Dark Library Archives

Gregorius

Anecdotes on Necromancy

Anecdotes on Necromancy
Gregorius Pannonius

I. Deadly Shades On The Shores Of Egypt

To the people of antiquity, egypt has always been the land of secrets. This country had millennia worth rich past, at the beginning of greek tradition.
Its traditions have been considered as saint by the many visitors who went there.
The Romans and the Greek alike, saw the well of ancient wisdom there.
This has naturally not stopped them in conquering and robbing it from time to time, but they have always been careful not to incite the rage of the "ancient gods".
The only conqueror, who degraded to do that, has been the persian Kambuses, an epileptic tyrant.
He desecrated the tombs of the pharaohs, and in a raging moment, killed the Apis bull with his own hands.
Later, when he fell down from his horse, he wounded himself with his own blade, at the same spot, where he enacted the killing. The wound got "fatal", and he died in a long agony.
The conquerors of later ages regarded this event as a warning.

Even the Bible remembers as the land of magicians and powerful initiates from egypt, describing the "magical duel" between Moses+Aaron/two egyptian magicians.They are called Iannes and Mambres in biblical tradition.
The popular excerpts made from those texts usually do not remind the reader, that the two mages has been able to stay in competition, and made the same blows to the jews, as the Lord made to the egyptians.

We know beside that, that this culture has been caring "more about the people after they died".
At this scale, only the ancient etrurians could be compared to them.

Naturally, they were adept in necromancy too.

The jewel of the late egyptian prose, the Setna Novel describes the story of two powerful mages, Nanoferkaptah and Setna, which is in reality nothing more than the allegory of the road of achieving secret knowledge, not destined for ordinary man.
This knowledge has been completed in a mystical book, the Book of the god Thoth.
Nanoferkaptah decides to get the book for himself.
He goes through a lot of dangerous adventures, until he succeeds.
He reaches the remote hiding place in a ship animated from wax; as a guide, he uses the spirits of the dead. He succeeds the guardian demons in a fight, and sets back victoriously to his family.
But the rage of Thoth destroys him, and his family.
The story continues in describing, that he is so powerful, that even in his death has the ability to summon the soul of his wife and son to him, not to be separated from them.
This act is without a parallel in written history, nowhere else is described, that a dead person would be using necromancy.
Lot of generations later, another mage, Setna sets out to get the book.(historical researches indicate, that he has been the son of Ramses II., and his real name was Chaemauaseth)
He only knows, that the book had been buried next to the body of Nanoferkaptah, but is without the knowledge of the whereabouts of the grave itself.
Setna reanimates the mommy of an egyptian noble who has lived in the same age as Nanoferkaptah,, and asks him the way. After receiving information, following the flight of birds, and reaches his destination.
The robbing of the grave encites great rage in Nanoferkaptah, and the two mages, the dead and the living, engage in a very colourfully described duel.
At first, it seems that Setna is going to win, but at the end Nanoferkaptah is the victor.
Setna returns the book to the grave, and seals it with magic words of power.
He and his son, Siusire(who was even greater in power than his father)had a lot of interesting adventures after that,they even ventured to the underworld. But this is no theme of our current examination.

The important part of the above described story is, that necromancy is not a part of the secret knowledges described in the book of Thoth, for both mages are able to use it, before they get the book.
Both nanoferkaptah and Setna use necromancy to get their hands on the book.
This leads to the conclusion, that in the late egypt era, necromancy was considered the same as in Hellas; as a dark knowledge, but by no means evil or forbidden.
The novel does not present the two main characters as evil either, in the contrary, both are pictured as sympathetic.

The initiation of a pharaoh to the ranks of the necromancers shows the same too.
Nekhet-Hor-Heb II.(Necthanebos in greek vers.)
was the last egyptian blooded ruler of the land.
A rebellion gave him his power, and he had to fight bloody battles against his rival.
At last he succeeded, but could enjoy supreme power only for a short time, for the Persian empire crushed it's rebelling province another time.
Nekhet-Hor-Heb escaped with his treasures to Aethiopia, and dissapeared from the stage of history.
But not from the memory of his people.
It lets to be disputed, if he had been truly a worthy ruler, but the people made stories around the figure of last national ruler.
They said that he arrived into MaKedonia, and became the astrologer of Philippos II. As such, once he lied to the queen olympias; he revealed to her, that a god will visit her in her bed. The queen obviously did not believe him, and he sent her a "mesmerising dream", and she could be convinced, that the Great God Amon is watching over her truly.
So, she was not complaining, when the former Pharaoh visited her the next night, in the guise of Amon.
According to this story, the father of the later Alexander the Great would be Necthanebos.
The grateful egyptians, who welcomed Alexandros as a liberator, did not forget the father either.
They raised statues for his honour, and made sacrifices to him. His cult has been one of the most popular one, around the time of the Ptolemaids.
They said from him that he eventually found the book of Thoth, could communicate on the language of animals and birds, sunk an attackinf fleet with a storm of his own summoning, and thanked his wisdom to the communion with pharaohs long dead.

