The Witches' Book of the Dead (18 page)

The following ritual is the perfect basis for your work with divinatory necromancy. The tools involved will almost always facilitate the presence of the dead, and I personally do this whenever I want to be sure that the dead will show up. My coven-sister Kelly Span-gler and I performed a variation of this ritual during a lockdown at the Salem Witch House for an episode of the Travel Channel's
Ghost Adventures
. We simply would not allow the hosts of the show to come to Salem and not have a truly paranormal experience, and this ritual guaranteed that the spirits would be on the guest list!

You will need:

• Human skull (or substitute)
  
• Yew wand
  
• Bronze dagger
  
• Pentacle of protection
  
• Chalice of libation filled with spring water—
  not
  tap
  
• Offering cauldron
  
• Spirit powder (see
  appendix A
  )
  
• Spirit incense and burner (see
  appendix A
  )
  
• A spirit rattle or bell
  
• Medical lancet (available at drug store)
  
• Jar of honey
  
• Additional offerings of olive oil, milk, wine, and barley, all kept in separate containers until needed. If you do not have all of them, please have at least the spring water, honey, and olive oil.
  
• Anointing oil (see
  appendix A
  )
  
• A black candle and a white candle
  
• A piece of parchment paper and pen
  

Be sure to place all of the tools and offerings upon your altar of the dead and fill your chalice with fresh spring water—
not
tap water. Stand before the altar, and relax yourself into a visionary state (see
chapter 2
).

Ring the spirit bell or shake the spirit rattle to create sacred space and let the dead know that you are ready to make contact with them.

Light the black and white candles, saying, in turn,
This black candle shall draw the spirit of [name of spirit here] that [he/she] may provide the answers I seek while the white candle shall share with [him / her] the energy raised here
.

Write the name of the spirit you wish to call on the piece of parch-ment paper and place it on the pentacle of protection, saying,
By the power of the written word, I do stir and summon the spirit [name of spirit here]! Come forth and provide the answers I seek!
Anoint your wrists, heart, throat, forehead, and the crown of your head with anointing oil, saying,
I consecrate myself as a creature of spirit that the spirit of [name of spirit here] will come forth and provide the answers I seek!

Sprinkle the spirit powder in a circle, counterclockwise (the direction of the dead), around your area of working. Be sure to include the altar. If your altar is against a wall, sprinkle behind it as best you can. Say,
This powder shall serve to protect me from all evil and harmful energy. Let no spirit or force enter here who would speak untruth!

Take up the bronze dagger with your right hand and trace a circle three times around you, counterclockwise, and say,
By bronze blade of the ancients, I cast this circle to defend me from all evil and harm. Let all spirits who enter here speak only truth and be of pure intent!

Light the charcoal (or stick incense) and sprinkle the spirit incense upon the charcoal. Raise the incense to each of the four directions, North, East, South, and ending in West before the altar, each time saying,
Let this sacred smoke stir and summon the spirit [name of spirit here]! Come forth and provide the answers I seek!

Open the lid of the honey pot and say,
Let the sweetness of honey please the spirit of [name of spirit]. Come forth and provide the answers I seek!

Using your right hand, tap the crown of the skull three times with the yew wand and say,
I hereby conjure the spirit of [name of spirit] to come forth and provide the answers I seek!

Now you must make the offerings to the dead by pouring them into the offering cauldron. Pour some of the spring water from the chalice of libation. Pour in some honey from the honey jar (make sure it isn't crystallized—reheating it helps with that). Pour the olive oil, milk, and wine into the cauldron also. Finally, sprinkle in the barley,
saying,
Let these offerings appease you, spirit of [name of spirit here]! Come forth and provide the answers I seek!

Take the sterilized medical lancet and prick the index finger on your right hand and place three drops of blood into the offering cauldron. Now, say,
I make this offering of my blood, of my volition, that it may feed you, spirit of [name of spirit here], of my life force! Come forth and provide the answers I seek!

With this said, place your left hand, palm downward, on the top of the skull, and breathe deeply. Ask the question you want answered aloud. Continue to breathe deeply and wait. The answer can come in a number of ways. The most common begins with a vibration of energy moving from the skull into your left hand and throughout your body. This is the energy of the Death Current moving through you. Once you feel this vibration, it will typically be accompanied by a voice that seems to emanate telepathically from the skull directly into your mind. Listen for what the dead are saying, for you will most likely get your answer in this way. In some instances, you may actually see visions of things that are to be within the smoke of the incense. Pay very close attention to your dreams on this night, for you will almost certainly receive more visions there. In the rarest of instances, the spirit will manifest as a vision before you, speaking directly to you as the prophet Samuel did before the Witch of Endor. Do not be alarmed if this happens. Simply listen to what the spirit tells you and be respectful.

