Dictionary:
nec·ro·man·cy (nĕk'rə-măn'sē)  |
[Alteration of Middle English nigromancie, from Old French nigremancie, from Medieval Latin nigromantia, alteration (influenced by Latin niger, black) of Late Latin necromantia, from Greek nekromanteia : nekros, corpse + manteia, divination; see -mancy.]
necromancer nec'ro·man'cer n.| Wordsmith Words: necromancy |
(NEK-ruh-man-see)
noun
1. Divination by trying to communicate with the spirits of the dead.
2. Magic; sorcery; witchcraft.
Etymology
From Greek nekros (corpse) + -mancy (divination). Ultimately from Indo-European root nek- (death) that's also the source of nuisance, obnoxious, pernicious, innocent, innocuous, nectar, and nectarine
Before the word arrived in its current form, it was known as nigromantia in medieval Latin, from confusion of Greek nekro with Latin niger (black). Now you know why magic and sorcery are also known as the "black arts".
| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: Necromancy |
Divination by means of the spirits of the dead, from the Greek nekrosh (dead), and manteia (divination). It is through its Italian form nigromancia that it came to be known as the "black art." With the Greeks it originally signified the descent into Hades in order to consult the dead rather than summoning the dead into the mortal sphere again.
The art is of almost universal usage. Considerable difference of opinion exists among modern adepts as to the exact methods to be properly pursued in the necromantic art, and it must be borne in mind that necromancy, which in the Middle Ages was included in the practice of sorcery (malevolent magic, usually traditionally accomplished through the assistance of a demonic spirit), shades into modern spirit contact in Spiritualism. Necromancy has long been regarded as the touchstone of occultism, for if, after careful preparation, the adept can successfully raise a soul from the other world, he has proved the success of his art. The occult sages of the past have left full details as to how the process should be attempted.
In the case of a compact existing between the sorcerer and the devil, of course, no ceremony is necessary, as the familiar is ever at hand to do the bidding of his masters. This, however, is never the case with the true sorcerer, who preserves his independence and trusts to his profound knowledge of the art and his powers of command. His object therefore is to "constrain" some spirit to appear before him, and to guard himself from the danger of provoking such beings.
The magician normally has an assistant, and every article and procedure must conform to rules well known in the black art. In the first place, the magician and his assistant must locate a suitable venue for their procedures, which may be either a subterranean vault, hung with black and lighted by a magical torch, or else the center of some thick wood or desert, or some extensive unfrequented plain where several roads meet, or amid the ruins of ancient castles, abbeys, and monasteries, or among the rocks on the seashore, or some private detached churchyard, or any other solemn, melancholy place between the hours of twelve and one at night, either when the moon shines bright, or else when the elements are disturbed with storms of thunder, lightning, wind, and rain, for in these places, times, and seasons, it is contended that spirits can manifest themselves to mortal eyes with less difficulty and continue to be visible with the least pain in this elemental external world.
When the proper time and place is fixed on, a magic circle is to be formed, within which the master and his associate are carefully to retire. The dimensions of the circle are as follows: a piece of ground is usually chosen, nine feet square, at the full extent of which parallel lines are drawn one within the other, having sundry crosses and triangles described between them, close to which is formed the first or outer circle, then, about half-a-foot within the same, a second circle is described, and within that another square correspondent to the first, the center of which is where the master and associate are to be placed.
