necromancy

(nĕk'rə-măn'sē)

1. The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future.
2. Black magic; sorcery.
3. Magic qualities.

[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.]

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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.

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Abraham Van Helsing, the wise vampire expert in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula noted, in his halting English, that vampires "... have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him to command." Necromancy was a form of divining the future through the use of the dead, most specifically dead bodies. Necromancy was specifically condemned in the Jewish Bible (Deuteronomy 18:11), though it is not altogether clear what form was being practiced. It most likely involved opening the dead body and doing a psychicp reading from the internal organs in much the same way that animal entrails, or other more mundane objects such as tea leaves, have been used throughout the ages.

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.

• Rites, Practices, Spells, and Symbols - necromancy: conjuring spirits of the dead for magic or divination

This article is about the form of magic. For the film, see Necromancy (film).

"Necromancer" redirects here. For other uses, see Necromancer (disambiguation).

Illustration portraying a scene from the Bible wherein the Witch of Endor uses a necromantic ritual to conjure the spirit of Samuel at the behest of Saul; from the frontispiece of Sadducismus Triumphatus (1681) by Joseph Glanvill.

Necromancy (/ˈnɛkrɵˌmænsi/) is a claimed form of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge. The term may sometimes be used in a more general sense to refer to black magic or witchcraft.^[1][2]

The word "necromancy" derives from the Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós), "dead body", and μαντεία (manteía), "prophecy or divination". The compound form νεκρομαντεία is itself post-classical, first used by Origen of Alexandria in the 3rd century CE. The classical Greek term is ἡ νέκυια (nekyia), νεκυιομαντεία in Hellenistic Greek, rendered as necyomantia in Latin, and as necyomancy in 17th century English.

In Renaissance magic, necromancy (or nigromancia; nigro being the Latin counterpart of Greek negro, "black", which comes from necro, "death"^[3]) was classified as the first of the seven "forbidden arts".^[4]

Contents 1 Antiquity 2 Early and High Middle Ages 3 Late Middle Ages to Renaissance 4 Modern necromancy 5 Necromancy in popular media 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

Antiquity

Main article: Magic in the Greco-Roman world

Early necromancy was 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.^[5]

Necromancy was widespread throughout Western antiquity with records of its practice in Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In his Geographica, Strabo refers to νεκρομαντία (necyomanteis), or "diviners by the dead", as the foremost practitioners of divination amongst the people of Persia,^[6] and it is believed to have also been widespread amongst the peoples of Chaldea (particularly 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.

The oldest literary account of necromancy is found in Homer’s Odyssey.^[7][8] Under the direction of Circe, a powerful sorceress, Odysseus travels to the underworld in order to gain insight about his impending voyage home by raising the spirits of the dead through the use of spells which Circe has taught him. He wishes to invoke and question the shade of Tiresias in particular; however, he is unable to summon the seer's spirit without the assistance of others. The Odyssey's passages contain many descriptive references to necromantic rituals: rites must be performed around a pit with fire during nocturnal hours, and Odysseus has to follow a specific recipe, which includes the blood of sacrificial animals, to concoct a libation for the ghosts to drink while he recites prayers to both the ghosts and gods of the underworld.^[9]

Rituals such as these were common practices associated with necromancy and varied from the mundane to the grotesque. Rituals in necromancy involved magic circles, wands, talismans, bells, and incantations.^[10] Also, the necromancer would surround himself with morbid aspects of death, which often included wearing the deceased's clothing and the consumption of unsalted, unleavened black bread and unfermented grape juice, which symbolized decay and lifelessness.^[10] Some necromancers even went so far as taking part in the mutilation and consumption of corpses.^[10] These rituals could carry on for hours, days, or even weeks, leading up the eventual summoning of spirits. Often they took place in graveyards or 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 twelve months following the death of the body.^[11] 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, ancient Greeks and Romans believed 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 in his Metamorphoses of a marketplace in the underworld where the dead can exchange news and gossip.^[12][13]

There are also several references to necromancers – called "bone-conjurers" amongst Jews of the later Hellenistic period^[14] – in the Bible. The Book of Deuteronomy (18:9–12) explicitly warns the Israelites against engaging in the Canaanite practice of divination from the dead:

⁹When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰There shall not be found among you any one who maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or who useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, ¹¹or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. ¹²For all who do these things are an abomination unto the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee (KJV).

