Anyways, so here’s the basic overview of what I think makes Supernatural a neo-religious movement.

We have a canonized source document that is well-defined, accessible and able to be returned to for further instruction or investigation. (The show itself)

We have commentaries on the canon written by “religious scholars” (Meta and spec).

We have in-person services to participate and practice fellowship, learning, celebration, sharing, and quote/unquote “worship”. (Conventions)

We have pilgrimage sites (could be conventions, notably Rome and Melbourne, but also includes Lawrence, Stull Cemetery, Sioux Falls, and of course, Vancouver. In a less physical sense, GISH could also be a pilgrimage)

We have the ethical belief in and practice of outreach and connection with the community both inside and outside the religion (GISH, Random Acts, Stands, the Suicide hotline, the school in Haiti, the Castiel Project, etc.)

We have sacred music (Carry On, Led Zepplen, Eye of the Tiger, Heat of the Moment, Angel with a Shotgun, etc. Includes Louden Swain stuff)

We have liturgies which provide structure for our worship gatherings (Last Question, He’s Our Angel, Where’s Misha?, etc.)

We have shared core beliefs (Family don’t end in blood, You always have a choice, You deserve to be saved/loved. Others not as catchy but still lessons like, Revenge is never a good choice, and Yes chick flick moments (ie. It is good to communicate about your feelings) etc.)

We have placed importance on specific morals above others (free will, love, open communication and authenticity, sacrifice, giving, the importance of consent and autonomy, compassion (someone’s got to care), the importance of laughter, etc.)

We have normative prescriptions of how to live our lives. (Driver picks the music, we’ll figure it out - we always do, Always Keep Fighting, Wawayd AF, Don’t trust Jared on set for any reason ever, don’t tag the actors in your shipping posts!, etc.)

We have an ultimate reality (This has changed recently: I would argue before 15x19, it was though he tries, God does not define us. Now, it’s though we define ourselves, God is both human and divine, and is within each of us and in all things, and also loves nougat).

We have an organized eschotological framework which deals with death, final judgement, and the destiny of the soul. (Conceptualizations of Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, the Veil, & the Empty as well as the big players in each) Ours happens to include a belief in something like resurrection/reincarnation, but not that there is a new beginning after death, but more along the lines of the end is never the end, which is actually a bit of a unique characteristic of our eschatology.

It doesn’t make us a religion but another characteristic is we seem to have a practice of confession (something I’ve noticed from stories of people in autograph signings, photo ops, meet & greets, etc.)

In terms of how we define knowledge and fact, sort of similar to how Islam has a priority on the authentication of Hadith, we have a practice of authentication for accounts and information. It goes: textually in the show -> subtextually in the show and confirmed by above the line crew, confirmed by J2M/Cast, confirmed by below the line crew, guest stars, & cast families -> observable through video accounts -> observable through photo accounts -> full transcripts -> summarized tweets and text posts -> meta & spec.

We have standardized religious attire (mostly flannel and”Winchester coats” you know the ones, as well as SPN shirts) and specialized religious attire (cosplay).

We have sacred objects (of course, Baby, but also things like the Samulet, Ruby’s Knife, Jared’s/Sam’s Hair, & Tapeball, etc.)

We have experiences of the divine both personal (anytime you’ve felt the phrase “this is sending me”, could include the Destiel lovesickness from the week following Nov 5, etc.) to the divine collective experience (anytime you’ve felt connected to the SPNFamily, also the Destiel lovesickness, etc.).

We have specialized religious language (eg. J2M, salt n burn, assbutt, “influence”, idjit, LAMP, and oh so many more).

We have specialized sacred symbols (Also LAMP, color theory, enochian, wards, the anti-possession tattoo, the handprint, etc.)

We have a unique creation myth. (First there was Death and soon after, there were Chuck and Amara. The world was created when they separated during the Big Bang. Chuck wrote worlds and universes (plural!) into existence for funsies, created Angels as tools, and humans as toys, and locked Amara away.)

We adhere to a social organization. This includes venerating the cast and crew, but also people like convention organizers have more authority than the average fan. Some fans also have more authority than others for various reasons I don’t wanna analyze here. One thing we don’t have is we don’t have set methods or steps to gaining membership into the SPNFamily. You just kinda become part of it. Maybe the steps are Watch Supernatural. Cry. And then you’re in! 😁 At the same time, we do not limit membership in any way either.

We have split into three major religious sects over differing ideological beliefs and practices - bibros, hellers, and the GA. Historically speaking, you can point to a certain event (4x01) which was our schism.

God knows, we have an extremely extensive and well-defined, though sometimes conflicting, mythology.