{"collection":"bos","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bos/bos195.htm","path":"bos/bos195.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos195.htm","text":"| search powered by Sponsored Links | \n ________________________________________________________________________\n Taken from the 1960 reprint of AN ENCLYCLOPAEDIA OF OCCULTISM\n by Lewis Spence, University Books, Hyde Park, New York. First\n published in 1920, it is considered to be one of the best\n sources on the subject.\n Submitted by Alan Wright, Atlanta GA, Illumi-Net 404-377-1141\n ________________________________________________________________________\n NECROMANCY: Or divination by means of the spirits of the dead, from the\n Greek work `nekos', dead; and `manteria', divination. It is through its\n Italian form nigromancia that it came to be known as the \"Black Art\".\n With the Greeks it originally signified the descent into Hades in order\n to consult the dead rather than summoning the dead into the mortal\n sphere again. The art is of almost universal usage. Considerable\n difference of opinion exists among modern adepts as to the exact methods\n to be properly pursued in the necromantic art, and it must be borne in\n mind the necromancy, which in the Middle Ages was called sorcery, shades\n into modern spiritualistic practice. There is no doubt, however, that\n necromancy is the touchstone of occultism, for if, after careful\n preparation the adept can carry through to a successful issue, the\n raising of the soul from the other world, he has proved the value of his\n art. It would be fruitless in this place to enter into a psychological\n discussion as to whether the feat is possible of accomplishment or not,\n and we will confine ourselves tit he material which has been placed at\n our disposal by the sages of the past, who have left full details as to\n how the process should be approached.\n In the case of a compact between the conjuror and the devil, no\n ceremony is necessary, as the familiar is ever at hand to do the behests\n of his masters. This, however, is never the case with the true\n sorcerer, who preserves his independence, and trusts to his profound\n knowledge of the art and his powers of command; his object therefore is\n to 'constrain' some spirit to appear before him, and to guard himself\n from the danger of provoking such beings. The magician, it must be\n understood, always has an assistant, and every article named is prepared\n according to rules well known in the black art. In the first place,\n they are to fix upon a spot proper for such purpose; which must be\n either in a subterraneous vault, hung around with black, and lighted by\n a magical torch; or else in the center of some thick wood or desert, or\n upon some extensive, unfrequented plain, where several roads meet, or\n amidst the ruins of ancient castles, abbeys, monasteries, etc., or\n amongst the rocks on the sea shore, in some private detached churchyard,\n or any other solemn, melancholy place between the hours of twelve and\n one in the night, either when the moon shines very bright, or else when\n the elements are disturbed with storms, thunder, lightning, wind, and\n rain; for, in these places, times, and seasons, it is contended that\n spirits can with less difficulty manifest themselves to mortal eyes, and\n continue visible with the least pain, in this elemental external world.\n When the proper time and place is fixed on, a magic circle is to be\n formed, within which, the master and his associate are carefully to\n retire. The dimensions of the circle are as follow: - A piece of ground\n is usually chosen, nine feet square, at the full extent of which\n parallel lines are drawn within the other, having sundry crosses and\n triangles described between them, close to which is formed the first or\n outer circle, then, about half-a-foot within the same, a second circle\n is described, and within that another square correspondent to the first,\n the center of which is the seat of spot where the master and associate\n 843\n are to be placed. \"The vacancies formed by the various lines and angles\n of the figure are filled up with the holy names of God, having crosses\n and triangles described between them. The reason assigned by magicians\n and others for this institution and use of circles, is, that so much\n ground being blessed and consecrated by such holy words and ceremonies\n as they make use of forming it, hath a secret force to expel