Editing Necromancy (section)

== Antiquity ==
{{Main|Magic in the Graeco-Roman world}}
Early necromancy was related to – and most likely evolved from –forms of [[shamanism]] or prehistoric ritual magic that calls upon spirits such as the [[ghost]]s of deceased forebears. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in "a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning", comparable to the [[Trance|trance-state]] mutterings of shamans.<ref>Luck, p. 12.</ref>
Necromancy was prevalent throughout antiquity with records of its practice in [[ancient Egypt]], [[Babylonia]], [[ancient Greece|Greece]], ancient [[Etruria]], [[ancient Rome|Rome]], and [[History of China|China]]. In his ''[[Geographica]]'', [[Strabo]] refers to {{lang|grc|νεκρομαντία}} ({{Transliteration|grc|nekromantia}}), or "diviners by the dead", as the foremost practitioners of divination among the people of [[Parthian Empire|Persia]],<ref>Strabo. ''Geography'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0239:book=16:chapter=2:section=39 Book XVI, Chapter 2, Section 39] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622062540/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D16%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D39 |date=2021-06-22 }}.</ref> and it is believed to have also been widespread among the peoples of [[Chaldea]] (particularly the [[Hermeticists]], or "star-worshipers") and Babylonia. The Babylonian necromancers were called {{lang|mis|manzazuu}} or {{lang|mis|sha'etemmu}}, and the spirits they raised were called {{lang|mis|etemmu}}. 
Traditional [[Chinese folk religion]] involves necromancy in seeking blessing from dead ancestors through ritual displays of [[filial piety]].

The oldest literary account of necromancy is found in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]''.<ref>Johnson, p. 808.</ref><ref>Ruickbie, p. 24.</ref> Under the direction of [[Circe]], a powerful sorceress, Odysseus travels to the [[Greek underworld|underworld]] ({{Transliteration|grc|[[katabasis]]}}) in order to gain insight about his impending voyage home by raising the spirits of the dead through the use of spells which Circe has taught him. He wishes to invoke and question the [[Shade (mythology)|shade]] of [[Tiresias]] in particular; however, he is unable to summon the seer's spirit without the assistance of others. The ''Odyssey''{{'}}s passages contain many descriptive references to necromantic rituals: rites must be performed around a pit with fire during nocturnal hours, and Odysseus has to follow a specific recipe, which includes the blood of sacrificial animals, to concoct a libation for the ghosts to drink while he recites prayers to both the ghosts and gods of the underworld.<ref>Homer. ''Odyssey'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0218:book=10:card=10 Book X, Lines 10–11] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123170745/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0218%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D10 |date=2020-11-23 }}, and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0218:book=11:card=1 Book XI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127151758/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0218%3Abook%3D11%3Acard%3D1 |date=2020-11-27 }}.</ref>

Practices such as these, varying from the mundane to the grotesque, were commonly associated with necromancy. Rituals could be quite elaborate, involving [[magic circle]]s, [[wand]]s, [[talisman]]s, and [[incantation]]s. The necromancer might also surround himself with morbid aspects of death, which often included wearing the deceased's clothing and consuming foods that symbolized lifelessness and decay such as unleavened black bread and unfermented grape juice. Some necromancers even went so far as to take part in the mutilation and consumption of corpses.<ref>Guiley, p. 215.</ref> These ceremonies could carry on for hours, days, or even weeks, leading up to the eventual summoning of spirits. Frequently they were performed in places of [[burial|interment]] or other melancholy venues that suited specific guidelines of the necromancer. Additionally, necromancers preferred to summon the recently departed based on the premise that their revelations were spoken more clearly. This timeframe was usually limited to the twelve months following the death of the physical body; once this period elapsed, necromancers would evoke the deceased's ghostly spirit instead.<ref>Lewis, p. 201.</ref>

While some cultures considered the knowledge of the dead to be unlimited, ancient Greeks and Romans believed that individual shades knew only certain things. The apparent value of their counsel may have been based on things they knew in life or knowledge they acquired after death. [[Ovid]] writes in his ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' of a marketplace in the underworld where the dead convene to exchange news and gossip.<ref>Luck, p. 13.</ref><ref>Ovid. ''Metamorphoses'', [[s:Metamorphoses/Book IV#The Transformation of Ino and Melicerta to Sea-Gods|Book IV, Fable VII, Lines 440–464]].</ref>

=== Prohibited among Israelites ===

There are also several references to necromancers – called "bone-conjurers" among Jews of the later [[Hellenistic period]]<ref>Luck, p. 57.</ref> – in the [[Bible]]. The [[Book of Deuteronomy]] ([[s:Bible (King James)/Deuteronomy#18:9|18:9–12]]<ref>{{abbr|cf.|compare with}} [[s:Tanakh/Torah/Devarim#Devarim 18|''Tanakh, Torah, Devarim'' 18:9–12]].</ref>) explicitly warns the [[Israelites]] against engaging in the [[Canaan#Hebrew Bible|Canaanite]] practice of divination from the dead: {{Blockquote|<sup>9</sup>When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. <sup>10</sup>There shall not be found among you any one who maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or who useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, <sup>11</sup>or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. <sup>12</sup>For all who do these things are an abomination unto the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee ([[Authorized King James Version|KJV]]).}} Though Mosaic Law prescribed the [[List of capital crimes in the Torah|death penalty]] to practitioners of necromancy ([[s:Bible (King James)/Leviticus#20:27|Leviticus 20:27]]<ref>{{abbr|cf.|compare with}} [[s:Tanakh/Torah/Vayikra#Vayikra 20|''Tanakh, Torah, Vayikra'' 20:27]].</ref>), this warning was not always heeded. One of the foremost examples is when King [[Saul]] had the [[Witch of Endor]] invoke the spirit of [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]], a [[Biblical judges|judge]] and [[prophet]], from [[Sheol]] to divine the outcome of a coming battle ([[s:Bible (King James)/1 Samuel#28:3|1 Samuel 28:3–25]]<ref>{{abbr|cf.|compare with}} [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a28.htm#3 ''Tanakh, Nevi'im, Shmu'el Aleph'' 28:3–25] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509225206/http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt08a28.htm#3 |date=2012-05-09 }}.</ref>). However, the so-called witch was shocked at the presence of a familiar spirit in the image of Samuel for in I Sam 28:7 states "Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor" and in I Sam 28:12 says, "when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out in a loud voice", and the familiar spirit questioned his reawakening, asking as if he were Samuel the Prophet, "Why hast thou disquieted me?"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/livesnecromance04godwgoog|title=Lives of the Necromancers|author=William Godwin|year=1876|page=[https://archive.org/details/livesnecromance04godwgoog/page/n41 18]}}</ref> Saul died the next day in combat, with Chronicles 10:13 implying this was due to the prohibition against necromancy.