Necromancy in Folklore | The Faeries and Folklore Podcast

Episode 18: The Fae Realm: Necromancy

The folklore of necromancy in a nutshell, how I reimagined it for my writing, and necromancer translated into Afrikaans.

Written and narrated by Ronel Janse van Vuuren.

Copyright 2021 Ronel Janse van Vuuren — All rights reserved.

Learn more about necromancy here.

Get the transcript here.

Music: Secrets by David Fesliyan (FesliyanStudios.com) and Dramatic Heartbeat by FesliyanStudios.com

Transcript

You’re listening to the Faeries and Folklore podcast by Ronel.

I’m dark fantasy author Ronel Janse van Vuuren. With nearly a decade of digging around in dusty folklore books, researching creatures of imagination that ignited my curiosity, I’m here to share the folklore in a nutshell and how I reimagined it for my writing in an origin of the fae.

This is the Faeries and Folklore podcast.

Hi, I’m your host Ronel Janse van Vuuren. You can just call me Ronel. In today’s episode, we’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

This episode is brought to you by my book Once… Tales, Myths and Legends of Faerie available in eBook, paperback and audiobook. Go to ronelthemythmaker.com/my-books for more.

We’re continuing our exploration of the fae realm.

Today’s subject: Necromancy

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Magic involving the summoning or raising of the dead is called necromancy. Sometimes it is used to refer to black magic or witchcraft, but it is a form of magic all its own. It is sometimes called “death magic” as it relates to the dead. It is used to communicate with the dead to learn the future, discover hidden knowledge, bring the dead to life or to use the dead as a weapon.

Necromancy was prevalent in the Ancient world. Even Odysseus had help from Circe to raise the shades of the dead to find the knowledge he needed. It survived centuries. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci was accused of necromancy because he used corpses for his anatomical studies – the Pope forced him to give up his research. And in modern times séances are held whenever someone wants to know something from a dead person.

Whether it is eating corpses and surrounding oneself with things representing the dead or just fooling around with candles, talking to the dead can only lead to madness, despair and death.

And now for my interpretation of the fae in an origin of the fae:

Origin of the Fae: Necromancy

Dark magic concerned with raising the dead, calling upon spirits to do the bidding of the necromancer, and all-around bad, unnatural magic.

Ankou, King of the Dead, isn’t fond of necromancers, though he tolerates and even humours them on occasion.

Carnelian is a powerful stone for them to draw their powers from. They also use solar eclipses and other astral events to power their magic.

As a little bonus, let’s look at the translation of Necromancer into Afrikaans: Nekromanser.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this episode of the faeries and folklore podcast and that you’ve learned something new about faerie.

Remember that you can get a transcript of this episode in the description. If you’re new to the podcast, why not go and grab your free copy of Unseen, the second book in the Faery Tales series, on my website ronelthemythmaker.com? Loads of folklore, magic and danger await! Take care!

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