Learning from Legendary Practitioners

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Learning from Legendary Practitioners: A Necromantic Journey into History, Myth, and the Practice of Magic is a masterclass in the practice of spirit summoning and necromancy.

In this book Kadmus offers a series of investigations into ancient and legendary experts in the occult arts, including the ancient Greek figures of Circe, Teiresias, Medea, and Orpheus, as well as the supposed witches and faery queens who were the inspiration for the play Macbeth. These investigations engage with the myth and literature around each figure, as well as their historical and archeological contexts. 

Each chapter seeks to provide both our best understanding of the practitioners in questions as well as explanations for how the author went on to contact these figures and what he learned from the experience – thus blending historical research with active occult investigation largely of necromantic nature. The result is a book that provides a full education in the practice of spirit summoning and necromancy as well as offering a complete profile of some of the art’s most famous practitioners.

The second part of the book provides careful considerations of the nature of necromancy, its connection to the ancient cults of the dead which we understand as ancestor and hero worship, the enigmatic tomb cult, and finally a detailed guide for how to acquire an assistant spirit of the dead to aid in your necromantic work.

Learning from Legendary Practitioners is an invaluable book for those whose practice involves spirit work, and for those who are interested in spirit-summoning in general.

Kadmus is a professor of philosophy, a writer, teacher, practicing occultists and dedicated pagan. He has taught classes for every year of both the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore Festival and the Astro Magia astrological magic conference. Learning from Legendary Practitioners: A Necromantic Journey into History, Myth, and the Practice of Magic is his first book published with Hadean Press. His previous book, True to the Earth: Pagan Political Theology, is available in an updated second edition through Sul Books and The Elucidations of Drake, a book of short occult themed mystery stories published under the pen name of Bill Koch, can also be found through Sul Books.

CONTENTS:

INTRODUCTION 
PART ONE: THE EXPERIMENTS    
CHAPTER ONE: Circe
CHAPTER TWO: Teiresias
CHAPTER THREE: Medea
CHAPTER FOUR: Orpheus 
CHAPTER FIVE: The Witches of Macbeth 
PART TWO: METHODOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 
CHAPTER SIX: Necromancy as Katabasis 
CHAPTER SEVEN: Ancient Cults of the Dead 
CHAPTER EIGHT: On Acquiring a Necromantic Assistant 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
INDEX 

Our hardcover edition is printed on Munken creme paper and covered in black buckram with goldfoiling on front and spine and printed endsheets. Limited to 300 copies. The epub edition is available to purchase now from Hadean Press, and the paperback edition will be released on 12 December 2025.

Learning from Legendary Practitioners: A Necromantic Journey into History, Myth, and the Practice of Magic
Kadmus
ISBN 978-1-915933-41-6 (HB)
ISBN 978-1-915933-42-3 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-915933-43-0 (epub)
254 pages