Disclaimer: The following node contains dark Occult information and/or rituals. It may be considered morally innappropriate and may even be illegal where you live. I do not neccessarily believe the following information to be factual, however it is believed so by Occultists and/or mythological texts. What you do with this information is your own choice, and if you choose to follow these ritual(s) and you hurt yourself, you do it at your own risk. You have been warned.
According to www.dictionary.com:
nec·ro·man·cy
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.
Necromancers are an age old myth dating back to the days of Cleopatra and her Egyptian Empire (one of the earlisest documented practises of Necromancy is The Witch of Endor). Necromancers, put simply, are people who practise the art of Necromancy. I shall cover the areas where the above nodes have left open.
The Origin of Necromancers and the art of Necromancy:
It still is unknown as to
precisely when the art of Necromancy, or the
tale of it, arose. This is so because in the early 16th
Century the
church banned the practice of all
Dark Arts, including Necromancy, and a great many
documents were
burnt. The earliest mention that is found, however, dates back to Homer's "
The Odyssey IX", where there is an
evocation of souls by means of
various rites indicated by
Circe. After this, there is mention of Necromancers in
Chaldera,
Babylon and
Egypt. There is Christian documentation that states
Moses warned the
Israelites against imitating the
Chanaanite abominations (the Chaanite are believed to be the Egyptian Necromancers). The Necromancers as we know them (in our
games and
books) did not occur until
Gaelic times. Among the time when
Wizards and
Warlocks were supposedly abundant, Necromancers were said to be taking to
war their
undead armies in an attempt to conquer parts of
Britain for themselves.
The Aspects of Necromancy:
There are three main aspects of Necromancy:
1. Seeking
answers from the dead in order to find
riches through
treasure, or to gain
wisdom from those who have passed onto the next
world.
2. Prolonging ones
mortal life span by sapping
life from others and
utilizing other dark
incantations.
3. Raising undead
minions to fight for ones gain.
Each aspect increases in evil, and depending on the alignment of the necromancer, were not all followed. For example, a truly evil Necromancer would do all three, whereas a Necromancer only seeking to extend his life without regard to karma, would carry out the first two only. Most necromancers would not be truly evil, and hence most only carried out the first aspect. All three procured bad karma as they were inherently evil practices, and they were only done for personal gain. Hence a necromancer could not be good, but they could be only mildly evil (or Chaotic Neutral if defining by D&D alignments).
The Art of Necromancy:
1. Raising the Dead - To raise the dead, the Necromancer must first be wearing
clothes from a
corpse, and to help the process go smoothly must
adorn himself and the ground around the
grave of the subject with items of
death (such as
bones,
skulls,
blood,
daggers etc.). Often, the flesh of a
dog was consumed to pay
patronage to
Hecate, the patron
goddess of
Witchcraft (as the dog was her
earthly animal), and to hope that she will
ensure the process goes smoothly. Next the Necromancer would begin reciting his incantations - if the corpse was newly
buried the Necromancer would return the spirit to its body; if the corpse had been there for a long time the Necromancer would call the spirit to Earth outside of its body. If the Necromancer was carrying out the first aspect, he would ask the
questions required and then either
burn the corpse or bury it in
quicklime so that it could never be disturbed again (and the spirit would return to the other world). The necromancer would then finish the
ceremony by feasting on some of the
flesh (if any) of the corpse. If, however, the Necromancer was planning to use this
spirit for his army, he would bind the spirit to the body and
enslave it with Dark Magic so it obeyed his every whim. The Necromancer would now have a
skeleton or
zombie. If the corpse was too far
decomposed the Necromancer would call the spirit and then bind the spirit to
Earth and once again enslave it. Depending on the
intelligence of the spirit, the Necromancer would have either a
Ghost,
Banshee or
Wraith (Ghost being the least intelligent and Wraith being the most intelligent).
2. Prolonging Life - To prolong life, the Necromancer uses
Black Magic to sap life from others. There were a great many
curses and
spells that Necromancers cast on unwitting
victims. The victim would eventually fall
ill and
die, and as the life
seeped out of the victim the Necromancer
absorbed it. As one would imagine, this made Necromancers hated and they were often
hunted down and killed. If the Necromancer had a strong enough will (which he did more often than not), his soul would refuse to leave this world and he would return as a
Lich. The Lich was the
ultimate step for a Necromancer for he became
immortal from age, though he could still be
slain, and his Necromantic powers increased three
fold.
What religions practice Necromancy?
Despite common
misconception (thanks to a great deal of
propaganda put forth by the Church), Necromancy is
not practised in Paganism,
Neo-Paganism,
Witchcraft,
Wiccanism or Satanism. It is a
standalone art, although it
is practised in
Voodoo, though that does not mean it belongs to that religion.
What became of Necromancy?
It is said that in the early 16th Century the church banned the practice of Necromancy (along with all Dark Arts,
Paganism etc.) and in doing so they
burned as many documents on the subject and killed as many Necromancers as they could find. It is still
banned today and is actually
illegal, in the sense that
Grave Robbing is illegal, and so is killing
dogs (and more importantly,
Humans). For good reasons, Necromancy is considered a
disgusting practice, even by those who practice other Dark Arts (such as
cursing and
Satanism). Necromancy is not common these days, however it is still practiced and
taught.