Book Of Shadows



The Book of Shadows, often just referred to as The Book, is the magical tome of the Warren Line of Witches. It is the most powerful and coveted tome in the whole world and is over 300 years old. The Book has been passed down every generation ever since it was created by Melinda Warren in the 1693. Besides all the information about the craft, the Book contains many entries on several beings from the magical community, including demons, warlocks, and other demonic beings. It also contains many spells and potion recipes, most of which were written by Penny Halliwell.

History
The Charmed Ones' book was started by Melinda Warren, who began the Warren/Halliwell line of witches, 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 supernatural things and magical items they came across and felt necessary to be journaled. One of the earliest entries that was around when Melinda was alive included a curse, and possibly the entry which details the coming of the Charmed Ones, through carvings, though this could've been done by a future descendant. After Melinda was burned at the stake, the Book passed to her daughter Prudence, and was passed down throughout the generations.

Penny Halliwell, often noted that she created most of the potion recipes in it, and the only other entries we know for a fact that she wrote was the entry on the Necromancer, the Stillman Sisters and Gammill, The Collector. Patty Halliwell added text on Barbas, the Demon of Fear, and also, the page on how to properly raise and nurture magical children.

The Charmed Ones themselves have added information, spells and potions, as well, for future generations. The first entry they made themselves was "Woogyman Spell ", or how to banish the Shadow of the Nexus. 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. Phoebe also wrote an entry on the warlock Anton.

A few spells in the Book of Shadows are used for personal gain. No explanation has been given to why such spells would be in the Book but it's likely that these spells were put in to teach future witches about the personal gain consequences; or as to they served a magical purpose to deal with evils of the time.

At the end of the series, Piper, Phoebe and Paige added their own entries regarding what they've been through in their years as the Charmed Ones in order to pass down the knowledge to future generations.

Leo added the entry titled, "Tips for Future Whitelighters," logging information about whitelighters and how to properly use their powers, for his sons, Chris and Wyatt, just in case he wasn't around to teach them, himself.

At the end of the series when we are given a glimpse into the future, Wyatt and Chris Halliwell can be seen making a potion with the Book laying aloft the table top; it can be assumed that the sisters retire from their demon hunting and their progeny continue the Charmed Ones' destiny.

Stealing the Book of Shadows
Many evils have attempted to steal the Book of Shadows on many occasions.
 * The Shapeshifters: A trio of shapeshifters posing as their neighbors tried to get the book. 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.[3]
 * Abraxas: This demon 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. Due to his telekinetic powers, he could easily 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 just in time.[4]
 * Cole Turner: The human half of Belthazor, tried to get the book, however, by then it was strong enough that no evil could touch it. As a result, it jumped off its stand.[5]
 * Dantalian: A dark priestess named Dantalian worked with a warlock named Zile to capture Prue and unite them in a dark wedding ceremony which turned Prue into a warlock. By this time, the sisters' magic was so intertwined that the evil bond turned Piper and Phoebe into warlocks, and the evil contaminated the Book as well. Since the Book was now evil, Dantalian was able to steal it and take its powers into her own hands--thus becoming the first evil being to physically get the Book out of the manor. By vanquishing the warlock, the evil bond broke and the sisters and the book returned to normal. [6]
 * Bacarra: In the alternate timeline of, 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 Book's 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 traveled back to stop him the entire series of events from happening, and Bacarra never got the book. [7]
 * The Stillman Sisters: Three evil low level witches, the Stillman Sisters, cast an identity theft spell to make the world see them as the Charmed Ones. The book saw the Stillmans as the Charmed Ones as well; it wouldn't even let the real sisters touch it. The Stillmans 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. He tricked the Stillmans into fighting with each other and severing their bond as sisters, which undid all of their spells. The real sisters then took back their powers, bound the Stillmans' powers and turned them over to the authorities. [8]
 * Zankou: The demon Zankou was able to steal the Book by killing friends of the sisters and resurrecting innocents that they've lost, to make them feel weak and vulnerable. Whilst being mentally weakened, the Book's defenses were weakened as well. Eventually they managed to get it back with a Power of Three spell.