We are in dire need of hard proof of the soul's immortality. In the face of modern scientific materialism, the spirit has been reaffirmed. Spiritualism will rouse humanity to a new moral earnestness. It will bring forth a revolutionary movement that will turn empires into spiritual republics.
The study of the soul defines much of necromancy, yet what is the soul? Bearing in mind that the soul is an integral part of necromantic practice; the first step is to define what exactly the soul is. The material body is composed of flesh, that which is native to the physical/material plane. It is the corporeal aspect that we deal with on a daily basis and what is commonly the primary plane of interaction. The majority of the human race only deals with this primary plane and rarely interacts with any other level of existence.
A necromancer must see further into life, existence as well as death. As we exist on a multi-leveled reality that consists of more than just the physical/material plane it is the duty of the necromancer to operate on other levels of reality and existence. This also stresses the necessity to not only focus on the spiritual operations of Necromancy but also the physical which may consist of thanatology (the scientific study of death and the practices associated with it) or other scientific fields dealing with death.
Whilst the soul itself does not interact with the physical/material plane directly, it does, however, synch with the physical body that it is attached to (assuming the being is alive in a physical form).
However, this does not answer the question as to what exactly the soul is. The soul is not the same as the spirit as is often assumed. The spirit is a non-material plane or interfaces for reality much like that of the physical but different in its scale and properties.
The soul is simply the ethereal body of that being. While the soul is connected and related to the spirit they are not the same thing.
The soul is the intangible essential emanation of the material body which in many ways mirrors the corporeal. It is the non-material life force that flows through the body and serves as the embodiment of the individual at the most essential level. Through this understanding, the necromancer can begin to look and study the mechanics of the soul.
The revelations appertaining to the very nature of the soul allow the necromancer to deduce information so as to be able to base practice upon. The first of these is that the soul may be tangentially affected by the physical body. Aura reading, a technique many necromancers develop, suggests that the metaphysical body is in a constant state of flux yet is assumedly trying to reach an equilibrium in the very same way the physical body does.
Like a common illness, the body tries to negate the effects and return itself to its normal state. Premature death may interrupt the soul's “incubation period” and thus be unprepared for life after death. It is common to find that a necromancer’s idea of the meaning of life is simply an “incubation period” for the soul.
In this period the soul is preparing for death so that when the physical body dies, the soul can move on without a physical anchor. The soul attaches to the physical body to become strong enough to survive in non-material realms. The role of death in this life is to end the “incubation period” to simply end the course so that the soul can move on to “life after death”.
The wise Necromancer brings science and spirituality together to form a more grounded but also balanced look on necromancy as a whole. With time and dedication, a necromancer should be able to manipulate their own soul. The understanding of the soul and its nature is key to the progression on the path of Necromancy.
“The study of the nature of the soul is an integral part of absolutely any necromantic practice. It is the manipulation of the soul itself which defines the art of necromancy at its most fundamental level and, as such, each necromancer takes great interest in learning about the condition of the soul in every state. To first define what it is we refer to by speaking of the “soul”, however, is of utmost importance.”– The Ars Falcis
Em Hotep - Patrick Gaffiero