Below is some information about necromancy, as well as some personal accounts. I wrote this back in 2005 when I was only a couple of years into this particular sort of work So I may have left a few things out, but also there isn't really anything much extra that I can add in public, for obvious reasons.
There were several rumours and allegations about Edward Kelly performing necromancy. Having the dead help with him finding buried alchemical potions and the like. No such information ever made it into the diaries, so you will never know for sure... Pretty cool paining though :) I have finally returned to working on this page after a long delay. Necromancy is always a touchy subject. It is difficult to decide how much, and how much not to put. I used to believe that all information should be freely open for all. That was back before I received any decent secret teachings that are not common knowledge and are quite dangerous. After working with some of these techniques, I agree that some information just should not be put on webpages. People say necromancy is dangerous, well for once I will actually agree (I still disagree about Enochian for the most part).
There are several items, products and books that one should get ahold of before they start with necromancy. My first suggestion is to read Maya Daren's Divine Horsemen book as well as a couple of good websites on Vodou. Santaria is also a good place to look for information on ancestor work. Get yourself a bottle or 2 of Florida water, any brand will do, but the L&K is my fave (aside from my homemade of course). Start with ancestor work. There is not that much that needs to be purchased for this sort of work (they do enjoy rum though), but regular work is essential. You do not set up an ancestor alter then go and forget about it later.
Spiritual baths are ESSENTIAL to this path! If anyone tells you otherwise ask how much necromancy they really do and look at their health! You can make your own if you find some good recipes :) Or you can purchase mine, either way. If you do want one, just email me and tell me that you are doing this sort of work and need my necromancy work bath mixture. I recommend getting $20 worth to start, which is good for about 10 baths I think. If ordering baths from an online store is not your thing, at the very least have a salt water and Florida water bath before and after any necromancy work. I also sell smoking ghost powder, which, when thrown burned will help you to see the shade. I also carry deads manifesting incense. This is for the more experienced people to use as it works quite well. I also of course carry human bone necklaces and graveyard dirt for the aspiring necromancer.
Please be careful with this stuff! Have you ever run into a dead when you were a kid and been scared out of your wits? How about felt a dead nearby that you knew was a murder in life? Not to say they all feel creepy and scary (there are several wonderful deads to work with) but they are out there. Why all the warning? I run into too many folks who do not take this seriously. Folks who read D&D books or websites about necromancy and want to jump into it head first. To be expected I guess, the question I still get asked the most by newbies is: "how do I evoke a demon".
I don't recommend learning necromancy off the web, or from most books really. Even this site. I haven't included nearly enough info for someone to successfully practice. Also, I will not be around to bail you out when you find you can't get out of bed for 2 weeks for some reason. If you really are interested in the art, and naturally drawn to it, search out and find a teacher (don't email me please, I am inundated by them already :P). Or go walk through a graveyard in the middle of the night (without talking to any deads or stopping at graves till you are more experienced) and see how it goes, see if you really are drawn to this sort of work.
I at one point was given a bucket of graveyard dirt from a Jewish cemetery where many holocaust victims had been shipped over to be buried there. The groundskeeper had given it to me to plant my flowers in. He was quite nice, would lend me his shovel anytime I needed etc. LOL. Well I took the bucket of dirt home. I had asked permission from the deads discretely during the process (when he suddenly had to go off and find a bucket) and they were all for it. I put the bucket in a corner in my livingroom meaning to get to it later and forgot about it for some time. Well I routinely do magic in my apartment, burn incense, put out offerings etc. and many other things that help a dead to grow in strength. I am known for not fearing anything (go figure) and most things don't disturb me. However the next two months were quite interesting... The dreams, or I should say nightmares started. I usually only get a nightmare once every six months or so unless someone is actively working against me. Well these nightmares were nightly. I would also wake up shuddering and not know why. My strength lessened over the 2 months as well and I was sleeping most of the day. At night I would always see several entities that did not seem friendly. The regular banishings did not work (their dirt was in my house). It began to get quite disturbing. I eventually started to get very depressing thoughts even though I had not suffered from depression in 8 yrs (and that was after my mothers death) so this was quite odd. I worked through it all best I could still not realizing the source. I kept up my daily practice, increased my cleansing baths and sprinkled my temple wash (a mixture that I make that guarantees to get rid of deads) around. It still didn't work (the dirt was *still* in my house).
