What if we had
the power to bring back the dead? I’m not talking about zapping someone with
defibrillators and restarting his or her heart. I mean really raise a corpse
from the ground and give it a second chance at life.
Necromancy, the
act of summoning and reanimating the dead, is neither a new concept nor one
that is looked upon favorably. The practice dates back to ancient Greece, Rome,
and Persia and is most associated with the Black Arts. It was used as a method
of divination, is mentioned in the Bible in more than one spot, and was used by
occultists and magicians during the Middle Ages and Renaissance as well.
Leonardo da Vinci was actually accused of necromancy in 1514 and brought to
Vatican officials where his notebook pages and drawings on human anatomy were
closely examined.
Some necromancy
rituals involved sacrifices, blood-letting, protection spells, meditation,
incantations, abstinence from sex, eating and drinking special items, and
wearing certain clothes. Most rituals took place in cemeteries, with
practitioners preferring to raise the newly dead because these reanimated
corpses were thought to have fresher, more clearly spoken revelations. Actual
necromancy called the spirit back into the dead body. When the ritual was over,
the spirit would be allowed to leave the body again usually by staking the
corpse’s heart, burning the body, burying it in quicklime, or eating the flesh.
Hungry? I didn’t
think so.
So, even the
raised aren’t truly brought back to life though, and they don’t get to have
that full second chance. Their reanimated time is usually short and serves the
purpose of giving the necromancer requested information.
Bummer.
I would love to
see someone cheated out of life get a do-over, wouldn’t you? Imagine being
young and vibrant, in the prime of your life, and by accident or sickness, you
die. End of the road. You’d be pretty pissed. I know I would be. Especially if
I hadn’t had the chance to do something truly important yet.
I believe that a
big part of our purpose on this planet is to make a difference in some way.
This can come in many forms from the grandiose gestures to the small ways we
touch people’s lives. Each of us has a different contribution to make. No two
of us will change the world in quite the same fashion, and that’s what makes it
all so beautiful. We all have different gifts to share, and the most selfish
thing we can do is hoard those gifts. Humans are a community-oriented bunch,
therefore the Universe is demanding we interact, we grow, we help, we love.
And we need to
do it before we croak.
Not trying to
rush you or anything, but let’s face it, not many of us can put necromancer on
our resume nor do we have the phone number for a good dead-raiser programmed
into our cell phones. If we check out before we’re ready (and are you ever
really ready to die?), we’re not
coming back for another shot at doing it right. We only get this one life. We
have to make it count. Every day. Every moment. No opportunity wasted.
I dabbled with
bringing the dead back in my paranormal romance, ABRA CADAVER, published by The
Wild Rose Press a few years ago. This is a good book to give a shot during October when you're feeling a little Halloweenish.
What do you
think? Should we get a second chance if we don’t make a difference the first
run through this life? Would you want one? What would you be willing to
sacrifice to get it? Or have you already made a difference and have nothing to
fear?
Toodles,
Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com
Out NOW - More Than Candy Corn - A Maple Leaf Series Halloween Novella! Only $1.99!
