Necromancy
Necromancy is the summoning or conjuring of the dead for divination, prophecy, or magical purposes. Necromancy has a long and universal history as a dangerous, repulsive practice associated with sorcery and witchcraft. It is based on the belief that the dead know everything about the past, present, and future, and that they can be commanded to carry out magical acts on the living. Necromancy is held to be dangerous because often the dead do not like to be disturbed and are angry when they are called into the world of the living.
The English occultist Francis Barrett, author of The Magus (1801), said that necromancy:
has its name because it works on the bodies of the dead, and gives answers by the ghosts and apparitions of the dead, and subterraneous spirits, alluring them into the carcasses of the dead by certain hellish charms, infernal invocations, deadly sacrifices, and wicked oblations.
Necromancy is performed by professionals such as witches, magicians, priests/priestesses, and sorcerers. In ancient Greece, necromancers were called evocators, a term which literally means a caller of souls (see EVOCATION).
The book of Samuel I in the Old Testament tells one of the most famous stories of necromancy. King Saul of Israel faced attack by the Philistines who were supported by Saul’s rival, David. Uncertain how to respond, Saul prayed and asked for guidance in divination and from prophets. He received no answer. Finally, he turned to necromancy and consulted the Witch of Endor, a pythoness.
Saul visited her at night in disguise. The witch performed her necromantic ritual and conjured the prophet Samuel from the dead. His ghost arrived in the appearance of a robed old man, displeased to be called forth from his grave.
The ghost had only bad news for Saul: the Philistines would win, David would be king, and Saul and his sons would be killed. The ghost vanished.
True to the prophecy, the next day in battle the Philistines triumphed. Saul was badly wounded. He committed suicide with his own sword. David became king of Israel.
The account of Samuel and Saul illustrates the most common form of necromancy, the summoning of a Ghost of the dead. Another form of necromancy reputedly reanimates a corpse by forcing the soul of the dead person temporarily back into its body. This form of necromancy is said to work only on the newly dead. In VODOUN necromancy, corpses are raised from graves by an adept who incarnates the god of death.
Necromantic rituals vary; many call for performance at night in graveyards under a full moon. Days of preparation may proceed the actual summoning. The necromancer meditates on the dead who will be summoned, propitiates the deities of the underworld, and eats food associated with death—such as the flesh of dogs, which are associated with the underworld, black bread, and unfermented grape juice. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that necromancers ate corpses. Corpses or pieces of corpses and Blood from the living or a sacrificed animal may be used in the ritual. Necromancers protect themselves from the wrath of the dead by performing their rites within magical circles or wearing Amulets.
Laws forbidding necromancy have been enacted since ancient times, but have not suppressed the practice. Necromancy was widely practiced in the ancient Middle East, but the Israelites considered it an abomination. In Republic and Laws, Plato condemned necromancy as a fraudulent practice and called for harsh punishment of its practitioners.
According to opponents like Plato, necromancers do not really summon the dead, but engage in tricks. Christian opponents say that any spirit that appears is not the dead, but a Demon masquerading as the dead.
Necromancy for Magical Spells
In necromantic lore, the ghosts of the dead can be commanded by magical spells, like familiars. For example, a ghost can be summoned forth and sent to harass or attack a living person. The ghost might cause nightmares and a decline in health.
A Greco-Egyptian spell for making a ghost familiar calls for taking an ass’s skin that has been dried in the shade and inscribing on it a magical symbol within a circle: a human figure with a lion’s head that breathes fire, wearing a belt, holding a snake-entwined staff in the right hand, and having an asp wound around the left arm. A magical spell is written on the skin. The necromancer utters an incantation commanding the dead to appear and indicate willingness to obey. The necromancer then goes to a burial place and spreads the hide at sunset. The ghost will appear in a DREAM, describe its death, and indicate whether or not it will be of service.
The necromancer takes a flax leaf and draws upon it a figure of the goddess of the moon and underworld, Hecate, who has three heads—an ox, dog, and maiden—and six hands that hold torches. Also inscribed is an incantation that commands the ghost to obey on fear of painful punishment. The necromancer takes a papyrus, draws upon it the figure of Osiris, and writes an incantation commanding obedience. The papyrus is presented to the ghost. Once under submission, the familiar can be sent to give others nightmares, make them sick, and attract them to the necromancer. (See Ghost-LAYING.)
Reanimation Necromancy
In necromancy for the reanimation of a corpse itself, the corpse must be propped upright on its feet to symbolize its return to life. Herbs are placed on the chest and head to magically restart breathing. The corpse may also be anointed with the necromancer’s own blood. The necromancer utters incantations to command the dead person to reenter its corpse. If the ghost fails to respond, the necromancer threatens it with tortures in the underworld.
