What is death witchcraft?
I personally define death witchcraft as working with and honor spirits of the dead (ghosts, ancestors) as well as the power of death itself (endings, resurrections). Death witches reflect upon the concept of death, come to terms with their own death, and work through spiritual “deaths” in our lives. We also communicate with the dead regularly. Many of us heal and help the dead, and in return, they aid us in our magical workings. Rather than fearing death, we embrace it as a pivotal point in the cycle of life.
How is this different from necromancy?
Necromancy comes from the Greek words nekrós ("dead body") and manteía ("divination by means of"). Literally, it means speaking to the dead through divination. Most necromancers receive insights about the past, present, or future through the dead.
Necromancy is part of death witchcraft, but it isn't all of that path. Death witchcraft also involves working with death as a force, dead plants, healing the dead, and other aspects of the end of life. Some death witches also call themselves necromancers; others do not.
Today, the term necromancy is often reserved for ceremonial magicians who work with the dead. Some modern-day practitioners prefer to avoid the term because of its association with fantasy. On this blog, I will often use the terms necromancy, death magic, and death witchcraft to describe my path.
I have been writing Mordryd for many years, but let me delve into the history of this project because in order to better understand how much this dark fantasy world means to me, we must first see its origins.
Back in 2011 was the first real attempt I made at making this series a reality. I had the general Mordryd concept as a sophomore in highschool (2007-2008) but I really wanted to expand on it during my second year of college. The idea never left me alone, and it has been "bothering" me since then, growing more insistent as time wears on.
What I remember most was that it was a really dark swarm over me and I thought whatever it was had been sentient. Whether it was or not was lead to my imagination and in doing so allowed me to see that it was something more than I had ever imagined it was. It was dark shadows drifting over my head before I could fall asleep, it was the feeling of another being there that drew me to them and the imagination splitting open to reveal their true form despite their amoebus shapes swirling in the dark, darker than the darkness, above my head every night. They had their own form, they had their own shape, they could speak to me in words that no language could decipher but all could understand. An emotional, an intellectual language, was the basis for which they would traverse the world and in that I could make something out of it.
In 2011, it was something else entirely. There was a new character. There were actual characters and something more than just someone trying to make sense of the strangeness that happened at night when the lights went dim.
The character Raeanne Voulfe was the first to appear and her connection to the Mordryd world was not what it was now. It was a lot more urban fantasy as opposed to the dark fantasy with magical and paranormal realism kinda sprinkled in that it became. The original draft in 2011 was a goth kid dream. The Mordryds themselves were emo kids with purple eyes, though most of them were supposed to be in their late 20s to early 30s. Needless to say, I prefer how they are now: not human in likeness other than the emotions they feel.
I put the project away for quite some time and did not resurrect it until mid 2018 when it occurred to me that all of the writing ideas I had were to expand Mordryd. The main push came from a writing class I was taking at the time that focused on world building. It really helped solidify what the project would become because I established a foundation and springboard from which to launch.
Since then, I've worked tediously to make sure that I get it as accurate I can to what the Muse (for lack of better word) "wants". The results have not disappointed me and I hope they will not disappoint you. That is the introduction to the Mordryd project and I hope to have some real content coming soon. Until then, cheers!
Keep your eyes peeled for the Mordryd Universe podcast in which I expand on the points I discuss in these blog posts!
A podcast dedicated to all things in the Mordryd universe.
"Mordryds. They rip and sew the Veil between life and death with their sacred e
Mordryds. They rip and sew the Veil between life and death with their sacred expertise. They can end your carnal existence and whisk you to the astral realm in one blink. They are the masters of death’s grand illusion.
An orange moon bleeds over the shriveled and decaying cornfield of Maizekampo where a straw hut sits in a clearing, illuminated by the dancing light of a fire.
A Mordryd by the name of Rego sits on a log with a small book in the crux of his knobbly kneecaps. His long, brown fingers end in black claws that tick at the page edges to turn the tome’s decrepit leaflets.
Rego blows a tuft of smoke from his aquamarine pipe, his violet glowing eyes jupming from one sigil on the page to the next. The smoke curls from behind his beetle black fangs like a violet ghost and form a sentence in mid air:
Where can I find her?