The final straw was when one night I felt a VERY strong entity trying to possess me. Fortunately I have been practicing magic for a number of years and do a lot of will exercises. However I nearly lost. It did not have good intentions. I had a 7 day novena currently going for a very powerful protective entity and that was nearly flung across the room, it was odd, it moved back and forth physically (knocking loudly on the stone table) then finally settled down as the flame flared up. The salt and other ingredients that I put around the room got rid of the spirit from me, but I could still feel their presence (that damn dirt was STILL in my livingroom). When I finally went to sleep that evening (I'm pretty sure I waited until sunrise LOL) I asked a local crew of invisibles I work with to let me know what the problem is as this was all very much confusing me. I awoke in the middle of the night with the strong vision of the bucket of dirt and just "knew" that that was it. Well that day I disposed of it properly in water and really gave the apartment a good cleansing! It did take a month to get my energy and luck back up, however the severe depression was gone almost immediately.
It's not like this sort of thing happens often (most people are smart enough not to get random dirt from mixed deads LOL) and most deads are not quite that disgruntled. Also, most deads are not quite that strong. However things like t his do happen. My teacher still makes cracks about buckets of dead folks! Btw, the gardener at the graveyard is one of those people that when you see them you just *know* not to stand to close to them, and you wonder how they are still alive.
Just to scare folks off messing with this other then with extreme caution I have another story I will be adding about a woman who I knew died from working with dead folks.
Crowley states (page 141 MiTaP)
" Necromancy is of sufficient importance to demand a
section to itself.
It is justifiable in some exceptional cases. Suppose
the magician fail to obtain access to living Teachers, or
should he need some especial piece of knowledge which
he has reason to believe died with some teacher of the
past, it may be useful to evoke the "shade" of such a one,
or read the "Akasic record" of his mind.
If this be done it must be done properly very much on
the lines of the evocation of Apollonius of Tyana, which
Eliphas Levi performed.
The utmost care must be taken to prevent personation of
the "shade". It is of course easy, but can rarely be
advisable, to evoke the shade of a suicide, or of one
violently slain or suddenly dead. Of what use is such an
operation, save to gratify curiosity or vanity?"
Crowley has some good advice and obvious experience in this matter. The working with the shade of a dead magician is defiantly a working that should be left up to only the most experienced in this art! Start with your ancestors and work up... Well you may think that dead magicians are friendly, but you never knew them in person, and you do not know what they are like now. Also, magicians, obviously are much stronger then your average dead, so likewise can cause more potential problems. For working necromancy, it is absolutely essential that one must first have their ancestor alter up, and have worked with their ancestors for some time. This time is to get to know how to work with dead folks, as well as to form a strong working relationship with your ancestors. Your ancestors are very helpful with magic and this work, as well as offer you good (yet often biased LOL) advice Just because they are dead does not mean that they do not still have the same biases/leanings.
Working with your ancestors
To work with ones ancestors you will need to setup an ancestor alter. There are a few different traditions on this, and ways to do it. However there are fortunately also a very specific set of things that are pretty much done across the board.
Ancestor work is defiantly the first steps to necromancy. You're ancestors are basically your family, they like you (well usually), they watch out for you, they protect you, and often you already know each other. Working with family first is always more wise then some stranger out of the graveyard, or even a friend that you don't know what they are like dead. Also, ancestors are a LOT safer to work with, so a great place to start. Some people however do not like certain ancestors. I say call those first that you *do* like, and leave the ones that you don't have as good of a relationship with until later. Start with the ancestors that you like the most and got along the best in life. If you have not met any of your ancestors yet, call the ones closest to you first, eg. parents, then grandparents, then great grandparents etc.
The ancestors that you call will most of the time have the same biases that they did in life. Fortunately though I have not yet had someone complain about their Christian ancestors disapproving of the ancestor work. I have had some of my ancestors disapprove of certain deads I worked with, or specific spells but that is about it. That is something that you would have to discuss with them, and perhaps do out of their view if need be. More often then not however, your ancestors will be happy to help you out in your magical workings, as well as give you insight into any new deads that you bring in to work with, or are thinking of working with. Your ancestors will also help you out in your life. If you go to them and explain troubles that you are having, they will often help you out best they can from the other side. Your ancestors will also often give you warnings and advice about your life, from their perspective from the other side. Oftentimes your ancestors will appear to you in dreams when they have something important to relay to you. This happens usually even if you don't yet have an ancestor alter up.
