Necromancy
(nekros, "dead", and manteia, "divination")
Necromancy is a special mode of divination (q. v.) by the evocation of the dead.
Understood as nigromancy (niger, black), which is the Italian, Spanish and old
French form, the term suggests "black" magic or "black" art, in which marvellous
results are due to the agency of evil spirits, while in "white" magic they are
due to human dexterity and trickery. The practice of necromancy supposes belief
in the survival of the soul after death, the possession of a superior knowledge
by the disembodied spirit, and the possibility of communication between the
living and the dead. The circumstances and conditions of this communication
such as time, place, and rites to be followed depend on the various
conceptions which were entertained concerning the nature of the departed soul,
its abode, its relations with the earth and with the body in which it previously
resided. As divinities frequently were but human heroes raised to the rank of
gods, necromancy, mythology, and demonology are in close relation, and the
oracles of the dead are not always easily distinguished from the oracles of the
gods.
I. NECROMANCY IN PAGAN COUNTRIES
Along with other forms of divination and magic, necromancy is found in every
nation of antiquity, and is a practice common to paganism at all times and in
all countries, but nothing certain can be said as to the place of its origin.
Strabo (Geogr., XVI, ii, 39) says that it was the characteristic form of
divination among the Persians. It was also found in Chaldea, Babylonia and
Etruria (Clemens Alex., "Protrepticum", II, in Migne, P. G., VIII, 69; Theodoret,
"Gr?carum affectionum curatlo", X, in P. G., LXXXIII, 1076). Isaias (xix, 3)
refers to its practice in Egypt, and Moses (Deuter., xviii, 9-12) warns the
Israelites against imitating the Chanaanite abominations, among which seeking
the truth from the dead is mentioned. In Greece and Rome the evocation of the
dead took place especially in caverns, or in volcanic regions, or near rivers
and lakes, where the communication with the abodes of the dead was thought to be
easier. Among these, nekromanteia, psychomanteia, or psychopompeia, the most
celebrated were the oracle in Thesprotia near the River Acheron, which was
supposed to be one of the rivers of hell, another in Laconia near the promontory
of T?narus, in a large and deep cavern from which a black and unwholesome vapour
issued, and which was considered as one of the entrances of hell, others at
Aornos in Epirus and Heraclea on the Propontis. In Italy the oracle of Cum?, in
a cavern near Lake Avernus in Campania, was one of the most famous.
The oldest mention of necromancy is the narrative of Ulysses' voyage to Hades (Odyssey,
XI) and of his evocation of souls by means of the various rites indicated by
Circe. It is noteworthy that, in this instance, although Ulysses' purpose was to
consult the shade of Tiresias, he seems unable to evoke it alone; a number of
others also appear, together or successively. As parallel to this passage of
Homer may be mentioned the sixth book of Virgil's ?neid, which relates the
descent of ?neas into the infernal regions. But here there is no true evocation,
and the hero himself goes through the abodes of the souls. Besides these
poetical and mythological narratives, several instances of necromantic practices
are recorded by historians. At Cape T?narus Callondas evoked the soul of
Archilochus, whom he had killed (Plutarch, "De sera numinis vindicta", xvii).
Periander tyrant of Corinth, and one of the seven wise men of Greece, sent
messengers to the oracle on the River Acheron to ask his dead wife, Melissa, in
what place she had laid a stranger's deposit. Her phantom appeared twice and, at
the second appearance, gave the required information (Herodotus, V, xcii).
Pausanias, King of Sparta, had killed Cleonice, whom he had mistaken for an
enemy during the night, and in consequence he could find neither rest nor peace,
but his mind was filled with strange fears. After trying many purifications and
expiations, he went to the psychopompeion of Phigalia, or Heraclea, evoked her
soul, and received the assurance that his dreams and fears would cease as soon
as he should have returned to Sparta. Upon his arrival there he died (Pausanias
III, xvii, 8, 9; Plutarch, "De sera num. vind.", x; "Vita Cimonis", vi). After
his death, the Spartans sent to Italy for psychagogues to evoke and appease his
manes (Plutarch, "Desera num. vind.", xvii). Necromancy is mixed with
oneiromancy in the case of Elysius of Terina in Italy, who desired to know if
his son's sudden death was due to poisoning. He went to the oracle of the dead
and, while sleeping in the temple, had a vision of both his father and his son
who gave him the desired information (Plutarch, "Consolatio ad Apollonium", xiv).
