Book of Shadows
From Charmed
A Book of Shadows is a witches grimoire, or magic book. in addition to spells and potion recipes, a Book of Shadows contains information on warlocks, demons, and other supernatural beings. Important or powerful individuals have their own entries, which typically include specific vanquishing spells.
Although the term "Book of Shadows" is stated in one episode to be a common noun which refers to witches' grimoires in general, it is usually used by the characters as if it was a proper name. That is, the the Halliwells' book is refered to as The Book of Shadows, as if it were the only one-- even by characters who would be expected to say "their Book of Shadows" or "your Book of Shadows."
This article discusses the Halliwells' Book of Shadows.
Contents |
Appearance
The Book of Shadows is very large, about the size of a dictionary or encyclopedia volume. It is bound in green leather, the front cover has a symbol composed of an interlocking triquetra and circle on it. Despite being three hundred years old, the book is actually in very good condition, although the pages have yellowed somewhat with age. The page "To Relinquish Our Powers" is missing; it was removed by Prue in 1x10 Wicca Envy and in 4x02 Hell Hath No Fury, Piper marked the page "The Kevmay" with a large black X in marker because she vanquished him.
The book is written by hand in ink. Entries have their titles in elaborate multicolored calligraphy. The book is written by the whole Warren/Halliwell line and possibly also very close friends. The book contains many illustrations, chiefly of demons and other magical creatures. Most of the book is in English, but some of it is in Italian and Latin.
The book's organization is haphazard at best. The sisters remarked on several occasions that they searched "the entire book" when looking for specific information. This suggests that the book's previous owners simply filled in the pages sequentially rather than arranging the contents topically. (Given that the Book of Shadows is a collaborative work with contributions by generations of Warren and Halliwell witches, topical organization was likely a practical impossibility.)
History
The Charmed Ones' book was started by Melinda Warren, with the year "1693" written on it's cover page. Although it was fairly small then, each succeeding generation of Warren witches had added onto it, particularly information on demons, but also on other magical items. One of the earliest entries that was around when Melinda was alive included a curse. Ever since, the book of shadows was passed down the female line of halliwell witches. ("The Witch Is Back")
Penny Halliwell for example often noted that she created most of the potion recipes in it. Patty Halliwell added text on the Barbas, the Demon of Fear.' ("Happily Ever After," "From Fear to Eternity," "Reckless Abandon")
The Charmed Ones themselves have added information, spells and potions as well for future generations. The first entry they made was "The Woogyman Spell", or how to banish the Shadow. Phoebe added a page on Cole Turner, Belthazor's human half including personal information like his favorite food and hobbies; "anything that could help future witches" after he'd broken her heart. This was reminiscent of the alterations Penny made to the Necromancer page, adding such things as "likes Clarke Gable movies" to aid in her getting over the end of their romantic relationship. ("Is There a Woogy in the House?," "Look Who's Barking," "Necromancing the Stone")
Notable entries
- An entry on the witch Nell, and how she trapped the warlock Malcolm in a painting in the 1920s is completely in Latin. ("The Painted World")
- There are several pages completely in Latin, though this one shows signs of being the most recent, possibly being written by one of the three cousins from the 1920s; it seems odd that entries meant to advise would be in a language the reader would not likely know.
- Phoebe has written a spell to banish the Woogyman ("Is There A Woogy In The House?") and a page about Cole to warn future witches of him. ("Look Who's Barking")
- Leo Wyatt, fearing he may not live to see his two sons grow up, wrote an entry "Tips for Future Whitelighters" on how to use whitelighter powers and general advice on charges. ("The Seven Year Witch")
Powers & Abilities
The Book of Shadows is also notable because evil cannot touch it, thanks to the Shielding & Sensing powers it is enchanted with. Nor can it be taken out of the manor except by the sisters. This is particularly important, as many evil beings want the book, and the Charmed Ones would be much weaker without its knowledge. Although it is protected by good magic, evil has found a way around this and captured the book several times.
Very shortly after the Charmed Ones received their powers, several warlocks tried to get the book posing as their neighbors. Although they could touch the book (representative of how the Charmed Ones weren't quite strong enough for its protection to be at full power yet) they couldn't get it out the front door. ("Thank You for Not Morphing")
Nearly a year later, Abraxas managed to capture it by bringing it to the Astral Plane. This was possible as, technically, the book was still in the house (or rather the area where the house would be on the Astral Plane) but just on another plane and since he was telekinetic he could flick through the pages and move the book without it hurting or repelling him. By reading the spells in the book backwards, he almost rebound the Charmed Ones' powers, but they were able to retrieve it in time. ("Witch Trial")
Later Cole Turner the human half of Belthazor would try to get the book, but by then it was strong enough that no evil could touch it, and it jumped off its stand. ("Once Upon a Time")
In an alternate timeline, the warlock Bacarra time traveled back a few months with knowledge from the future to help his past-self. He told him of a potion to blanket himself in goodness long enough to get through the Books' defenses, which contained among other ingredients Piper's blood. This allowed him to steal the book, which even he noted contained information on and vanquishing potions for nearly every demon he'd ever heard of. Fortunately, Piper travelled back to stop him the entire series of events from happening, and Bacarra never got the book. ("A Witch in Time")
In season six, three evil low level witches cast a spell to make the world see them as the Charmed Ones, they then broke into the Manor and used a spell in the Book to steal the sisters' powers. However, the real sisters were able to convince their Whitelighter, Chris that they were the real Charmed Ones and he helped them get their powers back and bind the witches powers and hand them in to the authorities.
Also, in season seven, the demon Zankou was able to steal the Book by killing friends of the sisters' to make them feel weak and vulnerable. Whilst being weakened, the Book's defences weakened. Eventually they managed to get it back.
Trivia
- At one point the book was weighed at 9 pounds, 6 ounces and was the most valuable prop on set.
- Almost all of the book is hand drawn, calligraphy and images. Alyssa Milano liked the drawings so much that she had the artist paint murals on her walls at home.
- Each page is hand-drawn by artists, and a lot of the pictures in the book are actually based on the crew - for example an artist will base the new demon's facial structure etc on e.g. one of the camera men...
- The Book of Shadows is kept locked in a safe while they're not filming.
- A photocopy of the Charmed Book of Shadows (beginning of Season 3, about eighty pages) was sold on e-bay in August 2003. It was supposedly used on the set as a stand-in for the real BOS. The final bid was $202,50.
- The back-up versions of the following pages have been sold this year (2009); Vinceres' second half, the Charm of Multiplicity page, the Dark Priestesses page and the Banshee pages. In season 2/season 3, back-ups from the book's pages were made.
A Book of Shadows in the Real World
A Book of Shadows in the real world tells of all the experience that a witch has gone through. It may list spells used, potions mixed, and knowledge of any other kind.
