Hello there. A little raven told me you were interested in necromancy…
After receiving positive feedback about the helpfulness of my post compiling my ever-expanding list of geomancy resources, I wanted to make one available on my work with the dead. Given that I have a number of courses and class recordings hosted by The Cauldron Black – and all available for purchase on their Class Archives – along with other class-bundles and course series on this site it just made sense to have them all in one place right here.
Radio Free Golgotha & Nights of Folk Necromancy
I would be remiss if I didn’t begin this post with a mention of the pod’ I ‘cast with my dear friend Jesse Hathaway-Diaz. Entitled as it is, folk necromancies of a variety of sorts are regularly discussed on Radio Free Golgotha.
You can also actually see as well as hear us talk a whole Night of Folk Necromancy hosted by Morbid at Hauser & Wirth, exploring a variety of encounters between the living and the dead; from accidental hauntings to deliberate conjuration of ghosts, and everything in between.
Jesse and I also co-mod (with esteemed pal Ben Joffe) the Liber AF group Folk Necromancy, where we drop the hottest new excavated tomb news, chat de-colonialism and ancestral foodways, share upcoming nigromantic events and much more.
All My History Is Necromantic
For those looking for a lively class recording bundled with primary source scans and scholarly resources giving historical rundown of early modern necromancy, look no further than my class-bundle, Raising the Dead: A History of Early Modern British Necromancy, which charts pre-modern contexts of death and dying, the use of corpses as materia and spell components, and various forms and instances of trafficking with shades of the dead.
Getting Stuck In
For those looking to start their practical necromancings, my five-part course Necromancy for Beginners grounds students in historical understandings and examples of necromancy, presents the fundamentals of ancestor veneration for necromancers, offers techniques for working with the Great Dead who inspire and offer us wisdom from beyond the grave, outlines strategies for successfully working in graveyards and with your local dead, and imparts advice about dealing with restless and hungry shades.
For those wanting to dig a little deeper, my modular series Advanced Necromancy for Beginners presents four independent but interlocking sets of teachings on various aspects of necromantic cunning:
Seeking To The Dead presents a variety of early modern approaches to ghost-work, from fallen angels to fairy intermediaries, and from alluring vapours to the cunning afterlives of good Genii, Magi ancestors, and the abetting dead.
Seeing in the Dark presents means and methods of focusing and deepening spirit contact, communication, and conjuration: from strange oils, ointments, and eye-washes, to clarifying smokes and asperings, and from dreaming charms to haunted pillows.
Of Smoke & Speech presents in-depth analysis of the airy mysteries of magical breath, voice, song, speech, as well as the cunning means by which nigromancers scent their circles and charge their spirits through smoke: from ‘Hekate’s Commandments’ to ‘Instructions of Cyprian’ and beyond…
On Sable Wings presents various operative means of working various melancholic mysteries of necromancy: hunger and fasting, abstinences and (taking on) taboos, graveyards and their politics, black garments and black magic, and the emotional and spiritual gravity of the grave,
You can either buy these class recordings individually from the above links, or get the whole Advanced Necromancy for Beginners course set for a tidy little discount here.
Gravedirt Under The Fingernails
For those looking for further particular training in the operative mechanics and techniques of necromancy, I have both class-bundles and courses.
My class-bundle Instruments of Nigromancy offers analysis of historical exemplars of the tools of necromancers drawn from grimoiric record and the working-books of cunning-craft. Definitely one for the folk necromancers.
My Cousin of Death class-bundle examines the techniques and operations of dream incubation in pre-modern necromancy – combining planetary magic, sigilwork, conjuration, suffumigations, talismans and much more to traffick with specters and dearly departed.
If you are looking for more in-depth training in operative nigromantic techniques, consider having a look at Black Arts: Suffumigations, a four-part course series on using scent and smoke to call, charge, direct and dismiss the shades and souls of the dead.
My class-bundle Ghost-Light: On Planetary Necromancy presents some of my present work exploring the intersections of pre-modern ghost-lore and the planetary magic of genii, daimones, and sublunary spirits; to explore how astrological methods can support our necromancy, and vice versa.
