Vulcan mind meld
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
- "Vulcan mind melds: utter foolishness. Anybody with an ounce of sense wouldn’t share his brain with someone else, would you? I certainly wouldn’t."
The Vulcan mind meld is a psionic technique for "synaptic pattern displacement" normally employed only by Vulcans. It is a deeply personal thing, part of the private life, and not normally used on aliens. Melding is not telepathy; those in a meld share consciousness in a kind of gestalt. (DS9: "The Passenger")
Physical contact is required. The initiator places the tips of his fingers at key locations on the head of the other participant. This allows him to place pressure on key nerves and blood vessels to facilitate the link.
The fact that most Vulcans who perform the meld touch the other participant in different manners, reciting varying formulas, implies that it is only ritual behavior, helping to concentrate on the task, leaving mere physical contact being the ultimate prerequisite to initiate the meld. If successful, the link results in a merging of both minds, essentially creating a single consciousness in two bodies.
It is noteworthy that the meld can also be used by its initiator to probe another person's mind, while the melder him/herself shields his/her mind from being read by the other participant, resulting in a rather one-sided psionic contact. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Only the subject in physical contact with the initiator participates in the meld; others in the vicinity are not affected.
A mind meld can even be used to transfer the entire personality or "soul" (known to Vulcans as the katra) of an individual into another body. A special, appropriately prepared receptacle, such as a katric ark can also be used. Though Vulcans (and Trill, through the zhian'tara ritual) do this psionically, a number of people and races have been able to duplicate this feat with technology, such as the people of Sargon's planet, Janice Lester, Dr. Ira Graves, Rao Vantika and Tieran. (TOS: "Return to Tomorrow", "Turnabout Intruder"; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; TNG: "The Schizoid Man"; VOY: "Warlord"; DS9: "The Passenger", "Facets")
Melding carries some risk. It can be physically debilitating for both parties. The pressure changes can potentially aggravate existing conditions. The melding results in some loss of identity, and can be difficult to break, especially when the subject's mind is powerful or dynamic. Aftereffects can be treated with the drug lexorin.
At the conclusion of the meld, each mind retains some knowledge of the other.
It is possible to force a mind meld on an unwilling subject, but most Vulcans are loath to do so, unless under the most dire circumstances. An exception may be the Vulcans of the mirror universe, whose ethical constraints, shaped by the savagery of their environment, are doubtless far different.
During the 22nd century, mind melding was believed to be an ability only a minority of Vulcans are born to. Because of the apparent intimacy of melding, Vulcans during this era considered the practice defiant to the ancestral teachings of their society. As a result, other Vulcans considered those who were natural "melders" to be outcasts.
An improperly trained melder who initiates a mind meld can transmit a Vulcan disease known as Pa'nar Syndrome. If left untreated, the disease is fatal. Vulcan medicine of the mid-22nd century believed that there was no cure; however, the disease was known in Surak's time, as was its cure: a corrective meld performed by an experienced melder. It is likely that the ignorance of this cure was due to the widespread prejudice against melders, a prejudice that was not shared by the Syrrannite group. (ENT: "Fusion", "Stigma", "Kir'Shara")
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[edit] Notable uses
In 2151, the v'tosh ka'tur Tolaris initiated a mind-meld with Subcommander T'Pol. Since Tolaris had not been properly trained in the use of his mental abilities, this meld caused T'Pol to contract Pa'nar Syndrome. (ENT: "Fusion", "Stigma")
In 2154, Vulcan Ambassador Soval, defying the taboo of his day, melded with a comatose Corporal Askwith to learn who bombed the United Earth Embassy on Vulcan. For this offense, Administrator V'Las relieved Soval of his post. (ENT: "The Forge")
Shortly afterwards, T'Pol's Pa'nar Syndrome was cured by the Syrrannite T'Pau. (ENT: "Kir'Shara")
In November 2154, T'Pol initiated her first mind meld on the starship Enterprise. In an attempt to ultimately discover the location of Doctor Phlox, T'Pol melded with Ensign Hoshi Sato. (ENT: "Affliction")
In 2266, on stardate 2715, Spock melded with Simon Van Gelder, then suffering from generalized synaptic damage, to learn whether Van Gelder's allegations about Tristan Adams were true, or delusions. Spock warned Van Gelder that the pressure changes could be dangerous. (TOS: "Dagger of the Mind")
In 2267, on stardate 3192, Spock used what might have been a variation on a mind meld to convince a guard on Eminiar VII to open the door to the room where the landing party was imprisoned, facilitating their escape. (TOS: "A Taste of Armageddon")
In that same year, Spock melded with Nomad to learn its origin. (TOS: "The Changeling")
On stardate 3196, Spock not only melded with a silicon-based lifeform, the mother Horta, but managed to do so without even touching it at first. (TOS: "The Devil in the Dark")
