Magic and Witchcraft in Star Wars, Explained (2024)

Star Wars has never been hard science fiction. Ever since Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker about the Force (the energy field created by all living things) in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, the saga has been firmly rooted in space fantasy. Several explanations of the Force have been offered up throughout Star Wars' history, but much mystery remains around this supernatural power that is most often seen being used by the Jedi and the Sith. However, other kinds of Force-wielders have been seen manipulating the Force in ways completely alien to Star Wars' traditional heroes and villains. Most recently, the Disney+ series The Acolyte introduced a coven of witches who used the dark side to perform their magic.

Witches are nothing new to Star Wars canon, either. The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars introduced the Nightsisters of Dathomir, another coven of witches who drew upon the dark side. The Nightsisters' connection to the dark side of the Force was distinct from that of the witches seen on The Acolyte, though both cultures used the Force in unfamiliar, mystical ways that provided a stark contrast to the telekinetic and telepathic abilities of the Jedi and the Sith. In Star Wars' vast galaxy of adventures, these instances of magic and sorcery serve as a reminder that the Force is a power beyond understanding.

The Nightsisters' Magic Comes From Dathomir

The Nightsisters were the matriarchs of the planet Dathomir, a world that shot to Star Wars infamy when The Clone Wars revealed it was the true home of the Sith Lord, Darth Maul. While Maul's reputation among Star Wars fans is legendary, Dathomir soon became most strongly associated with the witches who ruled over it. First appearing in the third season of The Clone Wars, in the episode "Nightsisters," the titular witches were introduced as the kin of Asajj Ventress, the Sith assassin trained by Count Dooku. The Nightsisters were led by powerful Mother Talzin, and they ruled over the male warrior population of Dathomir, the Nightbrothers. It is from those ranks that Darth Maul and his brother, Savage Opress, were chosen for their dark destinies.

The Nightsisters' power was said to flow from Dathomir itself. By connecting to the misty, emerald, magical ichor that emanated from below Dathomir's surface, the Nightsisters were able to harness a power they called magic. Though the exact workings of the Nightsisters' manipulations of the Force through magic were not known, their abilities appeared to come from the specific manner in which Dathomir was connected to the Force, through the ichor. Mother Talzin once claimed she was "not a natural Force wielder like the Jedi or Sith," suggesting use of magic had more to do with taught techniques than inherent connection to the Force.

Magic enabled the Nightsisters to accomplish a wide array of feats not typically seen through the standard Force use of the Jedi and Sith. The green ichor of Dathomir could be used to manifest physical objects from thin air, or to effect physical or psychological changes in individuals. It was through magic rituals that the Nightsisters turned Savage Opress from a lean young warrior into a hulking killing machine, as well as restoring Darth Maul's sanity and health while granting him new bionic legs. Nightsisters have also been seen resurrecting the dead, summoning an army of their zombified fallen kin to aid them in their battle against General Grievous in The Clone Wars. In Star Wars Rebels, they were shown possessing the bodies of the Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus and the Mandalorian Sabine Wren.

While they were led by Mother Talzin, the most powerful of the Nightsisters was Old Daka, the elder who was responsible for resurrecting dead Nightsisters in the battle against General Grievous' Separatist forces. The Separatists' attack on Dathomir saw the Nightsisters all but wiped out, broadly bringing to an end their practice of magic. The video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order featured the last surviving Nightsister on Dathomir, Merrin, who was initially under the influence of the fallen Jedi, Taron Malicos. After learning of Malicos' treachery against the Nightsisters, Merrin turned on him and instead joined the Jedi survivor Cal Kestis in his fight against the Empire.

The Witches of Brendok Practice a Different Form of Force Sorcery

By the time of The Acolyte's release, Star Wars fans were familiar with the Nightsisters and concepts such as different Force traditions and witches in the galaxy far, far away. However, the witch coven of Brendok was a little different from anything fans had seen before, building on the most mystical elements of Star Wars mythology. The witches of Brendok were responsible for the creation of The Acolyte's two leading characters, Mae and Osha. These two girls were thought to be twin sisters, but were later revealed to be one person, split into two. The revelation greatly disturbed the Jedi Master Sol, who had taken on Osha as his Padawan learner. The witches of Brendok were led by Aniseya, who had created Mae and Osha through the Force, in the womb of Koril. Mae and Osha regarded both Aniseya and Koril as their mothers.