This warning was not always heeded. One of the foremost examples is when King Saul had the Witch of Endor invoke the shade of Samuel, a judge and prophet, from Sheol using a ritual conjuring pit (1 Samuel 28:3–25). Some Christian writers later rejected the idea that humans could bring back the spirits of the dead and interpreted such shades as disguised demons instead, thus conflating necromancy with demon summoning.

Caesarius of Arles 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.^[15]

Early and High Middle Ages

Norse mythology also contains examples of necromancy, such as the scene in the Prophecy of the Völva (Völuspá) in which Odin summons a Völva, or seeress, from the dead to tell him of the future.^[16] In The Spell of Gróa (Grógaldr), the first part of The Lay of Svipdagr (Svipdagsmál), the hero Svipdag summons his dead mother, Gróa, to cast spells for him. In the Saga of King Hrolf kraki (Hrólfs saga kraka), the half-elven princess Skuld was very skilled in witchcraft (seiðr) to the point that she was almost invincible in battle: when her warriors fell, she made them rise again to continue fighting.

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 Catholic Church.^[17] 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.^[18]

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 – especially 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.^[19]

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.”^[20] Illusions involve reanimation of the dead or conjuring food, entertainment, or a mode of transportation. Knowledge is discovered through demons, who provide information about various things which include identifying criminals, finding items, or revealing future events.

The act of performing medieval necromancy usually involved magic circles, conjurations, and sacrifices such as those shown in the Munich Manual of Demonic Magic. 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.^[21]

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 Richard 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".^[22]

Herbert Stanley Redgrove claims that necromancy was one of three chief branches of medieval ceremonial magic, the others being black magic and white magic.^[23] This does not correspond to contemporary classifications, which use nigromancy and black arts synonymously.

Late Middle Ages to Renaissance

Further information: Renaissance magic

Engraving of occultists John Dee and Edward Kelley "in the act of invoking the spirit of a deceased person"; from Astrology (1806) by Ebenezer Sibly.

In the wake of inconsistencies of judgment, necromancers and other practitioners of the magic arts were able to utilize spells featuring holy names with impunity, as any biblical references in such rituals could be construed as prayers rather than spells. As a consequence, the necromancy that appears in the Munich Manual is an evolution of these understandings. It has been suggested that the authors of the Manual knowingly designed the book to be in discord with ecclesiastical law. The main recipe employed throughout the Manual used the same religious language and names of power alongside demonic names. An understanding of the names of God derived from apocryphal texts and the Hebrew Torah required that the author of such rites have at least a casual familiarity with these sources.

Within the tales related in occult manuals are found connections with stories from other cultures' literary traditions. For instance, the ceremony for conjuring a horse closely relates to the Arabic One Thousand and One Nights and French romances; Chaucer’s The Squire's Tale also bears marked similarities.^[24] This becomes a parallel evolution of spells to foreign gods or demons that were once acceptable, and frames them into a new Christian context, albeit demonic and forbidden. As the material for these manuals was apparently derived from scholarly magical and religious texts from a variety of sources in many languages, the scholars who studied these texts likely 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."^[25]

Modern necromancy

In the present day, necromancy is more generally used as a term to describe the pretense of manipulation of death and the dead, often facilitated through the use of ritual magic or some other kind of occult ceremony. Contemporary séances, channeling, Spiritism and Spiritualism verge on necromancy when supposedly invoked spirits are asked to reveal future events or secret information. Necromancy may also be presented as sciomancy, a branch of theurgic magic.