To setup your ancestor alter, well first find an alter, or a shelf or some place suitable. As you can tell I am pretty open to many ways that work LOL. Next grab a new white natural fabric table cloth. Purchasing fabric by the yard from your local fabric store works best for this. If you are on a budget, Walmart does have $1 per yard sales :) There are a few ways to prepare this alter cloth, many of them (the Afro/Cuban based ones) recommend your own urine, some water and various herbs. Check out the books and websites for more info about this. I am not an expert on this subject, I only know what I have read from others. Next you would put out your ancestors photos and any personal objects that you have of theirs. Do not use images with the living in them however for obvious reasons. It depends on how large your ancestor alter is, and how many ancestors that you have there, when deciding how many pgos and/or personal objects to put out. For personal objects items that they owned in life or that have special meaning to them are used.
Place several glasses of cool water on your ancestor alter, 9 is one of the common numbers of glasses, or you can just place one in front of each ancestor, or one for all of your ancestors. This will depend a lot on preference as well as space. Of course you can always ask your ancestors which they prefer. Along with this you can place out food. Raw uncooked rice is a favorite of many people and works quite well for this purpose. Along with the rice you can put out food items that were your ancestor's favorites in life. Just be sure to not leave it out long enough to attract mice or bugs, and to remove it before it gets moldy. You can usually just sort of tell when they are finished with it. Another traditional offering is cigars and cigarettes, and yes, even if your ancestors did not smoke them. The deads also enjoy the smoke of cigars (especially) and cigarettes. Also, don't forget the rum! The rum is defiantly a favourite of dead folks! :) Be sure to put out some rum from time to time for them. It doesn't have to be a lot, an ounce will do. I have found that they tend to prefer the Jamaican rums over Bacardi, this could just be my ancestors though. Flowers are also set out in fresh water, as often as you can get them. Fortunately flowers can be bought at any store, or often borrowed from your local park or neighbour. I am just kidding of course, I would never recommend that anyone do anything illegal such as stealing flowers! White flowers are traditional in some paths, but any colour will do. I try to get white first though. Potted flowers also work, however they still do like the odd fresh batch. When flowers are not in season, well then you can get creative and perhaps put out plants that flower in the winter.
Every time that you go to your ancestor alter (and I recommend that you do this daily) be sure to say hello and make some conversation, as well as perhaps let them know what you are up to "here are some fresh flowers that I found in Stanley Park mom, I hope you like them, they planted several new colours this year". Some folks are probably thinking at this point "well that is good and all but HOW do I hear what my ancestors have to say to me?". Fortunately most practitioners, with practice and some instruction, can begin to understand and "hear" or hear them. One thing that I want to mention, that far too often goes unsaid is that different people have different ways od perceiving the invisibles and magical energies. The method most commonly talked about is "seeing" or actually seeing them. While some folks do perceive them this way, there are also many other ways to communicate with and know when the invisibles are around. Along with seeing is also hearing, sensing, knowing, feeling, etc. It is best to meditate on a regular basis and work with your ancestors daily to get a good sense of which of these methods, or combination of methods works best for you.
To communicate with your ancestors basically have your ancestor alter setup. Let them know (by speaking out loud) that you will be by later that evening to have a chat with them. Bring with you flowers, some booze, a little bit of food and re freshen the water. Light the candles on the alter if they are not already lit. Then place out the food and water and tell your ancestors that you wish to learn how to communicate with them. They may send you images or visions. you may hear knockings or voices, you may see images out of the corner of your eye, and you will most likely get an impression in some way of what they are trying to communicate. Ask them how they like the food and drink. Ask for any advice or help they can give. Just sit and have a chat with them. If you cannot get an impression back when you first do this, don't worry, they may come to you in a dream later or let you know another way. Sometimes learning how to be open to receive what they are saying takes awhile. Just state your parts of the conversation out loud. If you can an impression of what they are saying, it is often right. You can also use a pendulum to conform things.
Advanced Necromancy with a Relic
Another method of working necromancy is through the use of our human bone necklaces :) Upon purchase we will send you a set of instructions on how to work with your bone.
