The Origins of Necromancy or How We Learned to Talked to the Dead

KAPCÁR, Andrej. The Origins of Necromancy or How We Learned to Talked to the Dead. Sacra. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, vol. 13, No 2, p. 30-58. ISSN 1214-5351.

Basic information

• Original name: The Origins of Necromancy or How We Learned to Talked to the Dead
• Name in Czech: Počiatky nekromancie, alebo ako sme sa naučili rozprávať s mŕtvymi
• Authors: KAPCÁR, Andrej (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Sacra, Brno, Masarykova univerzita, 2015, 1214-5351.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 60304 Religious studies
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14210/15:00102253
• Organization unit: Faculty of Arts
• Keywords (in Czech): nekromancia; smrť; funerálna mágia; psychológia smrti; okultizmus
• Keywords in English: necromancy; death; funeral magic; psychology of death; occultism
• Tags: rivok

Abstract

As far as human history goes, death and dying has always been an important, though in many occasions tragic, event that influences the everyday life of the community. With the development of more complex and elaborate ideas about the afterlife and the underworld, humans have started to think through methods for contacting the dead. The reasons may vary, ranging from the emotional to the purely pragmatic, but the effort remains the same. A multitude of rituals have been developed over time aimed at reaching the deceased and summoning them to the land of the living. And thus the function of the necromancer was born – and the person who is able, or knows of ways, to speak to the lifeless. But are we able to determine where this practice originated? When was the moment that man thought to himself that he might be able to overstep the thin line between life and death?

Abstract (in Czech)

Ak sa pozrieme pozornejšie do ľudskej histórie, smrť a umieranie bolo vždy dôležitou, aj keď často tragickou udalosťou ktorá ovplyvňovala každodenný život komunity. S vývojom komplexnejších ideí o posmrtnom živote a podsvetí, ľudia začali objavovať praktiky, ktoré mali umožniť komunikáciu s mŕtvymi. Dôvody pre toto konanie mohli byť rôzne, siahajúc od emocionálnych až po pragmatické, ale vynaložené úsilie bolo vždy rovnaké. Postupom času bola vytvorená široká škála rituálov, určených na spojenie sa s mŕtvymi a vyvolanie ich do zeme živých. Takto sa zrodila funkcia nekromanta – osoby, ktorá bola schopná, alebo poznala spôsoby komunikácie s podsvetím. Kde však táto praktika započala? Kedy nastal ten moment, keď si človek pomyslel, že existuje možnosť prekročiť tenkú líniu medzi životom a smrťou?