The Leaper Between: A Historical Study of the Toad-Bone Amulet; its Forms, Functions and Praxis in Popular Magic.

by Andrew D. Chumbley

"You ketch a hopping toad and carry that in your bosom till that's rotted right away to the back-boon. Then you take and hold that over running water at midnight till the Devil he come to you and pull you over the water… and then you be a witch and you kin dew all mander of badness to people and her power over 'em."

So spoke Tilly Baldry of Huntingtoft, an English wise-woman of the 19th century, describing the ritual of obtaining the witches amulet known as the toad-bone. Known to rural folk magicians and secret societies such as the Society of the Horseman's Word, the exacting ritual of killing a toad to obtain the bone of power has been documented in various forms and cultural milieus for two millennia, though its origin is likely far older. Focusing on extant forms in Britain and Europe, Chumbley traces the metamorphosis of the toad-bone amulet from its beginning as a talisman for controlling animals to its ultimate manifestation as a conduit of diabolic power of the 'Toad-Witch'. The first academic study of this little-known aspect of folk magic, The Leaper Between is here presented in unabridged form, newly typeset in several fine bindings worthy of its fascination. It will be of interest to students of comparative religion, magic, and folklore alike.

Genres: Witchcraft

72 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Andrew D. Chumbley was an English practitioner and theorist of magic, and a writer, poet and artist. He was Magister of the UK-based magical group Cultus Sabbati. Chumbley’s writings presented a unique and innovative form of modern religious witchcraft to the world’s esoteric milieu that deviated significantly from the better-known Wicca.

Reviews

[Gaze Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting academic style essay on an old and obscure practice from European magical lore. The introduction to the essay makes it clear that this was a paper written by Andrew Chumbley as an academic requirement during his studies at SOAS, University of London. Toad Bone amulet is what exactly what it sounds like, a talisman created from a particular bone from a particular kind of toad. This book looks at the history of the creation of this amulet, the lore surrounding it, and the different variations on the preparation of the amulet. He traces the amulet's history from it's first appearances in the works of Pliny and Agrippa around 1509, all the way to modern day practices of the Toad Witches in Britain and Europe. The book even includes praxis of the ritual if you read between the lines. His focus is mainly on Europe and Britain, which is in line with Andrew Chumbley's ambition to bring back the Cunning Man and Cunning Women of traditional British craft. But make no mistake, this is not a grimoire, it is an work of academia. Although... there is still much to learn for the practitioner if they pay attention.

[A.D. Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent work on an older wise very obscure aspect of British Folklore

[Thomas Pinneck · Rating 5 out of 5]

The great virtue of The Leaper Between is that Chumbley approaches the toad-bone rite as neither quaint folkloric debris nor an excuse for Sabbatic mythopoesis. He treats it as a magical technology with a history. In scarcely seventy pages he follows the complex of beliefs surrounding the toad and its singular bone through classical material, learned magic, European folk practice, and eventually the British traditions of the Toadmen and the Society of the Horseman’s Word. What emerges is particularly interesting because the meaning of the bone refuses to remain stable. It appears as a means of controlling animals, exercising fascination, gaining power over others, and finally, in its most explicitly witchcraft-oriented forms, as an initiatory token bound up with confrontation, inversion, and the acquisition of diabolic power.

The rite itself is one of those remarkable survivals in which folklore preserves something that feels considerably stranger than the sanitized categories later imposed upon it. The toad is reduced to bone, traditionally through decomposition or the activity of ants, after which the bones are subjected to running water until the efficacious bone reveals itself through anomalous movement. In some accounts it travels against the current. Elsewhere the crucial moment becomes an ordeal in which the practitioner encounters the Devil or another opposing power and must retain possession of the bone. The symbolism is almost embarrassingly rich, yet Chumbley is generally disciplined about allowing the historical variants to speak before imposing an esoteric interpretation upon them. This is where the study becomes more valuable than a simple collection of toad lore. One can watch a magical procedure acquire new theological and initiatory meanings while retaining the recognizable skeleton of an older operation.

It is also an excellent example of Chumbley at his most scholarly, which makes an interesting counterweight to the deliberately arcane language of Azoëtia or the visionary treatment of the same current in One, The Grimoire of the Golden Toad. His citations and comparative method make clear that the Sabbatic significance he finds in the rite was not simply conjured from atmosphere. At the same time, he understands that historical transmission does not exhaust magical meaning. The bone becomes a thing between categories, animal and human, living and dead, folk custom and initiatory mystery, charm and covenant. For anyone interested in traditional witchcraft, this is precisely the sort of scholarship I wish we had more of. It neither mistakes folklore for proof of an unbroken witch-cult nor strips the material of its sorcerous implications in order to make it academically respectable. A very small book, but a remarkably dense one, and probably one of the clearest demonstrations of why Chumbley remains important well beyond the current that formed around his own work.

[Jordan Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is alright at best. I was debating on moving it down to 3 stars because I paid so much for it. Mark Allen Smith's books are much better and explain the Toad operation without any veiling like Mr Chumley does.