A True Story about a Death from too much Necromancy work by an inexperienced woman
I do get tired of hearing all of the magic is dangerous tripe around. Most of what is in print I would not consider all that dangerous. However there are some aspects of necromancy that are actually quite dangerous. For example, not all dead folks are nice. Not all living folks are nice, and the passing over to the other side does not give them an attitude adjustment, it often sours them up actually. Also, who knows if they are still, or ever were, sane or not? We work with dead folks because we enjoy it, but also because they are powerful. Well obviously anyone that can have powerful magical affects could be dangerous to work with. Walking into an old house or graveyard and working with the dead there would be like walking into a new house or random park and working with the complete stranger there. The sort of thing your mother warned you against.
We used to hold a magical discussion group at a local coffee shop each week. We would get various regulars that would show up. This one woman that was about 50 would show up from time to time. We all thought that she was a little crazy and deluded about her spiritual enlightenment. She had lived in a very haunted house in the town for many years where people would see strange people, things moving, feel really uncomfortable energy etc. The woman also had some pgos from that house where the images had very odd things in the background. When she moved, she moved into yet another haunted house (as seen by others as well). It seemed actually that she probably brought them with her unknowingly from the old house. She told us that her path was to help those from the other side move on.
Over 6 months time, we saw her mental stability plummet considerably, as well as her appearance age and lose it's attractiveness very very rapidly. She was about 50 and looked more like 80. One of the members taught her the LBRP. We could all see an increase in her energy as well as a better feel about her. That only lasted for awhile though, and she stopped doing the LBRP.
She would also channel spirits. She was not very particular about which spirits she would channel, any that wanted to enter her would do. She had this odd and creepy energy about her, the sort that you find in the uncomfortable part of the graveyard, even though she was a nice enough person and socially pleasant. She also talked of having demons in the house. One of the younger people from the discussion group stayed with her for awhile as they had just been thrown out of their apartment. This person had been physically pushed down the stairs by a presence that could not be seen. The lady that owned the house was quite uncomfortable when I asked about this and said not to worry that she had taken care of the problem. She often allowed homeless people to stay at her house, so there were many people that saw some very strange things around there! A couple of people had even reported her being possessed against her will and doing quite odd things.
One night her roommate (who also sometimes showed up at the discussion group) had seen her walking around in a very strange fashion and growling words in a male demonic like voice. She was also throwing things around. He convinced her to go into her room and back to sleep as he thought it was just an odd dream state or something. The next morning he found her dead. The doctors never could figure out what the cause of death was.
We did a ritual to honour her next meeting and say our goodbyes. She did not feel that much different dead then when we saw her alive actually.
Graveyard Work
Do not do this exercise without FL Water and a cleansing bath bought from us (well unless you know another worker that makes very good ones and knows a lot about necromancy). The second you get home from this take the bath no matter what!
Here is an interesting intermediate practice that I recommend (and often bring people on). Go to your local graveyard after dark. I am obviously not recommending anything illegal, so find one that doesn't mind or get permission. I have done both. If you are the jumpy sort, or new to magic it is best to go with a friend (you can compare sprint times back to the gate if all goes well ). Get a bottle of Florida water. Unless you are, or know a very experienced necromancer that offers alternate options DO NOT SUBSTITUTE or leave this out! Before you enter into the cemetery ask the gatekeeper or the guardian of the cemetery, or Baron etc. if you may enter. Do this out loud, but obviously not loud enough to attract curious neighbours. You will get an impression of the answer. Upon entering leave an offering at the gate for the gatekeeper. 3 candies is always good :)
As you walk through the cemetery do so quietly and respectfully while keeping your mind on the working If you are also taking pictures , be sure to ask each dead beforehand. I recommend the combination of pictures and this exercise only after you have done both many times on their own first. Walk once around the entire cemetery the first time (this should be one that you already know by heart in the daylight) past the graves and sensing if there are any that are particularly strong or that you have an impression that they would like to talk with you. If you happen upon a grave or an area of the cemetery that feels creepy or uncomfortable AVOID IT! There are reasons that we have intuition, that is to save our ass! Heed these warnings. There *are* deads that can really screw you up. These areas can eventually be worked with, with at least 5 years of working with other non ancestor deads, but for now, just avoid them for your own health (see story about about the bucket of dead folks).