Also in 2267, McCoy became the victim of an unwilling mind meld, when the mirror universe Spock forced information from him about the nature of the transporter accident that brought four USS Enterprise officers to the mirror universe. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
In 2268, Spock melded with Kirk, who was suffering from retrograde amnesia, consequential to the misuse of a Preserver artifact. Although Spock had some difficulty emerging from this meld, he was able to successfully restore Kirk's memory. (TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome")
Later in 2268, Spock was driven mad by the sight of Ambassador Kollos. Miranda Jones, a Human telepath trained on Vulcan, used a meld to restore his sanity, by making him forget what he'd seen. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
On stardate 4385.3, Spock melded with Kirk, McCoy and Scott to ensure they believed the bullets fired at them from Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (at the OK Corral) were unreal and, therefore, unable to harm them. (TOS: "Spectre of the Gun")
Further in 2268, Spock utilized a mind meld to verify the claim that Kirk's consciousness was trapped in the body of Janice Lester. (TOS: "Turnabout Intruder")
In 2269, Spock melded with a sleeping Kirk, whispering a single word, "Forget", to help Kirk forget his love for the female android Rayna Kapec. (TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah")
In 2272, when the Enterprise was inside V'Ger, Commander Spock entered a section of V'Ger where it stored 3-D images of objects that it encountered through its travels. He entered this area via thruster suit and subsequently encountered a large representation of Lt. Ilia with a pulsing sensor on her neck. Believing it to have some special meaning, he used a mind meld on it. Spock was overwhelmed by the information from the mind meld, and was flung back unconscious towards the Enterprise. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
In 2285, Spock used a mind meld to transfer his katra to McCoy before sacrificing himself to restore warp power during the Battle of the Mutara Nebula. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) Upon the Enterprise's return to Earth, Sarek mind-melded with Kirk to discover the fate of Spock's katra. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
After time-traveling to 1986, Spock mind melded with the humpback whales George and Gracie to inform them of the crew's plan to bring the whales back with them to the year 2286 to answer a mysterious probe that threatened Earth. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
In 2293, Spock used a mind meld to force from Lieutenant Valeris information about the Khitomer Conspiracy. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
In 2366 Sarek entered into a mind meld with Captain Jean-Luc Picard in order to assuage his nascent Bendii Syndrome, at the behest of Dr. Beverly Crusher. (TNG: "Sarek")
In 2368, Spock entered into a mind meld with Captain Jean-Luc Picard to touch the thoughts that Sarek had left before he died. (TNG: "Unification II")
In 2370, Sakonna, a Vulcan member of the Maquis, attempted a mind meld on Gul Dukat in an attempt to learn the location of illegal Cardassian weapons in the Demilitarized Zone. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part II")
In 2371, Tuvok melded with crewmate Lieutenant Tom Paris after Paris was accused of the murder of Banean scientist Doctor Tolen Ren. The meld later allowed him to prove that Paris had been framed in an elaborate plot to provide the Banean's enemies, the Numiri with criticial information. (VOY: "Ex Post Facto")
In 2372, Tuvok melded with the sociopath Betazoid Lon Suder in an attempt to gain a better understanding of Suder's violent impulses. While the meld provided Suder with a measure of emotional control, it also temporarily released Tuvok's more violent and primal urges. (VOY: "Meld")
In 2374, Tuvok melded with an alien named Guill in an investigation to prove B'Elanna Torres' innocence. Guill was in a society where violent thoughts were illegal. Guill was a collector and trader of such thoughts. Tuvok locked in with the meld under the guise that images would be shown, but he also grabbed and choked Guill in the meld to get him to submit. (VOY: "Random Thoughts")
In 2375, Tuvok melded with Seven of Nine and, indirectly, with a Borg Vinculum, to free Seven of Nine from multiple personality disorder induced by the Vinculum. (VOY: "Infinite Regress")
In 2376, Tuvok performed an extended technique of the mind meld, the "Bridging of Minds", on Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine, forming a bond between the two individuals, who were otherwise unable to telepathically link. (VOY: "Unimatrix Zero")
Although not a mind meld as such, in 2379 the Reman Viceroy enabled Praetor Shinzon to telepathically "rape" counselor Deanna Troi. (Star Trek Nemesis)
- This suggests that, although Romulans may not possess psionic abilities, Remans do.
[edit] Appendices
[edit] Apocrypha
In the William Shatner novel The Return, Spock performed a meld with Picard and Kirk in an attempt to free Kirk from the brainwashing program that had been implanted in him by the Borg/Romulan Alliance; at the time, Spock said that such a thing had never been done, but it is possible that the Bridging wasn't well-known among Vulcans.
[edit] External link
- Vulcan mind meld at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