The science of history adds only the few facts to this, that at least four important collection of magical texts had been made in the short reigning period of Nekhet-Hor-Heb, and the cult of Thoth has reached the climax of its popularity at that time....

II. The secret knowledge of Egyptian priests

Now we know, that necromancy was not unknown to the people of the egyptian era, and there must have been actual practitioners, who were not condemned by "society".

But how were the rituals themselves, with which these magicians made the dead to speak?
For our luck, the antique writers have left numerous descriptions on this topic.
The next excerpt, for example is from a "romance novel".
Place: a battlefield laid full with dead bodies.
Main character: an egyptian old woman.
Time: night
Co-player(:p) : her son, who lost his life in the battle.

"When the old woman deemed the time worthy for her to begin her work undisturbed, she first made a hole to the ground.
She lighted a torch on both sides, and layed the body between them.
She took out three clay pots from a bronze cauldron, and poured honey from the first, milk from the second, and wine from the third into the hole.
After that, she crowned a human form baked milk bread, composed of wheat flour, with laurel leaf and fennel.
At last, she drew a sword, and began to "insanely" cleave the air with it, reciting barbaric and alien sounding words, praying to the moon.
Suddenly, she cut her arm, and dried it with the laurel leaf.
She swinged it to the two fires.
After other, secretive doings of her, she bended to the dead body of her son.
She recited some kind of magic words to his ear, and animated him at last, even forcing him to get up"

(Heliodoros: Aithiopica)

We might be surprised with right, after reading the description. The ritual looks very similar to Thessalean necromancy. The summoner is a woman, and there is a hole, fire, ritual food and drink sacrifice. The most suspicious element, however is, that she is praying to the moon.
According to egyptian mythology, the moon has much less connection to the underworld and the dead, than in greek tradition.
It would be assumed with right, that this description reflects a true necromantic tradition, but not egyptian. Thessalean.
We do not know much from the author.-he was of Syrian decent, and lived at the end of the third century BC- But the story lets us conclude that although he was well educated and "read", he was much less knowledgeable about experiences, that would have required journeys.
And egyptian necromancy was much less spread in the Roman Empire, than greek.
Perhaps, it could be assumed, that Heliodoros used mainly earlier literature and "hearth wisdom", by describing the ritual.
But there are a few motives, not so easily explained.
It is curious, that the old woman sacrifices no animal -no black, nor other coloured one- although that is a most important tool of Thessalean necromancy.
There are no signs of the "disgusting" tools of witches either. No dead powder, snake skin, dog bones etc.
Perhaps it is worthy of attention, that the Aithiopica is full with pythagorean mysticism, and the religious reverence of Apollo is largely present.
Some even assume from the writer, that he was a priest himself.
It is now easy to be assumed, that Heliodoros describes a pythagorean ritual, combined with thessalean elements.
Although later, he discredits the practices of the old woman, he does that because of the obvious reason, that she revived her son "physically", which naturally collides with the reincarnation faith of the pythagoreans.
Either way, we might not get closer to egyptian tradition using sources like that.
In egypt, it is much more likely, that the summonings of the dead were conducted in a way, that we might get known by reading Apuleius.
In the next novel-part, a necromancer is questioning about the cause of death, at the feet of a newly layed out body.

"Then the old man got to speak again:
-Let's lay the revealing of the truth, intoo the hands of godly wisdom. There is an archmage from egypt here, named Zatchlas, with whom I have made an agreement,-paying him a considerable amount- to bring back the soul of this man from the underworld, animating his corpse.
With those words, he lead a young, shaved headed man before the crowd-he wore a linen cloak and palm sandals.-; He kissed the hands, put his arm around the knees, and spoke:
-To the stars, the spirits of the underworlld, the elements of nature, the coptic holy sites, the flood of the Nile, the secrets of Memphis, the bells of Isis; Have mercy, have mercy on him, oh high priest!
Let him see the light of the sun for a short time, pour fading light to his forever-closed eyes!
We do not wish to pull him away from the earth, what belongs to him now, we only want to take revenge, and that is why we ask for a few seconds of "life".
He won the magician that way.
The mage put some magic weed to the mouth and chest of the dead, then turned to east and prayed in himself to the life giving miracleous sun, and incited the mood of the watching crowd more and more towards the great miracle.
I have won my way through the crowd, and could get a place close to the body, by standing upon a high stone behind it, wathching the events closely:
Now, his chest is raising, and life is running through him again, now he rises and speaks:
-I have already drunk from the waters of thhe Lethe, swam on the wells of the Styx, why do you bring me back to life? Stop it, please stop it, and release me.
The magician asked him, a bit more incited now:
Why do you not want to tell us the cause of your death? Do you think, that I do not have the means to summon furies into your body, tormenting you?
With a painful ghasp, the layed out man talks:
-It was the doing of my young wife, she conndemned me to drink the glass of poison.
I had to give my bed to her new, young lover."

