#nigromancy

[arcane-offerings]

Magic circle from The Discoverie of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot, 1584, Wellcome Collection, London.

[neuroglider]

:: Entrego mi sangre y mi alma al dios de la locura para invocar el silencio de la noche, la oscuridad y la calma del vacío; entrego mi semilla al infinito descarnado por el poder de renacer entre las cenizas, por la eternidad del conocimiento sin ataduras; el camino espera, el destino está en el sueño de la razón y la verdad... :: . . . #devonkentao #theotherside #exilio #autoexilio #hechizo #spell #hechiceria #witchcraft #brujeria #brujería #magia #magicspells #magic #sorcery #mago #brujo #hechicero #nigromante #nigromancia #nigromancy (en Mexico City, Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck17d_2jlf6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[negreabsolut]

Mag de caos negre, per Sugachan. Font.

[jaeltree]

"Read to me" from Sadira

Mozenrath looked at Sadira incredulously. She did know he didn’t have any fiction books, right? That a lot of his books had to do with the occult?

He shrugged, sitting down with her and summoned the book he was currently reading. Holding it parted in his left hand, he read aloud.

“The Last Touch of the Great Poisoner,

Throughout the centuries the power of life and death has been one of the most coveted treasures by magicians, occultists, mystics, nigromancers and necromancers. Some seek to destroy the diseases that weaken the body by concentrating their forces in the physical practices and forms of power that give them longevity; some even try to develop mythical siddhis such as immortality of the body. Others seek more effective methods such as sowing death and destruction to annihilate their enemies and take control over the life force of the universe around them. In both cases, the development of such skills involves a complete dedication to the Royal Art in order to obtain a result that can be truly effective; health over sickness, “sanatio-aut-œgrotatio” as Roman doctors would say, is a process of capacity, skill, knowledge and possibly of personal vocation.”

He glanced over to Sadira for any indication of whether she wanted him to continue reading or not.

[cryptotheism]

The phrase "black magic" was created to describe the magic of Black folks, and was considered purely harmful and "of the devil" in order to dehumanize them and make it easier to keep them as slaves, right? Or do i have it twisted?

Eh it's more complicated than that. In ancient Egypt, the color black was associated with Osiris, and the funerary arts. Its (and I'm taking a side on an ongoing debate here) probably the etymology of the term "nigromancy" from late Latin, itself a blend of "Niger" or black, and the Greek "nekromanteía" or working of the dead.

The term Black Magic came into English use around 1590, and as far as I'm aware, it didn't have any connotations for black people. However, the transatlantic slave trade had recently begun at that point, and I can absolutely see the term being applied to African diasporic religions in a racialized way.

So, though I cannot confirm or deny any racialized use on part of the term, I think framing the term "Black magic" as an explicit derogatory term for the magical and religious practices of black people is likely an exaggerated modern reframing rather than the actual history of the term.

[kinseviing]

SO I made a cool centaur lass for a Dnd campaign we will be playing next week hehe

Some versions I made for reference.

Her name is Sash, she's like 30- something, has been living for years in a reclusive Kelemvor dedicated congregation. Some months a year her job has been to go town by town with a companion to oficiate funeral services and prevent corpse desecrations by pesky nigromants.

Undertaker express, she will take you down, give you your last rites (respectfully) and has a free of cost undeath prevention policy! 10/10

Poor gal has trouble connecting to people so let's see how she fares in the campaign.

[malorydaily]

The term most often employed in romance to suggest illicit magical arts is ‘nigromancy’. Yet because the word is understood to find its origins in Latin niger, black (rather than Greek, nekros, corpse), and is invariably spelled to indicate this, its meaning is not so pre- cise nor so extreme as the modern ‘necromancy’. Romance writers employ ‘nigromancy’ not to depict rituals wholly different in kind from natural magic, summoning demons, but rather to suggest more dangerous rituals that enter further into the conscious practice of magic.