The ability to create life through the Force has not been seen on screen before in Star Wars, but it has been mentioned. In Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Chancellor Palpatine told Anakin Skywalker "the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise," in which he recounted his own Sith master's ability to manipulate the midi-chlorians into producing life. The fact that this power is so closely associated with Darth Plagueis, and that the Brendok witches claimed the Jedi would consider their magic "dark" suggests that they were tapping into the dark side of the Force to perform these feats. Like the Nightsisters' Daka, the witches of Brendok also had a wise elder in their midst, Naasa, to whom they turned for guidance in their hour of need.

Their powers did not seem to stem from a connection to their particular planet like the Nightsisters, but they did learn their abilities through their own understanding of the Force. The Brendok witches referred to the Force as the Thread and mimicked many Jedi powers, such as their telekinetic abilities and mind control. However, the witches' power grew when they wielded it together, leading them to preach the superiority of "the power of two" and "the power of many." When many members of the coven worked together, they were even able to bring the Wookiee Jedi Kelnacca completely under their control, turning him against his fellow Jedi. However, when the connection was broken by Master Indara, all the witches manipulating Kelnacca were killed.

Other Force Traditions in Star Wars

While the Force has primarily been understood through the lens of the Jedi and the Sith in Star Wars, the franchise's different forms of magic and witchcraft serve as reminders that the Force is too great a mystery to be understood through the Jedi perspective alone. Nightsister magic and the Brendok coven's witchcraft are each different manifestations of the Force. These aren't the only alternative views on the Force that have featured in Star Wars media in recent years, either. The door to Force traditions outside those taught by the Jedi and the Sith was initially opened when The Clone Wars introduced the Mortis Gods in Season 3. These three all-powerful beings were Force wielders, embodying the light, the dark side and balance, though they specified they were not Jedi or Sith Lords.

The Zeffo is an ancient civilization introduced in Fallen Order that were shown to have grown in power and knowledge through their own unique understanding of the Force. They referred to the Force as the Life Wind, and it was wielded by their leaders, the Zeffo Sages. Though little is known of the Zeffo's beliefs about the Force, owing to their species' extinction, it appeared likely they did not grasp the true nature of the light and dark side, with their ignorance allowing them to fall prey to the temptations of the dark side. The final Zeffo Sage, Kujet, established a temple for himself and his cult-like followers on Dathomir, where he would sacrifice any who dared oppose him. Ahsoka similarly featured the ancient extragalactic home of the Nightsisters, Peridea. This implied that the Nightsisters may have been formed and sent to Dathomir by Kujet.

The animated series Star Wars Rebels introduced a range of new dimensions to the Force. Season 3 introduced the Bendu, a mysterious creature who claimed to be "the one in the middle," between dark and light. Rebels also introduced the planet of Lothal, which is home to the mythical and Force-sensitive Loth-wolves that boasted a special connection to their planet, akin to the Nightsisters' connection to Dathomir. Lothal was home to a Jedi Temple as well, within which lay the doorway to the mysterious and timeless Force realm known as the World Between Worlds. Even beyond these mystic depictions of the Force and Force wielders, Rebels touched upon the different ways the Force was understood by those who could not use it. Season 2's "Legends of the Lasat" revealed that the Lasat believed in a "spirit of the galaxy," which they called the Ashla -- an ancient Jedi term for the light side from Star Wars Legends.

The Acolyte, Season 1 is now available to stream on Disney+.

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  The Acolyte

  TV-14

  Action

  Adventure

  Drama

  Sci-Fi

  A Star Wars series that takes viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.

  Release Date

  June 4, 2024

  Cast

  Amandla Stenberg , Dafne Keen , Jodie Turner-Smith , Lee Jung-jae , Rebecca Henderson , Charlie Barnett

  Main Genre

  Sci-Fi

  Seasons

  1

  Creator

  Leslye Headland

• 

  Star Wars: The Clone Wars

  TV-PG

  Animation

  Sci-Fi

  Action

  Adventure

  Jedi Knights lead the Grand Army of the Republic against the droid army of the Separatists.

  Release Date

  October 3, 2008

  Cast

  Tom Kane , Dee Bradley Baker , Matt Lanter , james arnold taylor , Ashley Eckstein , Matthew Wood

  Main Genre

  Animation

  Seasons

  7

  Creator

  George Lucas

• 

  Star Wars Rebels

  TV-Y7-FV

  Animation

  Action-Adventure

  Science Fiction

  A brave and clever ragtag starship crew stands up against the evil Empire as it tightens its grip on the galaxy and hunts down the last of the Jedi Knights.

  Release Date

  October 3, 2014

  Cast

  Dave Filoni , Freddie Prinze Jr. , Dee Bradley Baker , Steve Blum , Clancy Brown , Jason Isaacs , Ashley Eckstein , Lars Mikkelsen

  Main Genre

  Science Fiction

  Seasons

  4

  Creator

  Dave Filoni