The Book of Shadows is a fictional book. It is a large, leatherbound spell book seen on the television series Charmed, which is owned by the fictional Charmed Ones. It contains spells, potions, and information on their enemies. The Book has been enchanted to protect itself, causing it to move away whenever any evil being attempts to touch it. It has a large triquetra set on its front cover, symbolizing the Power of Three.

The ancestor of the Charmed Ones, Melinda Warren began the Book of Shadows in the late 1600s. When Melinda was burned at the stake for being a witch, her book was passed to her daughter Prudence. The book was then handed down from mother to daughter for more than three hundred years, until it was inherited by Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige upon the death of their grandmother Penny.

The book has grown with each witch who has possessed it, and by the late 1960s, it had about one hundred pages. It continues to grow as the Charmed Ones add more information to it. In the final episode, Piper tells her granddaughter, also named Prudence, that the book will one day be hers.

The contents of the Book of Shadows are much too vast to be listed here. However, complete references to the Book of Shadows for each episode are listed in each episode summary.

Appearances

The Book of Shadows is a thick green leather book with a red triquetra sign on the front. The triquetra symbol has been known to change, usually according to some change in the sisters powers/emotional state. The Book is somewhat worn due to its centuries of use, but is completely intact - except for the page on how to relinquish one's own powers, the page was torn out and burnt by the Charmed Ones after they nearly lost their powers to a warlock - most likely due to the magic that protects the book.

Powers, abilities and uses

The Book of Shadows can:

Be used as a means of communicating with the girls by Grams and Patty.

Identify evil

Protect itself from evil

Magically add pages to itself

Try to keep itself within its home, unless removed from the manor by one of The Charmed Ones

Change according to the status of The Charmed Ones

Can have its spells reversed if they are read backwards

The Book:

Seems to have a consciousness, or at least an essence

Can't be photocopied (and presumably cannot be scanned)

Due to its link with the Halliwells:

It can lose its entire content if the Halliwells' powers are stripped

Its spells will become evil counterparts if the sisters turn evil

If the sisters are under emotional distress, its power to protect itself is diminished

The Grimoire

The Book of Shadows also has an evil counterpart known as the Grimoire. The Grimoire is a large brown book with the Seal of Solomon on the cover. The pages of the Grimoire are said to be blackened by its evil. Much like the Book of Shadows, the Grimoire possesses the power to protect itself from its enemies or anything Good. It makes only a few appearances. It is orbed into a volcano by Leo.

Bianca, and her family of assassin witches possess a Grimoire which contains their family's spells, although this is simply a Grimoire and not the Grimoire.

Gypsy books

In the series Gypsies and witches are sister traditions. Though never specifically stated to be so, Gypsy families also have their own versions of the Book of Shadows that is passed down to immediate family members. This was shown in an episode where the Gypsy Eva finds her family spell book previously owned by her mother after her death. Like the traditional Book of Shadows, Gypsies' books contain spells and magical recipes.