The Journal
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John's Journal is one of the iconic items of Supernatural.
First appearing in 1.01 Pilot when John leaves it for Dean before disappearing, the Journal (which Sam and Dean most frequently refer to as "Dad's Journal") seems to hold a large body of John's Hunting knowledge, though not all. Increasingly as Season 3 goes on (and in parts of Season 2), Sam & Dean comment on the information that John has left out of the Journal.
Nevertheless, Sam and Dean frequently use it as their first point of reference when investigating a job.
See also -
- The Journal (decoding) - For screencaps of the Journal from the Official Website
- The Journal (diary entries) - For a transcription of the entries in the Journal from the Official Website
The Journal in Tie-ins
Official Website
The Official Website is home to an electronic version of John's Journal. The first handful of pages have diary entries written by John immediately following Mary's death. You can read a transcription here.
Following the "diary entry" pages are mocked-up pages of the journal containing notes, newspaper clippings and other scribbles. You can find transcriptions & screencaps here.
Supernatural: John Winchester's Journal
This book by Alex Irvine is a reproduction of John's journal from 1983 until the events preceeding the Pilot. It includes extensive notes on John's hunts, and tracks the family's life over these years. There is no mentioned in it of Adam Milligan or his mother.
Supernatural: Origins
The canon of the Supernatural tie-in comic, Origins, somewhat contradicts the Official Website canon; John is given the blank journal by a character called Fletcher Gable, who he visits after he meets Missouri.
The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls
The Supernatural Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls is a tie-in "nonfiction" book that, according to author Alex Irvine, takes the form of John's Journal.source However, it mostly seems to be from the POV of Sam & Dean - the form loosely follows the concept of a hunting journal, rather than John's specifically.
Episode-by-Episode
Help us out by adding info to this section - note wherever the journal is referred to or used, including the information gained from it, and a screencap where possible.
Remove listings of episodes where the journal does not appear or is not referred to.
Season 1
1.01 Pilot - John leaves the Journal in his motel room in Jericho, California; Sam and Dean claim it & use it to research the Woman in White. John leaves the co-ordinates for Lost Creek on a page with Dean's name.
1.02 Wendigo - Sam uses the journal to find out more about the Wendigo hunting in the forest of Lost Creek.
1.04 Phantom Traveler - Sam reads a Rituale Romanum from the journal to exorcise the disaster-causing demon.
1.08 Bugs - After the BBQ the boys are in the car and Dean looks through the journal for ideas, but doesn't find anything.
1.09 Home - Dean reveals the first line - "I went to Missouri and I learned the truth". There is a glimpse of the front cover of the journal (see screencap) from which we can find out about John's military history.
1.19 Provenance - John's Journal records the history of deaths related to the painting. Sam connects up John's pattern with the painting's Provenance. This page we glimpse of the Journal appears in Jo's Blog, captioned "page from Gordon's logbook"
Season 2
2.01 In My Time Of Dying- Sam looks up Reapers in the journal. While he finds nothing to help Dean, Dean notes that reapers can alter human perception, and deduces that Tessa is a reaper.
2.04 Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
2.17 Heart - Sam finds lore in his father’s journal that suggests that if the “sire” of someone who is a werewolf is killed, they will be released from the curse. Sam reads from the journal: “Lycanthropy might have a cure if you kill the werewolf who bit you severing the bloodline.”
2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be
2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part One
2.22 All Hell Breaks Loose: Part Two
Season 3
3.03 Bad Day at Black Rock - Sam and Dean commiserate over the fact that John said nothing in his journal about his Lock-up and the supernatural artifacts within it.
3.06 Red Sky At Morning - Sam reads from the journal to summon the ship's captain.
3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas- In a flashback to 1991, Sam (aged 8) finds John's Journal, and discovers that monsters are real.
Season 4
4.03 In The Beginning Dean has the journal with him when Castiel sends him back to 1973 and he uses it to track where Azazel will attack next.
