Witcher The Forbidden Arts (Necromancy and Goetia) - Witcher Lore - Witcher Magic - Witcher 3 lore

Necromancy, Demonology (Goetia), The Forbidden arts. These magics are frowned upon throughout all of the witcher universe and in fact are banned throughout the various kingdoms. But why is necromancy and goetia banned? Why do mages dislike these magics so much? And what even are these magics? In Today's video I hope to answer these questions by explaining what these forbidden witcher magics are and explaining their place in the witcher universe.
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A quick disclaimer - A lot of these videos use information from the witcher wiki, in some cases I do read directly from the pages, I do always make sure to include my own thoughts and other information I know myself, but I just want to make sure everyone is on the same page here. Even though I use information from the wiki, I do still create the videos, with time, effort and a lot of editing! The idea behind the lore videos is to present the information to you guys in a fun and more interesting way then you guys having to get the information from pages and read it yourself. If anyone isn't okay with this I apologise, but since day one I have always said where I get the information from. Thank you for reading.

[@Raccoozs]

A necromancer is just a really late healer

[@madatarchives8725]

Lol

[@Not-an-Alien]

@@madatarchives8725 Despite their frequent tardiness I hear they are still really good at making friends.

[@oigomieggo24]

Jeremy Morris their friends aren’t great talkers, unfortunately, but they’re great listeners

[@processinginformation]

well, someone played diabolo

[@reginaldmustardbacon5866]

Or just a priest that never gave up

[@fstorm001]

Necromancy: Crack open a cold one

[@jamesgrisham6827]

That's necrophilia

[@tylerulfmann4586]

James Grisham nah that depends if before or after rigor mortis has worn off yet

[@michaelangelo8550]

hah...

[@novaterra973]

My headcanon regarding Olgierd trying to summon O'dimm: I don't think O'dimm can be actually summoned. Instead, he comes to you because he knows you would be willing to make a deal. If he appears when summoned, it probably is a ruse to give you a false impression that you are holding the upper hand in this deal, but in reality, he is playing you like a fiddle.

[@windblownleaf6450]

seems like something hed do

[@petermuller926]

Also gaunter shows up to Geralt and this woman in blood and wine without being summoned. He is not pure evil either he just an extreme mirror towards yourself.

[@theseekerofancienttruth3873]

@@petermuller926 Read "The Devil and Daniel Webster," and look into the Specific Story CDPR based Gaunter on, and you will realize he is not A Demon, but The Demon, and he does this because he delights in the Suffering this causes.

[@funisanartform]

Dormammu, I've come to bargain.

[@WitcherGeorge]

Get this man a Dormammu

[@obi-wankenobi8406]

Do a video about lesbomancy for April fools day

[@derkaiser7968]

Is that even a thing?

[@niBBunn]

DerKaiser Yes, in Witcher 2

[@olgierdvoneverec4135]

Wtf, it is real!

[@ahmadsyahan5037]

my favorite kind of magic

[@zjawawioskowejmilicjizkryp5800]

I cant wait 10 months

[@damian5302]

Regarding mystery of Olgierds knowledge of how to summon deamons: Witcher III is heavily influenced by Polish folklore and feudal Poland generally. In Polish past schools were quite rare and only nobles were able to attend it. Interesting fact is, during that time magic was as common subject in school as math or music. For a player from Poland, it is preety clear without game telling it, how could Olgierd summon 3 devils. He was a noble, and he learned it in school. In Polish literature noble commiting "pact with the devil" is a very common theme.

[@kenansabic2901]

Got any reading reccomendations for such mythology?

[@anon2034]

Is it a historical fact that in the Polish Commonwealth learning "magic" in school is true or is it just a myth? Maybe alchemy? I am curious.

[@spartavis8904]

@@anon2034 Alchemy and magic was taught in all of Europe. The reason why you associate those teachings with PLC, are probably the actions of our king Sigismundus Augustus. He truly loved his wife and even wed her against will of his mother and all of the nobles in Poland. Unfortunately she died shortly after wedding and the king fell into deep depression after this, and so began the "golden era" of magic in Poland. Because king wanting to see his dead wife invited many famous magicians from all of the Europe. Magic and alchemy was taught in all of Europe, just there was a period when all of renowned magicians where in Poland ;)

[@Krismac242]

Fascinating!!!

