He is a great NECROMANCER, for he asks counsel of the dead

Insights

Reliance on Outdated Knowledge

Critiques those who base decisions on antiquated ideas or long-past authorities, implying such guidance is as ineffective as advice from the dead.

Futile Inquiry

Symbolizes the absurdity or ineffectiveness of seeking answers from those who cannot respond or contribute—an act as impractical as necromancy.

Mockery of Pretension

Serves as a sarcastic jab at someone who claims wisdom by invoking revered but obsolete traditions or thinkers, exposing the emptiness behind their intellectual show.

Historical Mockery of Pseudo-Scholarship

In early modern intellectual life, some thinkers were mocked for clinging to ancient authorities (e.g., Aristotle, Galen) in the face of new discoveries. This proverb satirizes that dogmatic reverence for the 'dead' voices of past scholars.

Anti-Superstition Satire

The term ‘necromancer’ carries both literal and ironic weight—highlighting the folly of seeking supernatural or mystical advice instead of using reason or contemporary insight.

Psychological Avoidance of Change

Suggests a deeper tendency to avoid facing new realities by retreating into the comforting, familiar past—even if that past has nothing useful to offer.

Rhetorical Devices

Irony

Refers to someone as a 'great necromancer' not in praise, but to ridicule their outdated or impractical habits of thought, heightening the satirical edge.

Allusion

Alludes to necromancy—a forbidden or suspect art—to equate certain intellectual behaviors with superstition or foolishness.

Hyperbole

Exaggerates the nature of seeking old counsel by equating it with communing with the dead, emphasizing its impracticality and absurdity.