Few forms of magic are as subject to shadowy obfuscations, fearful misgivings, and downright denigration as the Black Arts of sciomancia and necromancia - that is, consorting with spirits of the dead, often through the manipulation of their material remains. Little has spilled more demonologists' ink barring perhaps witchcraft and its attendants hunts and hysterias... which are themselves related back to the norms of human society and authority challenged by interactions with ecologies of spirit and the exercises of often-forbidden power; accusations that also mark the necromancer. It can seem such practices are as tenebrous and mythic as the shades they seek after, as powerful yet intangible as a nightmare, and as removed from actual full-blooded sorcery as mere heresiographers' marginalia.
And yet, through this brackish morass of rumour and superstition concerning the nigromancy of Other Magicians, we do have some surprisingly cogent and consistent concepts and descriptions from which we can chart an exploration into practicable techniques of pre-modern European necromancy. In Thomas Blout's Glossographia of 1661, a necromancer is defined in the following manner:
Necromancer (necromantes) he [sic] that practises that wicked Art, a Master of the Black Art, one that seeks to the dead; or consults with Satan in the shape of a dead man. The Hebrews describe him thus; he made himself hungry, and then lodged among the Graves, that the dead might come to him in a dream, and make known to him that which he asked, &c. Others there were that clad themselves with cloathes for that purpose, and spoke certain words, burned Incense, and slept by themselves, that such a dead person might come and talk with them in a dream.
Far more than simply describing, this entry combines several approaches to such black magics and how they were performed, offering us rich avenues for pursuing not just what early modern necromancers did, but how they did it...
In this course professional diviner, historian, and folk necromancer Dr Alexander Cummins will lead us through this de facto nigromantic syllabus with a selection of early modern grimoiric and folk magical material for dream incubation, humoural diet, ritual garb, graveyard protocols, suffumigations, incantations, and spiritwork. This illustrated lecture will ground us in the practicalities of such pre-modern European necromantic approaches, operations, and procedures, that we might better engage with our necromancer forebears and learn - both directly and indirectly - from the dead magicians who came before us.
Advanced Necromancy for Beginners: Seeking to the Dead, Wednesday June 22nd
Exhuming the buried bones and bringing them into living contemporary moonlights, modern necromancers may have as much to learn from wandering the archives and libraries of the dead as the graveyards and potters fields.
Historical research can greatly inform, enhance, and develop modern nigromancy practice, and what is history – a itself made of dead people – if not thoroughly necromantic.
In this class, contemporary cunning man Dr Alexander Cummins will guide us through the catacombs of historical evidence for the black magics that seek to the dead: examining trial records, heresiographers’ accounts, occult philosophy, and a wealth of folklore and folk magic concerning the relationships, power dynamics, and affectivities intertwining and enmeshing the living and the dead.
In the course of this class’ exhumations, we will consider the source materials and traditional techniques for studying and practicing pre-modern necromancy, and how we as the living may breath new life into these old bones of ancestral cunning.
***suggested pre-requisite: Necromancy for Beginners Course (these classes can be found in the Class Archives)***
About the Presenter:
Dr. Alexander Cummins (@grimoiresontape) is a professional diviner, consultant sorcerer, and historian of magic. His work focuses on grimoires, divination, and folk necromancy. He co-hosts Radio Free Golgotha, and can be booked for talks, workshops, readings, coaching and consultation at www.alexandercummins.com/. His recorded classes can also be obtained from The Cauldron Black archives.
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