[@talanorth8388]

@@kenansabic2901 It is not exactly Polish, however the Goetia is an actual grimoire that has been around for centuries and it can be as dangerous as mentioned in the video, but 95% of the time is not if you do research into magick. There are many grimoires that you could look to both modern and old, some of the older ones are: the Goetia (or even the Key of Solomon, which the Goetia is part of), the Grand Grimoire, the Grimoirium Verum, the Galdrbok (idk how to spell that one), etc. If you are looking for some philosophy about magick look into Agrippa, Eliphas Levi, the Kybalion, Hemetic Philosophy, and Ceremonial Magick

[@winterburden]

Goetta is a kind of sausage mush that they make in Cincinnati, and probably has strong forbidden magickal properties.

[@DrixMaloneDFS]

Heyyy Sin City is my city!!

[@ralcogaming7674]

Found it again I thought you would find this interesting, I just started playing gwent and I noticed thst both the "Master Mirror" and "Gaunter O' Dimm" cards are classified as demons

[@PartyQuest]

Wow bro! You made a name for yourself! I remember watching you when you had 600 subs, now 52k holy shit!!! Respect.

[@WitcherGeorge]

OG

[@lennchen5432]

In some cases it's said that necromancy is a forbidden sort or kind of magic, because in order to revive the dead something of equal value needs to be sacraficed and a soul is known to hold a lot of energy. The spellcaster is also affected by the magic, because the mage or sorccerer is the katalyst or the filter for the magic to work. Something dies, for it's energy is being used and filtered to hold on to something to be "revived". In that case all three parties (the garden, Yen and Skjal) are in pain but the question remains if this pain is also euqaly shared. In the end the process propably can have various aftereffects on the spellcaster too, causing to get them maybe either sick or even reduce their own life-span.

[@hampdog5716]

Everytime he says "brotherhood of socerers" I think he's gonna say "brotherhood of steel" 🤣🤣

[@johnnythedark3090]

Ok in season of storm it was mention that geralt fought 2 demons - in wolf and human form. It's also confirmed that alzure created witchers and many monsters (probably) thanks to knowledge obtained from deamons. (Which was also his demise...)

[@donaldtusk2678]

Wasn’t it mentioned that the human wasn’t a demon

[@frs1375]

@@donaldtusk2678 The one Geralt fought before the events of Seaon of Storm was 100% a demon but the one which Geralt hunts down isn't.

[@nasunothecat7499]

Olgeard is pretty clearly essentially immortal, thats probably why he survived summoning the demons Gaunter doesnt want olgeard dead, so no matter what he does he isnt gonna die

[@WitcherGeorge]

That's actually an interesting point. However I will say that he clearly must be skilled on some level as he managed to control three summoned demons.

[@ultron-5600]

WitcherGeorge he probably learned from other black magic professors like Shakeslocke

[@Wanderingwalker-ke6mg]

I mean, he cracked some deal with o’dimm? And is clearly of some importance to gaunter so allowing olgierd as power as he can handle would be no difference to the witcherverse devil.

[@mikelevidis745]

History of Skellige or Nilfgaard next please. Also a video about the battle of Brenna would be cool. Oh I almost forgot, great video mate

[@lando1224]

3:36 I’m not sure if Sile actually cares about it or finds it unethical. When playing the Witcher 2 and that scene, I was under the impression that she knew they’d find out that she was a part of the plot from the dead Witcher’s memories, hense why she disappeared and escaped after. So the only reason she wanted no part of it was because she knew they’d figure out her involvement in it all.

[@TheSuperGamer991]

I love how much I could dig my teeth into the lore of the Witcher. I haven’t read any of the books (I have them all and will be starting to read them soon, I’m excited) and haven’t played much of the games, only about two hours of the first one but my computer crashed last time I was playing it and I lost an hour of gameplay. Darn rain!

[@Yehoshua66]

luckily it was only an hour. one can lose hundreds of hours in disastrous hardcore runs🥵🥵

[@finn3078]

Love the vids as usual man!