Because of their themes of spirit contact, the long-running show Supernatural Chicago and the annual Harry Houdini séance, both of which are held at the Excalibur nightclub in Chicago, Illinois, dub their lead performer "Neil Tobin, Necromancer".^[26]

As to the practice of necromancy having endured in one form or another throughout the millennia, An Encyclopædia of Occultism states:

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 called sorcery, shades into modern spiritualistic practice. There is no doubt, however, that necromancy is the touch-stone of occultism, for if, after careful preparation the adept can carry through to a successful issue, the raising of the soul from the other world, he has proved the value of his art.^[27]

Necromancy in popular media

Depiction of a necromancer from the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game, illustrated by Wayne Breaux, Jr.^[28]

Fiction

• The final chapter of The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien mentions the White Council driving the Necromancer, a guise of Sauron, from Mirkwood.
• Anita Blake, main character of the Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton, is a necromancer, and there are numerous other mentions of necromancy.
• The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix is a cycle of novels centered around the practice of necromancy and its influence on the world of the living.
• A necromancer is featured amongst the core characters of the 1/2 Prince manhua comic series.
• In the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, protagonist Rosemarie Hathaway has a way to summon and talk to ghosts, and her friend Vasillisa Dragomir can use her power to bring back the dead and hold them in the land of the living.
• Necromancy is prominent in the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy.
• Chloe Saunders, main character of the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong, is a necromancer.
• The fourth installment of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott is entitled The Necromancer. The series, however, employs this term in a broader sense as one of several that refer to characters who are practitioners of magic, though with a darker connotation than the others.

Film and television

• In the fifth season episode "Just Rewards" of the WB series Angel, vampires Angel and Spike try to put a rogue necromancer named Magnus Hainsley out of commission. Their task is made much harder by the fact that they are both undead and therefore susceptible to Hainsley's power.
• In the fourth season of the HBO series True Blood, antagonist Marnie Stonebrook employs necromancy to cause herself to become possessed by the spirit of Antonia Gavilán de Logroño, a witch who was burned at the stake during the Spanish Inquisition. As she was dying, Antonia used her power to gain control over all nearby vampires and caused them to walk into the sunlight, killing themselves. Marnie desires the same ability to manipulate vampires like puppets.

Games

• In Dungeons & Dragons, wizards can specialize in the school of necromancy and clerics can select death as their sphere or domain. Both accordingly gain access to spells that not only focus on death, decay, and the undead, but also various forms of life force manipulation, enabling them to heal or cause injury, cure or inflict disease, and perform resurrection.^[29][30][31]
• Necromancers are a specific type of magic user in the Palladium Fantasy and Rifts role-playing games from Palladium Books. They wield a number of powers over death and the dead such as acquiring supernatural abilities by ingesting certain organs harvested from corpses and being able to merge severed limbs with their own bodies.^[32][33][34]
• The necromancer is a character class in the video game Diablo II, released by Blizzard Entertainment. They can animate the dead, inflict curses, and use life-draining attacks.^[35] It is also an Undead unit in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos,^[36] and there are named necromancers in World of Warcraft.^[37]
• Necromancy can be learned by wizards of the School of Death in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Wizard101 from KingsIsle Entertainment.^[38]
• The necromancer is available as a profession in the Guild Wars competitive online role-playing game from NCsoft. Able to drain life energy from their enemies, they also specialize in raising undead minions and casting curses.^[39]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Necromancy

• Alchemy
• Ethereal being
• Gastromancy
• Haitian Vodou
• List of magical terms and traditions      
• Macumba
• Magick
• Spirit possession
• Undead
• Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible
• Yūrei