all evil\n spirits from the bounds thereof, and, being sprinkled with pure,\n sanctified water, the ground is purified from all uncleanliness;\n besides, the holy names of God being written over every part of it, its\n force becomes so powerful that no evil spirit hath ability to break\n through it, or to get at the magician and his companion, by reason of\n the antipathy in nature they bear to these sacred names. And the reason\n given for the triangles is, that if the spirit be not easily brought to\n speak the truth, they may by the exorcist be conjured to enter the same,\n where, by virtue of the names of the essence and divinity of God, they\n can speak nothing but what is true and right. The circle, therefore,\n according to this account of it, is the principal fort and shield of the\n magician, from which he is not, at the peril of his life, to depart,\n till he has completely dismissed the spirit, particularly if he be of a\n fiery or infernal nature. Instances are recorded of many who perished\n by the means, particularly Chiancungi, the famous Egyptian\n fortune-teller, who was so famous in England in the seventeenth century.\n He undertook a wager, to raise up the spirit \"Bokim\", and having\n described the circle, he seated his sister Napula by him as his\n associate. After frequently repeating the forms of exorcism, and\n calling upon the spirit to appear, and nothing as yet answering his\n demand, they grew impatient of the business, and quitted the circle, but\n it cost them their lives; for they were instantaneously seized and\n crushed to death by that infernal spirit, who happened not to be\n sufficiently constrained till that moment, to manifest himself to human\n eyes.\"\n There was a prescribed form of consecrating the magic circle, which we\n omit as unnecessary in a general illustration. The proper attire or\n \"pontificalibus\" of a magician is an ephod made of fine white linen,\n over that a priestly robe of black bombazine, reaching to the ground,\n with the two seals of the earth drawn correctly upon virgin parchment,\n and affixed to the breast of the outer vestment. Round his waist is\n tied a broad consecrated girdle, with the names Ya, Ya, - Aie, Aaie, -\n Elibra, - Sadai, - Pah Adonai, - tuo robore, - Cintus sum. Upon his\n shoes must be written Tetragammaton, with crosses round about; upon his\n head a high-crowned cap of sable silk, and in his hand a Holy Bible,\n printed or written in pure Hebrew. Thus attired, and standing within\n the charmed circle, the magician repeats the awful form of exorcism; and\n presently, the infernal spirits make strange and frightening noises,\n howlings, tremblings, flashes, and most dreadful shrieks and yells, as a\n forerunner of their becoming visible. Their first appearance in the\n form of fierce and terrible lions or tigers, vomiting forth fire, and\n roaring hideously about the circle; all which time the exorcist must not\n suffer any tremor of dismay; for, in that case, they will gain the\n ascendancy, and the consequences may touch his life. On the contrary,\n he must summon up a share of resolution, and continue repeating the\n forms of constriction and confinement, until they are drawn nearer\n to the influence of the triangle, when their forms will change to\n appearances less ferocious and frightful, and become more submissive and\n tractable. When the forms of conjuration have in this manner been\n sufficiently repeated, the spirits forsake their bestial shapes, and\n enter the human form, appearing like naked men of gentle countenance and\n behavior, yet is the magician to be warily on his guard that they\n 844\n deceive him not by much wild gestures, for they are exceedingly\n fraudulent and deceitful in their dealings with those who constrain them\n to appear without compact, having nothing in view but to suborn his\n mind, or accomplish his destruction. With great care also must the\n spirit be discharged after the ceremony is finished, as he has answered\n all the demands made upon him. The magician must wait patiently till he\n has passed through all the terrible forms which announce his coming, and\n only when the last shriek has died away, after every trace of fire and\n brimstone has disappeared, may he leave the circle and depart home in\n safety. IF the ghost of deceased person is to be raised, the grave must\n be resorted to at midnight, and a different form of conjuration is\n necessary. Still another, is the infernal sacrament for \"any corpse\n that hath hanged, drowned, or otherwise made away with itself\"; and in\n this case the conjurations are performed over the body, which will at\n last rise, and standing upright, answer with a faint and hollow voice\n the questions that are put to it.