[@dominikdembicky8686]

Can’t wait till the next video love the Vids

[@merlin4392]

Holy fuck, I literally asked for this last video. Thank you sooo much George, really proves a lot that you care about what your subs asks. Thank you

[@MagaldiMateus]

Maybe he didn't control the demons that well at all and had it being anyone else the demons would had take his souls, but in this case the soul of the summoner already belong to The Man of Glass who was beyond the powers of the demons.

[@SevernFyre]

I just LOVE these. Thanks so much.

[@danielhiggins3575]

He was probably in pain by being in that corpse because that corpse was rotting, including its throat. I dont think it was the act of going into the corpse. Like in the same vein as frostbite with your extremities being dead- it hurts.

[@animedrawings07]

Went to ur channel afterwards, and I'm hooked on ur Witcher3 walk through,, we need more!!!!

[@TheToadmyster]

Love the videos! Would like to see a video on the Hanse leaders of Toussaint, if it ever interests you. Keep it up :)

[@jessicawilson8240]

I figured that Skjall was in such agony being put back into his body because his body was fairly decayed at that point and not in remotely good shape.

[@azziek3246]

Was creepy tho

[@Gonagonad]

Damn its been some time since ive watched one of your videos and t be honst you have improved alot

[@26icetalon]

Sile actually didn't want to do the necromantic ritual because SPOILERS FOR W2 she knew that Aux knew about her and the Lodge of Sorceress calling for the Death of the Aedirn king by the viper witchers. Just thought i'd put that there.

[@lando1224]

Just made a comment pointing this out, glad to see I wasn’t the only one 😂

[@fabianschulte7548]

I think a video about Djinns would be very interesting

[@Wanderingwalker-ke6mg]

We might be making more out of it than needed, olgierd is of royal blood, the polish folklore side of things really shines here as it can perfectly blend fact (polish studied “magic” as part of curriculum back in the day) and fiction(olgierds summoning and controlling of domestic demons) plus gaunters involvement.

[@kreedsutherland4207]

Experiments on humans were banned by the conclave. Geralt says so in the tower of mice quest when looking and a guy in a test vat.

[@rozwelljones4976]

I've only just started my witcher 3 journey, and man your video's are so informative and just what I need Thank you.

[@Ascendedninja6]

How did you enjoy the game?

[@edi9892]

The peculiar part is that summoning demons apparently doesn't require any mana, and can thus be performed by individuals who can't do ANY magic! All other summoning requires significant mana and skill...

[@crush2011]

what about lesbomancy?

[@blopplop1568]

Interesting video

[@mikelochs4374]

Hey could you do a video about succubus/incubus? Always wondered about these creatures

[@Punched0]

WitcherGeorge Do you think you could do video on Black Rayla? I think it would be really interesting

[@willriseabove6858]

I honestly thought the gardner was his wife's father mutalited by black magic after his death or at least his body was a catalyst after he killed him. I dont remember it to well was such a good story though.

[@caelmcdiarmid1874]

Its frowned upon mostly because of the law of exchange. Only death can pay for life, if there weren't a sacred garden it would require a life of similar value. Age, sex, even deeds

[@absolutezer0174]

Not sure that you'll see this, but your videos, are binge-worthy. 👍

[@captainshanty60]

I don't want to be that guy but I believe it's pronounced "Go-ay-sha".

[@philipladone3063]

I don't actually. At least not if you take older Latin pronunciation

[@Volvith]

"I don't want to be that guy..." _[Proceeds to be that guy.]_ :3

[@taikajorma7276]

X19 Xela How would u prounounce sauna 🤨

[@onoe6007]

And here I was, pronouncing it "gaul-ati-mania" I'm such an idiot!!

[@carna-9501]

I say "Go-eh-shia"

[@kronoscamron7412]

it was stated in the game that olgierd was an avid reader into the occult since he was a boy, also he turned an offieri prince into a toad. and managed to elude Gaunter O dimm himself.

[@rekoken2911]

Imagine a mage wanting to summon a lesser demon to protect him but he accidentally summons Femto

[@overlordmgcover2262]

Or just the entire godhand.

[@rekoken2911]

@@overlordmgcover2262 if I was a wizard that hated Geralt, I'd just direct them to a very specific, long raven haired girl that smells like gooseberries while she's with Geralt

[@overlordmgcover2262]

@@rekoken2911 Ok.