According to one authority: "The vacancies formed by the various lines and angles of the figure are filled up with the holy names of God, having crosses and triangles described between them. The reason assigned by magicians and others for the institution and use of circles, is, that so much ground being blessed and consecrated by such holy words and ceremonies as they make use of in forming it, hath a secret force to expel all evil spirits from the bounds thereof, and, being sprinkled with pure sanctified water, the ground is purified from all uncleanness; besides, the holy names of God being written over every part of it, its force becomes so powerful that no evil spirit hath ability to break through it, or to get at the magician or his companion, by reason of the antipathy in nature they bear to these sacred names. And the reason given for the triangles is, that if the spirit be not easily brought to speak the truth, they may by the exorcist be conjured to enter the same, where, by virtue of the names of the essence and divinity of God, they can speak nothing but what is true and right. The circle, therefore, according to this account of it, is the principal fort and shield of the magician, from which he is not, at the peril of his life, to depart, till he has completely dismissed the spirit, particularly if he be of a fiery or infernal nature. Instances are recorded of many who perished by this means; particularly 'Chiancungi,' the famous Egyptian fortune-teller, who was so famous in England in the 17th century. He undertook for a wager, to raise up the spirit 'Bokim,' and having described the circle, he seated his sister Napula by him as his associate. After frequently repeating the forms of exorcism, and calling upon the spirit to appear, and nothing as yet answering his demand, they grew impatient of the business, and quitted the circle, but it cost them their lives; for they were instantaneously seized and crushed to death by that infernal spirit, who happened not to be sufficiently constrained till that moment, to manifest himself to human eyes."
The magic circle is consecrated by special rituals. The proper attire, or "pontificalibus," of a magician is an ephod made of fine white linen, over that a priestly robe of black bombazine reaching to the ground, with the two seals of the Earth drawn correctly upon virgin parchment, and affixed to the breast of his outer vestment. Around his waist is tied a broad consecrated girdle, with the names "Ya, Ya,—Aie, Aaie,—Elibra,— Elchim,—Sadai,—Pah Adonai,—tuo robore,—Cinctus sum." Upon the magician's shoes must be written "Tetragrammaton," with crosses around it; upon his head a high-crowned cap of sable silk, and in his hand a Holy Bible, printed or written in pure Hebrew.
Thus attired, and standing within the charmed circle, the magician repeats the awful form of exorcism, and presently the infernal spirits make strange and frightful noises, howlings, tremblings, flashes, and most dreadful shrieks and yells before they become visible. Their first appearance is generally in the form of fierce and terrible lions or tigers, vomiting forth fire, and roaring hideously about the circle, during which time the exorcist must not suffer any tremor of dismay, for, in the event the spirits gain the ascendancy, the consequences may endanger his life. On the contrary, he must summon up firm resolution and continue repeating all the forms of constriction and confinement until the spirits are drawn nearer to the influence of the triangle, when their forms will change to appearances less ferocious and frightful, and become more submissive and tractable.
When the forms of conjuration have in this manner been sufficiently repeated, the spirits forsake their bestial shapes and enter into human form, appearing like naked men of gentle countenance and behavior, yet the magician must remain warily on his guard so that they do not deceive him by such mild gestures, for they are exceedingly fraudulent and deceitful in their dealings with those who constrain them to appear without compact, having nothing in view but to accomplish his destruction.
The spirit must be discharged with great care after the ceremony is finished and he has answered all the demands made upon him. The magician must wait patiently until he has passed through all the terrible forms that announced his coming, and only when the last shriek has died away and every trace of fire and brimstone has disappeared may he leave the circle and depart home safety.
If the ghost of a deceased person is to be raised, the grave must be resorted to at midnight, and a different form of conjuration is necessary. Still another is the infernal sacrament for "any corpse that hath hanged, drowned, or otherwise made away with itself," and in this will at last arise, and standing upright, answer with a faint and hollow voice the questions that are put to it.
Lévi's Instructions
The occultist Éliphas Lévi stated in his book Transcendental Magic (1896) that "evocations should always have a motive and a becoming end, otherwise they are works of darkness and folly, dangerous of health and reason." The permissible motive of an evocation may be either love or intelligence. Evocations of love require less apparatus and are in every respect easier.
Lévi describes the procedure as follows: "We must collect in the first place, carefully the memorials of him (or her) whom we desire to behold, the articles he used, and on which his impression remains; we must also prepare an apartment in which the person lived, or otherwise one of a similar kind, and place his portrait veiled in white therein, surrounded with his favourite flowers, which must be renewed daily. A fixed date must then be chosen, being that of the person's birth or one was that especially fortunate for his and our own affection, one of which we may believe that his soul, however blessed elsewhere, cannot lose the remembrance. This must be the day of the evocation, and we must prepare for it during the space of two weeks.