\n Eliphas Levi, in his `Ritual of Transcendent Magic' says that\n \"evocations should always have a motive and a becoming end, otherwise\n the are works of darkness and folly, dangerous for health and reason.\"\n The permissible motive of an evocation may be either love or\n intelligence. Evocations of love require less apparatus and are in\n every respect easier. The procedure is as follows: \"We must, in the\n first place, carefully collect the memorials of him (or her) whom we\n desire to behold, the articles he used, and on which his impressions\n remains; we must also prepare an apartment in which the person lived, or\n otherwise, one of similar kind, and place his portrait veiled in white\n therein, surrounded with his favorite flowers, which must be renewed\n daily. A fixed date must then be observed, either the birthday of the\n person, or that day which was most fortunate for his and our own\n affection, one of which we may believe that his soul, however blessed\n elsewhere, cannot lose the remembrance; this must be the day for the\n evocation and we must provide for it during the space of fourteen days.\n Throughout this period we must refrain from extending to anyone the same\n proofs of affection which we have the right to expect from the dead; we\n must observe strict chastity, live in retreat, and take only modest and\n light collation daily. Every evening at the same hour we must shut\n ourselves in the chamber consecrated to the memory of the lamented\n person, using only one small light, such as that of a funeral lamp or\n taper. This light should be placed behind us, the portrait should be\n uncovered and we should remain before it for an hour, in silence;\n finally, we should fumigate the apartment with a little good incense,\n and go out backwards. On the morning of the day fixed for the\n evocation, we should adorn ourselves as if for a festival, not salute\n anyone first, make but a single repast of bread, wine, and roots, or\n fruits; the cloth should be white, two covers should be laid, and one\n portion of the bread broken should be set aside; a little wine should\n also be placed in the glass of the person we design to invoke. The meal\n must be eaten alone in the chamber of evocations, and in the presence of\n the veiled portrait; it must be all cleared away at the end, except the\n glass belonging to the dead person, and his portion of bread, which must\n be placed before the portrait. In the evening, at the hour for the\n regular visit, we must repair in silence to the chamber, light a fire of\n cypress wood, and cast incense seven times thereon, pronouncing the name\n of the person whom we desire to behold. The lamp must then be\n extinguished, and the fire permitted to die out. On this day the\n portrait must not be unveiled. When the flame is extinct, put more\n incense on the ashes, and invoke God according to the forms of the\n religion to which the dead person belonged, and according to the ideas\n 845\n which he himself possessed of God. While making this prayer we must\n identify ourselves with the evoked person, speak as he spoke, believe in\n a sense as he believed; then, after a silence of fifteen minutes, we\n must speak to him as if he were present, with affection and with faith,\n praying him to manifest to us. Renew this prayer mentally, covering the\n face with both hands; then call him thrice with a loud voice; tarry on\n our knees, the eyes closed and covered, for some minutes; then call\n again thrice upon him in a sweet and affectionate tone, and slowly open\n the eyes. Should nothing result, the same experiment must be renewed in\n the following year, and if necessary a third time, when it is certain\n that the desired apparition will be obtained, and the longer it has been\n delayed the more realistic and striking it will be.