons believe in a higher power – Lucifer.
• Dean expresses his concern to Bobby that something has changed in Sam since he came back from the dead.
• Sam shoots the Crossroads Demon with the Colt , but it doesn't break Dean's deal.
• The demon Tammi reveals that a new leader has 'risen in the West', and that they want Sam killed.
• Ruby tells Dean she can't get him out of his deal.
• Ruby reveals that demons are people who were sent to hell and who have been stripped of their humanity
• Bela steals the Colt and gives it to Lilith , hoping to get out of her deal.
• For the first time demons take the offensive in trying to kill Sam and Dean
• Ruby reveals that Lilith ,the new leader referred to by Tammi , is behind the attack
• Ruby offers to help, but when her plan is rejected by the boys, she leaves
• Lilith , appears and kills all the survivors of the demon attack, except for Sam and Dean
• Bela reveals that Lilith holds her contract
• Lilith told Bela she would release her from her contract if she killed Sam
• Hellhounds come for Bela
• Sam summons Ruby who reveals Sam's powers are only dormant, and that he could use them to defeat Lilith
• Dean opposes this plan, and steals Ruby's Knife to use against Lilith
• As the hellhounds appear for Dean, Lilith takes over the body Ruby has been in,sending her 'far, far, away'.
• Lilith lets the hellhounds take Dean.
• Lilith tries to kill Sam, but her powers have no effect.
• Sam takes Ruby's Knife and is about to kill Lilith, when she disinhabits "Ruby's" body.
• Sam tries to get Dean out of Hell by trying to open the Devil's Gate and making a deal with a Crossroads Demon but to no avail.
• Ruby returns from Hell, having promised Lilith she would kill Sam.
• Ruby starts teaching Sam to use his powers to kill Lilith
• Sam starts drinking Demon Blood from Ruby because she tells him it will enhance his abilities
• In Hell, Dean is tortured by Alastair
• Angels assail Hell to try and save Dean
• The first of the The 66 Seals binding Lucifer is broken when Dean, a righteous man, breaks and begins torturing souls himself
• Castiel rescues Dean from Hell and tells him God has work for him
• Lilith breaks one of the The 66 Seals by bringing on the Rise of the Witnesses
• The Rising of Samhain breaks another of The 66 Seals
• Castiel and Uriel are ordered to do whatever Dean tells them to do, as a test of him under battlefield conditions.
• Sam and Dean fail to stop the breaking of this seal.
• Sam uses his demonic abilities to exorcize Samhain.
• Anna Milton an angel who has become human, is being pursued by both angels and demons. She eventually reverts to being an angel.
• Ruby informs Sam that 34 of The 66 Seals have been broken
• Sam agrees to start drinking Demon Blood again in preparation to kill Lilith
• Sam and Dean stop Alastair breaking a seal that requires the death of two reapers on the night of the solstice.
• Alastair reveals Death's Scythe , and refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse .
• Castiel and Uriel enlist Dean to interrogate Alastair and find out what is killing angels
• Alastair reveals Dean was responsible for breaking the first seal
• Anna tries to get Castiel to rebel against the angelic hierarchy
• Uriel is revealed to be a follower of Lucifer , and has been killing angels who will not join him
• Anna kills Uriel
• Sam drinks Ruby 's blood
• Sam kills Alastair with his demonic abilities
• Zachariah wipes Sam and Dean's memories in order to show Dean that hunting is a part of who he is
• Chuck Shurley , a prophet protected by an archangel, prophesies the events surrounding Sam and Dean
• Lilith tries to make a deal with Sam because she knows she won't survive the apocalypse
• Sam tries to kill Lilith but fails
• Castiel has important news for Dean but is forcefully taken back to Heaven
• Castiel 's vessel, Jimmy Novak is hunted by demons and mortally wounded.
• Returning from Heaven, Castiel possesses Claire Novak but Jimmy begs for Castiel to possess him
• Castiel refuses to tell Dean the news he had for him
• Dean swears fealty to God and the Angels
• Castiel helps Sam escape from Bobby's Panic Room
• Ruby tells Sam there are only 2-3 seals left to break and that only "Lucifer's first" - Lilith - can break the final seal.
• Zachariah holds Dean in limbo and finally reveals that he wants Lucifer to rise and the Apocalypse to start so that the angels can battle and defeat Hell so that they can live on Earth in eternal peace despite the fact that this will devastate humanity.
