The full title of this entry is actually something sort of like “Necromancy Hour: A Longish Documentation of my American Necromancy Research, Part One of Undoubtedly Many, Concerning Various Alleged Valuable Texts.” It is a dull entry which serves as half documentation and half book review.
As I’ve said before, accepting the label “necromancer” in lieu of any fancier or more “specific” label has been a weirdly simultaneous blessing and curse, so to speak, because on the one hand, finding necromantic texts and resources is far easier when you’re using the label; but on the other hand, finding necromantic texts is far more difficult when you’re using the label. It’s like trying to find water in a desert versus trying to find water in a toxic rainforest. There’s nothing to be found in the desert, but in the rainforest the problem becomes identifying what’s worth your time. And this rainforest is toxic as hell.
First and foremost, of course, there’s the problem of identifying actual necromancers from roleplayers, which is strangely difficult, because there’s this ongoing game of “strangely lucid roleplayer or extremely flowery practicioner?” But that’s not even the hardest part. Actually, the most irritating part is picking through European-style grimoires and related texts.
I have come to terms with a thing. A thing which fairly well puts me at odds with a good portion of my companions. And this thing is that I don’t jive with traditional European grimoire magic. I don’t mesh with High Magic and the Ceremonial. I don’t groove with the Goetia. I couldn’t give a shit about Solomon. The pomp and ceremony has never worked for me and I don’t see why I should suddenly start working in it now just because it dominates the actual-real-necromancy field. I really–wow, how can I put this that will clarify perfectly? I really do not care about high magic tradition at all. I am American; I was born and raised American, spiritually sustained American. I need American magic.
So, after picking through forum after forum, helpful blog after unhelpful blog, I gathered a somewhat, vaguely, mostly-not-ceremonial-evocation list of potential books or texts to go through, and was presented with a weird other problem. Apparently, contemporary necromancy is nigh inextricable from demonolatry and associated practices. And hey, that’s chill, whatever, but again, demonolatry is one of those things that I Just Don’t Care About and have no wish whatsoever to even so much as bend my practice to slightly incorporate.
In short, the books I gathered through links and lists and god knows what else (y’all know how research is like a rabbit hole), and have already gathered and/or developed an opinion on, included the following:
- Greek and Roman Necromancy, Daniel Ogden
That’s great. I absolutely agree with this one. In fact, it sits on my bookshelf as we speak because I hold it in such high esteem. (Thank you, old professor mine, for your college class hand-me-downs. Seriously. This has done me so much good, you’re awesome.) It’s an academic text which automatically places it higher in rank of usefulness than 99% of witchcraft texts. Beyond that, it’s simply a well-researched, well-cited book. And, incidentally, directly related to my practice insofar as it incorporates Roman elements, which is a plus.
- The True Grimoire, Jake Stratton-Kent (essentially a recompiled Grimorium Verum)
This is a trad magic grimoire and the only reason I incorporate it is because I already had it lying around. It’s the only Scarlet Imprint book I ever bought with real money and, incidentally, the first SI book I ever read. And while as a trad magick book it’s certainly valuable, and I admire the work Stratton-Kent put into it, the whole description, even, of the book is an experiment in pros and cons. Observe, with pros in bold, cons in italics:
The True Grimoire is a major contribution to the practice and study of magic, and is the first part of the Encyclopædia Goetica. Here the maligned Grimorium Verum has been restored to its rightful place as a coherent and eminently workable system of goetic magic. Jake Stratton-Kent has reconstructed a working version from the corrupted Italian and French versions of the grimoire. […]
And so on, and so forth.
The most remarkable thing about this, really, in the context of practical American necromancy, is that it might serve as a sort of syncretism of cultures, and that it’s a well-researched, thoroughly-reviewed text, which is a thing sorely lacking in the occult communities. And at the same time, that’s almost a bad thing, because it illuminates the fact that this is the closest thing we have to a widely-published source on non-CM necromancy. I mean. Really.