\n \"Evocations of knowledge and intelligence are made with more solemn\n ceremonies. If concerned with a celebrated personage, we must meditate\n for twenty-one days upon his life and writings, form an idea of his\n appearance, converse with him mentally, and imagine his answers; carry\n his portrait, or at least his name, about us; follow a vegetable diet\n for twenty-one days, and a severe fast during the last seven. We must\n next construct the magical oratory. This oratory must be invariably\n darkened; but if we operate in the daytime, we may leave a narrow\n aperture on the side where the sun will shine at the hour of the\n evocation, and place a triangular prism before the opening, and a\n crystal globe, filled with water, before the prism. If the operation\n be arranged for the night the magic lamp must be so placed that its\n single ray shall be upon the alter smoke. The purpose of the\n preparations is to furnish the magic agent with elements of corporeal\n appearance, and to ease as much as possible the tension of imagination,\n which could not be exalted without danger into the absolute illusion of\n dream. for the rest, it will be easily understood that a beam of\n sunlight, or the ray of a lamp, colored variously, and falling upon\n curling and irregular smoke, can in no way create a perfect image. The\n chafing-dish containing the sacred fire should be in the center of the\n oratory, and the alter of perfumes close by. The operator must turn\n toward the east to pray, and the west to invoke; he must be either alone\n or assisted by two persons preserving the strictest silence; he must\n wear the magical vestments, which we have described in the seventh\n chapter (of Levi`s \"Ritual of Transcendent Magic\"), and must be crowned\n with vervain and gold. He should bathe before the operation, and all\n his under garments must be of the most intact and scrupulous\n cleanliness. The ceremony should begin with a prayer suited to the\n genius of the spirit about to be invoked and one which would be approved\n by him if he still lived. For example, it would be impossible to evoke\n Voltaire by reciting prayers in the style of St. Bridget. For the great\n men of antiquity, we may see the hymns of Cleathes or Orpheus, with the\n adjuration terminating the Golden Venus of Pythagoras. In our own\n evocation of Apollonius, we used the magical philosophy of Patricius for\n the ritual, containing the doctrines of Zoroaster and the writings of\n Hermes Trismegistus. We recited the Nuctemeron of Apollonius in greek\n with a loud voice and added the following conjuration:-\n \"Vouchsafe to be present, O Father of All, and thou Thrice Mighty\n Hermes, Conductor of the dead. Asclepius son of Hephaistus, Patron of\n the Healing Art; and thou Osiris, Lord of strenght a vigor, do thou\n thyself be present too. Arnebascenis, Patron of Philosophy, and yet\n again Asclepius, son of Imuthe, who presidest over poetry.\n * * * *\n \"Apollonius, Apollonius, Apollonius, Thou teachest the Magic of\n Zoroaster, son of Oromasdes; and this is the worship of the Gods.\"\n 846\n For the evocation of spirits belonging to religions issued from\n Judaism, the following kabalistic invocation of Solomon should be used,\n either in Hebrew, or in any other tongue with which the spirit in\n question is known to have been familiar:-\n \"Powers of the Kingdom, be ye under my left foot and in my right hand!\n Glory and eternity, take me by the two shoulders, and direct me in the\n paths of victory! Mercy and Justice, be ye the equilibrium and\n splendor of my life! Intelligence and Wisdom, crown me! Spirits of\n Malchuth, lead me betwixt the two pillars upon which rests the whole\n edifice of the temple! Angels of Netsah and Hod, strengthen me upon the\n cubic stone of Jesod! O Gedulael! O Geburael! O Tiphereth! Binael,\n be thou my love! Ruach Hochmael, be thou my light! Be that which thou\n are and thou shall be, O Ketheriel! Tschim, assist me in the name of\n Saddai! Cherubim, be my strength in the name of Adonai! Beni-Elohim,\n be my brethren in the name of the Son, and by the power of Zebaoth!\n Eloim, do battle for me in the name of Tetragrammation! Malachim,\n protect me in the name of Jod He Vau He! Seraphim, cleanse my love in\n the name of Elvoh! Hasmalim, enlighten me with the splendors of Eloi\n and Shechinah! Aralim, act! Orphanim, revolve and shine! Hajoth a\n Kadosh, cry, speak, roar, bellow! Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Saddai,\n Adonia, Jotchavah, Eieazereie: Hallelu-jah, Hallelu-jah, Hallelu-jah.\n Amen.\n It should be remembered above all, in conjurations, that the names of\n Satan, Beelzebub, Adramelek, and others do not designate spiritual\n unities, but legions of impure spirits.