The Gods

A God/Goddess is a supreme magical being that can create, control, and have all kinds of powers and abilities. They are the most powerful forces in the universe.

The term "God(s)" or "Goddess(es)" applies to any Witch, Warlock or other being that has gained divine or godlike powers.

The Greek Gods In the days of Ancient Greece, circa 1000 BC, the Titans ruthlessly ruled the Earth. In fear of these beings, the mortals worshipped them as Gods in the hopes of appeasing them.

The Elders knew they had to stop the Titans, however, this was an act which could not be done. The Elders decided to infuse mortals with a tremendous amount of power, in the hopes they would be strong enough to stop the Titans. Some of these mortals were Zeus, Aphrodite, Gaia, Athena, Poseidon, etc.

Once these mortals had entombed the Titans in ice, the power went to their heads and declared themselve Gods. Forcing the world to worhsip them.

After the Elders succeeded into taking back their powers, they swore they would never allow this to happen again. They had put the essences in a sacred vase and locked it in a vault in The Heavens. Only a spell can release it.

Spells To Release the Essence of the Greek Gods and Goddesses Eccere, oh, gee, Ac mando ma mento.

Oh My Goddess! In the Season 5 episodes Oh My Goddess! Part 1 and Oh My Goddess! Part 2, Piper, Phoebe and Paige were turned into Greek Goddesses by Leo in order to stop The Titans who had killed most of the Elders after being unfrozen, and left the magical world in chaos, hoping to destroy the Earth. Chris persuaded Leo to turn The Charmed Ones into goddesses.

When the essences were released: Piper became the goddess of Earth, Gaia Phoebe became the goddess of Love, Aphrodite Paige became the goddess of War, Athena

The Charmed Ones eventually stopped the Titans and the Goddess' essences were returned.

One must make a conscious decision to return the powers and can hold on to them if they wish. Also, during a short confrontation between The Charmed Gods and The Titans, the latter tried to roast the former with a combination of Electro and Pyrokinesis. The Charmed Ones defended themselves by holding their hands out in front of them in a "Stop" motion. This created a shield of a white, misty substance in front of them that protected the Greek Goddesses from the Titan's attack. It is unknown whether the Greek Goddesses were able to combine their powers in such a way or whether this was just one way in which the Power of Three could function when boosted by divine powers.

Powers & Abilities Once occupying a host the essence turns the host into the human embodiment of the God/Goddess of a certain theme; giving the host certain powers, changes in appearance and knowledge. For example one may become the Goddess of Love and therefore gain the power of Enchanting and (in the case of Phoebe Halliwell) blond hair. Another may become the Goddess of War and gain a trident from which one can shoot lightning, knowledge of battle tactics and the ability to create holograms for "war games". The theme that one embodies when they take in the essence depends on their history and personality. A good example of this would be how Phoebe became the Goddess of Love because of her immensely turbulent love life, particularly her relationship with Cole. She even writes an advice column that frequently deals with relationship issues. Paige had been consumed with becoming a stronger witch ever since season 4 and has a strong, confident personality, so she became the Goddess of War. Piper had long desired to have as close to a normal family life as her Charmed destiny would allow, so she became the Goddess of Earth.

Unfortunately, whilst the essence is non-sentient and can be controlled by the host, there is a large chance (as there always is when one gains great power) that one will be swayed to use the power for personal gain, such as forming love cults and armies. This chance is aided by the fact that to release one's full power as a God one must declare themselves as divine. It is unknown whether or not the host is able to use any powers they had before their transformation into Gods or whether their new divine powers replace them until the essence leaves.

Egyptian Gods
Zankou once mentioned Anubis, who in mythology was an Egyptian God but in the Charmed universe was also an ancient mage. It may be that he was the latter and became a "God" by inhaling the vapor.

Hindu Gods
Piper and Leo were temporarily possessed by Shakti and Shiva, a Hindu Goddess and God, respectively in the episode A Call To Arms.