Continue your tour of the graveyard, then return specifically to the graves where you got the best impressions from. Stop by the first one and ask if they would like to talk with you. Don't set out any offerings yet, just sit and chat. You can ask to be shown details of their life, their name etc. When you are finished be sure to say "thank you" and leave an offering such as 3 coins, 3 candies etc. During your first visit this should only be done at one gravesite. After you get used to this, then you can work up to 2 and 3 gravesites. Never visit more then 3 deads in one night as this can tire one out considerably.
If you enjoy ghost pgography, be sure to ask the resident of the grave before taking a pgo, some like it, some don't care either way, and some downright hate it. If you are using a flash, be sure to take the pgo after you are done your conversation with the dead as this tends to disrupt their energy. The reason I often use a flash is to capture "orbs". The orbs usually only seem to show up when a flash is used. I have found that there tend to be orbs at gravesites I can feel a presence and an amazing lack of orbs at gravesites where I do not feel a presence.
When you have finished talking with everyone that you are going to talk to that evening head out of the graveyard. Be sure to leave an offering of 3 candies at the gate while saying thank you to the gatekeeper and/or guardian of the graveyard. Walk out the gate backwards, then liberally use florida water on your hands etc.
Some of the side effects to necromancy
While being a very interspersing aspect of the art, necromancy does have it's dangers and side affects. I have found these to include: depression, moroseness, loss of energy, nightmares and/or night terrors, sudden fear but you don't know why, melancholy, health problems, etheric body damage, physical bruises, a general uncomfortable feeling around your house etc. etc. If any of these side affects start, it is time to stop practicing necromancy or to find a decent teacher.
At one point I had a ghost that was a regular resident in my house hit me, I could feel the hits, sort of like a mild electric shock in a way, and ended up with several bruises that took 3 times as long as usual to heal. In this case the ghost was not trying to harm me, it ended up scared and I had inadvertently corned it at the end of the hall (hey it was invisible at that moment). I have also seen many dead folks looking quite solid. I guess the only side affect to this is that it can scare your friends and family. It is always unnerving to suddenly see someone standing in your livingroom that you did not invite in though! Also, if you don't state your boundaries, they sometimes will think it fun to do such things as come wake you up in the middle of the night. You might also want to explain to your dead friends and ancestors about not appearing so that your roomates and/or family can see them. I have had a terrible time with frightened roomates before! A 1 hour lecture on banishing once LOL.
Also, after graveyard visits I have come home nauseous, disorientated and low on energy. That is definitely the time to take an auric repair bath! This disorientation does not happen to everyone, but apparently materializing mediums get it for various reasons, and should definitely make sure that the proper precautions are in place. I believe these sort of folks are actually more common then expected. Being around dead folks definitely does have an affect on us. Different deads do affect us differently, however just being near them can mess with one's energy. Did I mention to take cleansing baths? :)
Some interesting experiences I have had with dead folks have been them running up behind me unexpectedly and yelling at me! Well that always unnerves me a bit. Anyone running up behind me and yelling at me unnerves me a little, and a dead person doing it unnerves me a bit more LOL. The problem is that they seem to know that I can see them and hear them and that others can't, darn. One day I was talking to someone at a bus stop, he had lost his wife a few years before and had become quite obsessed. He had redecorated his truck with pgos and sayings about his wife all over it. Sort of like those trucks that you see with christian sayings all over them, well this one had information about his wife. He was telling me all about his wife. Well his wife was there (it was sad he couldn't see or hear her) begging me to please tell him to let her go so that both she and him could move on. Apparently him obsessing over her was holding her here, or at least made her feel bad enough to stay.
Another time I was on a trip in the mountains with a group of people, mostly mundanes. We were out foraging mushrooms. One of the foragers found a leg bone with foot attached and brought it back to the lodge. Quite the conversation piece LOL. Well that night I went to bed a bit earlier then some folks and the person I was sharing the room with was not back yet. I had settled in and gotten all comfy when suddenly I heard this screaming "PUT MY LEG BACK!!!". Well that made me jump about 20 feet! To make a long story short I was not going to let all of these people know that I can hear dead folks, so I told him to go deal with them himself and convince them to put it back as I was not going to do it for him. The energy in the room turned very violent after this. I banished him out of my room.
