Magic (Discworld)
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The Discworld, in Terry Pratchett's novels runs on magic. Types of magic include:
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Intrinsic magic
Intrinsic magic is the Discworld's "standing magical field" and is basically the local breakdown of reality that allows a flat planet on the back of a turtle to even exist. The other varieties of magic are usually methods of shaping this force. It warps reality in much the same way as gravity warps space-time. Areas with larger than normal quantities of background magic tend to display unusual qualities, even for the Disc.
Very high quantities of magic (of the sort that might be produced by a sourcerer (see below), great magical artifacts like the Octavo or a substantial shift in belief (see further below) can knock a hole in reality, leading to an invasion by Lovecraftian monstrosities from the Dungeon Dimensions.
For some reason the number eight is extremely magical on the Disc, and should never be spoken by a wizard.
Wizard magic
Wizard magic is known to be taught at the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, Bugrup University in XXXX and Krull University in the secretive nation of Krull. It is very much a scholarly study, largely (many believe) to prevent anyone outside the universities realising how easy it really is.
In fact, the older wizards tend not to understand how magic actually works at all, instead relying on centuries of lore to achieve their effects. Younger wizards enthusiastically experiment, pushing back the boundaries of knowledge and making new discoveries about the nature of the universe. They don't understand how magic works either, but have much more exciting words to explain why not. These often invoke images of particle physics (the events of TSOD are brought about by an experimental apparatus to split the "thaum", for example).
Really, wizard magic is telling the universe what you want it to be like, in terms it can't ignore. This is very draining, due to the Law of Conservation of Reality (which states it takes the same energy to do something with magic as it would to do it mundanely). This is why most wizards store magic in a staff (with a knob on the end). The most complicated parts of most spells aren't the effects, but the baffles to ensure the wizard survives.
A "Sourcerer", on the other hand, creates his own magic, and can therefore do just about anything with no effort. As the above notes on intristic magic suggest, this is very dangerous, which is why there are no sourcerers any more (see below, although Sourcery records an exception).
In the earlier Discworld novels, wizards (at least the ones of the Unseen University) are described as belonging to one of the eight orders of wizardry, currently named:
- The Ancient and Truly Original Brothers of the Silver Star
- The Brotherhood of the Hoodwink (The Hoodwinkers)
- The Order of Midnight
- The Venerable Council of Seers
- The Ancient and Truly Original Sages of the Unbroken Circle
- The Sages of the Unknown Shadow
- Mrs Widgery's Lodgers
- The Last Order (The Other Order)
Despite their names, these orders are not all that ancient, their original names having been muddled by war and time. This is with the exception of Mrs Widgery's Lodgers, who stem from the early days of UU when the Tower of Art was the only building on campus and some students had lodgings elsewhere in Ankh-Morpork. Since the first few books, however, this system has had no visible impact whatsoever, and seems to have been forgotten.
Wizards are also classified into levels, which once corresponded to actual magical prowess, but now are rather more indicative of political power. The leader of all wizards, according to UU, is the Archchancellor of UU, the first among equals (the equals being the other eight-level wizards. There are a total of eight eight-level wizards, and the number becomes progressively higher as the level decreases. Presumably, as it is far better for those who have the skill to be tutored than to possibly cause horrendous damage to the space-time continuum, there is an unlimited number of first-level wizards. Because of these limitations, it is periodically common to ascend through the ranks by assassinating superiors, but under Archchancellor Ridcully this practice seems to have grown more uncommon, for a time.
Witch magic
Witch magic is taught on a one-to-one basis by older witches to apprentices. Although magical talent tends to run in families, witches do not teach their daughters, feeling that this would cause a sort of magical inbreeding.
Witch magic is subtler than wizard magic, generally encouraging things that happen naturally or working on people's minds so that they impose the effects themselves (in fact, a good witch can do this without magic at all. This is called "headology"). As a result it is less energy intensive, which means that a witch can do more than a technically equally powerful wizard. However 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.