(Apuleius: Methamorphoses lib.II )

As we can see, the detectives of the ancient times had it easy.They did not have to waste time with fingerprints and such nonsense. The practice of necromancy greatly enhanced their methods:P
Apart from "joke", let's see, what we might conclude from the above described text!
The first element worth of remark, is the freshness and vitality of the description. The practitioner here is no faceless old woman, shrouded by the night and darkness, but a young man in palm sandals. Nothing "horrific". It is interesting, that there is word about bis baldness.
In ancient times, only egyptian priests shaved their heads, and that was no common knowledge.
We might feel, the author winking to us, from behind the pathetic phrases of the old man. The mage himself does not use big words.The ritual has no horrific apperance, although the practitioner has the ability to encite the mood of the crowd, presenting dramatic elements.
His invocation is, naturally, as in all egyptian traditions, destined to the sun.
It might be assumed, that the author is using personal experiences.
We should not forget, that the author is Apuleius, who was born in Africa, and travelled through the whole empire, even put to trial, accused of witchcraft.(perhaps it might be an interesting note, that he only disagreed with the accusation of being part of the current event as a practitioner, not with him being a mage.)
So, we might assume with right, that this recition is mirroring the true egyptian tradition, and not that of Heliodoros.(the latin expressions should not disturb the reader, for the people of antiquity have identified their own gods with those of other cultures with a great enthusiasm.)
As it should be noted, this description shows big differences between it, and the thessalean/pythagorean method.
There is no sacrifice at all.
The material components, although important, are completely in the background.
The center of the whole ritual is the invocation: the praying to the god, whose help is required.
So this method is much more meditative in nature, than those described before.
It is most important to note, that in thessalean necromancy, the animation of bodies is one of the most difficult practices. It seems, that the egyptian tradition is focused on this.
Setna, the unnamed old woman, and Zalachast all need a body(we might say mommy)
It might be assumed, that In egypt, the summoning of corpless shades was considered as a most difficult act.
This concludes logically from the greek belief, that after death, the soul disconects comletely from the body, but the egyptians think that at least there is one part that stays.
It might be interesting to note, that in egypt, the spirits of the dead can not tell the future.
They can tell all, about the events of their lifes, and "can be applied to a lot of things", but the future remains hidden to them.
This does not mean, that egyptian spirits would be more silly than their greek counterparts, only that egyptians had different beliefs from "afterlife" than greeks.
So, it is likely, that if an egyptian and a greek necromancer have met, the colleagues had a lot of dissentions to clear, in the practice, and in theory too.

III. Necromancy in the bible

The new-greek word, nekromanteia means "deadprophesyig".
According to "common beliefs", the necromancer is separated greatly from the average seer of the dead, or spiritist; the difference is as big, as between a mage and a witch. He is the true initiated, the knower of secret arts, the others are only bungling and amateurs compared to him. According to those beliefs, a spirit only appears to the seer or the medium, if he would like to, and answers only questions he wants to answer. The necromancer COMMANDS the "wandering souls", bends them under his will without mercy.
His arts are shrouded in darkness, and regardless of his powers, he is usually shunned and disliked. Nevertheless, he can not be considered as equal to a black mage. The necromancer summons only spirits of the dead, and no powerful malevolent outside entities.
This does not help him much, however, if he gets into conflict with the mundane authorities.
But what happens, if the "practitioner" is someone, who is part of those authorities, and breaks he rules, even he supports, because he sees no other way?:)

Let's see, what Saul is doing, after looking at the army of Philistines at Gilboa...

