The sources for this material are numerous and varied. From odd
bits read here and there to casual conversations over the course of the
last 45 years or so. Countless experiments as well which more often
than not provided results which were "inconclusive."
Necromancy taken at face value, is divination by means of a dead
person. To some, this means the resurrection of the dead for the pur
-pose of questioning the deceased about matters past present and future.
To others, it means channeling the living spirit
of someone who has
passed on but through some force of nature has has been
made available
to the living. Where as the later falls mainly
under the category of spiritualism,
the word Necro from the Greek nekros, dead person, corpse
(see Random
House Webster's college Dictionary for full details)
strictly implies the use
of a dead body. But over the centuries of development,
most who practice
Necromancy, it seems a ghost will suffice.
Literacy not being widespread during olden times
in Europe led to the
confusion between Nigromancy, the "black arts" and Necromancy,
Divining
by the dead. This resulted in the practice of referring
to sorcerers of all
kinds as Necromancers. It is also not surprising that
the Random House
Webster's college Dictionary does not contain "Necromancer"
as a word
per se. Historically in my neck of the woods, necromancy
was just one
of a thousand mancies and any Wizard worth their zombie
skin was
expected to be familiar and proficient with and use many
methods
as the circumstance would dictate.
From primitive ancestral worship to the modern
Theurgist, necromantic
practice has had as many faces as it has had names. One
cannot over look
the fact, that as repellant as the practice is in nature,
it holds a great attraction,
fascination, if you will. It begins with the word we
use. Nec'romancer, there
is love in the name. If the word had come down to us
as blugll'na, it is
doubtful that it would have ingrained itself in popular
fiction the way
Necromancy has.
In popular fiction, not only has the Necromancer
evolved as a specialist in
raising the dead, their activities are no longer confined
strictly to divination.
In the RPG (fantasy roleplay) world, Necromancers
take on the guise of
evil vampire sorcerers capable at times of summoning
forth undead armies
to do their bidding. The act of actual divination plays
a minor role if in fact
it plays any role at all.
Which brings us to the subject of Divination and
the difficulties encountered
in the practice of Necromancy. The first and foremost
fact, anytime the
"dead" speak through a living person, a red flag should
go up and a referee
should call time out. This is not to say that in an infinite
universe and in the
light of eternity that a dead person never spoke through
a living one.
It's just to say that such a practice must always be
suspect. Not only is it
subject to a high degree of fraud, there is also the
matter of accountability
for acting on any information gained through such a manner.
A consciousness
no longer bound by material rules pertaining to accountability
is just not trustworthy. For that matter the possibly
confused testimony of
those still living is often times not worth the time
it takes to listen to it.
The faces of Necromantic divination vary with era
and culture. Time and
place determines the belief system pertaining to the
afterlife which in turn
designs the ritual. Ancestral relics may be questioned
in one part of the world,
an iron cauldron filled with human remains and various
other objects in another.
The dead may be conjured in hidden chambers or at the
grave site itself. In
RL (real life) most aspects of necromancy are considered
criminal in nature,
hence evil. Defiling graves, disturbing the dead from
their final rest and using
threats and coercion to bind the dead to ones bidding
are all distasteful, unlawful
and in some cases extremely dangerous to ones health.
Once told to me from by
a gentalman from the South Pacific, "everytime the Necromancer
uses his power,
part of his body becomes like the dead, maybe a finger
or a foot, until if he uses
it too much he becomes like the dead only he is still
alive."
So, as with all such things, there have been attempts
to sanitize the practice
for public acceptance in the more civilized parts of
the world. In some articles
I have read, none of any merit, cooperation with the
dead
has been suggested giving birth to "politically correct
necromancy." Modern
theories are constructed that will allow for the possibility
of the "art" to exist
while still placating all of the cultural beliefs pertaining
to life after death.
Things like:
"if reincarnation is instantaneous then there are no
dead to question so how do
you explain ghost sightings?" It is a giant can of worms
indeed.
Modern theories of physics may be interpreted in
such a way to make it possible
to question your future dead self. Imagine though the
living hell of knowing what
your mistakes are going to be and being compelled to
make them in spite of
forewarnings.
One belief suggests that there is an astral (light)
shell which acts a container for
the soul, which is ejected upon death and later abandoned
by the soul, leaving it to
float around acting out activities performed by it's
ex-host until such a time as it's
momentum is spent and it dissipates into the atmosphere.
These shades contain only
memories and not an active intelligence. Hence what they
didn't know in life, they
still don't know in death.
From our first step in life we are drawn towards
death. A great black hole stands
before us and there are those who will go to great lengths
to shine a light into the
abyss in search of any answers they might glean as to
the nature of existence.
