The summoning of truth and knowledge with the help of the dead
The thought is eerie and can bring shivers to the majority of us. Modern times linked it to darkness and everything bad. Thanks to the present-day depiction of this practice, the custom that was rooted from the old age has evolved into something fearsome as what has been shown on television shows and movies.
Necromancy is the art of calling the dead to get answers, foretell the future and even defend against something. There are no distinct accounts that prove the origin of the practice. However, ancient literature connotes that summoning ghosts has been an established custom of past cultures.
A good example of this would be found in Homer’s Odyssey when Odysseus had to travel
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Usually done during the wee hours, necromancers perform the deed at isolated places. It is important to focus while reciting the repeated prayer because the duration can take a long time. The calling of a ghost might take hours, days or weeks. There are talismans involved, but extreme cases might also suggest the use of a dead person’s belongings like clothes, eating rotten food and worse, the flesh of an animal or person. The ritual is performed within a circle because the said shape is believed to protect everything inside it – even from bad spirits that are called during the course of ritual.
While necromancy is used primarily for guidance, the birth of Christianity proved the opposite correlating the tradition to demonic acts and Satanism. Since this mostly originated from pagan belief, the demolition of this tradition by regarding it as evil was beneficial for Christianity because it was in the pursuit of domination during that time.
Do not misunderstand necromancers as uneducated, though. Far from estranged hermits, necromancers actually hold important positions in society. As a matter of fact, some of them are scholars and advisors of leaders in some territories. Most of these people are well versed and have great knowledge when it comes to astronomy and other sorts of divination. This is important, especially when it comes to defining signs and symbols that are used while calling the