I have noticed that the CM (Ceremonial MagicK) community has often pointed their finger at the New Age community and jeered at them for being to faddish. The idea that New Agers glom onto this fad, that fad & the latest fad. Often, there is truth to these accusations since most New Agers do not know the history nor cultural settings of things like fire walking, Chakra Power centers, Crystals, Feng Shui and so on. However, the CM community is equally as bad....
Since my joining the on-line community in January 1997, I have noticed an ever growing number of CM’s ‘adopting’ (as they are wont to say it) methods, techniques & such the say New Agers have done with their own interests. Such things as Hoodoo, RootWork, Candle Magic, Root Bags, Vodu, and lately, Necromancy.
While it does not hurt to involve some things such as giving offerings to Spirits in Evocations, even though the bibles of such things (re: the grimoires) do not mention it, too many CM’s want to copy how things are done in the African Traditional Religions and then claim it as something they’ve been doing for years.
I actually had an ATR teacher, an Obeah man from South Florida who was well versed in both Obeah & CM who suggested I do this & that. Some of that I shared with various Yahoo Groups over the years and amazing how many of those techniques & ideas wound up in people’s books, blogs & on their websites as their own.
Still the idea of paying one of the 72 from the Goetia for work performed was an idea that many traditional CM’s thought was stupid. Their attitude was if it’s not written in the bibles (re: the grimoires), then it’s not in the plan. I gave candles, oils, incense, food & liquor to any Spirit I summoned be they from the Goetia to the Grimoirium Verum to the Le Dragon Rouge as a matter of course. Now it’s a household thing.
But that alone is not enough. Then we had the CM’s who felt it’s necessary to go & become ATR. One had to go & become a Babalawo, several Houngans and Mambos in Vodu and a number of them were Palero’s. It’s like there was this massive push to join the ATR & find SOMEONE, ANYone to teach them African Traditional Magic. Funny though that a number of them opted for the typical people who bounce around out there on the Web as a Mambo or some of the loudmouths in the Yahoo Group’s ATR lists posing as Houngans or Paleros. (But that’s another rant all its own)
NOW it seems everyone & their brother in CM are claiming they know how to practice Necromancy. Um excuse me Since when? Just because you find a few scant references to it in Egyptian & Greek sources? Or you have learned (through yours truly) in Yahoo Groups how to salute your Ancestors & set up an Ancestral shrine? LoL Were it that simple & easy. Those are just the first steps and not the end all to working with the Dead.
Yes there are some Paleros out there who brag on lists about how to do Palo (a big no-no I might add) but in truth, what you’re doing with the Dead is playing a game, not practicing Necromancy. The Dead are dangerous and just because you can summon & command attention from Raum, Orobas, Seere, Dantalion, Bael & a few others, does not mean you’re going to have a simple run of it working with the Dead. If it were simple, everyone would be doing it.
Necromancy is another art all together. While it is a great idea to have some skills in the area of evocation & summoning Spirits, that’s not everything. The Dead do not have to listen to you. Why? You have no Spiritual Authority!
Oh sure, Jesus said you can exorcize evil Spirits in his name, so what? He was talking Demons, not Joe Sixpack who died six months ago in prison after being repeatedly raped in the shower. That Joe Sixpack is far more dangerous than any of the Goetia. Jesus never said anything about dealing with the Dead; he was talking about higher Spiritual beings such as Demons, not Daimons or Daemons or the Dead. Trying to exorcize a Guede (one of the Dead) in Jesus’ name is fun to watch. The Spirit gets agitated & typically leaves only because most humans are stupid & won’t listen. BUT the Dead guy always comes back unless He is dealt with by someone with real, valid Spiritual authority.
Now even with valid Spiritual authority, trying to exorcize a house or a Spirit from someone is a very dangerous situation. LBRP’s do not work on them; Hexagram rituals do not work on them; telling them to get out does not work on them; threatening them in Jesus the Christ’s name does not work on them; none of that jive you’ve been taught to believe works.
It takes Spiritual authority, knowledge & skill to remove them from a house or out of someone and there is the danger that the exorcist doing it may have the Spirit try & jump on him/her! Your little Hoodoo tricks won’t work with them and you may end up pissing the Geude off even more - much like morons do when they try to exorcize the Spirit in the name of Jesus or Yahweh.
Necromancy is a tricky business & it takes a sense of professionalism & know how to deal with these entities. Sure many of the Dead are no longer around here - they’ve moved on. Okay, so what of it? There are plenty who have unfinished business & are ready to tear someone a new asshole. I’ve seen guys who are well experienced in evocations try to force a rogue Geude who is all pissed off, in the name of Bune or Lucifer which is as silly as trying to get the Spirit to obey & behave in the name of Jesus.
Yes there is a lot to read out there on Necromancy as many scholars uncover old Greek & Roman methods but what those scholars are NOT telling you is that even if you know a technique, and you have no Spiritual authority behind you, why should the Spirit listen to you at all? What’s in it for them?