It is always good to know who or what you want to be when you grow up. I have a goal in mind. I want to be

Granny Weatherwax.

 

 Granny is a witch from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. She is in her 70s in most of the books. I love older female protagonists in books. When people refer to her coven structure they refer to the traditional set up of Maiden, Mother, and The Other One because no one is going to call her a crone to her face.

She is such a powerful witch that she rarely has to do any magic at all. All she has to do is give people a Look and they do what she wants. Because of this, some people accuse her of not having any powers at all. They don’t continue that nonsense for long. She believes in “headology” as much as magic.

She has some amazing abilities. She can Borrow. That involves letting your spirit go into the minds of passing animals to see what they see. When she does this she leaves her body in bed with a sign that says, “I ate’nt dead” so there is no confusion. She can also talk to bees.  She plays a mean hand of cards too if she has to.  

Granny Weatherwax appeared for the last time in The Shepherd’s Crown.  Terry Pratchett was dying of Alzheimer’s Disease when he wrote that book.  He wrote about her death as a way to talk to his loyal readers about his death.  She dies peacefully (because DEATH doesn’t sneak up on witches) but it was gut wrenching to read.  There is a point after she is buried where all the animals that she had Borrowed over the years come out of the woods to look at her grave.  I sobbed through the whole thing.  In typical Terry Pratchett manner he put all this at the very beginning of the book to make people move past it and get on with the story.  Granny is life goals and death goals.  

If you’ve never read the books, you really should.  They are both hysterically funny and deeply profound – sometimes in the same sentence.  To hear about Granny, start with Wyrd Sisters.Â