Andrew D. Chumbley

Chumbley published several limited edition books through his private press Xoanon Publishing, and had many articles printed in occult magazines. Their subject was the doctrine and practice of a tradition of sorcery which he called 'Sabbatic Craft', a term which, according to Chumbley, "describes the way in which elements of witch-lore, Sabbath mythology and imagery were being employed in the cunning-craft tradition into which I was originally inducted". He claimed that this tradition was founded in two lineages of traditional witchcraft, both pre-dating "those modern revivalist forms of witchcraft, which have become generically nominalised as 'wicca'". Chumbley's early articles were published in the chaos magic journal Chaos International; later articles appeared in Starfire, journal of the Typhonian OTO, and in the long-established British witchcraft journal The Cauldron. Daniel A. Schulke succeeded him as Magister of Cultus Sabbati. ==Personality==

In an obituary his close friend Michael Howard, a well-known occult writer and publisher of The Cauldron, described Chumbley as "a man of the land, rural in both birth and character. He fitted totally within the traditional archetypal parameters of the English (and specifically Essex) cunning man." Howard recalled Chumbley’s kindness, generosity and sense of humour: "To outsiders Andrew could sometimes appear to be aloof, intense and serious to the point of obsession... However, if he met kindred spirits of sincerity and honour, who shared his interests and serious intent, he would willingly go out of his way to offer them help and guidance on the Path... In fact he was a natural teacher and, like all good occult teachers, acted as a catalyst in the lives of his students." ==Influences==

Although Chumbley was mainly known for his involvement with English traditional witchcraft, primarily that of East Anglia, his occult interests and influences were extremely diverse. According to Schulke, "Chumbley's magical work spanned many fields of sorcerous influence, including Sufism, left-hand Tantra and Petro Voodoo". Other influences included the artist-occultist Austin Osman Spare and author-occultist Kenneth Grant. Chumbley was familiar with and respected Grant's work and was a member of Grant's Ordo Templi Orientis from 1993 to 1999, operating an affiliated magical lodge. Spare's philosophy of the Kia almost certainly influenced the "non-dual gnosis" which is a key element in Chumbley's system, although the similar "doctrine of the void" (Shunyavata), a foundation concept of Tantrism, is also likely to have affected Chumbley's work through the Uttara Kaula Sampradaya, of which he claimed to be an initiate. In The Azoëtia Chumbley presents "Will, Desire, Belief" as a threefold unity operating in sorcery; this is ultimately derived from Spare's work, although the primary textual source is Grant. The use of sigils and magical glyphs in Chumbley's work also suggests a derivation from Spare, though classical magical grimoires such as the Key of Solomon and the Goëtia provide an earlier precedent. The Azoëtia and Chumbley's subsequent writings demonstrate his familiarity with a broad range of Western esoteric doctrines including Qabalah, Enochian Magic, the magic of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Thelemic school of Aleister Crowley. Another influence was the neo-Sufi author Idries Shah, particularly his theories concerning possible connections between witchcraft and various near-eastern cults such as the Yezidi, Mandaeans, Sufis and Zoroastrians. Chumbley addressed these themes, citing Shah's work, in his book Qutub: The Point (1995). Regarding his sources, drawn from both literature and direct contact with practitioners of other occult and religious traditions, Chumbley stated: "In all contexts one may find pieces of magical lore and belief from many disparate times and places, but all are brought to function within the trans-historical arena of the sacred dimension, whether it be the magical circle of Witcherie or the Ninefold Plot of Sigaldry." Schulke observed that "Chumbley's grimoire Azoëtia, though wholly a reification of traditional British witchcraft, makes use of Sumerian, Egyptian, Yezidi, Arabic, and Aztec iconography, among others." ==Doctrine and method==

Chumbley's work promotes a doctrine of 'Transcendental Sorcery', founded on his belief that all forms of magic arise from a single source, which he termed the 'Magical Quintessence': "Magick is the transmutability of the Quintessence of all nature ... Sorcery is the knowledge of the universal points of transmutation. Its Art is to cultivate the ability to manipulate these foci of power in accordance with Will, Desire and Belief." ==Written and illustrated works==

The Azoëtia Chumbley's first book The Azoëtia was published privately by the author in 1992 as a softcover volume under the Xoanon imprint. The work received positive reviews from other contemporary practitioners including Jan Fries and Phil Hine. Described as "...a complete recension of Sabbatic theory and praxis, relating the Three Great Rites of Ingress, Congress, and Egress, together with a detailed exposition of the 22 Letters of the Sorcerer's Alphabet", Qutub: The Point Qutub: The Point followed in 1995, published for Xoanon by Fulgur Limited, in which Chumbley combined illustrations and poetry with the intent of creating a telesmatic volume. The illustrations demonstrated that Chumbley's skills as a draughtsman were advancing quickly. The book was described as follows: "This work treats of the Arcanum of the Opposer, a magical formula of the Crooked Path concerning the Powers of Self-overcoming. The book consists of an arcane poetic text in 72 verses, a detailed commentary in critical prose, and a substantial glossary of esoteric terms and names. The whole is illustrated throughout with calligraphic and sigillic depictions of the Opposer's composite mysteries." ONE: The Grimoire of the Golden Toad Numerous articles by Chumbley followed, published in British and American occult journals, but no further books appeared until ONE: The Grimoire of the Golden Toad in 2000, described by Xoanon as: "...the first full grimoire-text to treat specifically and from personal account of the Traditional East Anglian ritual called 'The Waters of the Moon': the solitary initiation of the so-called 'Toad-witch'." The purpose of this traditional folk-magical rite is to obtain a specific bone from the flensed corpse of a toad; the bone is believed to bestow certain powers upon its owner, primarily control of animals. Chumbley's ONE, however, presents a thoroughly antinomian re-visioning of the ritual procedure and its results, combining ritual practice with a series of dramatic visions recounted in prose-poetry. In Chumbley's recension it becomes clear that the "animal" over which power is sought is the practitioner's own human self. Seventy-seven hand-bound copies of the book were offered for sale, each copy accompanied by a hand-written page of a sigillic "inner grimoire", signed by the author, and an envelope containing a hand-painted talisman made from antique toadskin leather and a single blackthorn. A further three copies were retained "for internal distribution"; these were bound in leather with an actual toad's head set into the front cover, with toadskin leather panelling on the rear. The Dragon Book of Essex In the autumn of 2013 Publishers Xoanon announced that The Dragon Book of Essex will be published in Midwinter 2013. However, for undisclosed reasons publication date was pushed back to summer 2014. The Dragon-Book of Essex was the intended second volume of a trilogy of Sabbatic grimoires, following Azoetia; it appears to be a very substantial work, described as "...a Compleat Grimoire of Crooked Path Sorcery, distilled from the many years of practice... Being the fruit of a decade of concentrated praxis in the Cultus' inner circle, this work is intended as an entire resumé of the ancestral and ophidian components of Traditional Sorcery and Sabbatic Gnosis." Ten copies were published circa 1998 as a private "initiatic" edition in three volumes totalling 1,200 pages. Ronald Hutton's The Triumph of the Moon, Phil Hine's Oven Ready Chaos, The Pomegranate journal and The Cauldron magazine. ==Death==

Chumbley died on his 37th birthday following a severe asthma attack. After his death, "his book values at second hand resale, which were already quite high, increased in an exponential and quite insane fashion within hours of his death becoming known." At the time of his death Chumbley was working on his doctorate in the history of religion. ==References==