\n \"Our name is legion, and we are many\" says the spirit of darkness in\n the Gospel. Number constitutes the law, and progress takes place\n inversely in Hell - that is to say, the most advanced in Satanic\n development, and consequently the most degraded, are the least\n intelligent and feeblest. Thus, a fatal law drives the demons downward\n when they wish and believe themselves to be ascending. So also those\n who term themselves chiefs are the most impotent and despised of all.\n As to the horde of perverse spirits, they tremble before the unknown,\n invisible, incomprehensible, capricious, implacable chief, who never\n explains his law, whose arm is ever stretched out to strike those who\n fail to understand him. They give this phantom the names of Baal,\n Jupiter, and even others more venerable, which cannot, without\n profanation, be pronounced in Hell. But this phantom is only a shadow\n and remnant of God, disfigured by their willful perversity, and\n persisting in their imagination like a vengeance of justice and a\n remorse of truth.\n \"When the evoked spirit of light manifests with dejected or irritated\n countenance, we must offer him a moral sacrifice, that is, be inwardly\n disposed to renounce whatever offends him; and before leaving the\n oratory, we must dismiss him, saying: \"May peace be with thee! I have\n not wished to trouble thee; do thou torment me not. I shall labor to\n improve myself as to anything that vexes thee. I pray, and will still\n pray, with thee and for thee. Pray thou also both with and for me, and\n return to thy great slumber, expecting that day when we shall wake\n together. Silence and adieu.\"\n Christian, in his \"Historie de le Magic\" (Paris, 1871) says: \"The\n place chosen for the evocation is not an unimportant point. The most\n auspicious is undoubtedly that room which contains the last traces of\n the lamented person. If it be impossible to fulfill this condition, we\n must go in search of some isolated and rural retreat which corresponds\n in orientation and aspect, as well as measurement, with the mortuary\n chamber.\n 847\n \"The window must be blocked with boards if olive wood, hermetically\n joined, so that no exterior light may penetrate. The ceiling, the four\n interior walls, and the floor must be draped with tapestry of emerald\n green silk, which the operator must secure himself with copper nails,\n invoking no assistance from strange hands, because, from this moment, he\n alone may enter into this spot set apart from all, the arcane Oratory of\n the Magus. The furniture which belonged to the deceased, his favorite\n possessions and trinkets, the things on which his final glance may be\n supposed to have rested - all these things must be assiduously collected\n and arranged in the order which they occupied at the time of his death.\n If none of these souvenirs can be obtained, a faithful likeness of the\n departed being must be procured, it must be depicted in the dress and\n colors which he wore during the last period of his life. This portrait\n must be set up on the eastern wall by means of copper fasteners, must be\n covered with a veil of white silk, and must be surmounted with a crown\n of those flowers which were most lived by the deceased.\n \"Before the portrait there must be erected an alter of white marble,\n supported by four columns which must terminate in bull`s feet. A five\n pointed star must be emblazoned on the slab of the alter, and must be\n composed of pure copper plates. The place in the centre of the star,\n between the plates, must be large enough to receive the pedestal of a\n cup-shaped copper chafing-dish, containing dessicated fragments of\n laurel wood and alder. By the side of the chafing-dish must be placed a\n censer full of incense. The skin of a white and spotless ram must be\n stretched beneath the alter, and on it emblazoned another pentagram\n prawn with parallel lines of azure blue, golden yellow, emerald green\n and purple red.\n \" A copper tripod must be erected in the middle of the Oratory; it\n must be perfectly triangular in form, it must be surmounted by another\n and similar chafing-dish, which must likewise contain a quantity of\n dried olive wood.\n \" A high candelabrum of copper must be placed by the wall on the\n southern side, and must contain a single taper of purest white wax,\n which must alone illuminate the mystery of the evocation.\n \"The white color of the alter, of the ram`s skin, and of the veil, in\n consecrated to Gabriel, the planetary archangel of he moon, and the\n Genius of mysteries; the green of the copper and tapestries is dedicated\n to the Genius of Venus.