Aurora Borealis


 * "Do you guys think it's weird that the Aurora borealis is happening the night before the Wiccan Festival of Lights?" - Paige Matthews in The Day the Magic Died

Also known as 'The Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis is a magnificent natural occurrence of lights in the night skies in northern regions of the world. The lights are caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field.

The spectacular phenomena gets it's name from the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas; it was named by Pierre Gassendi, a French philosopher, in 1621. In Northern regions, the lights illuminate the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the Sun were rising from an unusual direction. The Aurora Borealis most often occurs near the equinoxes of Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer.

The Day the Magic Died
In the backyard of Halliwell Manor, the Charmed Ones were sitting down to watch the spectacular light show in the night sky, when Paige pointed out that it was an odd thing that the Aurora Borealis was happening the night before the Wiccan Festival of Lights. This was an occurrence that never occurred before and this event would cause all magical powers to be lost for 24 hours.