A student of mine lived in a house that had been haunted ever since the family moved in. There were several times that one of the family members had felt someone try to push them down the stairs. The person who used to own the house was a man that had had a heart attack and had fallen down the stairs and died. I instructed him on several methods to get rid of the ghost if he wanted, or to get to know it better. He decided to try the get to know it better method. Well when he was holding a glass of water that he was going to put out for the ghost, something knocked it out of his hand and the glass flew straight across the room! Well so much for the friendly approach. Most of the methods that will usually dispel a spirit did not work, but finally the ghosts influence was pretty much gone. Since then my student has moved and hasn't had any problems.
Then there are the deads that tend to sometimes follow one home after a trip to a graveyard. They can be quite annoying at times. It can be downright disturbing if they are an unfriendly dead. Where do you think all the assholes go when they die? Same place as the cool people. However sometimes it can work out quite well when a pleasant and helpful dead follows. Be sure to cleanse your house regularly, having too many random deads around can lower energy levels and bring sickness if one is not careful. If you do run into trouble, I recommend sprinkling a salt and water mixture around your house or the area of the problem, this most often helps. If this does not help, well time to call a professional!
Speaking of dead folks, check out my paranormal page.
Instructions for collecting graveyard dirt
(nowhere near complete yet)
First of all, when collecting graveyard dirt, be discrete and respectful. Don't take more than you need, and PLEASE return the area to how you found it. There is nothing worse then going to a graveyard and finding obvious signs from someone collecting dirt. This sort of haphazard way of going about things just makes it more difficult for others to do it, and is disrespectful of the person who's dirt you are taking.
Btw, if you prefer not to go wandering around in graveyards with a shovel, we sell graveyard dirt here. Be decent about it and ask the dead before you take their dirt, if they say no, just leave it be, go collect someone elses. The last thing you want is an angry dead on your heals. Also, be sure to leave something as a thank you for taking the dirt. Coins, candies, booze, flowers etc. After one leaves the site, leave an offering at the gate of the cemetery when you go, and rub some Florida water on your hands etc. For complete instructions on entering and exiting a graveyard see my sample necromancy practice above.
Here are some ideas on how to collect dirt that I have done without any questions asked. A friend and I brought a picnic lunch and had a picnic in the graveyard. I brought my silver spoon and collected some, and put it in a clean little yogurt container. No one even noticed. During our picnic I was able to place out some food, water and flowers for the deads. If for some reason you go and do this (it is not recommended for the beginning necromancer) be sure to not eat off the same plate as the one for the deads.
How to summon dead authors with some hinters by Levi
Levi states (page 295) Transcendental Magic
"If concerned with a celebrated personage, we must meditate for twenty-one days upon his life and writings, form an idea of his appearance, converse with him mentally and imagine his answers. We must carry his portrait, or at least his name, about us, following a vegetarian diet for twenty-one days and a severe fast during the last seven. We must next construct the magical oratory, described in the thirteenth chapter of our "Doctrine", and see that all light is excluded there from. If, however, the proposed operation is to take place in the daytime, we may leave a narrow aperture on the side where the sun will shine at the hour of evocation, place a triangular prism before this opening and a crystal globe filled with water facing the prism. If the experiment has been arranged for night, the magic lamp must be so situated that its single ray shall fall upon the altar smoke. The purpose of these preparations is to furnish the Magic Agents with elements"
Hmm OK so if I am going to summon Eliphas Levi I would first meditate on him and his writings... That history of magick book is a little slow in places. I guess imagining the answers wouldn't be difficult after reading a lot of his writings. One interesting thing to note though is that some people speak a lot differently then they write. Me for example, no one that I know in person ever recognizes me by my posts online or my articles. Just to let you know in case you do get ahold of an old author and the speech patterns are different. From my experiences though the speech pattern of their time period tends to stay with them over time, which leads to some questions having to be asked LOL.
This is quite the intensive necromancy working, obviously not for the slacker or the dabbler. And people wonder why they can't get Mathers to show up during a 1 hour ritual tried once! The lack of light is quite important in these operations. I have found that candles are just fine though, it is the lack of natural light that is important here. I have noticed a lot more efficaciousness (is that a word?) when this sort of operation is done at night, no matter how much or little light.
I will not go further into the discussion of how to call up a dead author as I am sure they will thank me for not disturbing their peace by having several inexperienced kids calling them up to ask a simple question about the LBRP or how to get laid.
Levi also states: (pg 292)
"There are two kinds of Necromancy, that of light and that of darkness-the evocation by Prayer, Pentacle and Perfumes, and the evocation by blood, imprecations and sacrilege."