"Throughout the period we must refrain from extending to anyone the same proofs of affection which we have the right to expect from the dead; we must observe strict chastity, live in retreat, and take only one modest and light collation daily. Every evening at the same hour we must shut ourselves in the chamber consecrated to the memory of the lamented person, using only one small light, such as that of a funeral lamp or taper. This light should be placed behind us, the portrait should be uncovered and we should remain before it for an hour, in silence; finally, we should fumigate the apartment with a little good incense, and go out backwards.
"On the morning of the day fixed for the evocation, we should adorn ourselves as if for a festival, not salute anyone first, make but a single repast of bread, wine, and roots, or fruits. The cloth should be white, two covers should be laid, and one portion of the broken bread should be set aside; a little wine should also be placed in the glass of the person we design to invoke. The meal must be eaten alone in the chamber of evocations, and in presence of the veiled portrait; it must be all cleared away at the end, except the glass belonging to the dead person, and his portion of bread, which must be placed before the portrait. In the evening, at the hour for the regular visit, we must repair in silence to the chamber, light a clear fire of cypress-wood, and cast incense seven times thereon, pronouncing the name of the person whom we desire to behold. The lamp must then be extinguished, and the fire permitted to die out.
"On this day the portrait must not be unveiled. When the flame dies down, put more incense on the ashes, and invoke God according to the forms of the religion to which the dead person belonged, and according to the ideas which he himself possessed of God.
"While making this prayer we must identify ourselves with the evoked person, speak as he spoke, believe in sense as he believed. Then, after a silence of fifteen minutes, we must speak to him as if he were present, with affection and with faith, praying him to appear before us. Renew this prayer mentally, covering the face with both hands; then call him thrice with a loud voice; remain kneeling, the eyes closed or covered, for some minutes; then call again thrice upon him in a sweet and affectionate tone, and slowly open the eyes. Should nothing result, the same experiment must be renewed in the following year, and if necessary a third time, when it is certain that the desired apparition will be obtained, and the longer it has been delayed the more realistic and striking it will be.
"Evocations of knowledge and intelligence are performed with more solemn ceremonies. If concerned with a celebrated personage, we must meditate for twenty-one days upon his life and writings, form an idea of his appearance, converse with him mentally, and imagine his answers. We must carry his portrait, or at least his name, about us; follow a vegetable diet for twenty-one days, and a severe fast during the last seven.
"We must next construct the magical oratory … [This oratory must be invariably darkened]. If, however, the proposed operation is to take place during the daytime, we may leave a narrow aperture on the side where the sun will shine at the hour of the evocation, place a triangular prism facing the opening, and a crystal globe, filled with water, before the prism. If the experiment has been arranged for the night, the magic lamp must be so situated that its single ray shall upon the altar smoke. The purpose of the preparations is to furnish the Magic Agent with elements of corporeal appearance, and to ease as much as possible the tension of imagination, which could not be exalted without danger into the absolute illusion of dream. For the rest, it will be easily understood that a beam of sunlight, or the ray of a lamp, coloured variously, and falling upon curling and irregular smoke, can in no way create a perfect image. The chafing-dish containing the sacred fire should be in the centre of the oratory, and the altar of perfumes hard by. The operator must turn towards the East to pray, and the West to invoke; he must be either alone or assisted by two persons preserving the strictest silence; he must wear the magical vestments, which we have described in the seventh chapter, and must be crowned with vervain and gold. He should bathe before the operation, and all his under garments must be of the most intact and scrupulous cleanliness.