Helen Cooper writes, ‘Middle English ‘nigro- mancy’ is ... magic on the edge of acceptability, not magic conducted through the agency of the dead.’ ‘Nigromancy’ and ‘sorcery’ are treated in romance as near-similes, along with, less often, ‘witchcraft’, and the connotation of black or dark arts is most pervasive. ‘Nigromancy’ can imply the use of illusions, and may signal human practitioners whose arts are extreme, dubious and sometimes villainous. It may include the power of invisibility, metamorphosis or shape-shifting, manipulation of mind or body for the purpose of love or power.

Not all such arts are obviously ‘black magic’, but they are potentially dangerous, and many do prove destructive. We are left to draw our own conclusions about just how the magic is achieved, but it is often represented in material terms closely linked to those of natural magic, sometimes supplemented by books that may or may not afford the means to summon demons. Romance also, however, voices the attraction of such magic. Schooling in the occult sciences may include study of ‘nigromancy’, apparently the arts of illusion and natural magic, that may be used to both positive as well as negative ends.

– Corinne Saunders, Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English Romance

[aroace-cat-lady]

Kit has all the light and grace that cames with being the first heir, and Ty has all the darkeness that cames with the nigromance. It's weird that none of them want it and neither can do anything to change it.

[wurasgrimoire]

Cartomancy, following the methods of Saint Cyprian of Antioch.

Diamonds

Ace, a gift

Two, quickly

Three, gladly

Four, church

Five, news

Six, big money

Seven, small money

Spades

Ace, affirms

Two, cutting

Three, bad words

Four, on bed

Five, disease

Six, detour

Seven, passion of the soul

Hearts

Ace, dancing

Two, a letter

Three, good words

Four, on the road

Five, tears

Six, on their way

Seven, with food and drink

Clubs

Ace, by night

Two, slowly

Three, in short time

Four, in this house

Five, with five senses

Six, carefully

Seven, with pleasure

The Queen of Spades is a woman with a bad tongue, the King and Jack of Spades are the body and thought of a justice man, attorney, judge or anything close to it.

The Queen of Diamonds represents the sorceress' client, and the King and Jack of Diamonds are the body and thought of the person that you wish to know about.

The other figures are used for marking anyone in this nigromancy, keeping in mind that the Jacks represents the thoughts of the Kings from the same suit.

[isapolvorita]

Ok i finished the locked tomb and sincerely, i didnt like it.

I really tried to find something that impulse me to read the others as well but, theres not.

I dont know if the problem is because i read in spain spanish, but the way is writing is so weird and sometimes i feel like it brokes the mood. The plot was fine itself but they didnt give information about the world enough. Like how can be a planet with just two kids left? Is normal for the others kingdoms to have that few people? Everyone can be a nigromant? Or is just a royal thing? How it works? How can gideon know about the other worlds? Someone told her? But none really cared about her.

Also the deaths felt a bit plain. I have to admit that the first one was a surprise, and the reactions were fine, but i didnt have clear why everyone was so hysteric. I thought they were nigromants and also the ninth ist like goth emo thing? They arent close to the death?

And then at the end was like plot twists everywhere that i just felt bored. Like ohh she betrayed them ohh he was really death ohh and she is not the person she said she was oh well.

The only thing i liked were the protagonist i think? I liked the personality, you dont see often female characters with that traits so, that was fine. But oh well, i think also that doesnt matter now.

I dont know, all i knew about this book when i started it was "spacial lesbian nigromants" but there was not enough space, the lesbian thing was there but now doesnt matter and the nigromant system was never explain.

If someone have a different opinion im here to listen. I wish i liked that book

[grimoiresontape]

So You’re Interested In Necromancy

Hello there. A little raven told me you were interested in necromancy… 

After receiving positive feedback about the helpfulness of my post compiling my ever-expanding list of geomancy resources, I wanted to make one available on my work with the dead. Given that I have a number of courses and class recordings hosted by The Cauldron Black – and all available for purchase on their Class Archives – along with other class-bundles and course series on this site it just made sense to have them all in one place right here.

Radio Free Golgotha & Nights of Folk Necromancy

I would be remiss if I didn’t begin this post with a mention of the pod’ I ‘cast with my dear friend Jesse Hathaway-Diaz. Entitled as it is, folk necromancies of a variety of sorts are regularly discussed on Radio Free Golgotha.

