An ancient art of conjuring the dead for the purpose of Divination. Throughout history, necromancy has been feared because of the dangers involved, and is reviled as one of the ugliest and most repugnant of magical rites. Necromatic rites are not practiced in neo-Paganism Witchcraft, but the are in Voodoo. Necromancy is not to be confused with conjuring Demons or the Devil. The spirits of the dead are sought for information because they are no longer bound by the earthly plane and therefore supposedly have access to information beyond that available to the living. Conjured spirits are asked about the future and where to find buried treasure.
The rituals for necromancy are similar to those for conjuring demons, involving Magic Circles, wands, talismans, bells and incantations, as prescribed by various grimoires. In addition, the necromancer surrounds themselves by grusome aspects of death: they wear clothing stolen from corpses and meditate upon death. Soem rituals call for the eating of dog flesh, for dogs are associated with Hecate, the patron goddess of Witchcraft, and for consuming unsalted and unleavened black bread and unfermented grape juice, symbolic of decay and lifelesness.
Such preperations may go on for days or weeks. The actual ritual itself may take many hours, during which time the magician calls upon Hecate or various demons to help raise the desired spirit. The ritual customarily takes place in a graveyard over the corpse itself. The objective is to summon the spirit to re-enter the corpse and bring it back to life, rising and speaking in answer to questions posed by the magician. Recently deceased corpses are preferred by necromancers, for they are said to speak the most clearly. If the person has been dead a long time, necromancers try to summon their ghostly spirit to appear. Once the ritual has been performed successfully, the necromancer is supposed to burn the corpse or bury it in quicklime, so that it will not be disturbed again. In the Middle ages, many believed that necromancers also consumed the flesh of the corpse as part of the ritual.
Some necromancers summon corpses to attack the living. This practice dates back as far as ancient Egypt and Greece and is still done in Voodoo.
The numbers nine and 13 are associated with necromancy. Nine represents an old belief that there were nine spheres through which a soul passed in the transition from life to death. Thirteen was the number of persons who attended Christ's Last Supper, at which he was bertrayed; Christ later rose from the dead.