"The ceremony should begin with a prayer suited to the genius of the spirit about to be invoked and one which would be approved by himself if he still lived. For example, it would be impossible to evoke Voltaire by reciting prayers in the style of St. Bridget. For the great men of antiquity, we may see the hymns of Cleanthes or Orpheus, with the adjuration terminating the Golden Verses of Pythagoras. In our own evocation of Apollonius, we used the Magical Philosophy of Patricius for the Ritual, containing the doctrines of Zoroaster and the writings of Hermes Trismegistus. We recited the Nuctemeron of Apollonius in Greek with a loud voice and added the following conjuration: 'Vouchsafe to be present, O Father of All, and thou Thrice Mighty Hermes, Conductor of the Dead. Asclepius son of Hephaistus, Patron of the Healing Art; and thou Osiris, Lord of strength and vigour, do thou thyself be present too. Arnebascenis, Patron of Philosophy, and yet again Asclepius, son of Imuthe, who presidest over poetry. Apollonius, Apollonius, Apollonius, Thou teachest the Magic of Zoroaster, son of Oromasdes; and this is the worship of the Gods.' "For the evocation of spirits belonging to religions issued from Judaism, the following Kabalistic invocation of Solomon should be used, either in Hebrew, or in any other tongue with which the spirit in question is known to have been familiar: 'Powers of the Kingdom, be ye under my left foot and in my right hand! Glory and Eternity, take me by the two shoulders, and direct me in the paths of victory! Mercy and Justice, be ye the equilibrium and splendour of my life! Intelligence and Wisdom, crown me! Spirits of Malchuth, lead me betwixt the two pillars upon which rests the whole edifice of the temple! Angels of Netsah and Hod, strengthen me upon the cubic stone of Jesod! O Gedulael! O Geburael! O Tiphereth! Binael, be thou my love! Ruach Hochmael, be thou my light! Be that which thou art and thou shalt be, O Ketheriel! Tschim, assist me in the name of Saddai! Cherubim, be my strength in the name of Adonai! Beni-Elohim, be my brethren in the name of the Son, and by the power of Zebaoth! Eloim, do battle for me in the name of Tetragrammation! Melachim, protect me in the name of Jod He Vau He! Seraphim, cleanse my love in the name of Eloi and Schechinah! Aralim, act! Ophanim, revolve and shine! Hajoth a Kadosh, cry, speak, roar, bellow! Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Saddai, Adonai, Jotchavah, Eieazereie: Hallelu-Jah, Hallelu-jah, Hallelu-jah. Amen.' "It should be remembered above all, in conjurations, that the names of Satan, Beelzebub, Adramelek, and others do not designate spiritual unities, but legions of impure spirits. 'Our name is legion, for we are many,' says the spirit of darkness in the Gospel. Number constitutes the law, and progress takes place inversely in hell as the domain of anarchy. That is to say, the most advanced in Satanic development, and consequently the most degraded, are the least intelligent and feeblest.
"Thus, a fatal law drives demons downward when they wish and believe themselves to be ascending. So also those who term themselves chiefs are the most impotent and despised of all. As to the horde of perverse spirits, they tremble before an unknown, invisible, incomprehensible, capricious, implacable chief, who never explains his laws, whose arm is ever stretched out to strike those who fail to understand him. They give this phantom the names of Baal, Jupiter, and even others more venerable, which cannot, without profanation, be pronounced in hell. But this Phantom is only the shadow and remnant of God disfigured by their wilful perversity, and persisting in imagination like a visitation of justice and a remorse of truth.
"When the evoked spirit of light manifests with dejected or irritated countenance, we must offer him a moral sacrifice, that is, be inwardly disposed to renounce whatever offends him; and before leaving the oratory, we must dismiss him, saying: 'May peace be with thee! I have not wished to trouble thee; do thou torment me not. I shall labour to improve myself as to anything that vexes thee. I pray, and will still pray, with thee and for thee. Pray thou also both with and for me, and return to thy great slumber, expecting that day when we shall wake together. Silence and adieu!"'
Necromancy Around the World
The last example is, of course, of modern European necromancy, from France, the center of the modern magical revival. The evocation procedure followed by various peoples elsewhere is totally different. Among certain Australian tribes, for example, the necromants were called "Birraark." It is said that a Birraark was supposed to be initiated by the "mrarts" (ghosts) when they met him wandering in the bush. It was from the ghosts that he obtained replies to questions concerning events passing at a distance, or yet to happen, that might be of interest or moment to his tribe.
An account of a spiritual séance in the bush is given in a discussion of the Kamilaroi and Kurnai peoples: "The fires were let down; the Birraark uttered the cry 'Coo-ee' at intervals. At length a distant reply was heard, and shortly afterwards the sound as of persons jumping on the ground in succession. A voice was then heard in the gloom asking in a strange intonation 'What is wanted?' At the termination of the séance, the spirit voice said, 'We are going.' Finally, the Birraark was found in the top of an almost inaccessible tree, apparently asleep."
