Author: Yasmin K Carter

Student no 9276383
Magic and the Supernatural in History and Culture
16 January 2018

Critical discussion on medieval necromancy as a magical practice involving the

supernatural.

In order to critically discuss necromancy as a magical practice involving the supernatural, an

historical approach will be undertaken in order to understand how this practice of divination
was understood within the medieval mind. Whilst necromancy as a ritualised practice has its
foundations in the classical worlds, its understanding may be seen to have involved an
evolution in its perception throughout the medieval world. Once considered an act which gave
great knowledge and favour to its practioners by the medieval period these conceptions were
challenged by such influential institutions as the Christian Church. It will be the purpose of
this discussion to highlight how necromancy was received and how changing perceptions
challenged its position as a magical practice involving the supernatural.

Early medieval people’s belief and understanding regarding the practice of necromancy were
informed through the understanding of necromancy as perceived by the Classical world. Homer
in his work the Odyssey, illustrates the common understanding of necromancy as an act of
divination through the communication with the dead.1 Homer portrays Ulysses in his visit to
Hades, where the sorceress Circe instructs him in scared necromantic ritual practices so that he
may enter into dialogue with the deceased.2 Ulysses performs these rituals as instructed by
Circe with the intent to attain knowledge and insight from the experience.3 Plutarch also
depicts necromancy in this very same manner when portraying Elysius of Terina as going to
the oracle of the dead, in order to attain knowledge from the deceased that would otherwise
been unattainable.4 Herodotus reveals that necromancy was understood to be an act of
divination through the communication with deceased persons, seen in his depiction of

1
Homer, The Odyssey 10:480-540, Samuel Butler (trans), website http://www.sacred-
texts.com/cla/homer/ody/ody10.htm.
2
Homer, The Odyssey 10:480-540, Samuel Butler (trans), website http://www.sacred-
texts.com/cla/homer/ody/ody10.htm.
3
Homer, The Odyssey 10:480-540, Samuel Butler (trans), website http://www.sacred-
texts.com/cla/homer/ody/ody10.htm.
4
Plutarch, Moralia, Frank Cole Babbit (trans), Cambridge Mass, 1927, p. xiv.

1
Penander, the tyrant of Corinth and his experience with necromancy in pursuit of information
from his dead wife.5

Those of the early medieval period who wished instead to search for knowledge and
understanding in the Jewish and Christian canonical literature, would find the same
understanding of necromancy as those demonstrated by Homer, Plutarch and Herodotus. 1
Samual 28 recounts a story of the great Jewish ruler King Saul, who requested of the Witch of
Endore the performance of necromantic practices in order to seek knowledge from the deceased
prophet Samuel.6 While the act of necromancy may be seen in many instances in what we now
know to be the Old Testament, for the most part these serve as a means of condemnation rather
then explanation: “No one will be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through
fire, or who practices divination… or who casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or
who seek oracles from the dead. For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord.”7

With the growth and development of both the Christian Church and its doctrine through the
medieval world, its influence upon the understanding and perception of necromancy may be
seen to have changed from a practice which greatly benefited its practioners to one with
malevolent consequences.8 Classically inspired thoughts and beliefs regarding the practice of
necromancy were not only being questioned within the medieval mind but were being
superseded through Christian influence. All forms of magic, including the practice of
necromancy according to the Church’s understanding of it, were strictly condemned by the
Christian Church being branded as both demonic in source and nature. Divination in all its
forms was now perceived as magical practice, and all magical practice was understood to utilise
demonic power and aid.9 Necromancy therefore came to be understood within the late
medieval period as the summoning of demons rather than communication with the dead. The
intent of necromantic practice had become something far more diabolical than previously
perceived; no longer was necromancy thought to be solely practiced for the attainment of
knowledge from the dead, it was now portrayed as dark and forbidding.

