Necromancy, one has always considered, is a somewhat misnamed. In the first instance it has less to do with death than you might imagine. It is true the root of the word comes from the Greek ‘nekros’ for dead body and traditionally speaking it is considered the darkest of arts. Even the sagacious forefather of modern magic, Newton wrote ‘There is no art that blackens the arcane more grievously than that of the necromancer.’ But in essence the animation of a corpse, that most emblematic use of necromancy, is in actuality using magic to bring life to the lifeless.

That is necromancy at its most basic level. The manipulation of the essence of life. It is tapping into that which is the vital spark of existence and making use of it. As such in reality it is no darker than any other magic. It is merely a magic that can be put to dark uses, as can any other, for all the stigma attached to it.

That stigma alone is, however, enough to discourage the open study of necromancy as an art. Thus it remains the least understood of all disciplines. It also doesn’t help that its practitioners cloak necromancy in layers of secrecy behind arcane mutterings and rituals. The mystery that shrouds it attracts a certain kind of individual, as does its reputation as the darkest of arts, and like other ‘dark arts’ it remains a popular group activity. There remains that, oh so familiar, image of a coven gathered around its magus in cloaks of shadows. The acolytes wearing long Sigel embronzed robes, faces hidden beneath deep hoods, stood in circles of flickering candles and mouthing archaic chants. Strange dance like movements, benedictions and the odd profane act, or three, being performed before their leader. Their master. Their great magus. I am sure you can imagine such rituals, but like almost all such things, most of it is just for show. A sop to the credulous and of course the credulous compromise the majority of most any coven.

In truth, theatrics aside, a magus mostly makes use of his coven much like a leach makes use of a thigh. They tap into and take a little innate power from each member of their coven, or at least such innate power that the acolytes might possess. This requires little ritual in truth. Merely a strong enough willpower, desire and willingness to draw upon the vital aspects of others. Be what you draw from then be their innate arcane power or something else.

In the case of necromancy that something else most likely the essence of life itself.

All of this is of course unpalatable to any gentleman of moral fortitude. But moral fortitude is not a prerequisite among your average magus, unlike a degree of nihilism which almost certainly is. More than one magus, once they feel the bite of age upon them and see the first grey hairs among there ravenlike locks, will be tempted to use a little necromancy to ‘rejuvenate’ themselves.

‘What, when it comes down to it, is the point of having acolytes other than so they can lend aid to your designed. Lend you their power. Lend you a year or two of their life perhaps… Well, would they really miss it?’ as the thought process goes…

It is also, in point of fact, easier to draw life than to draw arcane power from the average acolyte. For one thing your average coven acolyte has next to no innate arcane power, but they all have life. Well, for a time at least…

And there we return to my point, necromancy is not about death, but about the manipulation of life. The name is therefore a misnomer.

I will grant however necromancy is still somewhat deplorable. As are those who make a study of it.

It is however, on occasion, quite useful.

The above is a passage may be from the not entirely named yet Lucifer Mandrake novel I’m currently working through the second draft of. It is, however, in of itself a self contained humorous monologue on Necromancy. In the novel it serves structural purpose, bookend a the cliff hanger from the previous chapter and making it hang a little longer. It may or may not be in the final edit, but as it is self contained humorous monologue of the kind I often write for this blog I thought I would post it here. MH