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The Book of Shadows, or simply "the Book", is a
Outside of the television series, a
In the television series set into its front cover, symbolizing the Power of Three.
In-universe description
Background
The Charmed Ones' ancestor
The book has grown over the years with each witch who has possessed it, and by the late 1960s, it had about 100 pages. It continued to grow as The Charmed Ones added more information to it.
For many years, the Book was kept in the Manor's attic. Normally, all witches are supposed to keep their Book of Shadows in a specially protected altar room.[5] However, the Book is usually able to protect itself from evil. When the sisters' powers were unbound, evil beings could touch it, but they couldn't get it out of the Manor. However, by 2000, the sisters had become powerful enough that evil beings couldn't even touch it.
The Halliwell sisters added several entries. The first, added by
In the final episode, Piper tells her granddaughter that the book will one day be hers.[8]
Appearances
In the Charmed series, the Book of Shadows is a large, green leather-bound book with an embossed red
Powers, abilities and uses
- Can be used as a means of communicating with Grams, their grandmother, and other ancestors.[11]
- Identifies and protects itself from evil in the form of a magical barrier.
- Can keep itself within the Manor, unless otherwise removed by one of The Charmed Ones or their family.[12][13]
- Can have its spells reversed if they are read backwards.
- Cannot be photocopied.[13]
Due to its link with the Halliwells:
- It can lose its entire content if all the Halliwells' powers are stripped.[10]
- Its spells will become their evil counterparts if the sisters turn evil.[14]
- If the sisters are under emotional distress, its power to protect itself from evil is diminished.
Related Books
The Grimoire
The Book of Shadows has an evil counterpart known as the Grimoire.[15] The Grimoire is a large brown book with an unknown demonic symbol of an upside down pentagram and skull on the cover. The Grimoire's pages are said to be blackened by its evil. Much like the Book of Shadows, the Grimoire possesses the power to protect itself from its enemies or anything good.
The Grimoire's spells and incantations are written in Latin. It makes only a few appearances in the television series and
Bianca and her family of assassin witches possess a grimoire which contains their family's spells, although this is simply a grimoire and not the Grimoire.[16] The book's cover in that episode had a symbol depicting two intertwined snakes. That book was sold on eBay in late 2007 and reached a final bid of $405.00.[citation needed]
In the episode Bride and Gloom, the Charmed Ones' Book of Shadows began to change itself into a grimoire when the girls were turned into warlocks under the influence of evil magic. For instance, good spells were replaced with evil spells.
Gypsy books
In the series,
Critical reception
Pagan author Raymond Buckland said in his 2002 book, "The Witch Book", that the Charmed Book of Shadows gave the show an air of authenticity and showed that the producers of the show seemed to at least know a little of what they were talking about when depicting wiccan practices.[18] Judika Illes adds that the Charmed Book of Shadows describes the show's witches much in the same way as the real world Italian Benandanti traditions. She claims the show draws deeply on wiccan terminology and ritual (such as the witches' adding information to their Book of Shadows), but asserts that it is still a fantasy show.[19] In The Book of Shadows: The Unofficial Charmed Companion, Ngaire E. Genge talks about the Charmed Book of Shadows in relationship to a modern wiccan Book of Shadows and the ancient grimoires of such notables as Abra-Melen the Mage and King Solomon. The author is more critical of Charmed's use of the book compared to real-world wiccans but adds, as Buckland did, that it is still a fantasy show.[20] While not specifically mentioning the Charmed Book of Shadows by name, The Craft: A Witch’s Book of Shadows, by Dorothy Morrison, appears to have been highly influenced by the series and features the same triquetra symbol on its cover as does the Halliwells' Book of Shadows.[21]
Criticism has also been garnered for Charmed's Book of Shadows. Author Peg Aoli, a noted Wiccan and media critic at The Witches Voice,[22] has been critical of mixing real world Wiccan ritual items, such as athames and the Book of Shadows, with Charmed’s "Hollywood" witchcraft. Aoli critically slammed the series' representation of witchcraft in an essay in Totally Charmed: Demons, Whitelighters and the Power of Three.[23] Furthermore, other critics at The Witches Voice argue that Charmed's representation of witchcraft, including their Book of Shadows, creates "so many misconceptions" about Wicca in the modern world.[24]
Fandom and replica Books of Shadows
Following
The Book of Shadows Post-Charmed
After
References
- ^ a b c d "Something Wicca This Way Comes". Charmed. 1998-10-07. The WB Television Network.
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - The Seven Year Witch". Charmed. 2005-04-10. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - ^ "Forever Charmed". Charmed. 2006-05-21. The WB Television Network.
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help) - Power Outage (Charmed)". Charmed. 2000-11-16. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - ^ Wicca Envy". Charmed. 1999-01-13. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - Witch Trial". Charmed. 1999-09-30. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - ^ "Thank You for Not Morphing". Charmed. 1998-10-21. The WB Television Network.
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(help); Text "The WB" ignored (help) - ^ Hell Hath No Fury". Charmed. 2001-10-11. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - ^ "Bride and Gloom". Charmed. 2001-02-08. The WB Television Network.
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help) - We're Off to See the Wizard". Charmed. 2002-04-25. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - Chris-Crossed". Charmed. 2003-11-23. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - The Eyes Have It (Charmed)". Charmed. 2002-10-20. The WB Television Network.)
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: Text "The WB" ignored (help - ISBN 1-57859-114-7.
- )
- ISBN 0-609-80652-1.
- ISBN 1-56718-446-4.
- ^ "This Week at Witchvox..." witchvox.com. Retrieved 28 September 2010.
- ISBN 1-932100-60-1.
- ^ Witchvox Article