Magic

"Do you believe in magic?"

- Paige as she's about to tell Henry that she's a witch.

] Magic, also referred as the Craft and the Occult, is the supernatural energy that originated from The All and can alter the fabric of reality and defy the laws of nature. Being a mere act of manipulating reality, magic is amoral though its users can be split into either the Good, Evil and Neutral categories. Magic is both a genetic heredity and a studied technique that enables a person to brew potions, cast spells, scry and possess powers. Magic is capable of changing and controlling the natural world (including events, objects, people and physical phenomena). One who is born with and practices magic is usually called a "witch". However, aside from witches, there are many other magical beings that exist such as demons, warlocks and whitelighters.

Humans who were born without magical powers but follow the Wiccan Rede are called "practitioners". Wiccan practitioners are mortals with a natural affinity to magic (meaning they can practice witchcraft). However, a witch practitioner must rely upon external sources of power from which to draw upon in order to use the three basic witch powers..

Magic is passed on by genes, and may prove to skip one generation, as seen in the case of Billie Jenkins: although her grandmother was a witch, both her parents were perfectly normal human beings who did not possess any special powers at all. Their destined supernatural powers are present in their blood, and if a mortal comes into contact with it, he or she can gain those powers as well, but this will drive them insane as their body and mentality is not equipped to deal with them.

Whilst the ability to perform magic almost always reveals itself in early childhood, and in some special cases even from the womb, there are some individuals who remain mundane until quite late in life, usually either in their late teens or their early-twenties like Billie.

The Three Essentials of Magic
On the night the Charmed Ones discovered their Book of Shadows, Phoebe mentioned that she read in the book something about there being Three Essentials of Magic: Timing, Feeling, and the Phases of the Moon.

That means that midnight on a full moon is the most powerful time for witches, especially to perform great works of magic (for example, invoking their powers). In fact, witches who gather together with their powers united are at their strongest. The Charmed Ones' powers are linked to the essentials, as that was the night Phoebe cast the spell that granted each sister her own unique witchcraft power.

Using Magic
A good deal of studying and training is required to be able to perform magic effectively and correctly. While an active power is undoubtedly most desirable, witches who have an affinity for - and had thoroughly trained themselves in - the basic skills of inventing spells and brewing potions tend to be more feared and respected than other witches. This is so as these traits will almost always guarantee victory in battle over someone who relies only on their active powers. The feat of mastering all the aspects of magic is not an easy one, and only witches of the highest level and sharpest intellect had successfully accomplished this. Notable examples are Penny, Phoebe and Piper, the latter two of which were said to be naturally gifted: Phoebe excelled in spell-writing because of her remarkable innate creativity, and Piper is the best potion-brewer out of all four sisters due to her intense passion in the culinary arts. It was her devotion to the craft that made Penny a master of multiple Wiccan skills, able to invent spells in limited time, brew potions enthusiastically and employ her power of Telekinesis to great effect.

Spell Casting
Witches can invent and cast spells that do whatever they wish it to do, and other than an active power, spell-casting is the quickest way to utilize magic. The more powerful and creative the witch, the quicker he or she would be able to conjure up a spell to either destroy their opponents in combat or to change or create whatever they wish. They also tend to be the only ones able to cast non-verbal spells. This ability is also feature among other beings like Warlocks and some demons.

Curse
A curse is a magical enchantment designed to produce negative effects, often placed on a particular object or aimed at a certain individual.

Enchanting
Enchanting is a type of magic used to enchant an object or an individual to either behave abnormally or to manifest magical powers that it should not have.

Potions
A potion is a magical liquid that can produce a vast variety of effects, from vanquishing a specific demon to transforming one object into another. Potions could work by being ingested or thrown as a projectile. The ability to make working potions is exclusive to Witches as well as several other beings.

Active Powers
Magic can also manifest in the form of an active power. These powers are a biological part of the witch that pre-dominantly resides in the blood. An active power can manifest itself in several ways: in the onset of puberty, as a reflex when a magical being is in direst need, or just when the person is ready to receive the power. Powers are possessed by many magical beings and separate powers are recognizable by their moral alignment.