Necromancy for the Whole Family
One aspect of working with the dead that might not immediately strike the enterprising necromancer as helpful – but which nonetheless absolutely stabilises and further secures success for us – is venerating and working with familial dead; the beloved departed and returning ancestors who guide, strengthen and protect us.
And so I include my three part modular series Ancestor Veneration for Beginners here for anyone looking to (further) secure beneficial relations with not just friends but family on the other side. The three interlocking but independent class recordings of this series run thusly:
Fundamentals presents the foundations of ancestor veneration, and discusses genealogy and chosen family, reciprocity in our relationships, the whats, hows, and whys of shrines and our sessions at them, as well as touching on some of the effects and issues that can be worked through getting and staying in right relations with our dead.
Troubleshooting helps students through some of the difficulties we may encounter in seeking these right relations with ancestors: from uncertainty, confusion and “dry spells”, to navigating potential familial tensions and living spaces, as well as offering some advice for dealing with unpleasant, unhelpful, and otherwise restless dead.
Ever-Deepening presents ways to further enrich and engage with ancestral protection and support, emphasising the importance of both short and long forms of divination. The use of materia for and from the dead is also explored, and we consider the importance of both tradition and autonomy in our veneration and well-being, and in seeking to live up to the benefits of our blessings.
Once again, you can either buy these class recordings individually from the above links, or get the whole Ancestor Veneration for Beginners course set for a lovely little discount here.
Tutelary Shades of Dead Magicians
For anyone interested in the necromancies of learning magic from dead practitioners, I have a couple of class recordings on just such sorts of work. Because who doesn’t love a dead magician.
Most infamously, nigromancers of various sorts have sought the patronage and powerful secrets of one so-called sorcerer-saint, Cyprian of Antioch. My class Saint Cyprian: A Patron Saint of Black Magic presents the hagiographic magic and historical grimoiric sorceries of this saint of necromancers; from his Black Books to modern expressions of his veneration and nigromancy.
I also have three class recordings from The Cauldron Black’s Mighty Dead series (which I happened to curate and chair) that should be of particular interest to cunning nigromancers:
Mighty Dead: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa discusses the history, work and afterlife of one of the early modern period’s most infamous occult philosophers; as well as offering some advice on approaching his shade and soul.
Mighty Dead: Anne Bodenham presents the cunning life and work of the Wise-Woman – and, later, Witch – of Wiltshire; tracing the shifting conceptions of cunning-folk, witchcraft, diabolism, spirit conjuration, and grimoire magic; as well as concluding with some helpful approaches to work with the Cunning Dead.
Mighty Dead: King Solomon – a class co-taught by my friend and colleague, the inestimable Matthew Venus of Spiritus Arcanum – offers insights into the legendary life and magics of that patron of grimoiric sorcery and spirit conjuration King Solomon; as well as tracing a more spirit-centred re-orientation of what is called “Solomonic” magic.
For those also interested in geomancy, the class-bundle Necromancy for Geomancers offers advice, techniques, and approaches to working with the dead - especially deceased geomancers - to empower, assist, and aid our own divinations.
Devils and the Dead
Finally, while not strictly focused on working with the dead, for those who employ goetic magic in their necromancy – or vice versa – to empower their work with the dead through sympathetic devils, I can heartily recommend my three-part series, A Goetia of the Four Kings Foundation Course, which traces the grimoiric record and potent conjurations for working with the four cardinal Regent spirits of early modern grimoiric nigromancy: Oriens, Paymon, Amaymon, and Egyn.
For those looking for a shorter examination of this sort of grimoiric nigromancy, I direct your attention to my class-bundle The Excellent Booke: A Manual of English Nigromancy which details the conjurational protocols and visionary scrying journal of two sixteenth-century English magicians calling up the shades of dead sorcerers (via the Four Kings and the Lord of the Dead no less) to call and command devils.
Memento Mori To Check Back On This Post Periodically
I have a lot more classes and courses I’ve taught online that I am in the process of putting up on my site to purchase as recordings at the moment. So I will be adding to this here blogpost as a one-stop-shop for people to check up on what’s available as they are added.
You can also keep abreast of new classes and courses – both live online and on the site as recordings – on my Friends of English Magic mailing list or having a look-see over at my Linktree hub.
I wish you all clear airs, benevolent shades, and ever-resurrecting blessings in all your necromancings. Cheers folks.