\n \"The alter and tripod must both be encompassed by a magnetized iron\n chain, and by three garlands composed of the foliage and blossoms of the\n myrtle, the olive, and the rose.\n \"Finally, facing the portrait, and on the eastern side there must be a\n canopy, also draped with emerald silk, and supported by two triangular\n columns of olive wood, plated with purest copper. On the north and\n south sides, between the each of these columns and the wall, the\n tapestry must fall in long folds to the ground, forming a kind of\n tabernacle; which must be open on the eastern side. At the foot of each\n column there must be a sphinx of white marble, with a cavity in the top\n of the head to receive spices for burning. It is beneath this canopy\n that the apparitions will manifest, and it should be remembered the the\n Magus must turn to the east for prayer, and to the west for evocation.\n \"Before entering this little sanctuary, devoted to remembrance, the\n operator must be clothed in a vestment of azure, fastened by clasps of\n copper, enriched with a single emerald. He must wear upon his head a\n tiara surrounded by a floriated circle of twelve emeralds, and a crown\n of violets. On his breast must be the talisman of Venus depending from\n a ribbon of azure silk. On the annular finger of his left hand must be\n a copper ring containing turquoise. His feet must be covered with shoes\n 848\n of azure silk, and he must be provided with a fan of swan`s feathers to\n dissipate, if needful, the smoke of the perfumes.\n \"The Oratory and all its objects must be consecrated on a Friday,\n during the hours which are set apart to the Genius of Venus. This\n consecration is performed by burning violets and roses in a fire if\n olive wood. A shaft must be provided in the oratory for the passage of\n the smoke, but care must be taken to prevent the admission of light\n through this channel.\n \"When the preparations are finished, the operator must impose on\n himself a retreat of one-and-twenty days, beginning on the anniversary\n of the death of the beloved being. During this period he must refrain\n from conferring on anyone the least of those marks of affection which he\n was accustomed to bestow on the departed; he must be absolutely chaste,\n alike in deed and thought; he must take daily but one repast, consisting\n of bread, wine, roots, and fruits. These three conditions are\n indispensable to success in evocation, and their accomplishment requires\n complete isolation.\n \"Every day, shortly before midnight, the Magus must assume his\n consecrated dress. On the stroke of the mystic hour, he must enter the\n Oratory, bearing a lighted candle in his right hand, and in the other an\n hour-glass. The candle must be fixed in the candelabra, and the\n hour-glass on the alter to register the flight of time. The operator\n must then proceed to replenish the garland and the floral crown. Then\n he shall unveil the portrait, and erect it immovable in front of the\n alter, being thus with his face to the east, he shall softly go over in\n his mind the cherished recollections he possesses of the beloved and\n departed being.\n \"When the upper reservoir of the hour-glass is empty the time of\n contemplation will be over. By the flame of the taper the operator must\n then kindle the laurel wood and alder in the chafing-dish which stands\n on the alter; then, taking a pinch of incense from the censer, let him\n cast it thrice upon the fire, repeating the following words:- ~Glory be\n to the Father of life universal in the splendor of the infinite\n altitude, and peace in the twilight of the immeasurable depths to all\n spirits of good will !\"\n \"Then he shall cover the portrait, and taking up his candle in his\n hand, shall depart from the Oratory, walking backward at a slow pace as\n far as the threshold. The same ceremony must be fulfilled at the same\n hour during every day of the retreat, and at each visits the crown which\n is above the portrait, and the garlands of the alter and tripod must be\n burnt each evening in a room adjoining the Oratory.\n \"When the twenty-first day has arrived, the Magus must do his best to\n have no communication with any one, but if this be impossible, he must\n not be the first to speak, and must postpone all business till the\n morrow. On the stroke of noon, he must arrange a small circular table\n in the Oratory, and cover it with a new napkin of unblemished whiteness.