Editing Necromancy (section)

{{Short description|Magic involving communication with the deceased}}
{{About|the form of magic|the film|Necromancy (film)}}
{{Redirect|Necromancer}}
[[File:Endor.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Illustration portraying a scene from the Bible wherein the [[Witch of Endor]] uses a necromantic ritual to conjure the spirit of [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]] at the behest of [[Saul the King|Saul]]; from the frontispiece of ''Sadducismus Triumphatus'' (1681) by [[Joseph Glanvill]].]]
{{Anthropology of religion|Basic}}
{{magic sidebar|Forms}}

'''Necromancy''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|ɛ|k|r|ə|m|æ|n|s|i}})<ref>{{Cite EPD|16}}</ref><ref>{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Necromancy}}</ref> is the practice of [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]] involving communication with the [[Death|dead]] by [[Evocation|summoning]] their spirits as [[Ghost|apparition]]s or [[Vision (spirituality)|visions]] for the purpose of [[divination]]; imparting the means to foretell future events and discover hidden knowledge. Sometimes categorized under ''death magic'', the term is occasionally also used in a more general sense to refer to [[black magic]] or [[witchcraft]] as a whole.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = [[Webster's Dictionary#Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary|Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary]] | title = necromancy | url = http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necromancy | edition = 11th | date = April 2008 | publisher = [[Merriam-Webster]] | location = [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield, MA]] | access-date = 2011-11-03 | archive-date = 2021-02-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210212021938/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necromancy | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = [[Oxford Dictionary of English]] | title = necromancy | url = http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/necromancy | edition = 3rd rev. | date = August 2010 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | location = [[Oxford|Oxford, UK]] | access-date = 2011-11-03 | archive-date = 2012-05-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120517023031/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/necromancy | url-status = dead }}</ref>