[@rami8896]

You can still find the necromancy book laying around somewhere. I found it without killing Keira Metz

[@lorenzodavidsartormaurino413]

You forgot that goetia (however its spelled) is used in the book station of storms.

[@aconcernedcommissar6261]

we know, form the two 'familiars' or the Cat and the Dog that their sentient, so does that mean all demons can be reasoned or at least talked to with or is it just what Olgeard wanted for them, and that's why the Caretaker attacks, he just had the level of intelligence- is that the right word (why he can't be reasoned with)

[@the_dropbear4392]

The caretaker was told to guard the grounds, Geralt broke in so it did it's job and defended the grounds.

[@aconcernedcommissar6261]

@@the_dropbear4392 yep I know that. I was thinking more is the Caretaker sentient in the way we are

[@macomniscient]

Video on yirpin the dwarf

[@ggt47]

(Gasps)Oh/Ooh? Well I knew of Necromancy.

[@arisrayden]

dude sile clearly didn't want to help with the necromancy on auckes because she knew his last recent memories were incriminating evidence against her

[@lando1224]

Yup i thought that was pretty clear surprised at how many didn’t catch on to that. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who mentioned that 🤙🏻😂

[@lefthandcigg4253]

Nice jolly rancher font

[@monkeybomb1232]

Gaunter is basicly a god and something simmilar to what created the mist that hid ciri im pretty sure.

[@souradeepdev7337]

What about the quest you do for the peller on Falk Island, where the witch hunters accuse him of necromancy.. what would that be classified as.

[@akislef1706]

Goetia is a greek word and it means to allure or attract someone, nice use though in the Witcher III

[@talanorth8388]

Goetia originally came from the Key of Solomon and the Goetia is an actual grimoire btw

[@kingnick1635]

That's me!

[@GreenLanternCorps2814]

You never did a video on the cat and dog. :(

[@seanoc4650]

Go yeet, oh yeah

[@smass8586]

gotta say witcher 3 was the first witcher game I ever played, and I loved it. how soon do we get witcher 4?

[@imdirtydan1493]

Smas S858 never, unfortunately

[@hunterjenkins3209]

They've stated that there wouldn't be a witcher 4...but they did say its possible they might create another game based in the world just not following geralt's story/life.

[@casper5949]

Wally Whoop take that with the tiniest pinch of salt

[@nicolaaudyova9362]

Would you please do a video on Lady of night from witcher one. I think that she is Orianna from wither 3: blood and wine.

[@WitcherGeorge]

That's an interesting theory man!

[@nicolaaudyova9362]

@@WitcherGeorge Orianna and Lady of the night knew Riegis before he knew Geralt and they are similar.

[@nicolaaudyova9362]

And thank you.

[@donaldtusk2678]

She was in the book as well

[@u6pl]

Do one on caleb menge

[@jinzo1171]

Deathknights : imma head out

[@86turek]

in Poland there is a rumor about the next CD-PR game !! as I give Radio Eska Rock, right after presenting Cyberpunk 2077 they are going to present their new project and it is said to be Witcher 4

[@hunterjenkins3209]

They've stated there wouldn't be a witcher 4

[@massy9437]

@@hunterjenkins3209 nah chief they didnt

[@Ghost1gx]

What about the revenants from Witcher 3 and the draug what are they because u could say spectors but they are brought back from the dead soldiers so necromancy bit also a curse because they are undead and are not demons?

[@Anasthy]

Thumbs up for the video; thumbs down to KZbin for the number of ads, with YT

[@emilpetterson4037]

Does anyone have the source for the music used here?

[@yarogrigoriev1609]

Personally I think that dim is a demon. But a demon that makes deals rather then just murder. Just remember a demon is a follen angel.

[@wesleybradshaw2609]

Guanter O' Dimm.... G. O. D. 'Nuff said

[@yarogrigoriev1609]

@@wesleybradshaw2609 .... you believe what you want. But I dont see him as god in the witcher universe.

[@sammainprize4265]

I'm still wondering, besides the first wild hunt boss, who is Nithral?

[@WitcherGeorge]

I'll consider making a short video on him, it would probably be more of a theory video as not much has really been said about him.

