Necromancy is the art of working on the very elements of death. Commonly misconstrued as “corpse divination”, Necromancy can simply be explained as having a working relationship with death itself. Whilst corpse divination is a necromantic practice it is not the sum of what Necromancy is all about.
A Necromancer works with death; albeit a very vague description, it is nonetheless true. There are no universal systems, methods, or practices for Necromancy. Each Necromancer will find their way of practicing the art. Such practices include spirit communication, out-of-body trips to the underworld (katabasis/greater necromancy), cursing, hexing, imposing quests upon the dead, hex tableting (katadesmoi), commanding the dead, Ouija, and various other practices.
It is a non-doctrinal practice holding no fundamental/universal tenets, principles, or code. Unlike mainstream religion, Necromancy is an intimate and personal practice with death to the point that each Necromancer forms their own system, methodology, and theology on the subject itself.
The art itself is not inherently good or evil, much as a knife is not inherently good or evil either. Necromancy can be used to help afflicted souls, and help people with losses they have had whilst also aiding the Necromancer to understand more about the principles of death.
Necromancy can also be used to enslave spirits for personal gain, and infect the minds of others; hence determining whether it is good or evil is subjective and falls upon the Necromancer and not the art itself.
LVX - Patrick Gaffiero