5
Herodotus, The Histories 5, Aubrey Selincourt, Rev. John Amrincola (trans)., London, 1974, p. 92.
6
1 Samuel 28:1-25 in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Standard Revised Version, Oxford, 2010, p. 440.
7
Deuteronomy 18:10-13, The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Standard Revised Version, Oxford, 2010, p.
280.
8
Erica Bourguignon, ‘Necromancy’ in Encyclopedia of Religion, Lindsay Jones (ed), Volume 10, Detroit, 2005,
pp. 6452-6453.
9
Erica Bourguignon, Necromancy in Encyclopedia of Religion, Lindsay Jones (ed), Volume 10, Detroit, 2005,
p. 6452.

2
Perceptions and understanding regarding the practice and purpose of necromancy had
undergone a change; necromancy had come to be commonly understood as the summoning of
demons with the aid of ritual performances, magical object and symbols, for enumerable and
insidious purposes.10 Even communication with the angels was now considered to be
problematic, demons exist as fallen angels and could quite easily respond to the practioners in
disguise as an angel.11 Early Christian demonology had paved the way for the Church to
perceive the very real threat of demons everywhere, even in the religious practice of theurgia,
also known as angel magic.12

Whilst the perception of necromancy had gone from a classical understanding influenced by
early Judaism, Greek, Roman and Persian divination practices, the Christian Church was able
to challenge these ideologies, enforcing the diabolical conjecture which was assigned to
necromantic practices and magic in general through out the medieval periods. The changing
perceptions of the practice of necromancy and its practioners the necromancer, were challenged
from its original understanding as a practice invoking the dead for the benefit of the living, to
one rife with Christian connotations and associations, promoting the power of their God over
all other forces, and construing the nature of such demons as bound to the natural order of God.
It may therefor be understood that the perception of necromancy as a practice was under the
control of the medieval Christian authorities, thereby presenting the practice as one which
differed vastly from the Classical understanding. It has been determined thus far in this
discussion that medieval necromancy may be seen to have employed both religious and
magical practices and beliefs therefore can not be legitimately tied to one realm to the exclusion
of the other.

What of the notion that medieval necromancy was a practice involving the supernatural? It has
already been established that the Church authorities condemned all forms of magic as relying
on demonic aid. The questions then become: What are demons? And do they belong in the
realm of the supernatural or not? What abilities and powers are assigned to demons in the

10
Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages, Cambridge, p. 152.
11
Erica Bourguignon, Necromancy in Encyclopedia of Religion, Lindsay Jones (ed), Volume 10, Detroit, 2005,
p. 6452.
12
Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages, Cambridge, p. 152.

3
medieval world? And under what authority does the necromancer summon these demons and
set them to service?

Medieval Christian authorities, as they still do today, acknowledge the existence of demons as
fallen angels, they were considered as angels were and thought to exist as neither the natural
or the supernatural, rather as anomalous beings.13 That is to say that both angels and their fallen
counterparts were considered to be “spiritual beings, created by God but superior in nature to
man.”14

Demons were perceived to be tricky and cunning, mischief makers and evil in their intent,
superior to that of mankind, but restricted by the boundaries of nature as prescribed by the
Christian God, their invocation fraught with evils.15 Canonical Law as ascribed within the
Christian Church offered a plethora of information concerning these demons and their nature.
Demons were charged with: corruption of Church doctrine as seen in 1 Timothy 4:1-5, where
caution is advised against giving attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons;
Concealing the truth of Christ as foretold in 1 John 4:1-5, were the believer is cautioned in his
dealing with prophetic spirits, promoting caution in their origins, and advising they must be
put to a test in order to assess if they have come from God, for if they did not they are the Anti
Christ in guise; and finally as a practice through which oracles could be sought such as in 1
Samuel 28:1-25, in which the summoning of the dead is used to gain advantage.16 The
Christian influence on the perceptions regarding demons challenged the power of the diabolical
with the demotion of their power in light of the Christian God, such as seen in Mark 5:6-7, with
the ability of Jesus to cast the demons from the man of Gerasenes, and where also the demons
acknowledge the superior powers of Christ.17 In order to both emphasis and enforce the notion
and power the Christian Christ held over evil forces, both Luke 8:31 (the demons supplicate to