Among the Romans, Horace several times alludes to the evocation of the dead (see
especially Satires, I, viii, 25 sq.). Cicero testifies that his friend Appius
practised necromancy (Tuscul. qu?st., I, xvi), and that Vatinius called up souls
from the netherworld (in Vatin., vi). The same is asserted of the Emperors
Drusus (Tacitus, "Annal.", II, xxviii), Nero (Suetonius, "Nero", xxxiv; Pliny, "Hist.
nat.", XXX, v), and Caracalla (Dio Cassius, LXXVII, xv). The grammarian Apion
pretended to have conjured up the soul of Homer, whose country and parents he
wished to ascertain (Pliny, "Hist. nat.", XXX, vi) and Sextus Pompeius consulted
the famous Thessalian magician Erichto to learn from the dead the issue of the
struggle between his father and C?sar (Lucan, "Pharsalia", VI). Nothing certain
can be said concerning the rites or incantations which were used; they seem to
have been very complex, and to have varied in almost every instance. In the
Odyssey, Ulysses digs a trench, pours libations around it, and sacrifices black
sheep whose blood the shades drink before speaking to him. Lucan (Pharsalia, VI)
describes at length many incantations, and speaks of warm blood poured into the
veins of a corpse as if to restore it to life. Cicero (In Vatin., VI) relates
that Vatinius, in connexion with the evocation of the dead, offered to the manes
the entrails of children, and St. Gregory Nazianzen mentions that boys and
virgins were sacrificed and dissected for conjuring up the dead and divining (Orat.
I contra Julianum, xcii, in P. G., XXV 624).
II. NECROMANCY IN THE BIBLE
In the Bible necromancy is mentioned chiefly in order to forbid it or to reprove
those who have recourse to it. The Hebrew term 'oboth (sing., 'obh) denotes
primarily the spirits of the dead, or "pythons", as the Vulgate calls them (Deut.,
xviii, 11; Isa., xix, 3), who were consulted in order to learn the future (Deut.,
xviii, 10, 11; I Kings, xxviii, 8), and gave their answers through certain
persons in whom they resided (Levit., xx, 27; I Kings, xxviii, 7), but is also
applied to the persons themselves who were supposed to foretell events under the
guidance of these "divining" or "pythonic" spirits (Levit., xx, 6; I Kings,
xxviii, 3, 9; Isa., xix, 3). The term yidde 'onim (from yada, "to know"), which
is also used, but always in conjunction with 'oboth, refers either to knowing
spirits and persons through whom they spoke, or to spirits who were known and
familiar to the wizards. The term 'obh signifies both "a diviner" and "a
leathern bag for holding water" (Job xxxii, 19 uses it in the latter sense),
but scholars are not agreed whether we have two disparate words, or whether it
is the same word with two related meanings. Many maintain that it is the same in
both instances as the diviner was supposed to be the recipient and the container
of the spirit. The Septuagint translates 'oboth, as diviners, by "ventriloquists"
(eggastrimthouoi), either because the translators thought that the diviner's
alleged communication with the spirit was but a deception, or rather because of
the belief common in antiquity that ventriloquism was not a natural faculty, but
due to the presence of a spirit. Perhaps, also, the two meanings may be
connected on account of the peculiarity of the voice of the ventriloguist, which
was weak and indistinct, as if it came from a cavity. Isaias (viii, 19) says
that necromancers "mutter" and makes the following prediction concerning
Jerusalem: "Thou shalt speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out
of the ground, and thy voice shall be from the earth like that of the python and
out of the ground thy speech shall mutter" (xxix, 4). Profane authors also
attribute a distinctive sound to the voice of the spirits or shades, although
they do not agree in characterizing it. Homer (Iliad, XXIII, 101; Od., XXIV, 5,
9) uses the verb trizein, and Statius (Thebais, VII, 770) stridere, both of
which mean "to utter a shrill cry"; Horace qualifies their voice as triste et
acutum (Sat., I, viii, 40); Virgil speaks of their vox exigua (?neid, VI, 492)
and of the gemitus lacrymabilis which is heard from the grave (op. cit., III,
39); and in a similar way Shakespeare says that "the sheeted dead did squeak and
gibber in the Roman streets" (Hamlet, I, i).
The Moasic Law forbids necromancy (Levit., xix, 31; xx, 6), declares that to
seek the truth from the dead is abhorred by God (Deut., xviii, 11, 12), and even
makes it punishable by death (Levit., xx, 27; cf. I Kings, xxviii, 9).
Nevertheless, owing especially to the contact of the Hebrews with pagan nations,
we find it practised in the time of Saul (I Kings, xxviii, 7, 9), of Isaias, who
strongly reproves the Hebrews on this ground (viii, 19; xix, 3; xxix, 4, etc.),
and of Manasses (IV Kings, xxi, 6; II Par., xxxiii, 6). The best known case of
necromancy in the Bible is the evocation of the soul of Samuel at Endor (I Kings,
xxviii). King Saul was at war with the Philistines, whose army had gathered near
that of Israel. He "was afraid and his heart was very much dismayed. And he
consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by priests,
nor by prophets" (5, 6). Then he went to Endor, to a woman who had "a divining
spirit", and persuaded her to call the soul of Samuel. The woman alone saw the
prophet, and Saul recognized him from the description she gave of him. But Saul
himself spoke and heard the prediction that, as the Lord had abandoned him on
account of his disobedience, he would be defeated and killed. This narrative has
given rise to several interpretations. Some deny the reality of the apparition
and claim that the witch deceived Saul; thus St. Jerome (In Is., iii, vii, 11,
in P. L., XXIV, 108; in Ezech., xiii, 17, in P. L., XXV, 119) and Theodoret, who,
however, adds that the prophecy came from God (In I Reg., xxviii, QQ. LXIII,
LXIV, in P. G., LXXX, 589). Others attribute it to the devil, who took Samuel's
appearance; thus St. Basil (In Is., viii, 218, in P. G., XXX, 497), St. Gregory
of Nyssa ("De pythonissa, ad Theodos, episc. epist.", in P. G., XLV, 107-14),
and Tertullian (De anima, LVII, in P. L., II, 794). Others, finally, look upon
Samuel's apparition as real; thus Josephus (Antiq. Jud., VI, xiv, 2), St. Justin
(Dialogus cum Tryphone Jud?o, 105, in P. G., VI, 721), Origen (In I Reg., xxviii,
"De Engastrimytho", in P. G., XII, 1011-1028), St. Ambrose (In Luc., i, 33, in
P. L., XV, 1547), and St. Augustine, who finally adopted this view after having
held the others (De diversis qu?st. ad Simplicianum, III, in P. L., XL, 142-44;
