From: ba@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (B.A. Davis-Howe)
Subject: Re: Necromancy
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 22:07:04 GMT

eshin@ddsw1.mcs.com (Eshin-Fun) writes:

>The word Necromancy means "Divination by the dead" It is usually confused
>with Black Magic Because the word for the dead and the black in Latin are
>similar.

Well, close--necros is Greek, but it does get confused with niger, the Latin
word for black.

>Originally it extends from the ancient term Khem meaning the Black which was
>the ancient Egyptian name for Egypt. When said: Necromancy it meant the
>divination of egypt. In Greek the term Khemestry or Alkhemy it also implied
>the arts of Egypt. Since the spelling has been changed.

Al-kimiya is Arabic, though it does may come from the Greek Khemia "of 
Egyptian origin" ultimately.  However, there was never a Greek word which had
any resemblence to Khemestry.  The English word chemistry derives from the
English word chemical, which derives in turn from the English word chimic, 
meaning alchemist.  However, the Greek word necros clearly is not derived from
any Egyptian word.  Given your other errors, I tend to doubt the Khem derivation
as well.  Whether that one bit is right or not, necromancy still means 
"divination by means of the dead", and not "the divination of Egypt".

>As it stands, the most popular views of this is in the works of John Dee in
>his Actions with Spirits or "A true and faithful Relation of what pased for
>many years between Dr. John Dee and some spirits." (London 1659)
>and in Allan Kardek's Book of Mediums, Book of Spirits etc in the 1800's in
>France.

Well, I'm not sure this qualifies as necromancy, since the spirits Dee
contacted were "angels" rather than dead humans, I believe.  Dee did do
necromancy, but the Enochian work was different.

>Kardec introduced the popular ouija board or planchette, automatic writing
>etc as John Dee introduced the conversation with spirits in a graveyard
>where he did a lot of his experiments. Including of these spirits talking
>backwards etc.

Dee did not introduce graveyard necromancy--that is ancient.

>The most famous for conversation or prophecies with spirits is Nostradamus
>whom allegedly found magical inspiration from a book called De Mysteriis
>Egyptorum and in his quatrain First Century#2 he states:

Were Nostrodamus' prophecies based on communication with the dead?  I've never
heard that.  I was under the impression that he prophesied independently.

>Is is dangerous? It certainly can be. Is 
> 
>How much is known of necromancy? A lot and yet not enough, and tyhen again
>hardly nothing. Most people approach it in a terribly misleading way. Too
>concerned with "power" and lacking a tremendous alliance with belief, they
>usually fail as this "Egyptian art of divination" can be so self deluding
>that many there has been the have ended up mad!

Please take the time to proofread your posts.  This paragraph is vague at best,
and incoherent in spots.  Also, for someone who tells people that they *must* 
study other languages to be a proper pagan/magician, you don't seem to take
your own advice.  I don't really know any language other than English, and I
was able to spot these errors.  (Though I did use a couple of dictionaries to
get the corrections.)

Your posts on the Orishas were pretty well written, but the two posts I saw 
today were remarkably difficult to read.

              Merry meet, merry part, merry meet again,
                               Br'anArthur

Queer, Peculiar, and Wyrd! :-)
Newsgroups: alt.magick