In Japan, ghosts were traditionally raised in various ways. One mode was to "put into an andon (a paper lantern in a frame) a hundred rushlights, and repeat an incantation of a hundred lines. One of these rushlights is taken out at the end of each line, and the would-be-ghost-seer then goes out in the dark with one light still burning, and blows it out, when the ghost ought to appear. Girls who have lost their lovers by death often try that sorcery."
The mode of procedure as practiced in Scotland was thus. The haunted room was made ready. He, "who was to do the daring deed, about nightfall entered the room, bearing with him a table, a chair, a candle, a compass, a crucifix if one could be got, and a Bible. With the compass he cast a circle on the middle of the floor, large enough to hold the chair and the table. He placed within the circle the chair and the table, and on the table he laid the Bible and the crucifix beside the lighted candle. If he had not a crucifix, then he drew the figure of a cross on the floor within the circle. When all this was done, he rested himself on the chair, opened the Bible, and waited for the coming of the spirit. Exactly at midnight the spirit came. Sometimes the door opened slowly, and there glided in noiselessly a lady sheeted in white, with a face of woe and told her story to the man on his asking her in the name of God what she wanted. What she wanted was done in the morning, and the spirit rested ever after. Sometimes the spirit rose from the floor, and sometimes came forth from the wall. One there was who burst into the room with a strong bound, danced wildly round the circle, and flourished a long whip round the man's head, but never dared to step within the circle. During a pause in his frantic dance he was asked, in God's name, what he wanted. He ceased his dance and told his wishes. His wishes were carried out, and the spirit was in peace."
In Sir N. W. Wraxall's Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, and Vienna (2 vols., 1799), there is an account of the raising of the ghost of the Chevalier de Saxe. Reports had been circulated that at his palace at Dresden there was a large sum of money hidden, and it was said that if his spirit could be compelled to appear, interesting secrets might be extorted from him. Curiosity, combined with avarice, accordingly prompted his principal heir Prince Charles to try the experiment. On the appointed night, one Schrepfer was the operator in raising the apparition. He commenced his proceedings by retiring into the corner of the gallery, where, kneeling down with many mysterious ceremonies, he invoked the spirit to appear. At length a loud clatter was heard at all the windows on the outside, resembling more the effect produced by a number of wet fingers drawn over the edge of glasses than anything else to which it could well be compared. This sound announced the arrival of the good spirits, and was shortly followed by a yell of a frightful and unusual nature, which indicated the presence of malignant spirits. Schrepfer continued his invocations, when "the door suddenly opened with violence, and something that resembled a black ball or globe rolled into the room. It was enveloped in smoke or cloud, in the midst of which appeared a human face, like the countenance of the Chevalier de Saxe, from which issued a loud and angry voice, exclaiming in German, 'Carl, was wollte du mit mir?"' (Charles, what would thou do with me?) By reiterated exorcisms Schrepfer finally dismissed the apparition, and the terrified spectators dispersed fully convinced of his magical powers.
Since the rituals of magical evocation date back to the ancient East, it is not surprising to find that European rituals have parallels in Arabia, Persia, India, China, Tibet and Japan. In the modern occult revival, such rituals have been popularized side by side with European traditions; various hybrid forms have also evolved.
Sources:
Lévi, Éliphas. The History of Magic. London: William Rider, 1913.
Shah, Sayed Idries Shah. Oriental Magic. London: Rider, 1956.
——. The Secret Lore of Magic: Books of the Sorcerers. London: Frederick Muller, 1957.
Smedley, Edward, W. C. Taylor, Henry Thompson, and Elihu Rich. The Occult Sciences. London and Glasgow: Richard Griffin, 1855.
Waite, Arthur E. The Book of Ceremonial Magic. London: William Rider & Son, 1911. Reprint, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1961. Reprinted as The Book of Black Magic and Ceremonial Magic. New York: Causeway Books, 1973.
