The Western Gate

ONE: The Grimoire of the Golden Toad
Andrew D. Chumbley
Xoanon

From Andrew Chumbley came this work based on the charm as used in the toadbone ritual.
This particular version reprinted in a ‘limited’ edition of 777, as opposed to the original 77 issues. (There are other versions of course;- deluxe edition, in leather and with a sigil and whatnot and also a super-duper version with a snippet of actual toadskin and bound with a dried vulva from one of Ed Gein’s collection~ perhaps).
This version is not leather but clothbound with a dustjacket, no bookmark or ribbon, which is fair enough, though not fair for the price I would beg to offer -regardless of this being a work of renown, some say it’s tribute~ released on the anniversary of his death, some mercenary.
The type- print is black, very black, almost as if printed on a real inkjet cartridge on superior setting at 1200dpi, the paper as expected very good quality, for a ton (£100) you’d expect that !… actually I’d expect it hand delivered a silk pillow for that, but maybe I’m living in a fairy tale.

Foreword: Chumbley died 15th sept 2004 at the age of 37 on his birthday. The Moon was married to Jupiter, and the Sun to Mars whereupon the fate and eulogy is determined at the tenth house.

The toad bone ritual as envisaged by folklore, horse whisperers and contemporary wayfarers entails, apparently, the murder of a toad by means of impaling the poor thing on a blackthorn stake. The ridiculous works of Mark Alan Smith and Primal Craft suggest, if I remember correctly and I wish really not to remember, crucifying the object (after all they~the toad~cannot have been nobles of empathy) for three days. The skin and organs are then dispersed with by burying the toad in an anthill. Following this at a prescribed time, the bones are cast upon a stream and that which flows against, is your lucky charm. Not so lucky for Mr.Toad though.
You can accuse me as you will for being sensitive, I happen to very much love toads and frogs. And the essence of the ritual as I would have it is this;-
That the toad should not be killed, but is in fact – your familiar. That the secretions given by the toad are the matter of facts between the witch and the toad and the liminal kingdom. It secretes chemicals similar to the foxglove, which increases heartrate at the same time as releasing irritants directly affecting the mind stuff. These secretions, dried and mixed with salve or lard are thus used in ointments to effect the flying dream.
The toad secretes these ‘poisons’ on fear, the familiar being kept in a glass bell jar will assume its austere position and on cue of seeing the distorted vision of its oppressor through the bell jar will deposit its elixir prompt.
Be sure to know the difference between the sticky milky viscosity of the Toad ‘venom’ and its shit and piss however, its urine is a cloudy white but often secreted with browney poo.
However! If the toad is loved and shown the consideration it deserves, the secretions given are not so bitter and irritant, and of a different consistency as that deposited from the position of fear and protection, precautions abound of course, and one size does not fit all.
When the toad dies a natural death, c. 15 years for the card of the devil, it can then be dried. Why give the ants the task to cast off its skin to no avail?
The bones of your loved familiar can then be weighed against the stream, for as salmon go back to the source so too, the bone of giving will float upwards. It may not look like it is going upstream, as it can be agitated by the current and eddys of the water, it will be spinning, fighting but mark well as it is pointing to the source, the original spring is the Alpha.
Chumbley’s book details the rite as envisaged by those who would slaughter the very rare Natterjack~ (and it is beautiful in that its dividing line is a golden mean down its back). It is in fact illegal to kill Natterjack toads, not that this would prevent the numbnuts from following the ritual.
I suppose the purists to the rite as depicted would say the sacrifice is necessary and part of the sorrow and pain inflicted is a measure to the effectiveness of the ritual itself.
I do not agree and side with the right of the Toad to live as it is in accordance with its nature. If it deigns to be familiar at my side, it will, if not, it will hop off.
Chumbley then gives us prose detailing use of the bones to give insight and the vision of manifested guides. The will and the desire of the ‘seer’ creating the momentum to carry out those insights has, after the toadbone ritual, been gained. Just, remember, as the will is governed by a fixed repetition of intent, to chant and to dance and to walk widdershins around the cursed church of Canewdon for example, so then as a catapult stretched with potential, on release ! ~Are guides and dreams and manifestations delivered to us, seemingly, of their own accord, and insights as to where we should be going… given.

There is so much more that could have been done with this book, from a history of the Toadbone ritual, the history or synopsis of the Horse whisperers and cunning men, the use of toads as familiars and… why?
To summarise- The toad is liminal, born in water, metamorphis from tadpole to Frog/Toad and lives on the earth and leaps in the air, it is most active at the crack of dawn, and the hark of dusk, these again are its liminal times.
When I first saw dawn, as I awoke
I heard in fields, the Natterjack croak;
And last at night before I slept
the last sound I heard from Natterjacks head.
At dawn we are our most creative, the dream mind able to automatically spill writings and images with little if any interference from the ego of the author/artist, and at dusk, we resign, by experience we reflect and question.
The Grimoire of the Golden Toad should be a homage to this creature, our benevolent familiar and prince incognito.
To kiss a toad is indeed to see the palace, if the toad is handled well. If it is kept or killed in fear and distress a substance yielded would be bitter and create anxiety, of course ! …. produced by frightened Toads from those that would declare their right to condemn such creatures to being nothing more than tools to be used in the craft. The finale as they say is that ~ shall return just.
The symptoms produced by the Natterjack toad resemble, when ingested or secreted through the sensory orifices (eyes, nose, mouth) an ever circling and wildly spinning form of asthma attack, similar of course to digitalis poisoning, and dependent of course on the amount ingested. The more the panic, the more it increases. It wouldn’t be that the toad acted revenge unto Mr.Chumbley, as it itself had perished , but certainly as The sun siding with Mars, met the Moon siding with Jupiter they would be equalled . Andrew Chumbley died from a massive asthma attack on his birthday.

I should point out to anyone who knew Andrew Chumbley, before you start hissing fitting, I actually corresponded with Andrew many years ago, when the acid house scene was burgeoning and snail mail was the way occultists corresponded, Chumbley released a couple of years after, his first book Azoetia, and our paths diverged, not on bad terms, more ~ “Mare ( Full Moon) met, Mare then part” (New moon). It was correspondence that was as the old bard says -Foul is fair.
Hidden humour was always a part of the discourse in contrast to the reserved and disciplined person as he is spoken of and the intelligent, yes, and authoritative enigma he is now remembered as, aye, a chiselled personae of the tenth house. In that respect I did not know your Mr.Chumbley at all.

Header Illustration: Adaptation of Mr Toad, illustration from Wind in the Willows by E.H.Shephard