Witches (Discworld)

A major subset of the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett involves the witches of Lancre. They are closely based on witches in British folklore and a slightly tongue-in-cheek reinterpretation of the Triple Goddess.

Overview

Witch magic is very different from the wizard magic taught in the Unseen University, and consists largely of finding the right lever that makes everything else work. Witches rarely do any magic, in fact, relying more on common sense, hard work, and a peculiar brand of psychology known as headology. This can be taken very far - a witch's way of magically setting fire to a log of wood consists of staring at the log until it burns up from pure embarrassment. As a result, it is less energy-intensive, which means that a witch can do more than a technically equally powerful wizard. The same zen-like knowledge that gives them this ability generally discourages them from making a big deal about it, beyond refusing to take wizards seriously. Headology is more commonly used on people, like the placebo effect. Witches unironically acting with melodrama, of which cackling is an early sign, is often an indication of "going to the bad" and becoming a stereotypically wicked witch.