this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2025
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Meanwhile wizards: "BEHOLD MY STAFF OF POWER", "I'm pondering the SPHERES", "KNEEL BEFORE MY MIGHTY ROD".
Jokes aside, that is a culture thing - if my rather tattered memory serves, historically, a lot of magic was pact magic (asking someone else for power in exchange). Necromancy was a little different (before its conflation with "nigromancy" by the church in medieval times) and in its earlier incarnation generally involved a "descent" into the underworld via a gate (of which there were many) and so was almost "adventure magic". These ancient holy sites were venerated rather than shunned and, again memory is patchy here, generally held an oracle (i.e. a witch).
So, fun fact of the day, if you go caving in the right place you're technically a necromancer.
What's the go with necromancy/nigromancy? This is all new to me and sounds fascinating!
So, in essence, necromancy was (traditionally) a divinatory art (in short asking questions of the dead who were seen to stand outside time [the notions of time and mortality being intertwined]). Greek and Roman Necromancy by Ogden is a good text on the history here.
Nigromancy, translating to "black divination" (black as in dark/evil magic) was more to do with demonic pacts and spells focused around power (e.g. summoning a feast, calling up a castle, cursing to madness or death, winning the love of a woman). The text forbidden rites gives a good exploration of this from a historical perspective.
This witch magics
I will never willingly go caving, not after the nutty putty cave incident.
Caving is fine as long as you stick to places you can walk to and stand in. As soon as your feet leave the ground or your elbows touch it, that's your sign you've gone too far.
I just don't see a benefit in doing it in the first place. People who actually have some business to attend to in the bowels of the earth can go into caves - if you're a miner or geologist or something, feel free to walk right in. I'll stay right here outside and you can tell me all about it when you get back out.
There are a few large, stable, and very pretty caves that are worth visiting just to experience them. For instance, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is a popular tourist spot where you can either hike down to the best part of it or take an elevator. No chance of getting stuck anywhere on the guided path.