Notes

1. ^ "necromancy". Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. April 2008. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necromancy. 
2. ^ "necromancy". Oxford Dictionary of English (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. August 2010. http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/necromancy. 
3. ^ "nigromance". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. September 2003. 
4. ^ Johannes Hartlieb (Munich, 1456) The Book of All Forbidden Arts; quoted in Láng, p. 124.
5. ^ Luck, p. 12.
6. ^ Strabo. Geography, Book XVI, Chapter 2, Section 39.
7. ^ Johnson, p. 808.
8. ^ Ruickbie, p. 24.
9. ^ Homer. Odyssey, Book X, Lines 10–11, and Book XI.
10. ^ ^{a b c} Guiley, p. 215.
11. ^ Lewis, p. 201.
12. ^ Luck, p. 13.
13. ^ Ovid. Metamorphoses, Book IV, Fable VII, Lines 440–464.
14. ^ Luck, p. 57.
15. ^ Kors & Peters, p. 48.
16. ^ Ruickbie, p. 48.
17. ^ Kieckhefer 2011, p. 152.
18. ^ Kieckhefer 2011, p. 165–166.
19. ^ Kieckhefer 2011, p. 153–154.
20. ^ Kieckhefer 2011, p. 158.
21. ^ Kieckhefer 2011, p. 159–162.
22. ^ Kieckhefer 1998, p. 191.
23. ^ Redgrove, p. 95.
24. ^ Kieckhefer 1998, p. 43.
25. ^ Leonardo. Notebooks, Volume 2, Chapter XIX, Section III:1213.
26. ^ "Supernatural Chicago". Excalibur Nightclub. http://www.excaliburchicago.com/supernatural.php. Retrieved November 4, 2011. 
27. ^ Spence, p. 286.
28. ^ Siembieda, Wujcik, Cartier, Marciniszyn, Jacques & McCall, p. 32.
29. ^ Cook, p. 31, 33, 81.
30. ^ Kurtz.
31. ^ Tweet, Cook & Williams, p. 32, 57, 174, 186, 192–196.
32. ^ Siembieda, Long & Rosenstein, p. 99–109.
33. ^ Siembieda, Sumimoto & Cartier, p. 83–107.
34. ^ Siembieda, Wujcik, Cartier, Marciniszyn, Jacques & McCall, p. 31–38.
35. ^ "Diablo II Expansion Set—Classes: Necromancers". Battle.net. Irvine, CA: Blizzard Entertainment. http://classic.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/necromancer.shtml. Retrieved September 2, 2011. 
36. ^ "Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne—Undead Units: Necromancer". Battle.net. Irvine, CA: Blizzard Entertainment. http://classic.battle.net/war3/undead/units/necromancer.shtml. Retrieved September 2, 2011. 
37. ^ "World of Warcraft Core Classes: Arcanist (Necromancer)". WoWWiki. San Francisco, CA: Wikia. http://www.wowwiki.com/Necromancer. Retrieved September 2, 2011. 
38. ^ "Death School". Wizard 101: Magic Schools. Austin, TX: KingsIsle Entertainment. http://www.wizard101.com/game/death-school. Retrieved August 31, 2011. 
39. ^ "Gameplay—The Professions: Necromancer". Guild Wars. Seoul, South Korea: NCsoft. http://www.guildwars.com/gameplay/professions/necromancer/. Retrieved January 7, 2012. 