Classical literature offers vivid descriptions of reanimation necromancy. In Pharsalia, Lucan relates the account of Erictho, a vile necromantic witch who reanimates a dead soldier on a battlefield for Sextus Pompey for the purpose of prophecy. Erictho selected a corpse with a cut throat and ragged it to a cave. She put on ritual clothing and tied her stringy hair back with vipers. Then she pried open the chest of the corpse and let it fill with blood. She rinsed the cavity with “moon juice,” a foam left on plants by the full moon believed to have magical properties. She poured in a mixture of foul ingredients that included lynx guts, hyena hump, the bone marrow of a deer fed on snakes, pearl oyster, various kinds of snakes, stones incubated by an eagle, and the ashes of a phoenix. She worked herself into such a frenzy that she foamed at the mouth and uttered a horrible incantation that penetrated into the depths of the underworld. In response, the ghost of the dead soldier appeared and reluctantly reentered its corpse:
At once the congealed gore warmed up, soothed the black wounds and ran into the veins and extremities of the limbs. As the blood struck them the organs beneath the chill breast quivered, and life, creeping anew into the innards that had forgotten it, mingled itself with the death. Then all the dead man’s limbs shook, and his sinews fl exed. The corpse did not raise itself from the ground gradually, one limb at a time. Rather, it shot up from the earth and was upright in an instant. The eyes were laid bare, the mouth an open grimace. His appearance was of one not yet fully alive, but of a man still in the phase of dying. He was still pallid and stiff, and in consternation at being brought back into the world.
The reanimated corpse answered questions. When Erictho was finished, she performed a magical spell to make the corpse fall. She burned it in a fire. Alleged communication from the philosopher and theologian Pierre Abelard, produced in a necromantic rite.
Necromancy in Medieval Europe
The term “necromancy” (or nigromancy) in medieval Europe referred to more than conjuring and reanimating the dead. It was applied to Demonic magic in general— the summoning of infernal spirits for magical gain, such as to acquire things, cause someone to fall in love, find lost objects, secure treasure, bewitch and enchant others, and cause misfortune to happen to others. Necromancers were considered to be in league with the devil in order to practice their art.
Johannes Hartlich, the 15th-century author of The Book of All Forbidden Arts, a commentary on occult practices, defined necromancy as “the first forbidden art, and is called the black art.” Hartlich said:
This art is the worst of all, because it proceeds with sacrifices and services that must be rendered to the devils. One who wishes to exercise this art must give all sorts of sacrifices to the devils, and must make an oath and pact with the devils. Then the devils are obedient to him and carry out the will of the master, as far as God permits them. Take note of two great evils in this art. The first is that the master must make sacrifice and tribute to the devils, by which he denies God and renders divine honors to the devils, for we should make sacrifices only to God, who created us and redeemed us by his passion. The other is that he binds himself with the devil, who is the greatest enemy of mankind.
Necromancy was condemned as a forbidden practice. As the Inquisition gained power and spread throughout Europe, necromancy became increasingly associated with witchcraft, which had been declared a heresy punishable by death. Charges of necromancy were serious. Even owning a necromantic book was a crime. Any magical handbook was considered to be a necromantic manual, literally infested with Demons. Such books were burned when confiscated, and the righteous claimed to hear the screaming of the Demons who were exorcized by being cast into the fire along with the books.
Even clerics and popes were not immune from charges of necromancy. In 1080 at the Council of Brixen, Pope Gregory VII was accused of practicing necromancy. In 1409 at the Council of Pisa, Pope Benedict XIII was accused of practicing necromancy and hiring necromancers. The offending book reportedly had been found stashed beneath the pope’s bed.
The Christian answer to necromancy came in two accepted ways. One, the Christian dead could return voluntarily to help the living. Thus, the faithful had no need of necromantic services. Two, the dead could be brought back to life by saints. There were important distinguishing difference between necromantic reanimation and saintly reanimation. Necromancers called upon low and infernal spirits and magically commanded the reanimated corpse to obey them. Saints called upon God and bestowed the reanimated dead with free will.
FURTHER READING:
- Cavendish, Richard. The Black Arts. New York: Putnam, 1967.
- Flint, Valerie I. J. The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991.
- Kieckhiefer, Richard. Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century. Thrupp, England: Sutton Publishing, Ltd., 1997.
- Luck, Georg. Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985.
- Marwick, Max, ed.Witchcraft and Sorcery. New York: Viking Penguin, 1982.
- Ogden, Daniel. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits– Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – September 1, 2007