Magic was an art which proposed to make use of the supernatural to control or overcome natural events. Some races, such as the Megans or the Q appeared to use magic. Some religious groups also claimed to use magic, such as witches. (TAS: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu")
One who made use of magic was known as a magician. Other terms for a magician were sorcerer and wizard. (TOS: "The Deadly Years")
In the 20th century, Clarke's Third Law stated that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." This would later be revised, to reference the indistinguishability of advanced extraterrestrial life from God. (DIS: "New Eden")
According to Travis Mayweather, his father could do magical things with nutri-paks. (ENT: "Fortunate Son")
As a child, Gary Mitchell was interested in magic tricks, which along with his skill at guessing games, foretold his extrasensory abilities. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before")
In 2364, when the USS Enterprise-D was unexpectedly thrust millions of light years into a realm where thoughts became reality, Kosinski described this explanation of the phenomenon as akin to being asked to believe in magic. Captain Jean-Luc Picard felt the explanation made sense, however, as only the power of thought could explain the strange events that were manifesting aboard the vessel, such as his own apparent meeting with his maman, Yvette Picard. (TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before")
In 2367, the impostor styling herself as Ardra used a number of tricks that some described as magic. When she used one of these to appear as a Starfleet ensign, Commander William T. Riker told her that he wasn't impressed by her magic tricks, but she replied that she pitied him, for "We live in a universe of magic, which evidently you cannot see." Later, when Captain Jean-Luc Picard revealed the truth about her magic, Picard stated "Ardra controls her magic literally by the blink of an eye, centuries old technology – an implant that allows her eye movements to choose and activate each illusion." (TNG: "Devil's Due")
In 2376, when the Fair Haven holoprogram (Paris 042) began malfunctioning such that the characters began noticing the USS Voyager crew's interactions with the program, a number of the characters in the program began to blame these occurrences on "unholy magic." (VOY: "Spirit Folk")
Magic in the universe of Megas-Tu[]
In the alternate universe where Megas-Tu was located, magic was the natural law, where belief was as potent a force as energy and matter was in the prime universe. The Megans used magic in their daily lives.
When the USS Enterprise was accidentally transported to this universe through the creation point in the galactic core, they found that they could use magic abilities that did not exist in the "normal" universe. Spock explored these new abilities by drawing a pentacle on the floor, and while standing in it, used the power of his belief to move a Vulcan chess piece. Hikaru Sulu used magic to conjure up a beautiful woman before Lucien warned him that using mental powers would attract unwanted attention. (TAS: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu")
These abilities are reminiscent of psychoprojective telepathy and telekinesis.
Related topics[]
- Alchemy
- Black magic
- Conjuring
- Love philtre
- Magician
- Magic carpet
- Magic wand
- Mysticism
- Paranormal ability
- Rhadamanthus
- Sorcerer-contractor
- Sympathetic magic
- Warlock
- Witch
- Witchcraft
- Wizard