The sisters find a book of spells.
A spell is a series of words that when said in a certain order causes change in the fabric of reality to varying extents. It is a ritual intended to produce a magical effect. In order to be effective, it must be performed by a magical being; a spell recited by a mortal will not work.
The act of performing a spell ritual is known as "casting the spell". Witches traditionally record their spells in their Book of Shadows, both for their own reference, and to preserve them for posterity.
The Charmed Ones' Book of Shadows contains a plethora of spells, all of them written by witches from the entire Warren-Halliwell line. The warlock Bacarra once noted that there was a vanquishing spell in the book for every demon they have ever met and was astounded by the magic it contained. He stated that he knew their magic was good, but he had no idea it was this good. He then realized that with the book nobody was going to challenge them. Not even the invincible Cole. ("A Witch In Time")
Paige realize her protection spell didn't work.
Spells can be non-verbal and can also be channeled and used by powerful telepaths. Protection spells are impossible to create, even if it keeps the person walking and talking technically the individual would still be dead, but unable to move on because the spell is holding them back. ("Styx Feet Under")
Skilled witches can combine a number of spells to make One Powerful Spell and use it for the exact same purpose the spells were originally intended for. Or make a completely different spell all together. The Charmed Ones, especially Phoebe have done this on a number of occasions.
Phoebe is considered to be the best spell-writer among the Charmed Ones. She is responsible for writing the spell to draw the power from the entire Warren line to destroy The Source and also later crafted a new Power of three spell. Leo mentioned that she has authored hundreds of spells. While her sisters are all fairly talented spell-writers as well, their talents reside mostly in potion-making.
Spell Casting
Phoebe and Piper trying to create a spell using the four elements of nature.
Spell casting is the magical ability to cast spells. Spell casting is one of the three basic powers that all magical witches have as well as Scrying & Potion making.
Some spells require more than one witch to make them work in order to increase the amount of magic and therefore potential power available for the spell. For example, the spell to vanquish the first Warlock Jeremy Burns, is a "power of three" spell.
In season two it is revealed that by reading a spell backwards correctly, one can reverse the effects. For example, the spell to vanquish the Woogyman will instead summon it when said backwards. The spell to invoke a witches powers will rebind them if read backwards.
List of Spells
- Spells Season 1
- Spells Season 2
- Spells Season 3
- Spells Season 4
- Spells Season 5
- Spells Season 6
- Spells Season 7
- Spells Season 8
- Spells Season 9
Trivia
- In the Book of Shadows documentary Curtis Kheel stated that the spells were always the last part of the scripts that were written due to the difficulty caused by having to rhyme.
- Some spells apparently don't need to be spoken as evident with the Glamouring Spell the sisters use in seasons seven and eight. And Grams possibly used a non-spoken spell on little Andy in Season 1's That '70s Episode to reverse Piper's freeze on him though she could've done so telekinetically.
- A haiku can also be used as a spell. This is proven by Paige when she wrote one to vanquish Ludlow.