If you don't know what you are doing and haven't been properly trained, just don't mess with option B ok. Regarding the perfumes, I do sell a very good deads manifesting incense :)
So with this we see two styles of working methods here. The former is obviously safer. I don't see how the imprecations would help any, just a preference perhaps.
Levi also states: (pg 293)
"When evoked spectres reply to questions addressed them, it is always by signs or by interior and imaginary impressions, never with a voice which really strikes the ears"
Well apparently Levi never went to the same cemeteries I have! Who hasn't gone to a cemetery and heard knocking from the inside of a grave or building, or people yelling for help, or voices saying things you can't make out? It is not all that uncommon. There are several times that a group of us have gone and afterwards we would compare notes and most of the group heard the voices. But yes, I have found that shades usually do communicate through impressions, images, thoughts etc. The part about it never being audible is horseshit though. Just don't think anything is wrong if you do not get audible, it definitely does not happen with all deads, does not happen most of the time, and is difficult for them to manage. As far as the signs thing goes, yes, keep your eyes, ears and impressions open for what is happening around you.
Levi speaks of the method of the dumb supper (pg 294)
"Evocations of love require less apparatus and are in every respect easier. The procedure is as follows. We must collect, in the first place, carefully the memorials of him-or her-whom we desire to behold, the articles he used, and on which his impression remains; we must also prepare an apartment in in which the person lived, or otherwise one of similar kind, and place his portrait veiled in white therein, surrounded with his favorite flowers, which must be renewed daily. A fixed date must then be chosen, being that of the person's birth, or one that was especially fortunate for his and our own affection, one of which we may believe that his soul, however blessed elsewhere, cannot lose the remembrance. This must be the day of evocation, and we must prepare for it during the space of two weeks. Throughout the period we must refrain from extending to anyone the same proofs of affection which we have the right to expect from the dead; we must observe strict chastity, live in retreat and take only one modest and light collation daily. Every evening at the same hour we must shut ourselves in the chamber consecrated to the memory of the lamented person, using only one small light, such as that of a funeral lamp or taper. This light should be placed behind us, the portrait should be uncovered, and we should remain before it for an hour in silence; finally, we should fumigate the apartment with a little good incense, and go out backwards. On the morning of the day fixed for the evocation, we should adorn ourselves as if for a festival, not salute anyone first, make but a single repast of bread, wine and roots, or fruits. The cloth should be white, two covers should be laid, and one portion of the broken bread should be set aside; a little wine should be placed also in the glass of the person whom we design to invoke. The meal must be eaten alone in the chamber of evocations and in presence of the veiled portrait; it must be all cleared away at the end, except the glass belonging to the dead person, and his portion of bread, which must be set before the portrait. In the evening, at the hour for the regular visit, we must repair in silence to the chamber, light a clear fire of cypress-wood and cast incense seven times"
By evocations of love Levi means those that we had a fondness for in life. That would be quite interesting to prepare a room in one's house or apartment to appear like that of for example Levi's when he was still alive. This description shows the level of commitment and research needed for the operation. Not just something to do lightheartedly or on a whim one evening. A lot of the preparations of the above description nd this one for calling the dead are to prepare the magician in a way that would make one more receptive to psychic impressions, as well as prepare the area so that the dead in question will be more comfortable there and even drawn to it. Also, one spends an hour a day getting to know the dead person and creating a connection. There is more to it, but that is enough for now.
A cleansing of the area is also essential as noted in Levi's descriptions. There are many incenses, resins and cleansing solutions that can be used for this. I personally often will use temple wash, or a wall cleansing spritzer that I made which contains such things as Florida water and van van. Well not very traditional on this path, but it is in others, and works extremely well :) In the last sentence it looks like a mini dumb supper of sorts. The silence and serene aspect is quite important, as is the stillness of the magician. A presence of the shade should definitely be felt at this point. There should be absolutely NO distractions during the daily hour or during the final rite for this ritual. You should also remain silent as instructed. I notice that he instructs to leave backwards as one does from a cemetery. I am actually not sure why he uses cyprus would and I will have to go look it up :) Fortunately I have a good pile of cyprus from a recent mountain trip that I can try and see how it goes.
This method is only to be done with those of whom you were close with in life. Also, it states and hour a day, no less and no more, keep that in mind and stick to it.