Necromancy

[Hevenly Heathen]

What is it? Some say it is evil, others use it as a form of divination, yet others manipulate spirits.
A friend and I had a recent debate about Necromancy. It has always fascinated me, and while young and Christian, I never thought it evil.
What is your take on it? Do you or anyone you know practice any form of Necromancy? Do you know of any sources for those curious?

 

[freethinker44]

From what I know of it, someone uses corpses and body parts to cast spells or perform magic or whatever. I guess that makes it detestable by other forms of magic. Of course everything I know of necromancy I learned from video games so maybe you shouldn't listen to what I have to say about it.

 

[Erebus]

From what I know of it, someone uses corpses and body parts to cast spells or perform magic or whatever. I guess that makes it detestable by other forms of magic. Of course everything I know of necromancy I learned from video games so maybe you shouldn't listen to what I have to say about it.

Well there's a couple of different ways of using necromancy. Generally speaking, it uses only the spirits of the dead (a lot of people believe that the dead have access to knowledge of the future) and is typically intrinsically bound to mediumship and channeling. Technically speaking, any medium or channeler who is given knowledge of the future by a spirit can be considered a necromancer.
The "corpse magic" side is almost extinct in more developed countries, though a lot of shamans will use bones from humans and animals in order to determine the future. The classic fantasy image of a dark, shrouded figure controlling the corpses of the recently deceased really is pure fantasy.

Necromancy has unfortunately been heavily associated with "black magic" over the years. However, like all magic, necromancy is only as good or evil as the goal it's used to achieve.

 

[Xafwak]

I have never tried, because in my belief the souls of the dead really don´t know the future any better than we humans, and they have left this world behind.