Limitations
Regardless of how powerful a witch is, he or she is no means without limitations. For example, some witches cannot cast certain spells or brew certain potions as they lack the vast amounts of magic required for the spell or potion to be effective. Even if they do have the power to perform the magic correctly, it could still fail - a notable instance would be where Belthazor (an extremely dangerous upper-level demon) managed to withstand a summoning spell cast by Prue and Phoebe (the most powerful good witches of all time). The truest and most memorable example would be when Prue, the oldest and strongest of the four Charmed Ones, was tragically killed in a fight with the demon assassin Shax, which proves more than anything that even the most powerful witch ever to walk the earth is neither invincible, nor invulnerable, nor without limitations.

Magic and Ghosts


Any being that is magical in nature can see the ghosts of mortals or magical beings who have died, and can use magic to summon them from Up There back to earth in non-corporeal form. However, they can only stay for a short while.

While some spirits could gain a corporeal form when they are summoned to earth, it does not mean that they are alive again, and are compelled to return to the afterlife after their purpose for being summoned is fulfilled.

If the ghost is a witch or another magical being, he or she will retain his or her original active powers. Also, they usually develop other powers after their deaths. Notable examples of such powers are:
 * Wisping
 * Intangibility
 * Possession
 * Invisibility
 * Hovering

Magic and Mortals
To prevent the outside world from learning about the existence of magic, beings called The Cleaners are there as safeguards, rewriting history, erasing minds and the like to prevent exposure. This is such a high importance issue that both Good and Evil has agreed on, to prevent magic from being exposed at any cost.

However, there have been many mortals who knew about the existence of magic, and who agreed to keep it a secret from the rest of the world. These mortals are known as Secret Keepers.

Mortals are capable of becoming magical through various means. They can become demons through various forms of Demonic Conversion and can be imbued with powers through spells, power granting or by injecting the blood from a magical being in their bodies. However, it is extremely dangerous for mortals to acquire supernatural powers because they are not meant to have them. They will become confused, then frightened, paranoid, violent, and demonic, and would ultimately die unless the powers are withdrawn out of them.

History of Magic
This chronology indicates broad eras in the magical history of the Charmed universe, and traces the development of the ever-widening gap between mortals and magical beings.

Pre-series Chronology

 * 0 years ago: The goddess Shakti and the god Shiva created the universe by consummating their love, though it was possible they were aided by other Gods.
 * Million years ago: Before the rise of humanity, reptilian beings known as Dinosaurs prospered on Earth. However, they eventually became extinct, and life had to start over. Mammals came to take over Earth, leading to the rise of the human species. However, it is still unknown if other non-human magical creatures (such as dragons) evolved alongside humans, or were created by human magic.
 * Two million and half years ago: A woman came upon the Nexus of the All, an all-powerful spiritual energy that ran through everything. She told her mate what she had found but, at first, both were too afraid to get near it. But eventually they pushed past that fear and tapped into that power. Infused with far greater powers than any human was intended to possess, their bond with the All created a place beyond consciousness and the physical realm: the Higher Realm.
 * However, their bond was so powerful that it contained the All within the Higher Realm, and without it the Earth started to die, forcing the two of them to return. Once back the woman gave birth to two children: the ancestors of witches and warlocks respectively. However, with each new generation the All grew thinner and thinner, and the Angels of Destiny and Elders were forced to take the mate into the Higher Realm so the All could regain some of it's magic.
 * "The dawn of magic": Levro discovers the Poder Maximo spell.
 * 3,500 years ago: The Hollow, a mystical vapor, roamed free and near decimated all magic. It was required that two members of both Good and Evil to band together to bound it and lock it within a magical box.
 * 3,000 years ago: In Ancient Greece a race of incredibly powerful beings known as the Titans tyrannically ruled the world and resulted in the Elders to see them as a threat that had to be eliminated. The Elders infused a group of mortals with a mythological power greater than the Power of Three, hoping that it was enough to vanquish them. However once the mortals had the Titans emtombed, the power went into their heads and they declared themselves Gods, forcing the world to worship them.
 * Later on, the Gods gave a box that under no circumstances should be opened to a man called Prometheus, due to the box containing all sorrows and ills of the world. But his wife, Pandora, opened it unleashing the sorrows on unsuspecting people, though she managed to capture them using her new found powers, becoming the first Guardian. The goddess of earth, Gaea, gave Hippolyta a belt endowed with transcendent powers in a attempt to unite the sexes but Hercules butchered her and the belt was lost. Ultimately the Elders succeded in taking the gods powers back and swore to never allow it to happen again.
 * Around the same time, a race of all-powerful beings known as Avatars appeared before the population of Ancient Egypt and promised them Utopia, a flawless paradise beyond good and evil, which the population accepted. However, after the transformation was complete, the god Anubis realized the catch (there was no free will) and created a potion capable of vanquishing the Avatars, forcing them to return the world back to the way it was.
 * 2,000 years ago: The Elders asked a weapon mader named Glynnis to make a magical sword that should be used to fight against evil. As the sword was being made, the Elders begun to argue to decided if the Whitelighters should be guides or warriors of the magical community. In the end the Elders decided that the Whitelighters should became guides and guarded the sword away.
 * Middles Age-Modern Age: Fear of magic took over mortals and some people decided to hunt down witches. During this time, the Evil Enchantress attempted to take over a kingdom but her magic was binded by time travelling Charmed Ones. As time progressed witch trials became more and more violent and witches decided to flee to the New World seeking refuge.
 * Witches became associated with demons, who took the opportunity to steal witches powers and have depowered witches burn at the stake. In Salem, the magical witch Melinda Warren prophetized the arrival of the Charmed Ones as she was burned alive. The persecution was so great that both Good and Evil decided together to go into hiding and possibly created the Cleaners to erase any proof of the existance of magic.

