At the folk level, the dead were never omitted from Western magic. A number of vernacular magical traditions feature spirits of the dead: they may be called upon to help, cause harm if they are restless or unhappy, or be physically incorporated into magical philters through the use of human bones.
Sabina Magliocco
Professor and Chair
Department of Anthropology
California State University - Northridge
18111 Nordhoff St.
Northridge, CA 91330-8244
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From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Daniel Harms [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 9:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Goetic Spirits ('Lesser Key of Solomon', etc.)
>The whole picture of
>our 'spirits' is hideously distorted from then on, with the dead
>virtually omitted from Western magic rendering it artificial and
>remote from every other culture.
Though the emphasis on celestial, planetary and infernal spirits is greater within our material, I don't think the dead were omitted. Off the top of my head, there's a necromantic experiment in Discoverie of Witchcraft, another in the Grand Grimoire, at least one more in The Collection of Magical Secrets (Avalonia), Levi's experiment of Apollonius of Tyana, Hockley's experiments with the crystal. And that's hardly a systematic list - going through those sources and others (Honorius? Abramelin's fourth book?) might turn up more.
My sense of the situation is that necromancy still was an undercurrent, but that it has been played down due to Biblical prohibitions, the canonicity of spirit grimoires in current magical practice (after all, listing out goetic or planetary spirits creates a longer and more impressive MS.), the potential overlaps between magic and spiritualism, and the presence of less formal necromantic ceremonies in the folk corpus (e.g. folklore about "if you X, you'll see the dead", or the Bloody Mary ritual/game).
Then again, I know you've been examining this more closely than I have, so feel free to tell me if I'm off.
Thanks,
Dan Harms
Instructional Services Librarian and Bibliographer
SUNY Cortland Memorial Library
P. O. Box 2000
Cortland, NY 13045
(607) 753-4042
