To Separate a Witch from Her Powers



To Separate a Witch from Her Powers is a potion and spell that is used to absorb the powers of another witch; once the potion is created, it is to be consumed, willingly or unwillingly, by the witch whose powers are sought. The adjoined spell has to be chanted by the maker to absorb the powers after consumption. Based on the final three lines, "foul and dark like the night and craft of the creator of this brew and her desire to steal from another for vengeance, power or ire", the ritual may have been created by an evil or at least vengeful Warren witch.

Gail Altman and her two friends, Helen and Amanda, summoned the demon Cryto and promised him the powers of the Charmed Ones. When Gail visited them she tricked them into letting her look in the Book of Shadows. When the girls left her alone with the book, she searched for the page and ripped it out. She later gave the page back to Phoebe and the sisters used the spell on Cryto to get their powers back.

It was then used by Mabel, Mitzy and Margo Stillman to steal the Charmed Ones' powers in an attempt to take on their identities and become them.

Although a potion had to be made for the spell to work, it was cast by the Stillman sisters without it.

Creation
The ritual was written by a descendant of Melinda Warren in the family's Book of Shadows. She was apparently either evil, angry or at least desired more power. It may have been P. Russell who wrote the ritual, as she was known to be evil after falling in love with Anton, and was killed by her cousins because of it.

Gail's Use
Many years later, Gail Altman, a friend and covenmate of Penelope Halliwell, arrived at the Halliwell Manor in the hopes of stealing the ritual from the Book of Shadows and using it to strike a deal with the demon Cryto; should she give him the powers of the Charmed Ones, he would grant her, Helen and Amanda youth. She succeeded in ripping the page from the book, and she and her friends brewed the potion. When Prue, Piper and Phoebe, the Charmed Ones, arrived at Gail's home, she slipped them the potion and cast the spell after they had left. The powers were then given to Cryto, and, while he made Gail young, he turned Helen and Amanda into dust to keep them from turning on him, as it took three witches to banish him. He then forced her to persuade several of her friends in town to trade their souls for youth. Gail soon regretted what she'd done, and slipped the "To Call a Witch's Power" page back to the Charmed Ones so they could banish him. However, when she tried to escape, Cryto caught her at it and turned her to dust. The page was returned to the book by the sisters.

Stillman Sisters
Mabel, Mitzy and Margo Stillman, three evil witches, found the spell in the Book of Shadows and cast it on the Charmed Ones. They had previously cast an Identity-Theft Spell that gave them the Halliwells' identities, so, after stealing their powers, they had effectively become the new Charmed Ones. The Stillmans did not brew the potion as Gail, Amanda and Helen did, instead just casting the spell, but they learnt that it could not steal Paige's powers due to the fact she was half-whitelighter and not a witch. The spell was later used by the Halliwells to reclaim their powers, and the Stillmans were imprisoned.

Appendices

 * (Book of Shadows text:)



To Separate a Witch from Her Powers

 * In a boiling crucible of the blackest lead
 * combine gypsy blood with a mandrake's head
 * More of the nightshades will you boil
 * the henbane, datura and from nux and oil
 * With hemlock root complete the draught
 * foul and dark like the might and craft
 * Of the creator of this brew and her desire
 * to steal from another for vengeance, power or Ire

To Call a Witch's Power

 * Powers of the witches rise
 * course unseen across the skies
 * Come to us who call you near
 * come to us and settle here

Appearances
This page was used in a total of 4 episodes throughout the series.


 * Season 2
 * How to Make a Quilt Out of Americans


 * Season 4
 * Charmed and Dangerous


 * Season 6
 * The Power of Three Blondes


 * Season 7
 * Something Wicca This Way Goes...?