Definition of "necromancy" []

• The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future. (noun)
• Black magic; sorcery. (noun)
• Magic qualities. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In fact, little by little the term necromancy lost its strict meaning and was applied to all forms of black art, becoming closely associated with alchemy, witchcraft, and magic."
• "The Bible certainly does address the issue of dealing with evil spirits in that it explicitly forbids engaging in pagan worship, conjuring up the dead or spirit-guides (what we call necromancy--things like ouija boards and mediums and seances), and anything that might be called magic (trying to manipulate the material world by spiritual means)."
• "As dreams of the woman Lilitu haunt the warrior Pyrrhas, necromancy is in his future, it would seem."