\n It must be garnished with two copper chalices, an entire loaf, and a\n crystal flagon of the purest white. The bread must be broken and not\n cut, and the wine emptied in equal portions into the two cups. Half of\n this mystic communion, which must be his sole nourishment on this\n supreme day, shall be offered by the operator to the dead, and by the\n light of the one taper he must eat his own share, standing before the\n veiled portrait. Then he shall retire as before, walking backward as\n far as the threshold, and leaving the ghost`s share of bread and wine\n upon the table.\n \"When the solemn hour of the evening has at length arrived the Magus\n shall carry into the Oratory some well-dried cypress wood, which he\n shall set alight in the alter and the tripod. Three pinches of incense\n 849\n shall be cast into the flame in honor of the Supreme Potency which\n manifests itself by Ever Active Intelligence and by Absolute Wisdom.\n When the wood of the two chafing-dishes has been reduced to embers, he\n must renew the triple offering of incense on the alter, and must cast\n some seven times on the fire in the tripod; at each evaporation of the\n consecrated perfume he must repeat the previous doxology, and then\n turning tot he East, he must call upon God by prayer of that religion\n which was professed by the person whom he desires to evoke.\n \"When the prayers are over he must reverse his position and with his\n face to the West, must enkindle the chafing-dishes on the head of each\n sphinx, and when the cypress is full ablaze he must heap over it well\n dried violets and roses. Then let him extinguish the candle which\n illuminates the Oratory, and falling on his knees before the canopy,\n between the two columns, let him mentally address the beloved person\n with a plenitude of faith and affection. Let him solemnly entreat it to\n appear and renew this interior adjuration seven times, under the\n auspices of the seven providential Genii, and endeavouring during the\n whole of the time to exalt his soul above the natural weakness of\n humanity.\n \"Finally, the operator, with closed eyes, and hands covering his face,\n must call the invoked person in a loud but gentle voice, pronouncing\n three times all of the names which he bore.\n \"Some moments after the third appeal, he must extend his arms in the\n form of a cross, and lifting up his eyes, he will behold the beloved\n being, in a recognizable manner, in front of him. That is to say, he\n will perceive that ethereal substance separated from the perishable\n terrestrial body, the fluidic envelope of the soul, which Kabalistic\n initiates have termed the `Perispirit'. This substance preserves the\n human form but is emancipated from human infirmities, and is energized\n by the special characteristics whereby the imperishable individuality of\n our essence is manifested.\n \"The departed soul will give counsel to the operator; it will\n occasionally reveal secrets which may be beneficial to those whom it\n loved on earth, but it will answer no question which has reference to\n the desires of the flesh; it will discover no buried treasures, nor will\n it unveil the secrets of a third person; it is silent on the mysteries\n of the superior existence to which it has now attained. In certain\n cases, it will, however, declare itself either happy or in punishment.\n If it be the latter, it will ask for the prayer of the Magus, or for\n some religious observance, which we must unfailingly fulfill. Lastly,\n it will indicate the time when the evocation may be renewed.\n \"When it has disappeared, the operator must turn to the East, rekindle\n the fire on the alter, and make a final offering of incense. Then he\n must detach the crown and the garlands, take up his candle, and retire\n with his face to the West till he is out of the Oratory. His last duty\n is to burn the final remains of the flowers and leaves. Their ashes,\n united to those which have been collected during the time of retreat,\n must be mixed with myrtle seeds, and secretly buried in a field at a\n depth which will secure it from disturbance of the ploughshare.\"\n 850\n The last two examples are, of course, those of \"white\" necromancy. \n The procedure followed by savage tribes as of course totally different.