Arrival of the Charmed Ones
By the late 20th century, mortals no longer believed in the possibility of magic and supernatural beings, and hence both natural witches and Wiccan practitioners alike have relative freedom to explore and work their Craft though a high level of secrecy still had to be maintained at all costs. It was at this time that the prophesied Charmed Ones: Prue, Piper, and Phoebe became aware of their witchcraft heritage and received their destined supernatural powers. While they at first fought only minor demons and low-ranking warlocks, the sisters came to confront the big guns of the Underworld, including the Triad and the Source.

Exposition of Magic to modern world
In a attempt to save a doctor from Shax, the Source's executioner, the Charmed Ones expose themselves to the world. Reporters and crazy people gather around the Halliwell House while Phoebe, Cole and Leo Wyatt, the witches' whitelighter, go to the Underworld to ask Tempus to rewind time.

As they negogiate a psychologicaly unstable witch practioner- Alice Hicks - tries to enter their coven but Prue telekineticaly throws her out of the house. Unstable, the witch practioner took a rifle and murdered Piper Halliwell. This action changed forever the lives of the Charmed Ones as it forced Phoebe Halliwell to remain in the Underworld while Shax went to attack the Charmed Ones in the new timeline which resulted in Prue's death.

The Source vanquished
The Power of Three was once again restored thanks to the fourth sister Paige Matthews, who is a whitelighter- witch. The various attempts of the source to reshatter the Power of Three resulted in his vanquish, however the Source's essence entered the then-mortal Cole Turner and possessed him. After getting pregnant, Phoebe became Cole's new Queen of the Underworld but she joins her sisters and vanquishes him as well. However the Seer steals Phoebe's baby and attempts to be crowned as Source but is vanquished as well.

Temporary loss of magic
When a planetary aligment, along with a Aurora Borealis and a Wiccan Sabbath cause a temporary loss of magic, the sorcerer Cronyn and the demoness Doris work together to make the Twice-Blessed Child, the first child of Charmed One Piper Halliwell. After a shocking battle in the manor, the demons are vanquished by using dust from a Unicorn horn (whose magic isn't affected by whatever happens to Earth). Piper's son Wyatt's birth restores back magic.

Return of the Titans
A demon releases the Titans from their prison and attempts to force them to work for him just to be vanquished. Free once more, the Titans decide to destroy the Elders as revenge for emtombing them. Stealing whitelighter orbing power, the Titans made it into the Heavens, where they massacrate the Elders, with the survivors hidden on Earth.