——. The Occult Sciences. 1891. Reprint, Secaucus, N.J.: University Books, 1974.
| Obscure Words: necromancy |
| Word Tutor: necromancy |
They sat in the darkened room eager to have their questions of the future answered through necromancy.
| The Vampire Book: Necromancy |
Abraham Van Helsing, the wise vampire expert in
However, by Stoker's time, the term necromancy referred specifically to calling forth the dead from the grave to obtain otherwise unavailable information, especially about the future. From the Middle Ages to the present, artists have produced drawings of such necromanic activity. Necromancy involved a corpse, but was also seen as communication with the spirit/soul of the dead person, which appeared before the magician in a ghostly but bodily form-what theosophists termed the astral body.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States, England, and much of continental Europe were swept by the movement called spiritualism. Spiritualism was built around the practice of mediumship, the communication with the spirits of the dead. Spiritualism was several steps removed from traditional necromancy, however, although its practitioners were called necromancers by many religious critics. The identification of spiritualism and necromancy was common in Stoker's time.
Cavendish, Richard. The Black Arts. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1967. 373 pp.
de Givry, Emil Grillot. Picture Museum of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1963. 395 pp.
| Wikipedia: Necromancy |
Necromancy (pronounced /ˈnɛkrɵmænsi/; Greek νεκρομαντία nekromantía) is a form of magic in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" or "spirits of divination", for multiple reasons, from spiritual protection to wisdom. The word necromancy derives from the Greek νεκρός (nekrós), "dead", and μαντεία (manteía), "prophecy".
However, since the Renaissance, necromancy (or nigromancy) has come to be associated more broadly with black magic and demon-summoning in general, sometimes losing its earlier, more specialized meaning. By popular etymology, nekromantia became nigromancy "black arts", and Johannes Hartlieb (1456) lists demonology in general under the heading.
Eliphas Levi, in his book Dogma et Ritual, states that necromancy is the evoking of aerial bodies (aeromancy).
Contents |
Early necromancy is likely related to shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in "a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning", comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans.[1]
Strabo refers to necromancy as the principal form of divination amongst the people of Persia (Strabo, xvi. 2, 39, νεκρομαντία), and it is believed to also have been widespread amongst the peoples of Chaldea (particularly amongst the Sabians or star-worshipers), Etruria, and Babylonia. The Babylonian necromancers were called Manzazuu or Sha'etemmu, and the spirits they raised were called Etemmu.
Necromancy was widespread in Western antiquity with records of practice in Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.[2] The oldest literary account of necromancy is in Homer’s Odyssey (ca. 700 BC).[2] In the Odyssey (XI, Nekyia), Odysseus under the tutelage of Circe, a powerful sorceress, makes a voyage to Hades, the Underworld, in an effort to raise the spirits of the dead using spells which Circe has instructed. [3] His intention is to invoke and ask questions of the shade of Tiresias, in order to gain insight on the impending voyage home. Alas, he is unable to summon the spirit without the assistance of others. In Homer's passage, there are many references to specific rituals associated with necromancy; the rites must be done during nocturnal hours, and based around a pit with fire.[2] In addition, Odysseus has to follow a specific recipe, which included using sacrificial animals' blood for ghosts to drink, while he recites prayers to both the ghosts and gods of the underworld.[2]
Rituals, such as these, were common practices associated with necromancy, and varied from the mundane to the more grotesque. Rituals in necromancy involved magic circles, wands, talismans, bells, and incantations.[4] Also, the necromancer would surround himself with morbid aspects of death, which often included wearing the deceased's clothing, consumption of unsalted, unleavened black bread and unfermented grape juice, which symbolized decay and lifelessness.[5] Necromancers even went as far as taking part in the mutilation and consumption of corpses.[5] Rituals, such as these, could carry on for hours, days, even weeks leading up the summoning of spirits. Often these practices took part in graveyards or in other melancholy venues that suited specific guidelines of the necromancer. Additionally, necromancers preferred summoning the recently departed, citing that their revelations were spoken more clearly; this timeframe usually consisted of 12 months following the death of the body.[6] Once this time period lapsed, necromancers would summon the deceased’s ghostly spirit to appear instead.
