From The Mouths Of The Dead: The Orgin Of "Black Magic".
Today the term “black magic” is Linked with the racist demonisation of the ATRs/ACTRs. But the Origin of "black magic" takes us back to Ancient Greece and Rome. Most practitioners know what Necromancy is. but have you ever studied its Etymology? According to wikipedia
"The word necromancy is adapted from Late Latin necromantia: a loan word from the post-Classical Greek νεκρομαντεία (nekromanteía, or 'divination through a dead body'), a compound of Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós, or 'dead body') and μαντεία (manteía, or 'divination').
The Koine Greek compound form was first documented in the writings of Origen of Alexandria in the 3rd century AD.[5][6][7] The Classical Greek term was ἡ νέκυια (nekyia), from the episode of the Odyssey in which Odysseus visits the realm of the dead souls, and νεκρομαντεία in Hellenistic Greek; necromantīa in Latin, and necromancy in 17th-century English.[8]"
A lesser known word once used synonymously with Necromancy is nigromancy
Again from Wikipedia “From Middle English nigromauncy, from Old French nigromancie, nigremance, from Late Latin nigromantia, a blend of niger (“black”) and necromantīa (“necromancy”)”. A word used in medieval times,it is possibly a translation error of some sort and over time fell out of fashion. Though it was still used at times throughout later grimoires interchangeably with necromancy.
I still use the term “black magic” when I am discussing Greco-Roman Necromancy specifically, otherwise I feel there is no point in using the term when it is out of its historical context. So not only has “black magic” been perverted by racism it is in some way misappropriated.
just some notes:
Black magic never meant curses, hexes, baneful or malefic magic.
Black magic never originally had anything to do with the ATRs/ACTRs.
People with power will pervert anything to harm groups of people they deem "unworthy"