In the midst of the chaos, a whitelighter from the future named Chris (who turns out to be Leo and Piper's future son) helps Leo to turn the Charmed Ones into goddesses, granting them the power to vanquish the Titans. However Leo's actions turn him into a Elder and he's forced to leave Piper.

Unbalance between the good and evil parallel worlds
The Elder Gideon becomes obessed with Wyatt's powers and fears that he will become a force for evil. In his plan to destroy him, Gideon creates an unbalance between the good and evil parallel worlds. Gideon allies himself with the demon of fear in the Underworld to distract Leo and the Charmed Ones.

Tracking Gideon on the Underworld, Leo is forced to murder him to restore back the balance between the two worlds.

Return of the Avatars
Obessed with revenge, Leo becomes more a puppet for the Avatars' plan to recreate Utopia. Turning Leo into an Avatar enables them to convince the Charmed Ones that creating the Utopia is the best course of action. The Avatars succed in their actions but Zankou's actions allowed Leo and the Charmed Ones (once they realized the catch) to return the world back to the way it was.

Battle for the Nexus
With the Avatars defeated, the alliance between Zankou and the Charmed Ones collapse and Zankou proves to be the Halliwells' most cunning enemy. Desiring to have the power of the Nexus for himself, Zankou and a horde of demons invade the Manor, expelling the Halliwells from it.

Meanwhile, Inspector Sheridan gets help from the FBI to invade the Manor. This results in Sheridan's death and in the Manor being sieged by the FBI. Seeing no other action, the Charmed Ones vanquish Zankou and fake their deaths. The Charmed Ones use a spell to pass as their own cousins but they're eventually forced to reveal themselves.

The Ultimate Battle
Billie, the young rebel witch aprenttice of the Halliwell Witches, and her evil (thought they didn't know at the time) sister Christy, are the Ultimate Power which the Triad attempts to manipulate. Turning both Billie and the magical community against the Charmed Ones, Christy success in bringing Billie into her side (thought not to turn evil).

Both sisterhoods summon up the Hollow from its resting place at the same time, resulting in it to split. The two sisterhoods fight each other, resulting in the death of three of them (Christy, Phoebe and Paige ). Heartbroken, Piper uses Coop's cupid ring to time travel to before the battle. After getting lost in the timeways, Piper and Leo (who was stripped of his powers) made it into moments before the Manor exploded and used a spell to send the Hollow back.

Billie from the alternative reality uses her Projection power to time travel and tries to warn her sister about the Triad's true plan to no vial. She goes to the Halliwells for help and aids them in vanquishing the Triad for good, thought at the expense of her sister's life.

War on Heaven
Roughly a year after the Ultimate Battle, the first witch, Neena, and the help of a warlock named Hogan revives the Source. The Source uses Hogan's Discord power to turn every single mortal in San Francisco against the Charmed Ones and later attacks them at the Manor. The good witches are forced to retreat to Magic School which is soon enough under the Source's attack.

Using the powers of many white magic practioners, the Charmed Ones vanquish the Source once more however Neena casts a spell that causes the Source's powers to be shared amongst demons including herself. With a vast army at her command, Neena attacks and steals powers of the Elders and lays siege to the Upper Regions. Neena attempts to create a new world by fusing the Upper Regions with the Underworld, despite the danger of it.

The Charmed Ones and the Warren witches await behind the gates of the Ancestral Plane and lead a offensive to take back the Heavens. The Charmed Ones attempt to bind Neena's powers but she proves to be too powerful. However with the entire Warren lineage, Neena's magic is bound. The sisters, with the help of the Elders and Leo's sword break apart the The Sphaera of Light and Dark, reverting the Heavens back to normal.

Then three Angels of Destiny appeared and they decided to no longer interfere in the mortals lives but still they banished her to her failed realm, where she could be allowed to re-meet her beloved during six months per year.

Prue's Return
Meanwhile, Prue Halliwell, who had been unable to rest in peace in the afterlife due to her role in the Charmed prophecy being unfulfilled, returned to the mortal realm and possessed the body of a catatonic witch in an attempt to finish her uncompleted work. She was found by Cole Turner, now a higher being, sent by Patty to find her missing daughter. Prue explained that she had to help the innocent, but could not be reunited with her sisters, due that there was supposed to be a Power of Three, not a Power of Four.