[@JonathanXLindqviust]

08:23 bookmark

[@JonathanXLindqviust]

For what?

[@aidbotwoody939]

Just curious but in the Gwent game Gaunter is a demon, is this not canon?

[@aconcernedcommissar6261]

He could be a demon. we just don't know

[@the_dropbear4392]

@aisbot woody Where in Gwent does it say gaunter is a deamon

[@aconcernedcommissar6261]

@@the_dropbear4392 think it's the stand alone/Mobile version of gwent

[@the_dropbear4392]

@@aconcernedcommissar6261 Oh right. Well we know he's not a deamon by his own admission.

[@flamesofchaos13]

God, the Devil, Demon, Djinn, A simple Merchant of Mirrors...In the end what does it matter you should never seek to cross his path nor make a pact with this Being. Only torment awaits you.

[@thebestmc3912]

You mean Reanimation Jutsu and Reaper Death Seal Jutsu?

[@DylanBegazo]

1:05 Whatever that potion was that Geralt drank, it’s the cure for erectile dysfunction. Give me some of dat boii

[@brianmcd993]

Love your videos mate, but it's pronounced Go-sha

[@myyt943]

It's actually pronounced Go-ë-sha...

[@d23slayer]

Actually he pronounced it correctly . It is Go-i-tia (exactly as you read it without the absurd english accent and pronounciation) from the greek word of seduction as in , through the use of magic process , to seduce entities to your service. Look it up , search for Aleister Crowley and Lesser Key of Solomon

[@tsaxtour6646]

@@d23slayer go-i-tia as you say it means charm in greek :)

[@jeremybird3467]

I know the show is following the books...but if they do integrate any characters that r just game character's....i hope they bring in gaunter o'dimm....ironic...i love stephen kings the dark tower novel series and randall flag is 1 of the top villains...i supposed the crimson king is the main bad....but randall flagg(the stand, eyes of the dragon)....he mainly goes by richard fannin(rf...just like randall flagg) the walking dude is referrenced also but he also goes by another name....walter o'dim....thats why in the....ehhhh ok film for what he was meant to be (a very rushed sequel in 1 film to 7 books)....so with that said gaunter could be like an uber dark sorcerer....like walter in the dark tower...he was called walter paddick in the film...i just always thought the similarities of their names is odd....

[@_d.i.n.i_]

well hello 😊

[@adamcal4257]

You really could add some background music to these videos, but apart from that - it's a good video.

[@WitcherGeorge]

There is background music?

[@adamcal4257]

@@WitcherGeorge So I'm either deaf or it's so quiet that I don't hear anything :P

[@WitcherGeorge]

Try some headphones? It might not be loud enough to pick up on speakers aha

[@adamcal4257]

@@WitcherGeorge Don't hear it even on headphones xD I suppose you make the music a bit louder in the next video ;)

[@Puppy_Puppington]

Adam Cal or not... the music levels are fine lmao. I think there’s either something wrong with your ears or your device. Hope that you got it fixed in the year that’s passed.

[@sheogorathpatronofcheese4376]

Dormonu I come to bargain..........

[@Puppy_Puppington]

“Do you know Dudu?”

[@vwflow]

And we thought ads on TV were bad. Meanwhile on KZbin 10 min video 4 ads

[@WitcherGeorge]

They show double that on a single ad break on tv, stop complaining.

[@vwflow]

@@WitcherGeorge Yeah, just have to remember who the scumbags are and to use adblocker

[@bread8609]

Did y'all read the last book? Geralt high key old as fuck

[@nickrffpatellis852]

Or maybe his "soul" wasn't brought back. It was only his body speaking

[@SpiceWeazel]

Yeah, that’s how I imagined it. The memories are stored in the brain, and Yennefer just turned the brain back on with magic.

[@talanorth8388]

@@SpiceWeazel What it actually probably represents is something taking his memories and acting as if it is him, that is what Yen meant by it not him, which in life the spirits of the dead are a lit of the times like that and the developers for this game have heavily reseached the occult, so it would make sense

[@12ian89]

Necromancy is a tool to be used. But ask the dead first.

[@jacobt266]

Does Risburg really exist in the gameM

[@Colonel_Overkill]

I suppose they are more guidelines than an actual code.....