• Castiel reveals to Dean that Lilith is the final seal and that her death will release Lucifer
• Castiel helps Dean escape from Heaven. They go to Chuck to find Sam's and Lilith's whereabouts.
• Castiel is killed by Raphael
• Sam kills Lilith
• Ruby tells Sam that she was manipulating him all along for this end.
• After being helped by Castiel , Dean arrives too late to stop Sam killing Lilith, but he does kill Ruby using Ruby's Knife
• Lucifer rises
• God puts Sam and Dean on a plane to save them from Lucifer , and resurrects Castiel
• Chuck gets a message to Dean and Sam about the whereabouts of "the Michael Sword"
• A demon possesses Bobby , and with Meg , tries to kill Dean.
• Bobby overpowers the demon possessing him and stabs himself in the stomach, releasing the demon and is left wounded but not dead.
• Zachariah reveals that Dean is Michael 's vessel and that he needs to consent to possession so Michael can kill Lucifer
• Lucifer possesses a human named Nick
• Castiel says he is going to search for God . He takes Dean's Amulet , saying it will help him find God
• War wrecks havoc in a small town
• Sam and Dean retrieve the ring from War
• Lucifer tells Sam that he is his chosen vessel
• Castiel and Dean trap an archangel named Raphael with Holy Fire , and he tells them God is dead
• Zachariah transports dean to a possible future where the Croatoan Virus swept the globe and the Angels have left Earth
• In this future Sam is Lucifer 's vessel, following a confrontation in Detroit.
• Future!Castiel has lost most of his angelic abilities
• Future!Dean tries to use the Colt to kill Lucifer
• Lucifer kills Future!Dean and tells Dean that he will always win
• Sam and Dean find Jesse Turner who is the Antichrist also known as Cambion .
• Castiel tries to kill Jesse Turner
• When the truth of his circumstance is revealed to him Jesse Turner disappears
• The Trickster is revealed to be the Archangel Gabriel
• Gabriel says that Sam and Dean are destined to be the vessels, because they mirror the relationship between Michael and Lucifer .
• Becky tells Sam that Bela lied about giving the Colt to Lilith and that she actually gave it to a demon named Crowley
• The Colt is retrieved from the demon Crowley
• Sam, Dean, Castiel, Ellen and Jo go after Lucifer
• Ellen and Jo are killed
• The Colt fails to kill Lucifer because he is revealed to be one of the five things in all of creation that the gun can't kill.
• Lucifer raises Death
• Sam, Dean and Castiel follow Anna back in time to 1978 as she tries to kill John and Mary Winchester.
• Famine causes people to fulfill their hungers in often deadly ways
• Sam drinks Demon Blood again and exorcises all of the demons from Famine
• They take Famine's ring
• Sam and Dean are killed by hunters and go to Heaven
• An angel called Joshua tells them God is not interested in intervening to stop the Apocalypse
• The Whore of Babylon rises
• Dean kills the Whore of Babylon - who can only be killed by "a true servant of Heaven"
• Dean prepares to assent to be Michael 's Vessel
• Zachariah raises Adam Milligan from the dead, pretending that he will be the Vessel for Michael but really to use as bait for Dean
• Dean kills Zachariah
• Other Gods band together to stop Lucifer
• Lucifer kills the other Gods and Gabriel
• Gabriel leaves Sam and Dean a message revealing they may be able to re-imprison Lucifer . His cage still exisits and can be accessed with the rings of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• Crowley helps Sam and Dean get Pestilence's whereabouts from the demon Brady
• Crowley goes to Bobby and offers to help find Death - but requires the temporary use Bobby's soul
• Sam and Dean stop Pestilence 's Croatoan virus from spreading across the world.
• Castiel cuts off Pestilence's ring
• Death hands over his ring to Dean in return for Dean's promise to let his brother say yes to Lucifer and jump into his cage.
• Sam prepares to assent to be Lucifer 's Vessel
• Sam consumes enough Demon blood in preparation for containing Lucifer's overwhelming spirit
• Sam consents to Lucifer
• Lucifer kills Castiel and Bobby
• Sam regains control over his body while he is still containing Lucifer. Sam then opens Lucifer's Cage and jumps in with Michael following close behind
• God resurrects Castiel. Castiel heals Dean and brings back Bobby
• Dean and Bobby part. Dean goes to stay with Lisa and her son
• There stands Sam, staring silently into the window at Dean.