Although some cultures may have considered the knowledge of the dead to be unlimited, to the ancient Greeks and Romans, there is an indication that individual shades knew only certain things. The apparent value of their counsel may have been a result of things they had known in life, or of knowledge they acquired after death: Ovid writes of a marketplace in the underworld, where the dead could exchange news and gossip. [1][7]
There are also many references to necromancers, called "bone-conjurers", in the Bible. The Book of Deuteronomy (XVIII 9–12) explicitly warns the Israelites against the Canaanite practice of divination from the dead. This warning was not always heeded: King Saul has the Witch of Endor invoke the shade of Samuel using a magical amulet, for example. Later Christian writers rejected the idea that humans could bring back the spirits of the dead, and interpreted such shades as disguised demons, thus conflating necromancy with demon-summoning.
Caesarius of Arles [8] entreats his audience to put no stock in any demons, or "gods" other than the Christian God, even if the working of spells appears to provide benefit. He states that demons only act with divine permission and are permitted by God to test Christian people. Caesarius does not condemn man here; he only states that the art of necromancy exists, although it is prohibited by the Bible.
Many medieval writers believed resurrection was impossible without the assistance of the Christian God. They translated the practice of divination as conjuring demons who took the appearance of spirits. The practice became known explicitly as demonic magic and was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.[9] Though the practitioners of necromancy were linked by many common threads, there is no evidence that these necromancers were ever organized as a group.
Medieval necromancy is believed to be a synthesis of astral magic derived from Arabic influences and exorcism derived from Christian and Jewish teachings. Arabic influences are evident in rituals that involve moon phases, sun placement, day and time. Fumigation and the act of burying images are also found in both astral magic and necromancy. Christian and Jewish influences are found in the symbols and conjuration formulas used in summoning rituals.[10]
Practitioners were often members of the Christian clergy, though some nonclerical practitioners are recorded. In some instances, mere apprentices or those ordained to lower orders dabbled in the practice. They were connected by a belief in the manipulation of spiritual beings, (esp. demons), and magical practices. These practitioners were almost always literate and well educated. Most possessed basic knowledge of exorcism and had access to texts of astrology and demonology. Clerical training was informal and admission to universities was rare. Most were trained under apprenticeships and were expected to have a basic knowledge of Latin, ritual and doctrine. This education was not always linked to spiritual guidance and seminaries were almost nonexistent. This absence allowed some aspiring clerics to combine Christian rites with occult practices despite its condemnation in Christian doctrine.[11]
Medieval practitioners believed they could accomplish three things with necromancy: will manipulation, illusions, and knowledge. Will manipulation affects the mind and will of another person, animal, or spirit. Demons are summoned to cause various afflictions on others “to drive them mad, to inflame them to love or hatred, to gain their favor, or to constrain them to do or not do some deed.”[12] Illusions involve reanimation of the dead, food and entertainment, or conjuring a mode of transportation. Knowledge is discovered through demons. Demons provide information on various things including identifying a criminal, finding items, or revealing future events.
The act of performing medieval necromancy usually involved magic circles, conjurations, and sacrifices as shown in the Munich Handbook. Circles were usually traced on the ground, though cloth and parchment were sometimes implemented. Various objects, shapes, symbols, and letters may be drawn or placed within that represent a mixture of Christian and occult ideas. Circles were believed to empower and protect what was contained within, including protecting the necromancer from the conjured demons. Conjuration is the method of communicating with the demons to enter the physical world. It usually employs the power of special words and stances to call out the demons and often incorporated the use of Christian prayers or biblical verses. These conjurations may be repeated in succession or repeated to different directions until the summoning is complete. Sacrifice was the payment for summoning. Though it may involve the flesh of a human being or animal, it could sometimes be as simple as offering a certain object. Instructions for obtaining these items were usually specific. The time, location, and method of gathering items for sacrifice could also play an important role in the ritual.[13]
The rare confessions of those accused of Necromancy suggest that there was a range of spell casting and the related magical experimentation. It is difficult to determine if these details were due to their practices, as opposed to the whims of their interrogators. John of Salisbury is one of the first examples related by Kieckhefer, but as a Parisian ecclesiastical court record of 1323 shows, a “group who were plotting to invoke the demon Berich from inside a circle made from strips of cat skin,” were obviously participating in the church’s definition of “necromancy”.[14]
Norse mythology also contains examples of necromancy (Ruickbie, 2004:48), such as the scene in the Völuspá in which Odin summons a seeress from the dead to tell him of the future. In Grógaldr, the first part of Svipdagsmál, the hero Svipdag summons his dead Völva mother, Gróa, to cast spells for him. In Hrólf Kraki's saga, the half-elven princess Skuld was very skilled in witchcraft (seiðr), and this to the point that she was almost invincible in battle. When her warriors fell, she made them rise again to continue fighting.