[@pcpeasantsgaming]

Gentle Riposte and Speak with Dead. 25gp.

[@jaripruim]

Gaunter O' Dimm GOD I've said enough

[@Synistar]

GOD damn asshole

[@Fourth_horseman23]

So goete or how ever its spelt is like the legend of faust

[@kaimagnus5760]

The Ars Goetia is actually a Daemonomicon (Book of Demons) so the art's name in Witcher is likely a direct reference to the book. The Dark Art of Demons Summoning is usually just called "Conjuring" irl but you can theoretically summon things other than demons with Conjuring. (Objects, Animals, etc)

[@talanorth8388]

@@kaimagnus5760 Well it is usually called evocation (in some older grimoires they called it invocation, but that has a different meaning today for the most part). Also, it is not "dark" (however anything spiritual can be dangerous), no spirit, god, goddess, djinn, archangel, etc is pure evil nor pure good. I am an occultist I would know.

[@kaimagnus5760]

@Lord Zulok666 Being as my original comment is over 2 years old now I feel the need to reply that I have since delved into the practices more my self. And while summoning Demons and Devils is traditionally considered a "Dark Art" due to said creatures usually being called to do harm, Non-Human entities do not follow the traditional human concepts of Good and Evil. Thus the distinction between "Light and Dark" being entierly dependent on the summoner's intentions. I have also learned since then that Conjuration is a grose over simplification of the very complicated processes of Invocation and Evocation. I do apreciate you sharing your information though. Not many out there who share their knowlage of the old arts.

[@VatroCal]

Youd be feeling all the causes of your death on top of feeling your body begin to decay. Not to mention it probably feels like your soul getting torn apart

[@Theology.101]

3:35 I thought Síle assumed that Dethmold was a dick and wanted nothing to do with him

[@lando1224]

Maybe, but I don’t think it’s entirely that or Whether or not she actually cares about it or finds it unethical. When playing the Witcher 2 and that scene, I was under the impression that she knew they’d find out that she was a part of the plot from the dead Witcher’s memories, hense why she disappeared and escaped after. So the only reason she wanted no part of it was because she knew they’d figure out her involvement in it all.

[@samdegoeij6576]

If I had to choose between Yennefer's analogy, I'm taking a dip in manure, there's no way a cockroach takes a trip into my mouth!!

[@DarthDainese]

Hank Marvin? 🤪 do all sorcerers look the same, because on another video you used the same picture which I thought was Dethmold, but you called him someone else I disagree with you Sile, she refused to perform the ritual because she knew it could lead to her guilt, and thus allowed her to flee when the ritual was being cast

[@itsjuststeve2551]

Goetia 3:57

[@raphaelnaidoo7117]

Do not be swayed by the words of this heretical one. There is nothing to be gained from giving yourself to such vile corruption. Guard your souls with righteousness and stray not from the path!

[@Flippy_Nips]

Goetia is pronounced go-ae-sha.

[@Smclaugh08]

Goetia Is pronounced Go- A -shuh

[@RSplayerDarktracy123]

No mutations on intelligent races... if that is true then explain Witchers (humans are an intelligent race)

[@niallheaton2724]

RSplayerDarktracy123 They are banned. That’s why no new members are being made. That and nobody knows how anymore. Edit : Do you really think humans are intelligent 😂😂

[@noob_donate_plz826]

@@niallheaton2724 Why do you think humans are not intelligent?

[@Chrysaetos11]

Yennefer was pretty foul when she did her necromancy.. ''It's just a corpse, it has no feelings'' yet the guy was in horrible pain. At that moment I knew I didn't want to pick her.

Negromancy

[@alfa8728]

It's not go-eat-ea it's pronounced go-et-ea

[@nikofaershee4235]

An ad every 2 and a half minutes? Greedy

[@exgi76gmailcom]

Is it me ? Or does goetia sound like something disgusting involving peanut butter and inquisitive livestock?

[@sandrothenecromancer6810]

Imagine what I could do to this pathetic witcherworld...

[@sakelock7986]

A target Doesnt conset to its use ... thats why necromancy is banned ... Yen striking with 300000 volt lighting or Triss Fire blasying a face has consent thou