Discworld Voodoo is considered to be an aspect of witch magic, combined with a sort of do-it-yourself religion, relying heavily on the power of belief described below. The most powerful Discworld voodoo-women can deliberately create moderately powerful gods for a specific purpose.
Generally speaking, witches are women and wizards are men. Despite the opinions of wizards and witches on this subject (that systemization comes easier to men and intuition comes easier to women), there appears to be no reason for this beyond cultural bias.
The Power of Belief
This is very common on the Discworld, and is a useful "energy saver" in witch magic (and, to a lesser extent wizard magic). Essentially, if something is believed strongly enough, it is true. As mentioned above, witches often use this. For example, if you wish to turn a cat into a human, the easiest way is to convince him, on a deep level, that he is a human.
More significantly, it is also belief that gives the gods their powers. Discworld gods start off as tiny spirits, and gain power as they gain believers. This does not necessarily mean worshippers; a thousand people cursing you as an evil djinn has the same effect as a thousand people singing psalms in your honour. A similar effect has lead to the "reification" of mythological beings symbolising abstract concepts, such as Death.
Another interesting example of the power of belief is Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson of the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch's sword, which is not magical in any detectable sense, but, as the True Sword of the Kings of Ankh, somehow appears more swordlike than any other sword on the Disc, despite the fact that hardly anyone knows it is the True Sword of the Kings of Ankh. However, in the events described in Men at Arms, they could have had a fair guess, as Carrot uses it to stab the then head of the Assassins' Guild, Dr Cruces, running the sword through him and into the pillar behind him with no apparent effort: a sort of 'Sword in the Stone' in reverse.
The habit of many Discworlders to take metaphor literally has combined with the power of belief to produce some very odd areas, objects and personifications indeed. The Sock Monster (Hogfather) is a case in point, as is The Place Where The Sun Does Not Shine (a deep crevasse in Lancre).
Narrative Magic
A more subtle variation of the power of belief, this reflects the tendency of events on the Disc to follow stories. For instance, a little girl with a scarlet scarf will be troubled by a wolf, and will be saved by a lumberjack. The term wizards use for this is the "Theory of Narrative Causality". This happens all the time, but a magician can use it for his or her own ends. Again, it is more of an energy saver than anything else, and as such is mostly used by witches. Many witches consider it ethically tricky, however, since it is interfering with free will, and it is the source of Granny Weatherwax's hatred of fiction. Narrative magic also has an effect on heroes, allowing them to win only when outnumbered. It has been argued that stories are in fact a life form (see memes).
Fairy godmother magic
This is a tricky one. Its most obvious aspects (using a magically imbued piece of wood to produce showy effects like turning a pumpkin into a coach, or vice versa) are similar to wizard magic. However it is probably another aspect of witchcraft, relying heavily on narrative causality. A fairy godmother is, indeed, usually a witch, who somehow (probably through a bequest) acquires this duty, and the magic wand which goes with it. The wands are pieces of magical machinary that, if used correctly, turns things into other things. It is not known where they originated from; they may have originated from 'raw belief potential', just like the Hogfather and tooth fairies.
The Powers of the Old Ones
The Old Ones exist outside the Discworld, and are essentially all-powerful. Virtually nothing is known about them, except that, in prehistory, they substantially reduced the amount of magic on the Discworld and made humans smaller, owing to the strain the Sourcerers were putting on the fabric of reality in their war on the gods and each other.
The only revealed Old One is called Azrael, and is either Death's superior, or a being of which Death is a part. When he appears, it is as a figure so immense as to make a supernova a mere gleam in his eyes. He also appears to be the keeper of what is logically the opposite of a clock, in that it tells Time what it is, and not the other way around. Azrael's connection with the personification of Time (currently the combination of Lobsang Ludd and his temporal double Jeremy Clockson) is unknown.
They are also the apparent employers of the Auditors of Reality (see Reaper Man, Hogfather and Thief of Time) although they seem to ignore the Auditors' recent tendency to break their own rules. Presumably they have their reasons.