However, the Darklighter Rennek puts in motion a chain of events that forces Prue to be reunited with the current Charmed Ones, causing their magic to became unstable. Piper's ability of freezing molecules grows to cosmic proportions and freezes half of the United States, enabling demons to roam free.

With very little options left, Prue is stripped of her powers though she returns to Salem to continue helping the next generations of witches. Meanwhile, Rennek captures Leo to steal his vast magical knowledge but is rescued by the Charmed Ones, thought Rennek succeds in his efforts.

Loss and Exposure of Magic
For unknown reasons, magic switches to mortals, who gain supernatural powers. The world is turned upside down as mortals try to understand what is happening while the original magical community, including the Charmed Ones, try to live in a world where mortals have magic.

Natural Magic
When used in certain ways with the correct intent, certain herbs and objects can be used to harness and direct energy and hence use magic, even without innate magic. This type of magic was used more prominently during the 1600's and fell into decline since modern day. After Charlotte Warren died, her coven raised Melinda Warren in the art of magic so it's presumed she has this ability.

Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell took this knowledge back with them to the present after saving their family line and it's believed passed this knowledge down to the next generations. It's believed that Piper and Phoebe taught this knowledge to their half-sister Paige Matthews as well: When demons attempted to abduct Wyatt Halliwell, Piper told Paige to align the manor with apples and sage for protection.


 * The Besom: Also known as a common sweeping broom. When one sweeps from east to west (the path the sun travels) one can "charge" the besom. If sweeping is continued the evil and anything associated with it will be swept from one's path, as if by a gust of wind. A charged besom can even be used to fly with, hence the modern day stereotype of witches riding on broomsticks.
 * The Poppet: A poppet doll is one of the few natural magical objects that has survived into the modern era. If made from leaves it can represent the power of women, helping to focus the female witches magic. If made of Wax it can be a useful assistance in various spells such as the "Awakening" spell and the "To Lose A Love Forever" spell, again, focusing magic.
 * The Conical Hat: This simply serves to keep the witch focused and centered. Nevertheless, it is a powerful focusing tool.
 * Days of Power: Some days, such as Halloween, increase magical potency like a witch's powers and natural magic.

The Protective Circle
The Protective Circle replicates the effects of a force field and seems to be the olden day equivalent of the crystal cage, however this seems to be weaker. Instead of being composed of only pyrite Crystals, the circle has many, natural requisites, these are:


 * Apples and Laurel Leaves
 * Cut an apple in half and you reveal the pentagram that they hold at their core made of their pips, this can be a symbol for good or evil and magic in general. If you press a laurel leaf into its center, you block the path of evil. Minimum amount is four to complete the circle, placed at four roughly equidistant corners.


 * Lavendar & Rosemary
 * Both are good protection herbs, scatter these around the space in a ring to strengthen the force field.


 * Carved Pumpkins
 * Although it is unknown whether or not these were used in the circle in "All Halliwell's Eve", it is known that Pumpkins with the shape of a five pointed star cut out will turn away evil spirits and sometimes even demons. Which is why it would be a good idea to include them in one.

All together, these ingredients would create a powerful circular forcefield of blue energy around the creators. The field repelled the riders and the horses, but was powerless against bullets.

Enchanted Doorway
When Eva brought the Charmed Ones to where her coven was hiding in, she told them that the doorway they had within the room would have told her if they were evil or not. The doorway was aligned with several unknown flowers and possibly magical herbs. However, it was later revealed that it was in fact The Elders who opened the gateway that sent the sisters to the past, and they were the ones that opened it again to return them to the present.

Magic and Science
Magic often breaks the laws of science in the process:
 * For example: one of Piper's powers is to to slow down molecules until they completely stop, and according to the usual laws of science, doing so would cause the molecules to loose heat until they reach an absolute zero. However, this is clearly not the case here, since the people or objects she immobilizes do not gradually turn into ice statues (except for that one instance where she was turned into an evil warlock), but merely look as though they are frozen.
 * Another example: time-travelling back into the past or the future is deemed to be impossible by current physics. However, time-travelling forwards and backwards could be accomplished by magic, provided that the user is a powerful supernatural being.