Herbert Stanley Redgrove claims that necromancy was one of three chief branches of medieval ceremonial magic, the others being black magic and white magic.[15] This does not correspond to contemporary classifications, which use nigromancy and black arts synonymously.
In the wake of inconsistencies of judgment, necromancers, sorcerers and witches were able to utilize spells with holy names with impunity, as biblical references in such rituals could be construed as prayers as opposed to spells. As a result, the necromancy discussed in the Munich Manual is an evolution of these understandings. It has even been suggested that the authors of the Munich Manual knowingly designed this book to be in discord with understood ecclesiastical law.The main recipe employed throughout the necromancy manual used the same religious language and names of power alongside demonic names. The understanding of the names of God from apocryphal texts and the Hebrew torah demand that the author of such rites have at least a casual familiarity of these texts.Within the tales related in occult manuals, we also find connections with other stories in similar cultural literature (Kieckhefer, 43). The ceremony for conjuring a horse closely relates to the Arabic The Thousand and One Nights, and the French romances.Chaucer’s The Squire's Tale also has marked similarities. This becomes a parallel evolution of spells to foreign gods or demons that were once acceptable, and framing them into a new Christian context, albeit demonic and forbidden. As the source material for these manuals is apparently derived from scholarly magical and religious texts from a variety of sources in many languages, it is easy to conclude that the scholars that studied these texts manufactured their own aggregate sourcebook and manual with which to work spells or magic. In the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, it is stated that::Of all human opinions that is to be reputed the most foolish which deals with the belief in Necromancy, the sister of Alchemy, which gives birth to simple and natural things. (taken from 12:13)
In modern time necromancy is used as a more general term to describe the pretense of manipulation of death, and generally has a magical connotation. Modern séances, channeling, Spiritism and Spiritualism verge on necromancy when the supposedly invoked spirits are asked to reveal future events. Necromancy may also be presented as sciomancy, a branch of theurgic magic.
Necromancy is extensively practiced in Quimbanda and is sometimes seen in other African traditions such as voodoo and in Santería. In these religions, spirits (called Egungun or Orishas) can be sent out to attack a person [16] or they can be asked to take possession of someone. Once a person is possessed by a spirit in the yoruba tradition he cannot rise to a higher spiritual position such as that of a babalawo tough, but this should not be regarded as a modern tradition, in fact it predates most necromantic practices.[citation needed]
An Encyclopedia of Occultism[17] states:
Medieval
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| Translations: Necromancy |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - åndemanen, trolddom
Nederlands (Dutch)
necromantie, tovenarij, bij geesten te raad gaan, geestenbezwering
Français (French)
n. - nécromancie
Deutsch (German)
n. - Totenbeschwörung, Zauberei
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - νεκρομαντεία
Italiano (Italian)
negromanzia
Português (Portuguese)
n. - necromancia (f)
Español (Spanish)
n. - nigromancia
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - andebesvärjare, svartkonstnär
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
巫术
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 巫術
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 降霊術, 魔法, 黒魔術
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) استحضار الارواح, عرافه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ניבוי העתיד ע"י התקשרות כביכול עם מתים, כשפים
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| Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd. Read more |
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| Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial. Read more |
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| The Vampire Book. The Vampire Book. 1999 ©Visible Ink Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Necromancy". Read more |
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