| “ | To be fair, the Book of Elders contains the greatest secrets and spells in all of witchcraft. Old magic. Dead magic. Healing magic. Dangerous magic... | ” |
— The Sentinel[src]
| ||
The Book of Elders is a magical tome once belonging to the Elders that is located in the Command Center. It is written in the language of the Elders and contains powerful magic, and as such, is enchanted to prevent anyone with demon aura from even touching it.
History[]
At an unknown time, the Elders created the Command Center, and the Book of Elders, as a safe haven for Elders in case there was sufficient need. The book was kept in the Center.
In October 2019, when the Vera Book of Shadows was destroyed by Jimmy, the Vera-Vaughn Charmed Ones fled through a portal to the Command Center, where they found the Book of Elders. As no one else knew how to read the language that the book was in, Mel, Maggie Vera and Macy Vaughn were unable to translate the book. According to Harry Greenwood, the Book of Elders contains answers to how the Charmed Ones can regain their powers.
Mel took to trying to decipher the book, which led her and Harry to travel to the Astral Plane in an attempt to ask the Sentinel how to get their powers back. The Sentinel first gave them a test to see if they were worthy of reading the book, reasoning that it contains powerful, old, and dangerous magic, before handing Mel a looking-glass shaped like a scarab to help her translate the book's writing.
Harry used the cipher to translate the book, but found that while it helped translate the lettering to make it legible for non-Elders, the book's content would translate into other languages, such as Latin and Sumerian. He did, however, find a page detailing about Whitelighters, and how their creation came at a great cost. There was also a word with a letter he had trouble figuring out, so asked Maggie for her opinion. Maggie saw it was an 'E', making the word Harry was trying to decipher 'Tessera' - Latin for 'Password'. Upon saying the word, the book conjured a spider that led Harry and Maggie to a magical safe hidden behind a cabinet. Inside the safe was a set of documents and a magical driver's license that changed to show the holder's picture. Looking through the documents led to Harry traveling to the Tulipe Institute, and finding Helen McGantry, the first Whitelighter.
The book, however, was written in a way that made it difficult for Whitelighters to read certain entries. Abigael Jameson-Caine theorized that this was done purposefully by the Elders to prevent Whitelighters from finding out about their darker selves, the Darklighters.
The Book of Elders contained a spell that could reveal any trace of magic in a being. Macy, Maggie, and Harry used this spell, the book, and the cypher to figure out why Jordan Chase's ring was able to give Maggie her new power, and in the process discovered he was cursed by a dying witch. Macy and Harry later managed to steal Jordan's ring, with Macy distracting him by claiming to want to spar, while Harry used a cloning serum, which he had also found in the Book of Elders, to create a convincing duplicate of the ring. Macy used a spell on the ring to reveal the most important moment in its history, which showed her and Harry that Jordan's ancestor, Lawrence Mortimer Chase, condemned a witch to death, and was cursed by her to "wither five by five", along with every male in his bloodline - no male in the Chase Family can live longer than twenty-five years.
Harry, Mel, and Macy later consulted the book in order to work out a way to allow Mel to literally become a fly on the wall in order to spy on Parker Caine, who she did not trust after his proposal to Maggie. They did find a spell, but when it was discovered it was actually a curse, Harry was against it. Mel insisted, as it was their only method, and Macy agreed. The book gave directions on how to cast the spell, and how to reverse it - self-reflection; to realize an inner truth - which allowed Mel to successfully spy on Parker and find out Godric, Parker's right-hand demon, had initiated the massacre of the dryads at the Sacred Grove. However, when trying to explain this to Maggie, Mel was kicked out of the wedding, and had to return to the Command Center as a result. While Macy, Harry, and Abigael planned a way to get Maggie out of the wedding when it became clear that Parker was becoming mentally unstable, Mel discovered the roots of an upside-down tree in one of the Command Center's pillars, leaking a black sap. She searched through the Book of Elders, and theorized that the roots were that of a black amber tree, and would help her and her sisters regain their powers. While the black amber didn't restore her power of Temporal Manipulation, it did eventually awaken a new power, when she tried to freeze Parker out of instinct, and instead encased him in a sheet of ice; Harry stated the power was Molecular Manipulation.
Cypher[]
Due to the language that the Book of Elders was written in, it was unreadable without aid from the Elders. The Elders created a magical cypher, which they entrusted to the Sentinel for safekeeping. After a trial to test their intentions, the Sentinel gave Harry and Mel the cypher. They used the cypher to read the Book of Elders and subsequently discovered more information about Whitelighters, as well as other entries that helped them further.
The Charmed Ones[]
The Book of Elders revealed hidden pages with a name list, the triquetra symbol and clues all in plain English, instead of the language of the Elders, when the current Charmed Ones touched it together at the same time.
In "You Can't Go Home Again", Harry adds Mel, Maggie, and Macy's names to the Book of Elders. The book magically adds space for Kaela Danso, which Harry later fills.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Sensing: The Book of Elders is capable of sensing whether someone has a demonic aura, and will repel those who do, regardless of their moral alignment. The book also is seemingly capable of detecting if there are more Charmed Ones than the writer wants to write down, and will even conjure a space for those missing.
- Electrokinesis: To protect the book from falling in the wrong hands, the Elders enchanted the book to shock and repel anyone with a demonic aura that attempts to touch it.
- Conjuration: The Book of Elders is capable of conjuring real versions of images depicted in its pages when certain words are spoken out loud. The book is also capable of conjuring several new pages, in English, when the current incarnation of the Charmed Ones touch it together.
Trivia[]
- Much like the Book of Shadows from the original series, the Book of Elders is able to protect itself from those it perceives as evil. Unlike the original series' book, the Book of Elders repels anyone with a demonic aura, instead of basing around their moral alignment.
- It appears that the book protects itself from those who have demonic auras and not demonic nature, as it was confirmed by the writers that when Macy lost her demon powers, she didn't lose her demon essence [1], and yet was still capable of touching the book without being repelled.
- According to Mel, while trying to decipher the book, the Book of Elders has one thousand pages.
- In "Hashing It Out", multiple pages of the book were ripped out by a member of the Unseen.
Gallery[]
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