Once you feel that you wish to close the ritual (this is always at your own discretion), take up the yew wand in your right hand and tap the crown of the skull three times with it, saying,
I give you thanks, spirit of [name of spirit], for the wisdom you have shared with me! May you depart in love and joy, and return when I have need of you again!
Place the yew wand back upon the altar and take up the bronze dagger with your right hand. Draw a circle, clockwise this time, around the space three times, saying,
I hereby close this sacred rite. As rising moon, and setting sun, it is done!

• • •

Ritual: The Rite of the Mirror of the Dead

If the skull you use is not of the divinatory kind with the lower jaw, you may not be getting much communication directly from it. Because it is such a powerful portal to the realms of the dead, the skull should always be present for the ritual, no matter what kind it is. But there are other methods you can use that might better facilitate contact. One such method is to use a black scrying mirror, washed only in an infusion of mugwort. See
chapter 6
for more on the scrying mirror. Everything about this ritual is the same as the Rite of Necromantic Divination above with the following exceptions:

As you are actually scrying for this version of the rite, it might help to be seated with the mirror placed at eye level across from you on the altar.

Be sure to place the incense near enough to the black mirror so that it is partly veiled in smoke but not so close that it is enshrouded in it. The mirror should be angled slightly so that nothing, including you,
is reflected in it. You may want to keep just the black candle lit for this version of the ritual, making sure that the candle flame is not reflected in the glass either.

Once you have made your offerings in the cauldron, gaze into the mirror and say,
Into this mirror, I conjure the spirit of [name of spirit] to come forth and provide the answers I seek!

Stare into the blackness of the mirror and wait. It may take a little while to see a vision of the answer you seek, but it will come. Im-ages can be literal or symbolic. Sometimes, the spirit will answer with mental pictures of things it understands, so this process can sometimes play out like a game of charades. You may also hear whispers from the mirror telling you the answer to your question. Yes, that's right: hear. The Wicked Queen of the classic tale
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
didn't invent that trick. Messages from the spirit world can often take the form of all five senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch! Pay close attention and also be sure to pay attention to your dreams as well.

Once you feel that you wish to close the ritual, complete it as you would with the Rite of Necromantic Divination above. After the rite, you may want to write your impressions in a special journal that chronicles your spiritual adventures.

As a final note, you may also perform this version of the ritual, simply substituting the mirror with a copper scrying bowl filled with spring water, also mentioned in
chapter 6
.

• • •

Ritual: The Cauldron of Fire

In some forms of necromancy, a copper tripod was used to make a fire of cypress wood, long a tree of the dead, and olive wood with incense sprinkled into the flames. The three legs of the tripod are important, as the number three has long been a number of the dead, dating back at least to the story of Christ's resurrection on the third day, and perhaps even further. For safety reasons, I recommend using a three-legged cast iron offering cauldron on top of a ceramic tile to protect the altar from heat. Everything about this ritual is the same as the Rite of Necromantic Divination above with the following exceptions:

This version of the ritual should be performed outside. Even with all of your windows open, this could set off your smoke detectors, or worse, cause a fire.

When you place your offerings in the cauldron, you should place very little liquid. Otherwise, you will not be able to light a fire within. Once you place all the offerings, including the blood, in the cauldron, fill the cauldron halfway with bits of cypress wood and / or olive wood, both effective for this purpose. Light the fire and sprinkle in some spirit incense (stick incense will not work for this method), saying,
Into this flame, I conjure the spirit of [name of spirit] to come forth and provide the answers I seek!

You should add more incense at intervals to continue the smoke and the scent. Traditionally, the incense was added a total of seven times, but I add it as needed throughout the rite. Meditate on the
flames and the smoke of the incense. You will likely see visions of things to come. Both the flames and the smoke may contain symbols similar to what you see during scrying (see
chapter 6
). Watch and listen carefully, for you may also hear whispers within the crackling of the flames that may answer your question. Again, pay close attention and also be sure to be mindful of your dreams.

Again, when you wish to close the ritual, complete it as you would with the Rite of Necromantic Divination above. Once the rite is complete, be sure to write down your experiences in a journal.

• • •

Going to the Graveyard

Graveyards are among the best places to perform necromantic rituals. Unfortunately, you really aren't supposed to enter most of them at night, and doing so could be both dangerous and in violation of the law. So I don't recommend doing this often, but if you have the opportunity to do it even once in your life, it's an extremely powerful way of tapping into the spirit world.

The ancient necromantic rituals have given way to modern rituals, such as the one offered below, that are just as effective. They are often comprised of verbal or written requests to the dead that include offerings, such as flowers, coins, and so on. Customs vary by region. In New England, cemeteries are typically adorned with flowers or the occasional American flag. In New Orleans, amongst their “cities of the dead,” there are many tombs, crypts, and graves featuring piles of colorful offerings of all sorts, including written prayers, alcohol, toys, photographs, statues, personal items—just about anything you can imagine. At Holt Cemetery, a burial ground for the poor and one of the Crescent City's rare belowground graveyards, the resting places are adorned with a wondrous blend of folk art, offerings, and magic.