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Necromancy and those that practice it
Aakaakaak:
The main character of the HBO show Carnivale. He took life from one and gave it to another. He killed a whole crop to bring someone back who'd just died. He'd usually take life from vegetation to give it to someone.
daranthered:
The Wikipedia entry for necromancy presents some interesting options. Great thing about creative writing; Wikipedia is full of information that's true...enough
lt_murgen:
Of course, you have shows like Medium and the Ghost Whisperer. They give you the alternative of a person who communes with the dead to help them resolve issues from life.
You could make it a supernatural private investigator who raises the spirits to help him solve cases.
Nickeris86:
nec·ro·man·cy (nkr-mns)
n.
1. The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future.
2. Black magic; sorcery.
3. Magic qualities.
[Alteration of Middle English nigromancie, from Old French nigremancie, from Medieval Latin nigromantia, alteration (influenced by Latin niger, black) of Late Latin necromantia, from Greek nekromanteia : nekros, corpse; see nek-1 in Indo-European roots + manteia, divination; see -mancy.]
dictionary definition of necromancy
daranthered:
While the definition of the word is a good start, I think its important to remember there is a wider anthropological scope to the idea of necromancy.
In cognitive emergence, the realization that death is something that awaits us all is a pivotal concept in the path to sentience. Which means its possible, even probable, that most ancient and small-scale societies will have some form of necromancy as a reaction to that realization, so that some form of control, real or imaginary, may be exerted over death.
Navajo religion has a great deal that deals with the cleansing of spirits from homes, using the Ghost Way.
Greek myth has several stories where a hero journeys to Hades to bring someone back.
Chinese ancestor worship provide links between the living and the dead
Voodoo and Santeria both have heavy necromantic elements to them
If you look at any supernatural religion, you'll find some element of necromancy. I would encourage anyone to look beyond the traditional Western concept, to say nothing of the D&D
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