SOURCES OF THE CHARMED ONES POWERS

[vandergraafk]

SOURCES OF THE CHARMED ONES POWERS

1. THE WARREN LINE OF WITCHES


Melinda Warren prophesied that each succeeding generation of Warren witches would grow more powerful until there arrived three sisters who would be the most powerful witches of all time.

It's in their blood, so to speak. But, and this is a very important proviso, it is not found in the blood as the muddled biology of Astral Monkey suggests. That episode screws up just about every bit of haemotology possible.


2. THE POWER OF THREE


Whatever their individual powers, powers that grow as time marches forward and their experience with command and control of these powers grows apace, the sisters' powers are magnified because of the bonds of sisterhood. Phoebe's initially paltry powers were all the more powerful when she participated with her sisters in power of three spells.


3. THE BOOK OF SHADOWS


Pure power, without the necessary knowledge of how to employ potions, spell and powers, against demons and warlocks remains naked. The ever-changing Book of Shadows is a repository of knowledge as well as a portal into a whole library of knowledge, knowledge that made their powers and potions more effective.


4. THE NEXUS


The very physical location of the Manor provided some enhancement to the sisters' powers as long as the NEXUS remained subject to the constraints of good (by virtue of Good controlling the Manor).


5. THE EMOTIONAL STATE OF THE SISTERS


The power of the Book of Shadows is tied to the sisters' emotions and vice-versa. Let self-doubt creep into the sisters' psyche then their powers and the powers emanating from the Book of Shadows will become weakened. Zankou marvelously exploited this in Something Wicca.

Another side of this argument can be seen in Bride and Gloom, although the details of that episode themselves are not very convincing. Simply put, if a dark priestess can use dark magic to turn one of the sisters evil, then an infection will spread to the other sisters via the Book of Shadows. Prue turning evil turned the Book of Shadows. Suddenly, spells that ought not to have been there appeared. Piper read them and succumbed to the temptation and gradually became a warlock. Phoebe did too, although she more or less followed Piper's example.

Certainly, the example of Bride and Gloom shows that the sisters' powers can be expanded via the Book of Shadows (blinking, which is clearly the power of a warlock, despite Melinda Warren's speculation in Season 1 when she thought erroneously that Matthew had stolen this power from a witch). Of course, they may expand in a way that no longer entitles them to a whitelighter, as they evolve toward permanent residence on the dark side. (Presumably, this would have tilted the NEXUS towards evil as well.)

In a similar vein, though again I find the episode's details a bit disappointing, Power Outage shows what can happen when the sisters have a major, major tiff and turn their powers against one another. They lost them, as the Triquetra was severed.


6. POWERS BESTOWED BY THE ELDERS


Initially, I was quite happy to place this in the category of sources of the Charmed Ones powers. Now, I am not certain. I fail to see how the Elders did anything to boost the sisters' powers. Yes, they could explain that this was a power boost. But, they never ever really admit that they were the ones instrumental in boosting these powers.

True, the Elders were guardians of the powers of the Greek gods (Oh My Goddess). When these powers were dispensed by Leo to the sisters in order to defeat the Titans (and thereby save the Elders from extinction), this was done in contradiction to the rules of the Elders who had made it clear that never ever were these powers to be dispensed.


7. The MANOR


I can't even begin to sort this one out. Do the sisters have to remain in the same home forever, as Grams scolded the sisters during Season 6 after Paige moved out and Phoebe found herself in Hong Kong? Is it the Manor or the Manor's location atop the spiritual NEXUS, or is it that living in the same house keeps the sisters close physically and spiritually? I haven't a clue. However, Season 8 did seem to answer some of these questions, although once again some fans hammered Phoebe for abandoning Piper. Oh well!

Let's be fair to Phoebe. We are led to believe that at the time Phoebe made her decision to buy the condo the housing boom is still full on. Given the prices for homes in San Francisco and the rapid turnover rate (at the time), it would only make sense for Phoebe to make her decision as quickly as possible. The girls always knew they would move out, although Piper jokingly told Paige that maybe after 20 or 30 years time. To read into Phoebe's decision to purchase the condo and move out (did she really ever leave the manor?) anything more than her desire to strike quickly seems to me to be excessive. Do you really think Phoebe was abandoning Piper (or Paige, for that matter)? I don't think so.

Earlier, in the Charmed Cafe, I offered this assessment. Make of it what you will:

Well, part of the confusion here stems from the inability of Grams or Leo - for that matter - to know exactly how much a role the Manor - and the sisters residing in the manor - contributed to the power of three. As I have indicated elsewhere, the sisters' collective powers - the why of why they are so powerful - have many roots: the Nexus, the Book of Shadows, the Elders, the Warren lineage, the Manor itself. Is it any wonder that Grams was so worried less they suffer a decline in power if they each went their separate ways.

