“The Devil’s Way”: How necromancy once solved everyone’s problems
By Jonny Thomson | Published: 2024-12-18 14:42:00 | Source: The Past – Big Think
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I use the Internet a lot. I used it to research this article, to get this job, and to check my social media on company time. I use GPS to check traffic, and I use Google to ask questions too big for me: What’s the best way to cook rice? How to paint a wall? What does this red light mean in my car?
But for all its connected conveniences, the digital age still can’t solve all my problems. It can’t tell me where I left my car keys or where I saved the document I need for this form. Couldn’t tell me which of my friends was lying to me or who stole A street sign with a comic name From a nearby village. So, what should a man in trouble do? Who can help me when ChatGPT can’t?
Well, it’s time to dust off the tomes of necromancy and summoning of the undead.
Wise ancient demons
In medieval Europe, there were very few companies in which the Church did not have a share. They made beer, printed books, and administered education. So, it is not surprising that the Church had a lucrative business in everything related to divination.
Divination is the attempt to predict the future using supernatural powers. It’s in tarot cards, tea leaf reading, and runes I qing. In western Cameroon, they even use burrowing tarantulas to detect the future. But in medieval Europe, a common form of divination was to consult evil spirits. Clerics would summon demons and use their holy powers to force the demons to tell the truth. They would ask questions about the location of their lost possessions or whether there was buried treasure nearby. One of the most common requests was for Satan to reveal the identity of the local thief.
The Devils didn’t always have the answer. Satan did not have God’s omniscience or even any special supernatural power at all. People were summoning demons because they were old and traveled a lot. They have been known to have lived for thousands of years and moved through various temporal and spiritual planes. In their painful, devilish wanderings, they gained little wisdom. So why not sit down with old Pitchfork McDemon to share some tips? As historian Sophie Page says Divination, divination and omens to A new exhibition at the Bodleian LibrariesOxford:
“Some medieval thinkers believed that demons were the first naturalists, allowed by God to spend eons observing humans and interpreting them to solve every sin to which an individual was likely to succumb. As demons roamed eternally in the world under the moon, they observed things of great interest to the necromancer, such as where treasure was buried, who had stolen items of value, who had been an unfaithful lover, and who had been unjust.” Prisoners, and the secrets of guilty princes.”
How to recall responsibly
It is a perilous task to sit with Satan’s minions. It is an essential part of a demon’s job description to be deceitful, malicious, and prone to bouts of bloody violence. So, if you were going to try to tame the Demons of the Abyss, you would need some support. Here is Page’s step-by-step guide on how to approach medieval necromancy in a productive and safe way.
First, get your tools together. You will need to “own, borrow, or commission a book describing basic ritual formulas and images, and optional props to add live drama such as a wand, pentagram, bell, or special clothing.”
Second: Choose the time and place. You must “choose a space for the work, perhaps your own bedroom or an isolated forest. Timing is also important: (the summons) is usually linked to the movements of the planets and the purpose of the operation. For example, Saturn’s associations with old age, wealth, and violence have made the hours or days it rules particularly suitable for experiences of identifying a thief or finding hidden treasure.”
Finally, remember your personal protective equipment. There are a few options here, but it’s always best to grab as many as you can to prevent any accidental possessions or disastrous pandemonium. At a minimum, you should be waving the sword with a fiercely loyal dog at your side. You should always summon your demon to a small lead plate called a plate that is small and crushable by the foot. Even then, you should try to interact with the demon only through a medium such as a mirror. Sacrifices can help, and any small animal will do. Finally, it is useful to ward off the treachery of the corrupt Satan with something innocent and pure. So, take a young child – a son, a daughter, or, as a last resort, perhaps a distant cousin.
Finally, even after all that, be prepared to take everything Satan says with a pinch of salt. You force them to talk, but they may lie. They also have their limits. For example, they cannot reveal the crime of anyone who has confessed his sin. They cannot see the holy places or the sacred hearts.
End of an era
Fortunately for sacrificial bats and their little cousins across Europe, necromancy was waning by the end of the 18th century. Society and theology had moved away from Satan’s compulsion to local whims, and nearly three centuries of witch-hunting made it more dangerous than ever. Although there was such a thing as church-sanctioned necromancy, it wasn’t a good idea to be seen as a local necromancer. After all, if you spent your day job working with Satan, could you possibly have been converted?
The history of necromancy is an interesting window into our broader past. Not only does it reveal, once again, how often humans want to know the future and how desperate they are. But it also shows us how spiritual and practical are interconnected for the everyday believer. Today, many religious beliefs exist in the ambiguous liminal space between faith and the unknown. We speak in metaphors, symbols, and non-specific images. In medieval Europe, religion was a practical matter. The demons were not merely agents of the apocalypse, working to overthrow the Holy Order. They were the Internet of the pre-digital era.
“Hey Siri-demon, do you know where I left my keys?”
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