Personal Gain is a term describing a rule that all good witches must abide by. The rule states that witches cannot use their magic for personal or selfish reasons, or use magic to punish the guilty. It is one of the rules that separates good from evil.
When witches attempt to abuse their magic, spells may backfire and cause unwanted side effects. Additionally, the Tribunal that governed magic would sometimes punish those that had broken the rules.
Notable Examples[]
- When Phoebe Halliwell got a premonition about lottery numbers, she bought a ticket. When she won, the numbers on her ticket were magically erased.
- When the sisters used their powers on a man who let his dog do his business in front of their driveway, they learned that in the future, this man became a prosecutor of witches.
- When Phoebe got a premonition of herself burning a the stake, she learned it was because she killed a man with her powers in the future. The Elders wanted the sisters to experience this as a lesson on personal gain.
- When Paige Matthews cast a spell on a sexist co-worker, the spell caused her breasts to grow, drawing the same unwanted attention to her.
- After a premonition about her future daughter, Phoebe became obsessed with finding the right man and started using her powers for personal reasons. She was punished by the Tribunal and lost her active powers for a while.
- When Payton Halliwell cast a spell to help her sister Prue and the spirit Matt by giving him a temporary solid form, her spell backfired and turned her into a spirit.
Notes and Trivia[]
- This rule does not apply when personal gain is minimal, such as using magic to move an object.