Yet, when the Nexus was temporarily rendered useless - at the conclusion of Season 7's Something Wicca - their powers do not seem to have dropped off any. Indeed, one could argue that the disparate roots of Charmed power gave rise to an entity which developed a life of its own. Thus, given time and maturity, it was easily imaginable for the sisters to live their own separate lives. Yet, they would always be the Charmed Ones for that was a bond that had been forged through constant struggle and the will to survive and overcome.

[Reality Bites]

Since this thread examines the source of the Charmed Ones' powers I thought it would be the appropriate place to discuss the source of the EVOLUTION of the Charmed Ones' powers.

Arguably or not, Prue and Phoebe’s powers booth derived from psychic/mental abilities. Examining and recalling episodes pre-dating the manifestation of their secondary powers I believe I may have stumbled upon a common thread of their powers' evolution. Both sisters, in some form or another, possessed an advanced form of the second power their initial power progressed into.

The most commonly referenced example of this being Phoebe's power of levitation manifesteing not too long after she had briefly obtained the power of flight. Some argue that "Be Careful What You Witch For" is a foreshadowing of her future power, while some others might argue that possessing the power of flight left a magical marker on Phoebe that enabled her to eventually gain the power of levitation. If the latter is true, this is the first time that possessing a foreign power has lead to a witch naturally gaining a less advanced version of it. Or is it?

When Prue developed the power of astral projection she theorized that it was a natural progression of her ability to move things with her mind. Only now she can also move her body with her mind. In the same vein that Phoebe may have gained the power to levitate from her experience with the power of flight, perhaps a magical marker was left on Prue that allowed her to naturally develop a less advanced form of a gift she onced utilized. Cloning.

"Which Prue Is It Anyway?" shows Prue casting a spell to triple her powers. The result is two Prue clones who share her power of telekinesis. The spell did not simply create two identical copies of Prue, but as noted by the "clones" themselves they are extensions of Prue's psyche - her (sub)consciousness mind.

(PERKY) PRUE: Is there a problem?

PIPER: Aside from you going off and casting a spell that's kept all our bathrooms busy for the past three hours, nothing.

(PERKY) PRUE: Don't blame me. I didn't cast the spell.

PHOEBE: Great. You're a clone.

(PERKY) PRUE: Well, no. I'm not exactly a clone. I do have all of Prue's memories up until the time that she cast the spell, so, in a lot of ways, I am Prue.

****

PIPER: What has gotten into you? Or who has gotten into you? Because you're nothing like the real Prue.

PRUE CLONE (BLUE): Actually, I'm exactly like the real Prue, just a side that doesn't get to come out and play enough. I'm the flip side of the corporate, conservative clone.

So both "clones" are extensions of the real Prue and possess her power of telekinesis. Could it be that the spell projected a part of Prue's consciousness into two "clones" of Prue by using psychic energy that corporealized the "clones"? Isn't Prue's astral projection power a lesser form of this ability? Or am I merely reaching? It is something to think about.

[vandergraafk]

Actually, I agree that this is an ideal place to make such a posting. It certainly examines the evolution of powers in a new light. As you know or probably can gather, many pixels have been devoted to an understanding of Phoebe's acquisition of the power to levitate. Until now, no one has offered a credible explanation that tied levitation to the power of precognition. Piper's power was easy to explain once the misguided notion that she had the power to "freeze time" is discarded. She didn't, but what she could do was accelerate and decelerate subatomic particles. These powers represent then two sides of the same coin. With Prue, it was more difficult to establish a linkage, but not impossible. Prue, herself, speculated that it was a logical consequence of her ability to move things. She never asserted the connection that you've made between Which Prue Is It Anyway and the evolution of her powers.

By extension, we might enquire as to whether markers were left behind when the sisters became Greek goddesses? Did this transformation place hidden markers that may or may not emerge over time? On the other hand, we can suppose that neither the temporary switching of powers among witches nor the switching of powers between Piper and Leo were sufficient to leave a hidden marker behind. In addition, we may have a way of discovering how gathering the sisters by the book allows them to constitute a power of three - or reconstitute it when Paige arrives - or why Paige's powers are activated in Centennial Charmed by the mere joining of hands, as in Charmed Again Part 1, in order to reconstitute an alternative universe Power of Three.

[Reality Bites]

vandergraafk said:

By extension, we might enquire as to whether markers were left behind when the sisters became Greek goddesses? Did this transformation place hidden markers that may or may not emerge over time?

Could one not argue that Phoebe possessing the powers of the goddess of love left her open to developing the power of empathy in place of the future power we witnessed in "Morality Bites"? It could very well explain why Phoebe's power of magical empathy could achieve feats outside of the conventional use of the empathic power seen in "Primrose Empath". Her empathy may be a less advanced form of a goddess' power!

[vandergraafk]

Yes, that's precisely where my thoughts were headed. We've tried to explain how Phoebe used her power of empathy, for example, to reverse the directionality of incoming fireballs. Perhaps she was channeling the thoughts of the launchers of these fireballs and simply redirected them. If so, this represented a huge leap in her precognitive abilities. And, it is difficult to explain these as an extension of her power of empathy. But, if we accept the logic of your position that possession of "foreign" powers leaves a marker - much as an immunization leaves a blueprint for fighting a viral infection later - that might allow a witch to develop a much more powerful version later, then we can explain Phoebe's phenomenal abilty to reverse the directionality of fireballs, as evidence in Used Karma.