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Teleportation, ESP & Time Travel: 10 Tales of Superpowers

Teleportation and Other Fantastic Claims

The idea of people with superpowers is one that has long captivated audiences. Modern-day movies, graphic novels, TV shows and video games are full of fictional stories involving people who have acquired extraordinary and seemingly impossible abilities. The real world has plenty of fantastic claims as well spurring on debate and study.

One person who made fantastic claims was Pedro Ruiz Calderón, a Catholic priest who was brought to trial in Mexico City in 1540. Calderón claimed that he could teleport between continents, make himself invisible, predict the future , make women fall in love with him, find buried treasure, summon and exorcise demons among other abilities. Research by John Chuchiak IV, a professor at Missouri State University, sheds light on his trial.

LiveScience takes a look at superpowers throughout history. Some of them appear impossible while scientists are working on others to make them a reality.

Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis (PK) is the ability to move or otherwise manipulate objects using the human mind . There are two types of psychokinesis , the "macro" and "micro" level. Many have claimed macro abilities — to be able to manipulate of large objects — throughout history. A 19th-century example was Eusapia Palladino who, in an 1892 photograph taken in Milan, and shown here, supposedly levitated a table while researcher Alexandr Aksakov checked for fraud. 

The micro level involves the manipulation of random events using the human mind. Between 1979 and 2007 the PEAR (Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research) lab in New Jersey studied this phenomenon running detailed statistical analysis. Its researchers found that the human mind has a very slight ability to manipulate random events, a finding that is controversial and debated among scientists. 

Time Travel

Time Travel is an ability which is often featured in science fiction. Through time dilation it is theoretically possible to travel forward in time although the effect wouldn't be significant unless you traveled a vast distance on a very fast spacecraft.

Moving backwards in time is more difficult and scientists are still uncertain as to whether it is even theoretically possible.

There have been claims of people having encounters, of sorts, with the past. On August 4, 1951 two English women on holiday near Dieppe claimed to hear the sounds of the famous World War II battle throughout the night while in their hotel room. They took careful notes and an article describing their case was published in the May-June 1952 edition of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is the belief that when someone dies they are reborn. It's featured in several religions including Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.

There have been cases where young children recall information which some believe to be from past lives they lived. The late Dr. Ian Stevenson, a medical doctor who was head of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia, documented and published an estimated 3,000 cases of this over a period of 40 years. He tried to match up these claimed experiences with people who actually died.  

Extra Sensory Perception (ESP)

Extra Sensory Perception, or ESP, is the ability to obtain information through means other than the five senses. Examples of it include telepathy or “mind reading,” as it’s more popularly known. Precognition is another form and involves knowing of a future event ahead of time. Another form is remote viewing, seeing a distant place through paranormal means.

The U.S. military and CIA did research exploring the military and intelligence applications of ESP, particularly remote viewing. Project "Stargate" was a $20-million study started during the Cold War. It was spurred on by reports that the Soviet Union was investigating ESP. Although some claim that there were successful instances of remote viewing the project was shut down in 1995. [ The 10 Most Outrageous Military Experiments

The practice of "dowsing" or "divining" often features a person using twigs or a rod to find a water source. It can, however, be used for other things as well. Pedro Ruiz Calderón, the 16th-century priest, claimed to have been able to find buried treasure using supernatural means, and made a good amount of money selling his abilities. Needless to say modern-day scientists are skeptical that dowsing can actually be done.

(Shown here, an 18th-century depiction from the 1733 book "Histoire Critique des Practiques Superstitieuses.")

Predicting the Future

In many ways predicting the future is not a supernatural power. Economists, climatologists, demographers, all use scientific (or semi-scientific) methods to try to predict the future.

The use of supernatural powers to predict the future, however, has a much longer history. The use of horoscopic astrology, though not based in science, dates back more than 2,000 years and is tailored to the individual.

An ancient astrologer would determine the positions of the planets, sun and moon at the time their client was born. They would then use the information to determine their future.  Researchers reconstructed and published in 2012 the oldest known astrologer's board , found in a cave in Croatia.

Astral Projection

Invisibility

From HG Wells 1897 novel "The Invisible Man" to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, the ability to make yourself invisible is one that has long fascinated science fiction writers.

Pedro Ruiz Calderón, the Catholic priest put on trial in 1540, claimed to be able to turn invisible. He said that the ability came in handy when he snuck in and out of the bedrooms of his mistresses.  

Although the power seems fantastic scientists are working on technologies that may one day be able to render large objects partly or entirely invisible. Using artificial metamaterials they are developing techniques to bend light. Another effort, published in 2011 in the journal Nature Communications, uses calcite to block off red and green lasers and ordinary white light .

Love Spells

The ability to use supernatural abilities to make someone fall in love with you has ancient origins.

Archaeology Magazine reported on a case from Roman Egypt in which two wax figurines were found in an "erotic embrace." They contained an inscription which read in part "seize Euphemia and lead her to me Theon, loving me with mad desire, and bind her with unloosable shackles, strong ones of adamantine, for the love of me..."

Although modern-day scientists don't believe in love spells some substances, like strawberries, are said to act as an aphrodisiac, increasing sexual desire. [Top 10 Aphrodisiacs]

Teleportation

Teleportation was made famous by the series "Star Trek." People, aliens included, could beam from the fictional starship Enterprise to the surface of a planet in one piece (although transporter malfunctions were occasionally used as a plot device).

In real life Pedro Ruiz Calderón, the priest who went on trial in 1540, claimed to be able to teleport from Mexico to Europe and back again. His claim was laughable since, if he could do that, he could have easily escaped his trial!

Today scientists working in the field of quantum physics are working on teleporting light , with some success . Whether we will ever be able to teleport spaceship crewmembers or warlock priests is another matter. [ Twisted Physics: 7 Mind-Blowing Findings ]

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Owen Jarus is a regular contributor to Live Science who writes about archaeology and humans' past. He has also written for The Independent (UK), The Canadian Press (CP) and The Associated Press (AP), among others. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University. 

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