You can also actually see as well as hear us talk a whole Night of Folk Necromancy hosted by Morbid at Hauser & Wirth, exploring a variety of encounters between the living and the dead; from accidental hauntings to deliberate conjuration of ghosts, and everything in between.

Jesse and I also co-mod (with esteemed pal Ben Joffe) the Liber AF group Folk Necromancy, where we drop the hottest new excavated tomb news, chat de-colonialism and ancestral foodways, share upcoming nigromantic events and much more.

All My History Is Necromantic

For those looking for a lively class recording bundled with primary source scans and scholarly resources giving historical rundown of early modern necromancy, look no further than my class-bundle, Raising the Dead: A History of Early Modern British Necromancy, which charts pre-modern contexts of death and dying, the use of corpses as materia and spell components, and various forms and instances of trafficking with shades of the dead.

  Getting Stuck In

For those looking to start their practical necromancings, my five-part course Necromancy for Beginners grounds students in historical understandings and examples of necromancy, presents the fundamentals of ancestor veneration for necromancers, offers techniques for working with the Great Dead who inspire and offer us wisdom from beyond the grave, outlines strategies for successfully working in graveyards and with your local dead, and imparts advice about dealing with restless and hungry shades. 

For those wanting to dig a little deeper, my modular series Advanced Necromancy for Beginners presents four independent but interlocking sets of teachings on various aspects of necromantic cunning:

Seeking To The Dead presents a variety of early modern approaches to ghost-work, from fallen angels to fairy intermediaries, and from alluring vapours to the cunning afterlives of good Genii, Magi ancestors, and the abetting dead.

Seeing in the Dark presents means and methods of focusing and deepening spirit contact, communication, and conjuration: from strange oils, ointments, and eye-washes, to clarifying smokes and asperings, and from dreaming charms to haunted pillows.

Of Smoke & Speech presents in-depth analysis of the airy mysteries of magical breath, voice, song, speech, as well as the cunning means by which nigromancers scent their circles and charge their spirits through smoke: from ‘Hekate’s Commandments’ to ‘Instructions of Cyprian’ and beyond…

On Sable Wings presents various operative means of working various melancholic mysteries of necromancy: hunger and fasting, abstinences and (taking on) taboos, graveyards and their politics, black garments and black magic, and the emotional and spiritual gravity of the grave,

You can either buy these class recordings individually from the above links, or get the whole Advanced Necromancy for Beginners course set for a tidy little discount here.

  Gravedirt Under The Fingernails

For those looking for further particular training in the operative mechanics and techniques of necromancy, I have both class-bundles and courses.  

My class-bundle Instruments of Nigromancy offers analysis of historical exemplars of the tools of necromancers drawn from grimoiric record and the working-books of cunning-craft. Definitely one for the folk necromancers.  

My Cousin of Death class-bundle examines the techniques and operations of dream incubation in pre-modern necromancy – combining planetary magic, sigilwork, conjuration, suffumigations, talismans and much more to traffick with specters and dearly departed.

Necromancy for the Whole Family

One aspect of working with the dead that might not immediately strike the enterprising necromancer as helpful – but which nonetheless absolutely stabilises and further secures success for us – is venerating and working with familial dead; the beloved departed and returning ancestors who guide, strengthen and protect us.  

And so I include my three part modular series Ancestor Veneration for Beginners here for anyone looking to (further) secure beneficial relations with not just friends but family on the other side. The three interlocking but independent class recordings of this series run thusly:

Fundamentals presents the foundations of ancestor veneration, and discusses genealogy and chosen family, reciprocity in our relationships, the whats, hows, and whys of shrines and our sessions at them, as well as touching on some of the effects and issues that can be worked through getting and staying in right relations with our dead.

Troubleshooting helps students through some of the difficulties we may encounter in seeking these right relations with ancestors: from uncertainty, confusion and “dry spells”, to navigating potential familial tensions and living spaces,  as well as offering some advice for dealing with unpleasant, unhelpful, and otherwise restless dead.

Ever-Deepening presents ways to further enrich and engage with ancestral protection and support, emphasising the importance of both short and long forms of divination. The use of materia for and from the dead is also explored, and we consider the importance of both tradition and autonomy in our veneration and well-being, and in seeking to live up to the benefits of our blessings. 

