==Nature of Souls==
{{Quotation
|title=
|text=
The human soul is not a rubber ball. It's vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know. And more valuable than you can imagine.
|author= Death
|source= [[6.11 Appointment in Samarra]]
}}
A soul is a person's essence, and what persists after death. In the natural order, souls are transported to the afterlife by [[Reapers]], and with the supervision of [[Death]]. The reaper [[Tessa]] refuses to tell [[Dean]], on more than one occasion, where she takes the souls. Known destinations of souls are [[Heaven]], [[Hell]] and [[Purgatory]]. In Supernatural, a soul separate from its body is visualized as a blinding white light.<ref name="five14" /> Death and [[Famine]] have transported souls in a doctor's bad and briefcase respectively. [[Angels]] can determine whether or not someone has a soul via a painful procedure in which the angel reaches into the human's abdomen to touch the soul.<ref name="six03">[[6.03 The Third Man]]</ref>
Souls are a powerful energy source. Famine consumed them to strengthen himself,<ref name="five14">[[5.14 My Bloody Valentine]]</ref> demons bargain for them, and even angels have traded in them.
When [[Castiel]] rescues [[Sam]] from [[Lucifer's Cage]], his soul remains trapped in the cage until Death retrieves it for him. Without his soul, Sam feels no empathy, guilt or compassion. While he continues to have physical needs for food and sex, he doesn't sleep, and has a high tolerance for pain.
==After Death==