13
‘ Nigromancy in the Later Middle Ages’, Inquires Journal/Student Pulse, Vol 3, No 6, 2011, np, website,
http://www.inquiresjournal.com/a?id=539.
14
William Addis, Thomas Arnold, A Catholic Dictionary, London, 1951, p.255.
15
Lisa Berhhstrom, Nigromancy in the Later Middle Ages, Inquires Journal/Student Pulse, Vol 3, No 6, 2011,
np, website, http://www.inquiresjournal.com/a?id=539.
16
1 Timothy 4:1-5; 1 John 4:1-5; 1 Samuel 28:1-25 in The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in
the Light of the Hebrew and Greek Original, London, 1966, pp. 219; 255; 254.
17
Mark 5:6-7 in The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek
Original, London, 1966, p. 37.

4
Jesus) and Matthew 8:16 (they obey) provide additional examples in the promotion of power
of not only the Christians God but also the Christian Church and its doctrine.18

It would appear therefore that medieval necromancy was neither a strictly magical practice nor,
due to the nature of demons, would it appear thus far to be a practice which involves the
supernatural. To conjure forth or summon a non supernatural being who cannot perform deeds
beyond the boundaries of natural law, does not constitute supernatural involvement in the
medieval perception of necromancy as a practice. Medieval necromantic practices however,
as highlighted by Richard Kieckhefer, were highly reliant on Church liturgy and ritual.19
Demons were summoned through the only supernatural acknowledged by the Christian
Church, that of their God. Medieval necromantic formulas all share this common element;
through the power of God/Christ/ and/or the Holy Trinity, I summon/adjure/conjure, the
demon, to do as I instruct.20

In conclusion, medieval necromancy as a magical practice involving the supernatural, has been
critically discussed in order to recognise how this practice of divination was perceived within
the medieval consciousness. Necromancy as a practice originated from within the classical
landscapes, whilst within the medieval periods these conceptions were challenged. Once
perceived as a ritual in which both knowledge and favour was sought, the influence of the
Christian Church authorities may be seen to have challenged these earlier perceptions.
Necromancy was by the late medieval period accepted as a magical practice which did involve
the supernatural.

18
Luke 8:31; Matthew 8:16 in The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew
and Greek Original, London, 1966, pp. 64; 7.
19
Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages, Cambridge, pp. 152-153.
20
Lisa Berhhstrom, Nigromancy in the Later Middle Ages, Inquires Journal/Student Pulse, Vol 3, No 6, 2011,
np, website, http://www.inquiresjournal.com/a?id=539; Richard Kieckhefer, Magic in the Middle Ages,
Cambridge, p. 166.

5
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Addis William, Arnold Thomas, A Catholic Dictionary, Virtue and Co, London, 1951.

Berhhstrom Lisa, Nigromancy in the Later Middle Ages, Inquires Journal/Student Pulse, Vol
3, No 6, 2011, website, http://www.inquiresjournal.com/a?id=539. Accessed 12th January
2017.

Encyclopedia of Religion, Jones Lesley (ed), 2nd ed., Vol 10., Macmillan Reference, USA,
2005.

Herodotus, The Histories, Aubrey Selincourt, Rev. John Amrincola (trans)., London, Penguin
Classics, 1974.

Homer, The Odyssey, Samuel Butler (trans), website

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/homer/ody/ody10.htm. Accessed 10th January 2018.

Kieckhefer Richard, Magic in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.

Plutarch, Moralia, Babbitt Frank Cole (trans), Cambridge Mass, Harvard University Press,
1927.

The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek
Original, London, 1966.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version, With the Apocrypha, Ed.
4th, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010.