The standard recommendation I’ve seen given is actually this:
- Communing With the Spirits, Martin Coleman
Not much to say yet, because Coleman insists the reader complete certain exercises before advancing (which incidentally, whetted my appetite, thus inspiring this research binge). I will say that his material inspires respect, as it’s handled very well thus far, treading the line between flowery and overly serious very well. His very… reprimanding tone, on occasion, however, leaves something to be desired. In particular what struck me was the “you absolutely need a teacher” argument. But that’s a debate for another day.
And let’s move on to some of the less-professional texts I reviewed:
- Honoring Death: The Arte of Demonolatry Necromancy, S. Connolly
I do not know what it is about Connolly that gets my goat, and as a separate note almost entirely, I do not know what it is about contemporary necromancy that is so thoroughly ingrained into people’s minds alongside demonology and related works. Seriously. What is it? Is it the pop culture reputation? Is it some sort of specific technique?
But I digress. Honoring Death was… forgettable? I mean that in a mostly good way, really. I blazed through it in half an hour (less, even?) and came away with little to show for it. I had heard that this book was valuable even if one wasn’t a demonolater, and I wouldn’t say the same. Valuable… sure? I guess? But to whom? Not a long-time practitioner, that’s for sure. Not for anyone but a beginner. This was very much a beginner-y text, and that’s okay. But it wasn’t helpful. Nor, obviously, were the demons.
It did turn me on to ouija boards, though, which I’m considering since developing new methods is always good, but it probably won’t be in my budget for a while.
- Blood Sorcery Bible Volume I: Rituals in Necromancy, Sorceress Cagliastro
Holy shit, my opinion on this is so complicated.
Firstly, strictly speaking, I’m not even sure this is necromancy. I can’t be sure, because I only read the ebook preview. But anyway, I picked this one up because I was, frankly, interesting. It was one of those book premises that could either be awesome or terrible, and frankly, and with the disclaimer of having barely touched it, I’m going to go, for now, with terrible. Wait, hold on, before we commence–
BLOOD MAGIC!
Sorry, I’m contractually obliged to scream that every time this comes up. Thank Dragon Age.
Anyway, while her premise is interesting, I don’t think that I could get any further into the book even if I desperately wanted to. Her premise relies mostly on the fact that blood is magnetic to a certain degree, I believe. She immediately pulls the magic-is-science card and places it face-down in defense mode. Then, before you can get any cards out, she blasts a ton of puffed-up nonsense straight into attack mode, wham bam, baby. For example, she quotes herself over and over. Like, there are these little boxes off to the side where you might put relevant quotes. They’re all her quotes. Every time. Here’s one which reflects her incredibly demeaning spiritual beliefs: “If I make an agreement that ANY being has a power over me–then I am making an agreement that ALL beings do. –Sorceress Cagliastro, The Necromancer.” It is the most puffed-up thing I have seen this week, which, truly, is remarkable. (She then inserts a poem by herself, continues the ambiguous quotes, and says things like ‘A Necromancer must have a creed!’)
I am caught between wanting it desperately for curiosity’s sake, and wanting nothing more to do with it in the least. You know, I could rant about this for a while, so let’s just move on–
- “Konstantinos in general”
I have heard the most mixed things about Konstantinos. I have his two-book set thing, and to be honest I’m not sure how I got it. Did I buy it? Did someone give it to me? Did it appear, ragged and awkward, on my bookshelf one day? Who knows, man. Who knows. It contains, I believe, Nocturnal Witchcraft and The Gothic Grimoire. (I am not at home presently, so I cannot check.) I read them a very long time ago and I don’t remember much of it aside from the fact that I had decided only one exercise between the two books was worth anything. So, essentially, I’m futilely hoping that I’ll have changed my mind. This is undoubtedly a fool’s hope, because even a while ago I knew my shit, but…
Ugh. Let’s hope. (A hope which is further squished upon reading the description of his book Summoning Spirits: “With his guidance and clear directions, performing evocations will be easy and safe for anyone.” Oh my.)
Nemeton Nigromanticos 