The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
deep magic
n.
[poss. from C. S. Lewis's Narnia books] An awesomely arcane technique
central to a program or system, esp. one neither generally published nor
available to hackers at large (compare black art); one that could only
have been composed by a true wizard. Compiler optimization techniques and
many aspects of OS design used to be deep magic; many techniques in
cryptography, signal processing, graphics, and AI still are. Compare heavy
wizardry. Esp.: found in comments of the form ?Deep magic begins here...?.
Compare voodoo programming.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
deep magic
[possibly from C. S. Lewis's "Narnia" books] An awesomely
arcane technique central to a program or system, especially
one neither generally published nor available to hackers at
large (compare black art); one that could only have been
composed by a true wizard. Compiler optimisation techniques
and many aspects of OS design used to be deep magic; many
techniques in cryptography, signal processing, graphics, and
AI still are. Compare heavy wizardry. Especially found in
comments of the form "Deep magic begins here.". Compare
voodoo programming.