Once again, you can either buy these class recordings individually from the above links, or get the whole Ancestor Veneration for Beginners course set for a lovely little discount here.

  Tutelary Shades of Dead Magicians

For anyone interested in the necromancies of learning magic from dead practitioners, I have a couple of class recordings on just such sorts of work. Because who doesn’t love a dead magician. 

Most infamously, nigromancers of various sorts have sought the patronage and powerful secrets of one so-called sorcerer-saint, Cyprian of Antioch. My class Saint Cyprian: A Patron Saint of Black Magic presents the hagiographic magic and historical grimoiric sorceries of this saint of necromancers; from his Black Books to modern expressions of his veneration and nigromancy.

I also have three class recordings from The Cauldron Black’s Mighty Dead series (which I happened to curate and chair) that should be of particular interest to cunning nigromancers:

Mighty Dead: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa discusses the history, work and afterlife of one of the early modern period’s most infamous occult philosophers; as well as offering some advice on approaching his shade and soul.

Mighty Dead: Anne Bodenham presents the cunning life and work of the Wise-Woman – and, later, Witch – of Wiltshire; tracing the shifting conceptions of cunning-folk, witchcraft, diabolism, spirit conjuration, and grimoire magic; as well as concluding with some helpful approaches to work with the Cunning Dead.

Mighty Dead: King Solomon – a class co-taught by my friend and colleague, the inestimable Matthew Venus of Spiritus Arcanum – offers insights into the legendary life and magics of that patron of grimoiric sorcery and spirit conjuration King Solomon; as well as tracing a more spirit-centred re-orientation of what is called “Solomonic” magic.

  Devils and the Dead

Finally, while not strictly focused on working with the dead, for those who employ goetic magic in their necromancy – or vice versa – to empower their work with the dead through sympathetic devils, I can heartily recommend my three-part series, A Goetia of the Four Kings Foundation Course, which traces the grimoiric record and potent conjurations for working with the four cardinal Regent spirits of early modern grimoiric nigromancy: Oriens, Paymon, Amaymon, and Egyn.

   Memento Mori To Check Back On This Post Periodically

I have a lot more classes and courses I’ve taught online that I am in the process of putting up on my site to purchase as recordings at the moment. So I will be adding to this here blogpost as a one-stop-shop for people to check up on what’s available as they are added.  

You can also keep abreast of new classes and courses – both live online and on the site as recordings – on my Friends of English Magic mailing list or having a look-see over at my Linktree hub.

I wish you all clear airs, benevolent shades, and ever-resurrecting blessings in all your necromancings. Cheers folks.

[arcane-offerings]

Elizabeth M. Butler. Ritual Magic, Magic in History. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998. Paperback edition. 328 pages.

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[negreabsolut]

Nigromàntic hiperurànic, per DeviousToc. [font]

[eyed-knife]

Priests turned into dust

I burnt down the Vatican

I started my nigromancies

The deceased are all dancing

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

if your name is jack redfield and you live in slikeborg denmark come back home as quickly as possible cause the son of ashran the nigromant and his minion are killing your family

[eldibujista]

Drawnist's Fantasy World's lore masterpost.

While I'm still trying to survive college, and writing these things for absolutely no one to see here's a list of all of the entries I've wrote so far and a few to be posted.

Entry 001: Vampires

Entry 002: Odontopahges

Entry 003: Unhealing poison

Entry 004: Wands

Entry 005: Risks and warnings about the usage of wands

Entry 006: A crude and lonely curse

Entry 007: Walking trees

Entry 008: Ahuizotls

Entry 009: Lycans

Entry 010: Neroids/Merpeople

Entry 011: Contcor potion

Entry 012: Rembrula

Entry 013: REDACTED

Entry 014: The questionable works of an stubborn journalist

Entry 015: Spiritology

Entry 016: Magic inhibitor

Entry 017: Nigromancy

Entry 018: Potionists

Entry 019: Curses

Entry 020: Lycantrophe

Entry 021: Human-vampire relations

Entry 022: Air-tanah potion

Entry 023: Frigabita potion

Entry 024: Gargoyles

Entry 025: Boundaries of magic

Entry 026: REDACTED

Entry 027: Elves