In the Charmed Cafe, we have recently been discussing Phoenix witches. Part of that debate concerned their status: good or evil. Some took the position that because Phoenix witches were able to both shimmer and launch fireballs, this meant they had to be demonic. Others argued the opposite. The mere possession of these abilities does not classify them as demonic. They are hired guns, neither good nor bad, but witches imbued with a powerful need for vengeance. Still, that position had no explanation for why the Phoenix could both shimmer and launch fireballs.

The genetic marker idea can be of help though. As I argued in the Charmed Cafe,

". a Phoenix witch who might have received a power boost by a demon - as a reward for a job well done - might also have received a genetic marker as well that allowed her to pass on these powers to her offspring. By natural selection, then, this type of Phoenix witch might have survived at the expense of her sister witches who did not have the genetic marker."

Thus, we can now explain and resolve a seeming contradiction between a mention of the Phoenix in Bite Me and the more elaborate understanding we receive in Chris-Crossed. In the Charmed Cafe, I wrote:

"This might also explain the curious entry in the Book of Shadows form Bite Me where the Phoenix are first mentioned. There it is noted that the Phoenix fly, but don't fight. As much as I appreciate the alliteration, perhaps what the entry was referring to was their ability to shimmer away as a way of taking flight. In the event, the Book of Shadows' entry must have been updated - by the Elders, Grams or someone other than the Charmed Ones - in order for a fuller picture to emerge."

It must also be interesting to speculate what effect the bestowing of warrior powers on Paige had for her later development as a witch. In the Charmed Cafe, I noted:

"For Paige, it may have allowed her to develop her warrior aspect enough to offset the natural pacificism her whitelighter persona exudes."

Any thoughts?

[Reality Bites]

vandergraafk said:

In the Charmed Cafe, we have recently been discussing Phoenix witches. Part of that debate concerned their status: good or evil. Some took the position that because Phoenix witches were able to both shimmer and launch fireballs, this meant they had to be demonic. Others argued the opposite. The mere possession of these abilities does not classify them as demonic. They are hired guns, neither good nor bad, but witches imbued with a powerful need for vengeance. Still, that position had no explanation for why the Phoenix could both shimmer and launch fireballs.

The genetic marker idea can be of help though. As I argued in the Charmed Cafe,

". a Phoenix witch who might have received a power boost by a demon - as a reward for a job well done - might also have received a genetic marker as well that allowed her to pass on these powers to her offspring. By natural selection, then, this type of Phoenix witch might have survived at the expense of her sister witches who did not have the genetic marker."

Thus, we can now explain and resolve a seeming contradiction between a mention of the Phoenix in Bite Me and the more elaborate understanding we receive in Chris-Crossed. In the Charmed Cafe, I wrote:

"This might also explain the curious entry in the Book of Shadows form Bite Me where the Phoenix are first mentioned. There it is noted that the Phoenix fly, but don't fight. As much as I appreciate the alliteration, perhaps what the entry was referring to was their ability to shimmer away as a way of taking flight. In the event, the Book of Shadows' entry must have been updated - by the Elders, Grams or someone other than the Charmed Ones - in order for a fuller picture to emerge."

I agree with the theory on the Phoenix witches and their acquiring "demonic" powers. Though, I recall them launching energy balls, not fireballs. Although, in contrast (and for arguments sake), it seems as if it is a common trait for morally ambiguous witches, driven by vengeance, to acquire the ability to launch energy balls. And not just the line of Phoenix witches. Both the Montana and Callaway family lines of witches acquire the ability as evident in season 6's "Love's a Witch". Both families are driven by their hatred for one another which has lasted for generations.

Does their moral ambiguity leave vengeful witches open to harnessing this lethal power? Or have all three family lines of witches been granted the power by demons invested in corrupting powerful families of witches? Thus leaving the genetic marker behind for future generations.

vandergraafk said:

It must also be interesting to speculate what effect the bestowing of warrior powers on Paige had for her later development as a witch. In the Charmed Cafe, I noted:

"For Paige, it may have allowed her to develop her warrior aspect enough to offset the natural pacificism her whitelighter persona exudes."

Any thoughts?

Hmm, perhaps this is why Paige is able to take on and best Billie in hand-to-hand combat in "Malice in Wonderland" during season 8. It granted her an innate ability to "fight". Much like a vampire slayer in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If Paige were to practice the skill she could become a lethal threat; even without the aide of her telekinetic powers.

[vandergraafk]

Good question. I don't know. It seems, though, that the Phoenix witches acquired this ability to launch energy balls genetically over time, perhaps as a demonic endowment. On the other hand, the Callaways and Montanas may have simply called upon and harnessed this power for the sole purpose of carrying out their battle. Succeeding generations, however, might have found the task, the calling forth of energy balls, ever easier given the genetic marker left behind.