\n Among certain Australian tribes the necromants are called Birraark. It\n is said that a Birraark was supposed to be initiated by the \"mrarts\"\n (ghosts) when they met him wandering in the bush. It was from the\n ghosts that he obtained replies to questions concerning events passing t\n a distance, or yet to happen, which might be of interest or moment to\n his tribe. An account of a spiritual seance in the bush is given in\n \"Kamilaroi and Kurnai\" (p. 251): The fires were let down; the Birraark\n uttered the cry \"Coo-ee\" at intervals. At length a distant reply was\n heard, and shortly afterwards, the sound as of persons jumping on the\n ground in succession. A voice was then heard in the gloom asking in a\n strange intonation \"What is wanted?\" At the termination of the seance,\n the spirit voice said \"We are going.\" Finally, the Birraark was found\n in the top of an almost inaccessible tree, apparently asleep.\n In Japan, ghosts can be raised in various ways. One mode is to \"put\n into an andon\" (a paper lantern in a flame), \"a hundred rushlights, and\n repeat an incantation of a hundred lines. One of these rushlights is\n taken out at the end of each line, and the would-be ghost-seer then goes\n out in the dark with one light still burning, and blows it out, when\n their ghost ought to appear. Girls who have lost their lovers by death\n often try that sorcery.\"\n The mode of procedure as practiced in Scotland was thus. The haunted\n room was made ready. He , \"who was to do the daring deed, about\n nightfall entered the room, bearing with him a table, a chair, a candle,\n a compass, a crucifix, if one could be got, and a Bible. With the\n compass he cat a circle on the middle of the floor, large enough to hold\n the chair and the table. He placed within the circle the chair and the\n table, and on the table he laid the Bible and the crucifix beside the\n lighted candle. If he had not a crucifix, then he drew the figure of a\n cross in the floor within the circle. When all this was done, he rested\n himself on the chair, opened the Bible, and waited for the coming of the\n spirit. Exactly at midnight the spirit came. Sometimes the door opened\n slowly, and there glided in noiselessly a lady sheeted in white, with a\n face of woe and told her story to the man on his asking her in the name\n of God what she wanted. What she wanted was done in the morning, and\n the spirit rested ever after. Sometimes the spirit rose from the floor,\n and sometimes came forth from the wall. There was one who burst into\n the room with a strong bound, danced wildly round the circle, and\n flourished a long whip round the man's head, but never dared to step\n into the circle. During a pause in his frantic dance he was asked, in\n God`s name, what he wanted. He ceased his dance and told his wishes. \n His wishes were carried out, and the spirit was in peace.\"\n 851\n In Wraxall`s \"Memoirs of the Counts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, and\n Vienna\" there is an amusing account of the raising of the ghost of\n Chevalier de Saxe. Reports had been circulated that at his palace at\n Dresden there was secreted a large sum of money, and it was urged that\n if his spirit could be compelled to appear, interesting secrets could be\n extorted from him. Curiosity, combined with avarice, accordingly\n prompted his principal heir, Prince Charles, to try the experiment, and,\n on the appointed night, Schrepfer was the operator in raising the\n apparition. He commenced his proceedings by retiring into the corner of\n the gallery, where kneeling down with many mysterious ceremonies, he\n invoked the spirit to appear. At length, a loud clatter was heard at all\n the windows on the outside, resembling more the effect produced by a\n number of wet fingers drawn over the edge of glasses than anything else\n to which it could well be compared. The sound announced the arrival of\n the good spirits, and was shortly followed by a yell of a frightful and\n unusual nature. Schrepfer continued his invocations, when \"the door\n suddenly opened with violence and something resembling a black ball or\n globe rolled into the room. It was enveloped in smoke or cloud, in the\n midst of which appeared a human face, like the countenance of the\n Chevalier de Saxe, from which issued a loud and angry voice, exclaiming\n in German,\"Carl, was wollte du mit mich?\" - \"Charles, what would thou do\n with me?\" By reiterated exorcisms Schrepfer finally dismissed the\n apparition, and the terrified spectators dispersed fully convinced of\n his magical powers.\n - end - \n 852","title":"Internet Book of Shadows: Necromancy (reprint)","type":"page"}