Mildred Hubble one of many Students at Cackle's Academy
A witch is a female human born with the ability to use magic. Witches are the female counterparts to wizards. Magical ability is an inherited trait that can be passed from parent to child, generally though the maternal line, though some witches come from non-magical families.
Witches can perform magic by reciting an incantation and making the appropriate hand gestures. Witches traditionally fly on broomsticks, and keep a black cat as a pet, though some witches have owls instead.
Chanting is also traditionally a witch's activity. The Witches Code is a set of rules that every witch must adhere to at all occasions.
Wizards and witches maintain a society entirely separate from non magical society, with their own culture and traditions. Non magical people are generally unaware that witches and wizards exist, and witches and wizards prefer to remain hidden. Witches have their own schools; there are thirty schools for sorcery, magic and witchcraft scattered throughout Britain, mostly in isolated places. These schools include Cackle's Academy and Pentangle's Academy for witches. There are also magical universities, Weirdsister College and Primrose Hill College.
Many aspects of non-magical society are evident in the magical one, though wizards and witches tend not to use modern electronics and technology; they use magic instead. Witches have different fashions, too; witches wear robes or long dresses and younger witches tend to dress in more 'normal' clothing, like what non magical people of the same age wear.
Social Customs and Traditions[]
In 'Better Dead than Co-ed' Miss Cackle says you should always greet wizards on foot. "We witches sometimes have a clear advantage. Wizards aren't so good at flying."
In the 2017 series, witches greet each other by putting their hand to their forehead, bowing, and say "Well met". Also in the 2017 series, the first born of a generation inherits everything from their parents. A fact often found unfair by younger siblings. Also, the firstborns tend to get more attention and are considered 'better'. Whether this is from the expectation that they are better or the blind belief that they are, younger siblings are often overlooked or ignored.
Family Names[]
Miss Cackle's ancestor, Cristobelle Cackle, and Maud's grandmother, Mona Spellbody, share the same last name as their descendants (Ada, Agatha and Maud), implying that witches are matrilineal- they pass down the female name, not the male. Otherwise, Maud's grandmother wouldn't be a Spellbody as a school girl, as she would have taken her husband's name when she got married, regardless of whether she is Gordon or Mavis' mother.
The same may be true of the Hallow Family, as Ethel's female ancestors are referred to as Hallows also. However, Ada and Agatha's mother, Alma, is a Mrs, although that may simply indicate that she is married and that her husband took her name instead.