References

• Cook, D. (1989). Breault, M. ed. Player's Handbook. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR. ISBN 978-0-88038-716-3. 
• Guiley, R. E. (2006). "Necromancy". The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy. New York City, NY: Infobase Publishing. pp. 215–216. ISBN 978-0-8160-6048-1. 
• Homer (1900) [c. 700 BCE]. The Odyssey. S. Butler, trans. London, UK: Longmans, Green & Co. OCLC 4862683. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0218. 
• Johnson, M. M. (2004). "Necromancy". In Golden, R. M. Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Western Tradition. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 808–809. ISBN 978-1-57607-243-1. 
• Kieckhefer, R. (1998). Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01751-8. 
• Kieckhefer, R. (2011). "Chapter 7: Necromancy in the Clerical Underworld". Magic in the Middle Ages (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 151–175. ISBN 978-0-521-78576-1. 
• Kors, A. C.; Peters, E., eds. (2001). Witchcraft in Europe 400–1700: A Documentary History (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1751-3. 
• Kurtz, S. (1995). Forbeck, M. ed. The Complete Book of Necromancers. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd Edition. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR. ISBN 978-0-786-90106-7. 
• Láng, B. (2010). Unlocked Books: Manuscripts of Learned Magic in the Medieval Libraries of Central Europe (New ed.). University Park, PA: Penn State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-03378-5. 
• Leonardo da Vinci (1970) [1452–1519]. Richter, J. P. ed. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. New York City, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-22573-9. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Notebooks_of_Leonardo_Da_Vinci. 
• Lewis, J. R. (1999). Witchcraft Today: An Encyclopedia of Wiccan and Neopagan Traditions. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-134-2. 
• Luck, G. (2006). Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds—A Collection of Ancient Texts (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8345-3. 
• Ovid (1717) [8 CE]. Garth, S. ed. Metamorphoses. J. Addison, W. Congreve, S. Croxall, J. Dryden, L. Eusden, J. Gay, A. Maynwaring & N. Tate, trans. London, UK: Jacob Tonson. OCLC 85877585. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Metamorphoses. 
• Redgrove, H. S. (1920). "Chapter 7: Ceremonial Magic in Theory and Practice". Bygone Beliefs: Being a Series of Excursions in the Byways of Thought. London, UK: W. Rider & Son. pp. 87–110. OCLC 2784604. 
• Ruickbie, L. (2004). Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A Complete History. London, UK: Robert Hale. ISBN 978-0-7090-7567-7. 
• Siembieda, K.; Long, K. & Rosenstein, J. (1993). Rifts World Book Four: Africa. Taylor, MI: Palladium Books. ISBN 978-0-916211-58-5. 
• Siembieda, K.; Sumimoto, M. & Cartier, R. (1998). Rifts World Book 18: Mystic Russia. Taylor, MI: Palladium Books. ISBN 978-1-57457-011-3. 
• Siembieda, K.; Wujcik, E.; Cartier, R.; Marciniszyn, A.; Jacques, C. & McCall, R. (1996). Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game Book III: Adventures on the High Seas (2nd ed.). Taylor, MI: Palladium Books. ISBN 978-0-916211-17-2. 
• Spence, L. (1920). "Necromancy". An Encyclopædia of Occultism. London, UK: Routledge. pp. 286–290. OCLC 264589119. http://books.google.com/books?id=zqcXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA286. 
• Strabo (1889–1893) [20 BCE – 23 CE]. Hamilton, H. C.; Falconer, W. eds. Geography. London, UK: George Bell & Sons. OCLC 693763975. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0239. 
• Tweet, J.; Cook, M. & Williams, S. (2003). Martin, J. & Rateliff, J. eds. Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I. Dungeons & Dragons v3.5. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 978-0-786-92886-6. 

Further reading

• Dubray, C. (1911). "Necromancy". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City, NY: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10735a.htm. 
• Godwin, W. (1834). Lives of the Necromancers. London, UK: F. J. Mason. OCLC 2657815. http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC02657815&id=25lDvKU-vGwC&dq. 
• Halliday, W. R. (1913). "Chapter XI: Necromancy". Greek Divination: A Study of Its Methods and Principles. London, UK: Macmillan. pp. 235–245. OCLC 25019974. http://books.google.com/books?id=xC91vC0DZj4C&pg=PA235. 
• Monroe, A.; Edwards, T., eds. (2010) [1907]. Full Guide to Becoming a Real Wizard, Witch or Necromancer; from "The Scripts of Osari the Wise". New York City, NY: Library Tales/CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1-449-96763-5. 
• Ogden, D. (2001). Greek and Roman Necromancy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-00904-9. 
• Vulliaud, P. (1923) (in French). La Kabbale Juive: Histoire et Doctrine—Essai Critique. Paris, France: Émile Nourry. OCLC 22318758. 
• Wendell, L. (1991). The Necromantic Ritual Book. Opelousas, LA: Westgate Publications. ISBN 978-0-944087-03-9. 

External links

• Ars Falcis – A resource site for necromancers
• Westgate: The Azrael Project – A site dedicated to the Angel of Death and necromantic practice

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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)

Русский (Russian)
некромантия

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

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 점, 마술

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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