Whispers from the Past is the 4th book of the Charmed novels.
The novel is set between "The Devil's Music" and "Awakened", as Piper mentions a 'Saturday dinner rush' at P3 in chapter 4, and Prue says that she still works at Buckland's in chapter 8. In chapter 3, Phoebe refers to coming from the 21st century, meaning it is the year 2000 already.
Summary
- A shard of mirror for a broken reflection
- A pocket watch with a cracked face
- A cache of herbs to burn for protection
- All will send me to another time and place.
Phoebe Halliwell is having a very bad day: A demon has pulled her centuries into the past. She has no way to tell her sisters she's alive, no way to get back to her own time—and the demon is trying to kill her.
Back in the present, Prue & Piper are devastated at losing their sister. But that isn't their only problem. Something is wrong with them, too. Somehow, they're turning… evil.
But why? And how can they stop it—without the Power of Three?
Characters
Major
- Prue Halliwell: The eldest sister with the power of Telekinesis.
- Piper Halliwell: The middle sister with the power of Molecular Immobilization.
- Phoebe Halliwell: The youngest sister with the power of Premonition.
Support
- Falcroft: A demon who can create time-rifts and wreak havoc in past, present and future. His powers included Glamouring, Time Ripple, Super Strength, and Fire Throwing.
- Hugh Montgomery: A warlock and accomplice of the demon. He stays with Prudence Wentworth and takes the responsibility of turning her evil by giving her a potion. His powers included Blinking and Pyrokinesis.
- Prudence Wentworth: Also known as "Widow Wentworth". The daughter of Melinda Warren and Cassandra's mother. She lives in Salem as a midwife and has the powers of Telekinesis and Premonition.
- Cassandra Wentworth: The young daughter of Prudence Wentworth.
Minor
- Wax Man: A villager in Salem.
- Will: A villager in Salem. He was temporarily blinded by Phoebe's bag of pepper when the villagers tried to lock her up.
- Folding Warlock: A warlock with the power of Folding. He was killed and his power was stolen by Prue Halliwell.
- Chronokinetic Warlock: A warlock with the power of Chronokinesis. He was killed and his power was stolen by Piper Halliwell.
Mentioned
- Penny Halliwell: The grandmother of the Charmed Ones. She had the power of Telekinesis.
- Melinda Warren: The Charmed Ones' ancestor and prophesier. She had all three powers the sisters have.
- Mrs. Gibbs: A pregnant woman living in the 17th century.
- Kit: The Charmed Ones' Siamese feline familiar.
- Victor Bennett: The Charmed Ones' estranged father.
- Mary Pierce: An acquaintance of Prudence's. Prudence brought her daughter to Mary in order to keep her safe.
Magical Notes
Book of Shadows
Contents in the Evil Book of Shadows
- Potions and Spells For The Warding Off and Ruination of Warlocks
This page is illustrated with the drawing of a lacerated deer.
- Make an image of thy foe,
Slash it as I slashed the roe.
Then bury it beneath full moon
In the grave of one hanged too soon.
Other content include:
- A Spell for Summoning Warlocks
- For Maiming Beasts
- To Be Revenged On One Who Has Done You Harm
- To Cause Disease In One Who Crosses You
Falcroft
- Falcroft is very powerful, very evil.
- He constantly tries to wreak havoc in the past, present, and future.
Phoebe's Message to Prue and Piper
- This is a (frantic) message to Piper and Prue:
- Help! It's me, Phoebe, and I'm alive and kicking in Salem, Massachusetts.
- Yes, Salem, land of the witch-hunt. I've been told the year is 1676, and I'm staying with this chick named Prudence, who is actually our ancestor (and, I guess, your namesake, Prue). She's not a lot of help, though, since she's under an evil spell.
- The thing is, that warlock who attacked us is actually a time demon (whatever that means) and he sucked me through a portal—some kind of time rift or something—and here I am.
- The demon is here, too, planting seeds of evil to ruin our family. Oh, yeah—he's got a warlock helping him. Anyway, here I am up a river of evil without a good witch in sight—and I'm drowning! HELP!
- Love you guys! And I miss you!
- Phoebe
Spells
Tracking Spell
- For this spell, something of the Lost One's father is needed, a lock of her hair and a piece of clothing dear to her.
- A trace of paternity,
Clothing so dear,
A lock of hair
To track far and near.
Find (?) [our Phoebe],
Point the way.
Track her spirit,
Find her today.
Spell for Banishing the Most Evil of Demons
- For this spell, the following ingredients are needed: a thimble, soil from the earth where three roads meet, a pinch of salt, a needle of pine, ground pepper, a tea leaf, a nutmeg kernel, two flat stones, a feather and Queen Anne's lace. The ingredients should be thrown in a fire before the spell is cast.
- Friends of light and sister sun,
Winter moon & summer shower,
Send this demon back to darkness,
Banish him, destroy his power.
A Spell to Splinter Enchantment
- The spell requires candles, an object of the Enchanted One, a sign of family, and an evil thing to cast away. Place the sign of family in the enchanted one's arms, then the other two objects in a bowl between the spell caster and the enchanted one. The spell must be cast by both.
- Day to night,
Night to day,
Break the spell,
Cast it away.
The Power of Three Spell
- The Power of Three will set us free.
- The Power of Three will set us free.
- The Power of Three will set us free.
Powers
- Blinking: Used by Hugh to teleport.
- Chronokinesis: Used by Piper to reverse time.
- Fire Throwing: Used by Falcroft to throw fire.
- Folding: Used by Prue to teleport.
- Glamouring: Used by Falcroft to assume human form.
- Life Draining: Used by Prue and Piper to kill warlocks.
- Molecular Immobilization: Used by Piper.
- Power Absorption: Used by Prue and Piper to steal warlocks' powers.
- Premonition: Used by Phoebe.
- Pyrokinesis: Used by Hugh to attack Prudence.
- Super Strength: Used by Falcroft kill Hugh.
- Telekinesis: Used by Prue and Prudence.
- Time Ripple: Used by Falcroft to open a hole in time.
Artifacts
- Athame: A dagger used to direct energy. Warlocks use those to absorb their victims' powers.
- Book of Shadows: The Halliwell's tome of knowledge.
- Hugh's Root Tea: A potion to weaken a witch's power.
- Salve for Burns: Prudence's goo-like potion that heals burns.
Notes and Trivia
- This is the first novel to feature Phoebe as the main character.
Differences from the Show
- Penny Halliwell was generally known as "Grams", but this book incorrectly called her "Gram".
- Chapter 3 designates Phoebe landing in Salem, Massachusettes, 1676. This is canonically impossible as Prudence Warren is shown to be a woman in her twenties, when in fact she would not have been born yet.
- Melinda Warren is incorrectly stated as having died in 1654, years before she was actually born according to the episode All Halliwell's Eve in 1670. Also in "The Witch is Back" was stated she died in 1692.
- Prue is incorrectly referenced as having blue eyes when her eyes are actually green.
- In this novel, the Book of Shadows is described as a thick tome in the 17th century. This is inaccurate, because the Book was rather thin during that time. It became thicker over the centuries as more descendants added new entries to it.
- In the book, the sisters retained their powers while back in time, whereas on the show, whenever a witch travels back in time, they would lose their active abilities.
International titles
- Russian: Šjopot iz prošlogo (Whisper from the Past)
- French: Quand le passé revient (When the Past Returns)
Russian cover
French cover