28:5 And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled.
28:6 And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
28:7 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.
28:8 And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee.
28:9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
28:10 And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.
28:11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
28:13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
28:14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

(1Samuel 28:5-14)

The rest of he story is common knowledge:
Saul asks the spirit of Samuel, how he could defeat his enemies. Samuel foretells him, that because of his sins committed, he will lose the battle next day, and the kingdom will go on to David.
Saul faints, and he old woman returns him to consciousness. She gives him to eat. The king, regaining strength, leaves. There is no evidence that he would have paid anything for the efforts of the woman.
Nevertheless, he kept his promise, and did not "wipe her out from the land" because of her "forbidden practices".
He did not have time to do that, for the prophecy becomes truth the next day:)
His successor will be David, who has been living until this time under the protection of the Philistines(today, his state would be called as "political immigrant").
Now, he turns against his hosts, and treacherously attacks in the back, of the victoriously home-heading philistine army:)

To make the picture a complete one, it might be remarked, what the terrible sin of Saul was, for what he had to endure this punishment he received, and because of what the Lord turned his face from him.
He did not obey an order of the Lord, at a former campaign, against the "Amalekites".
The order was the following:

15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. (1Samuel 15)

But Saul has been extraordinarily evil, for he left a few alive, among them their king Agag.
And he refused to wipe out the animals too, he let them be directed back to Israel.

This has been the terrible unholy act, because of what the Lord judged him to fall and to die.

I am hard pressed to leave the moral conclusions of this, to the reader...

IV. Odysses summons shades

After reading about the witch of Endor, a reason from many has been reflected, why the discipline of necromancy has survived through history.
Rulers who would have wished to ban its practices, have used it to their advantage too:)
There had been "users", who were not able to actually profit from it -like Saul-, but naturally, there has been successful ones too.
Like the fabled Odysseus, the hero of greek mythology.
According to myth, he has been the smart designer, who "invented" the idea of bringing a tree horse into the city of Troy, thus assuring victory for the greeks.
He was rather a clever schemer, a proficient sailor, a good swordsman.
It might be assumed, that he would have shunned such dark practices, if he would not have needed them.
Through his journeys, he reached the island of the sorceress/godess Circe, who has at first been showing her courtesy , by turning his crew into pigs.
After the "valorous battle" between the hero and the sorceress-which unfortunately took part in bed-, the crew has been changed back to human shape.
The greeks have been living like in a paradise, after that, on the island.
But, after a year, eventually they became homesick, and wanted to return home.
But since they bore the anger of the seagod Poseidon, that was no easy task to accomplish.
Odysses asked for help from their beautiful host, and Circe gave him an advice.
He should go to the underworld, Hades, and summon the spirit of the blind sage, Theiresias. He will know the answer.
Odysseus was not fond of the idea, and defended by saying, that he knows of either the way, nor the method of summoning spirits.
Circe however, who has not only been a beauty, but wise too, told her the way, and explained the "ceremony" he should execute.

485Close by that place make with your sword a pit
A cubit wide, and round about it pour
Wine mix�d with honey, and pure wine after it;
Then water pure, and over all throw flour.
Such is the drink that�s offer�d to the dead.
490And further, to them you must make a vow,
That when you be at home, and out of dread,
You�ll gratify them with a barren cow.
But to Tiresias you must alone
Promise at your return to kill a ewe
495All over black. The ceremonies done
Which to the dead by common law are due,
Then of the ram and ewe let out the blood
Into the pit; their heads to hellward place,
And turn your back, and so go tow�rd the flood;
500Then shall you see the ghosts come out apace.
Bid your companions meanwhile to flay
The slaughter�d sheep. To Pluto must you and
To his queen Proserpine your prayers say,
Then sit down at the pit with sword in hand.
505Let none come near the blood until you see
Tiresias the Theban prophet come.
�Twill not be long before he with you be;
He�ll tell you all the ways to bring you home

After receiving these words, Odysses has left the Island of Circe, and journeyed to the borders of the underworld.
He had no easy job though.

Of both the victims straight I cut the throats.
Their reeking blood streamed down into the pit;
Out come the ghosts; maids, youths, decrepid age,
35And tender virgins, they all scented it;
And warriors clad in gory arms, all rage,
And rushing out of Hell, with hideous cry,
About the blood bustling they go and turn,
Which not a little frighted me.

It might be noted, that Odysses encountered all the mythological horrors of Hellas during his journeys.
He defeated the Cyclops, met Schylla and Charybdis, etc.
Yet there is no word about him becoming afraid, only in this part.
But soon horror mixed with terror.
The spirit of his mother(whom he left in perfect health when he left home) came to him, grieving for blood.
He could not let her closer, not until the spirit of Theiresias arrived.
Upon his arrival, the oracle told the future to Odysseus, after drinking from the blood.
He told him to be aware, when reaching the shores of the island Thrinakia,
not to hurt the animals of the sungod Helios, for if they would do that, all but Odysses would die, and even he could only reach home through great pain. -Naturally, following the logic of the epic tale, the first thing the sailors did, was to kill and eat the animals, after their arrival:)-
After that, the spirit of the old sage left.
But this time, spent in the underworld, has been enough to quench the fear from the soul of Odysses, and give place to his natural virtue/flaw, curiosity.
He did not return to the blue sky of Zeus immediately, no, his attention turned to the shades, gathering next to the hole.
At first he not even talked to his mother, but even tried to touch her.
After that, he wanted to talk to others too, but they felt in a horde upon the hole, powered by a terrible hunger.
Odysseus drew his sword, and stood before the hole, letting them only one by one to drink, and making them promise to speak to him, after quenching their thirst.
This is the reason, he might be called as a necromancer.
He did not satisfy himself by simply following circe's orders, he took initiative, and forced his will upon the dead.
And has done this like a "true greek hero", with a sword in the hand:)
Thanks to this, he could speak to all the heroes of fabled antiquity, and talk to his companions, who died in the siege of Troy.

The dead have been semi-transparent, steam like shades, immaterial and untouchable.
Their memories only returned, after drinking from the blood.
Odysses has exchanged words with the Shade of Heracles,
but after that it was enough for him.
He left for better waters.
Although, he has lived a very long life, he never used necromancy again, and has not taught his son, Telemachos the knowledge.

V. Aeneas descends down to the underworld.

Approximately at the same time, when Odysses asks for the advice of Theiresias,
another hero of antiquity, who has been an important leader of the siege of Troy,
turns to necromancy. The location is at South-Italy, around Kyme.
There are no few parallels between him and Odysses, perhaps not accidentally.
These begin with see journey , facing a lot of dangerous adventures, like those of Odysses.
The difference was, that he was not searching for the means to return home, but waned to find a new one.(Nothing but ash and death remained from his city, the fabled Troy.)
He was one of the two Trojan leaders, who could escape the siege.
He was called Aeneas.
There are no few representations of him, picturing the hero as a man, trying to evacuate his father on his shoulders; with a sword in the right and the hand of his son in his left.
His wife could not make it, but he did not have to care about his mother's safety, for according to myth, she was no one else than the goddess, Aphrodite (Venus).
He evacuated all the people he could to the ships, during the time the greek were sacking the city, and gave order to leave.
An epic journey begun, with a lot of adventures.
During these times, his father Anchises departed, but Aeneas wanted to have a talk with him, for the last time. So, they stopped at the shores of Kyme, and he visited Sibyll, the holy priestess of Apollo, who (unlike Circe) was a virgin.
Her "priority" was telling the future, but if there was a great need, she could "open the gates of the underworld" too.
After a long begging of Aeneas, she agreed to do it.
It should be noted, that Aeneas was about to enact "something", that was much more difficult and dangerous, than what Odysses did.
He did not want to summon the shade of his father, he wanted to visit him, in the underworld.
He insisted to do it even after Sibyll explained to him, that the journey down ways is much easier, than coming back.
The examples of ancient heroes -Orpheus, Theseus and Herakles- gave him faith, and he even acquired the golden tree branch of Persephone, which is supposed to open the gates of the underworld.
Sibyll leads him to an abandoned cave, from which poisonous gases emanate, and the ritual begins:

Four sable bullocks, in the yoke untaught,
For sacrifice the pious hero brought.
The priestess pours the wine betwixt their horns;
Then cuts the curling hair; that first oblation burns,
Invoking Hecate hither to repair:
A pow'rful name in hell and upper air.
The sacred priests with ready knives bereave
The beasts of life, and in full bowls receive
The streaming blood: a lamb to Hell and Night
(The sable wool without a streak of white)
AEneas offers; and, by fate's decree,
A barren heifer, Proserpine, to thee,
With holocausts he Pluto's altar fills;
Sev'n brawny bulls with his own hand he kills;
Then on the broiling entrails oil he pours;
Which, ointed thus, the raging flame devours.
Late the nocturnal sacrifice begun,
Nor ended till the next returning sun.
Then earth began to bellow, trees to dance,
And howling dogs in glimm'ring light advance,
Ere Hecate came. "Far hence be souls profane!"
The Sibyl cried, "and from the grove abstain!
Now, Trojan, take the way thy fates afford;
Assume thy courage, and unsheathe thy sword."
She said, and pass'd along the gloomy space;
The prince pursued her steps with equal pace.
(Vergilius: Aeneis VI. 243-263)

Aeneas is presented with a lot of dark experiences during his journey, in the underworld.
He sits into the boat of Charon, walks next to the guardian of the underworld, the Cerberus, sees the souls who have been condemned to eternal suffering for their crimes, and meets old companions from the siege of Troy.

At last, he meets Anchises and tries to hug him and his mother, just like Odysses tried, but he fails in succeeding too.
Anchises however, is a much more knowledgeable spirit, than those Odysses has met.
He tells from the secrets of existence and nonexistence to his son, and reveals the future to him.
He foretells, that he will have many, and powerful descendants, who will take revenge on the greeks,
burn and sack their cities, and rule them. Explaining proudly, that the nation of Aeneas is "born to rule".

Romulus and Remus will do a "good job".

VI. Medeia rejuvenates Aeson.

Was the necromancy of antiquity only sufficient, to summon shades from he underworld and ask them about the future?
There were other methods too.
In the times of the Roman Republic, it was one of the customs, to bury the dead together with a small bronze bell.
After some time, they buried out the body, and enacted a ritual.
At the climax, they rang the bell, and the dead answered questions.
The source of this practice has been the belief, that after death, the departed is initiated into some secret mysteries and truths, which he is able to share with the living too.
This belief has never been supreme, though. The shades who met Odysses, were not much wiser, than they had been in life.
"Those type of shades" could be used for asking about past events, like places where treasures had been buried, or about crimes committed.
Naturally, students of history could use this knowledge well too.

The shade of Anchises however, was much more "proficient" than "average".
The heroes of mythology descending down to the underworld usually return with enlightening experiences and "hoards of secret knowledges". It could be easy and logical to assume, that if that is so, every departed soul, who dwells in the underworld should be aware of these knowledges (Plato shared this "hypothesis" too).
The necromancer does not even have to descend down to the underworld, it is enough if he summons some shades.
But the knowledge, as the people of antiquity well knew, is power.
It might seem self evident to assume, that the dead, who have this power, are able to wield it.
Upon will cursing and harming the living, or bringing wealth if they would desire to do that.
If the necromancer would share these goals, why would he not enslave and order the dead to use their powers according to his wishes?

In some of the Etrurian and Roman graves, the archaeologists have found leaden plaques.
They contained incantations, which desired the help of the dead, to bring death illness and pain to certain persons.
Evidentially, necromancy continues in the era of the empire too.
A text, containing the incantation of a jealous woman, trying to free the world from her competitor:)

"As the body, that is buried at this spot
is mute and can not express words
so should be Rhodine dead
in the eyes of Marcus Licinius Faustus;
condemned to be mute and not express words!
As this body is an object of hate
in the eyes of mortals and gods alike
as much should Rhodine count for Marcus Licinius
as this lifeless body does.
Dispater! I trust Rhodine to your care
to be made an object of eternal hate
In the eyes of Marcus Licinius Faustus..."

According to the text, the corpse was that of an executed murderer or a fallen gladiator;
The roman practitioners of magic held the "cooperation" of such dead as most effective.
Nevertheless, the spirits from the grave could not be convinced only to harm, but to help too.
Such acts could be encouraged only, by truly proficient necromancers.

Among those was Medeia, according to myth, the daughter of the king of kholkhis and the goddess Hekate.
A legendary artifact has been guarded in her city. The "golden wool".
A horde of greek warriors, on the ship named Argo, lead by the hero Jason could reach the shores of the remote city; an act most "expeditions" failed to accomplish.
The king (who claimed descendancy from the sungod Helios) did not encourage their beliefs, that he will ever give them the artifact.
His daughter however, fell in love with Jason and betrayed her father, giving them the "golden wool" and accompanied him during an adventurous journey to Thessaly. Upon their arrival, they held a great celebration, and invited Jason's father, the old Aeson too.
Since the old man was so weak, that he could not have attended the festivities, Medeia felt sorry for him, and decided to make him young again.
Not even Medeia, one of the most powerful greek magic wielders of antiquity, assumed that she will succeed without difficulties.
Nevertheless, she enacted the difficult necromantic ritual, that has been left to posterity in full detail.

"Reaching her door and threshold, she stopped on the outside, and under the open sky, avoiding contact with any man, she set up two altars of turf, one on the right to Hecate, one on the left to Youth. She wreathed them with sacred boughs from the wildwood, then dug two trenches near by in the earth, and performed the sacrifice, plunging her knife into the throat of a black-fleeced sheep, and drenching the wide ditches with blood. She poured over it cups of pure honey, and again she poured over it cups of warm milk, uttering words as she did so, calling on the spirits of the earth, and begging the shadowy king and his stolen bride, not to be too quick to steal life from the old man�s limbs.

When she had appeased the gods by prayer and murmured a while, she ordered Aeson�s exhausted body to be carried into the air, and freeing him to deep sleep with her spells, she stretched him out like a corpse on a bed of herbs. She ordered Jason, his son, to go far off, and the attendants to go far off, and warned them to keep profane eyes away from the mysteries. They went as she had ordered. Medea, with streaming hair, circled the burning altars, like a Bacchante, and dipping many-branched torches into the black ditches filled with blood, she lit them, once they were darkened, at the twin altars. Three times with fire, three times with water, three times with sulphur, she purified the old man.

Meanwhile a potent mixture is heating in a bronze cauldron set on the flames, bubbling, and seething, white with turbulent froth. She boils there, roots dug from a Thessalian valley, seeds, flowerheads, and dark juices. She throws in precious stones searched for in the distant east, and sands that the ebbing tide of ocean washes. She adds hoar-frost collected by night under the moon, the wings and flesh of a vile screech-owl, and the slavering foam of a sacrificed were-wolf, that can change its savage features to those of a man. She does not forget the scaly skin of a thin Cinyphian water-snake, the liver of a long-lived stag, the eggs and the head of a crow that has lived for nine human life-times.

With these, and a thousand other nameless things, the barbarian witch pursued her greater than mortal purpose. She stirred it all with a long-dry branch of a fruitful olive, mixing the depths with the surface. Look! The ancient staff turned in the hot cauldron, first grew green again, then in a short time sprouted leaves, and was, suddenly, heavily loaded with olives. And whenever the flames caused froth to spatter from the hollow bronze, and warm drops to fall on the earth, the soil blossomed, and flowers and soft grasses grew.

As soon as she saw this, Medea unsheathed a knife, and cut the old man�s throat, and letting the old blood out, filled the dry veins with the juice. When Aeson had absorbed it, part through his mouth, and part through the wound, the white of his hair and beard quickly vanished, and a dark colour took its place. At a stroke his leanness went, and his pallor and dullness of mind. The deep hollows were filled with rounded flesh, and his limbs expanded. Aeson marvelled, recalling that this was his self of forty years ago." (Publius Ovidius Naso: Methamorphoses VII)

The ritual fulfilled the wishes of Medeia. The following events show, that such rituals are not always without perils.
Naturally, word of the rejuvenation has spread like fire, and a lot of greek leaders wanted to share Aeson's state and become young again. Medeia however( unlike the witch of endor) was no weak toy to play with.
She claimed proficiency in various sorts of magic. She could summon floods, earthquakes, sing the stars down from the skies, and even turn the direction of the rivers. Thus, caution was warmly advised for any, who wanted to deal with her.

The daughters of the brother of Aeson, Paelias tried honey words, instead of violence.
Their motives were "unselfish", for they wanted to help their father, and not rejuvenate themselves (they did not need it, for they were young and fresh). After a lot of begging to Medeia, the sorceress taught them the secret ritual, and even showed it to them, using a living ram as "demonstration material".
The incited and enthusiastic girls went home, and used their new gotten knowledge to enact the ritual on Paelias.
Their efforts, although partially successful, were no complete fulfillment for them.
They could kill the old man, but could not revive him rejuvenated;)

Some believed, that it was Medeia herself, who directed the events from the background, for she was "no devoted adorer" of Paelias.

After these events, the numbers of applicants, who wished for rejuvenation, decreased significantly:)
Nevertheless, the first (although not too successful) pupils of Medeia were followed by others.
No few woman of Thessaly have been taught the secrets of necromancy. Opposite to Circe and Sibyll, she set a school into motion, and the tradition of it was a living one, even during "historical times". The greek and the romans were thinking about Thessaly as a "hole of witches", birthplace to many sorcerers and necromancers.
No few of famous necromancers, of the "empire age", prided themselves on direct descendancy from Medeia.
She gave birth to almost 20 children, boys and girls, fathered by different men;although some of these were not fortunate enough to survive the "methods" of their mother.

The inspiring sorceress had no boring and idle life, even after that.
She poisoned a king, and burned another to ashes with fire magic and committed sororicide(not leaving even the "child cousins alive"). Later, after Jason got bored of her (sic!) and turned her away, wanting to take another wife, she turned the young bride, the palace and the guests to ashes.
She became the wife of the king of Athens, but eventually had to escape on a "chariot of snakes", for her crimes became prevalent(she wanted to poison the son of the king, the heroic Theseus).
During her "free time", she taught snake charming to the latin people of italy.

As an acknowledgement of her virtues and a life spent full of merit,
the gods gifted her with immortality, and appointed her to the "Queen of the Elysium Fields"

VII: The methods of the summoning

As pictured above, it might be perceived that necromancers have been described already at the dawning of written history, who have summoned the "spirits of the dead" and were able to ask questions from them. The rituals themselves are hinted in the texts, describing the acts that were required to reach the desired results. From the recited texts, the biblical is the most laconic.