De octo Dulcitii qu?st., VI, in P. L., XL, 162-65; De cura pro mortuis, xv, in
P. L., XL, 606; De doctrina christiana, II, xxiii, in P. L., XXXIV, 52). St.
Thomas (Summa, II-II, Q. clxxiv, a. 5, ad 4 um) does not pronounce. The last
interpretation of the reality of Samuel's apparition is favoured both by the
details of the narrative and by another Biblical text which convinced St.
Augustine: "After this, he [Samuel] slept, and he made known to the king, and
showed him the end of his life, and he lifted up his voice from the earth in
prophecy to blot out the wickedness of the nation" (Ecclus., xlvi, 23).
III. NECROMANCY IN THE CHRISTIAN ERA
In the first centuries of the Christian era the practice of necromancy was
common among pagans, as the Fathers frequently testify (see, e. g., Tertulilan,
"Apol.", xxiii, P. L., I, 470; "De anima", LVI, LVII, in P. L., II, 790 sqq.;
Lactantius, "Divin? institutiones", IV, xxvii, in P. L., VI, 531). It was
associated with other magical arts and other forms of demoniacal practices, and
Christians were warned against such observances "in which the demons represent
themselves as the souls of the dead" (Tertullian, De anima, LVII, in P. L., II,
793). Nevertheless, even Christians converted from paganism sometimes indulged
in them. The efforts of Church authorities, popes, and councils, and the severe
laws of Christian emperors, especially Constantine, Constantius, Valentinian,
Valens, Theodosius, were not directed specifically against necromancy, but in
general against pagan magic, divination, and superstition. In fact, little by
little the term necromancy lost its strict meaning and was applied to all forms
of black art, becoming closely associated with alchemy, witchcraft, and magic.
Notwithstanding all efforts, it survived in some form or other during the Middle
Ages, but was given a new impetus at the time of the Renaissance by the revival
of the neo-Platonic doctrine of demons. In his memoirs (translated by Roscoe,
New York, 1851, ch. xiii) Benvenuto Cellini shows how vague the meaning of
necromancy had become when he relates that he assisted at "necromantic"
evocations in which multitudes of "devils" appeared and answered his questions.
Cornelius Agrippa ("De occulta philosophia", Cologne, 1510, tr. by J. F., London,
1651) indicates the magical rites by which souls are evoked. In recent times,
necromancy, as a distinct belief and practice, reappears under the name of
spiritism, or spiritualism (see SPIRITISM).
The Church does not deny that, with a special permission of God, the souls of
the departed may appear to the living, and even manifest things unknown to the
latter. But, understood as the art or science of evoking the dead, necromancy is
held by theologians to be due to the agency of evil spirits, for the means taken
are inadequate to produce the expected results. In pretended evocations of the
dead, there may be many things explainable naturally or due to fraud; how much
is real, and how much must be attributed to imagination and deception, cannot be
determined, but real facts of necromancy, with the use of incantations and
magical rites, are looked upon by theologians, after St. Thomas, II-II, Q. xcv,
aa. iii, iv, as special modes of divination, due to demoniacal intervention, and
divination itself is a form of superstition.
LENORMANT, La magie chez les Chaldeens (Paris, 1875); IDEM, La divination et la
science des presages chez les Chaldeens (Paris, 1875); BOUCHE-LECLERCQ, Histoire
de la divination dans l'antiquite (Paris, 1879-82); TYLOR, Researches into the
Early History of Mankind (London, 1865); DOLLINGER, Heidenthum und Judenthum (Ratisbon,
1857); FRERET, Observations sur les Oracles rendus par les ames des morts in
Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, XXIII (1756), 174;
KOHLER, De origine et progressu necyomanti? sive manium evocation apud veteres
tum Gr?cos tum Romanos (Liegnitz, 1829); RHODE, Psyche (Freiburg im Br., 1898);
WAITE, The Mysteries of Magic (London, 1897), 181; HOLMES in Kitto's Cyclopedia
of Biblical Literature, s. v. Divination; WHITEHOUSE in HASTINGS. Dict. of the
Bible, s. v. Sorcery; LESETRE in Dict. de la Bible, s. v. Evocation des morts;
SCHANZ in Kirchenlexicon, s. v. Todtenbeschworung.
C. A. DUBRAY.
Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary