necromancy

Necromancy is a set of practices that seek to obtain information from the dead, obtain guidance, or influence the dead for a specific end. The term derives from Greek nekros, meaning "dead," and manteia, meaning "divination." In historical contexts, necromancy often refers to attempts to contact spirits or revenants for oracular purposes, ritual knowledge, or concealed power, and it is not necessarily the same as reviving the deceased.

Across cultures, necromantic traditions appear in various forms. In the ancient Mediterranean world, advisers and priests sometimes attributed revelations to spirits of the dead. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, ritual acts and offerings accompanied beliefs about communication with ancestors or otherworldly beings. In medieval and early modern Europe, necromancy appeared in grimoires and demonology literature and was frequently condemned as dangerous sorcery. Similar ideas appear in some African, Caribbean, and Afro‑diasporic practices, where ancestor veneration and mediumship enable contact with the departed within a religious or communal framework.

Common methods historically associated with necromancy include offerings, invocations, mediumship, séances, scrying, and other ritual activities designed to elicit a response from the dead or from spirits. Claims of raising the dead are prominent in folklore and fiction, though such phenomena are not supported by mainstream science and are treated with skepticism by researchers.

In modern usage, necromancy is often discussed within the context of ceremonial magic or occult practice, and it is frequently depicted in literature and popular culture. Legally and ethically, attitudes toward necromancy vary by culture and dominant religious or moral norms.