No wonder, for the arrangers of the testaments , following the spirit of the strict religious dogmas, were not fond of remembering and detailing the event:) In Hellas, where the pantheons of the gods of the underworld were spread and revered, the descriptions are much more "free-spirited". The resources presented lead to the conclusion that the rituals of "ancient necromancy" consisted of two main parts.

Sacrifice and Invocation.

The sacrifice had two important functions.
1. The gods who were overseeing the spirits of the dead must have been "bribed/made" to give their control over their subjects temporarily to the necromancer. Thus, the necromancer gains temporarily godlike powers, becoming able to summon the spirits, give orders to them, and ask questions.

2. The other no less important function was the establishing of SIMILARITY.
He had to make the dead to become LIKE the living again.
If he would not do that, the spirit could not act and communicate with the necromancer.
The similarity gained "this way" is fleeting and shallow. Neither Odysses, nor Aeneas has been able to touch them. Naturally, there were practitioners who were actually able to summon them in their "material forms", or using existing bodies to achieve that.

The principal of similarity requires the sacrifice to be made using some materia, that is associated with life. There are five sorts of sacrifices, in necromantic rituals.

a) Drink sacrifice. This can be water, and milk with honey, but mostly wine is used.
The evaluated position of the wine might be due to the belief, that it "warms up cold body parts and breathes life into them", and its similarity to blood.

b) Food sacrifice. Odysses "grounds" the hole of sacrifice with white semolina, and the witch of Endor uses white flour as a material by entertaining Saul too.

c) Blood sacrifice. A most important component. It is the symbol of life that which the dead grieve and hunger for. It contains the essence of humanity, and according to some beliefs, even the soul.
If the necromancer does not complete the ritual of release properly, then according to those beliefs the dead has a chance to remain in the domains of the living, and if residing in corporeal form, will grieve for blood, becoming a vampire.

d) Animal sacrifice. The greater the magnitude of the ritual, the bigger sacrifice might be needed to "empower the dead and the gods". The animals are freed from their blood and then burned.
They ought to be black.; this is the colour of the night and darkness, the departure, and is a symbol of death since ancient times. No few necromantic rituals demand the usage of female animals.
This might seem to be strange to those, who do not wish to go deeper into the symbolism of the ritual. The sacrifice must be in connection with LIFE and not with FERTILITY. This is the reason, why certain types of sacrifices, that are used with great enthusiasm on other fields ( sperm, grains, ritual sex) are never used as such in necromancy.

e) Human sacrifice. The most logical one. What else could give back the life force more completely to a dead, than the life force of another human being? Since the greek/roman culture mostly shunned descriptions, that could have contained human sacrifices, that could be related to them, no clear description can be found on this in the Odysseia or in the Aeneis.
But the perceptive reader can find some curious sorces, if looking deeper.
Immediately before the rituals enacted by Odysses and Aeneas, one man dies from their crew.
Their death seems to have no direct connection to the rituals - with Elpenor breaking his neck drunk in the house of Circe and Misenus falling into the sea and drowning - but it is most likely, that these are memories of ritual human sacrifice, emanating from behind the text.

It should be noted, that ritual sacrifices for the dead were common practices in antiquity; an Etrurian sarcophagus pictures a mommy-like person having a drinking and eating feast together with the "mourners". But this is NO necromancy. These customs were made FOR the appeasing of the dead, and to "let them have their peace".
Necromancy aims for the opposite of this, the practitioners do hard work to DISTRUPT the peace of the dead. This is why it might be considered blasphemous by some dogmas or religions.

Now, to the invocation.

The "godly forces and powers" - Hecate, Persephone, Hades, The Furies, etc.- so addressed were - with the possible exception of Persephone - not embodiments of good will or kindness/goodness:)
The practitioner needed extreme caution in his workings with them.
Such powers could not be called upon with ease or carelessness.
The texts of the invocations were among the most heavily guarded secrets of the necromancers, handing them only to their "worthy progeny and pupils", and killing anyone who would lay his hands on these "unholy sacramentals":)
Later, with the spreading of christianity "gods" of antiquity were "degenerated" to demons in common view, thus making the line separating the necromancers and diabolists more and more disappear.

And finally, a taste of an "invocation of fantasy" aimed at Hecate:

"Oh, friend and companion of the night,
you who cherish the sheaded blood and the barking of the dogs,
wandering between the graves at night, and bring terror to the mortals hungering for blood,
Gorgo, Morno, Moon of thousand faces, accept our sacrifice!"