The Thelemic Cookbook: Cooking with Correspondences

The Thelemic Cookbook

The Thelemic Cookbook: Cooking with Correspondences
Second Edition

The Thelemic Cookbook was written to provide specialized recipes for the Thelemic calendar of feasts. It offers a unique insight into foods by explaining their elements, ruling planets, astrological signs, and chakra attributions. It was also written for those who want to incorporate magical correspondences into their ritual meals, and for any person who wants new recipes with good food for their own cooking and eating pleasure.

The author has drawn upon her knowledge of foods amassed over a lifetime working as a chef and caterer, living as a magical practitioner, and collecting a repertoire of international flavors from her world travels. This is not your typical cookbook. Its 656 recipes offer something no other cookbook has: magick in every bite!

Published 2015 / Second Edition 2023 by Templar Media | Kindle Edition | ISBN-13: 978-0-9966272-0-7

FEATURING:

INTERVIEW:


PODCAST:

Thelema Now’s Soror Lilya speaks to Lita Chappell about The Thelemic Cookbook: Cooking With Correspondences. Click below to listen!

FROM THE FOREWORD BY CAROLYN TILLIE:


Lita has an innate ability to weave the magic of food to create a positive outcome, and anyone who has attended an event that she has catered will understand this about her.

What you are holding in this collection of recipes is more than a mere cookbook. The meals themselves are rituals. Each menu is a complement to the greater ritual or celebration being held.

Beyond the simple recipe is an expansion of thought into why certain foods work well together, how they work with a specific ritual, and the magical correspondences that have never before been fully laid out in such a concise and understandable form. What preparing many of these recipes will do for you is inwardly tap the collective unconscious—or the collective wisdom—whereby one’s personal knowledge brings growth.

This collection of menus will not only guide you in how to prepare an exceptional meal, but will give important direction on developing magical menus of your own through Lita’s expansive correspondence lists. It is an invaluable collection, not only of exceptional recipes (and I speak from experience on that accord!), but also of the knowledge imparted therein. You are about to set forth on an amazing experience in these pages. I envy those who will begin experimenting with food magic for the first time; it is a lovely and positive path to explore and one that can provide years of joy—from the simplest appetizer to the most complicated dessert. Cook with love, cook with intent, and cook with magic. To quote St. Julia, “Bon Appétit!”

REVIEWS:

“That I may fortify my body thereby.”
Review by Lilah Shahkhor
The Thelemic Cookbook: Cooking with Correspondences is remarkable in a number of ways. At face value, it’s a delightfully unique cookbook by an accomplished chef. Filled with a number of proper classics, for example ‘Sunday Beef Roast with Caramelized Onions, Carrots, Beef Gravy and Gooseberry Jelly‘ (for Crowleymas), as well more international fare, such as ‘Moroccan Saffron Chicken‘ (for Hadit) and ‘Ta’amiya ~ Egyptian Falafel Bites’ (for Tahuti), the recipes are from a wide range of cuisines fitting of their elemental and astrological correspondences, making each presented feast simultaneously surprising as well as delicious. The book does not shy away from lesser known ingredients, introducing us to exotic delights such as ‘Fresh Figs with Candied Lotus Seed Crumble’, ‘Egyptian Butter & Lemon Balm Cookies’, and ‘Rosewater & Orange Blossom Semolina Cake‘.

But what makes this non-ordinary cookbook even more exceptional, and important, is the amount of research and experience that went into its creation. Nothing in this book is random. Each and every course, dish and ingredient is specifically chosen and used for its direct magical correspondence. Milk and eggs are no longer just every day staples when you learn that both of their elemental correspondence is water, and that olive oil and orange zest are both of fire. While one does not need to be versed in magick to appreciate the recipes within, practitioners, especially of Thelema, will come to value this tome as much as they do their copies of Aleister Crowley’s 777, especially if they are foodies who like to cook. In fact, the two books perfectly complement one another. Whereas Crowley’s opus references its correspondences with in depth charts and lists, Chappell’s Thelemic Cookbook takes these connections and turns them into something practical, physical, tangible, and edible. While the book offers its recipes via cleverly orchestrated ritual feasts broken up into seasonal menus, namely to the Thelemic pantheon of deities, the possibilities of where an individual can go with this information opens up a whole new level of working with ritual, devotions, feasts, celebrations, spells, food magic, etc. Follow the book and feed an entire hungry oasis or coven with its ‘Feast Menu for the Spring Equinox‘, or, pick and choose as needed for your own purposes, perhaps making the ‘Blueberry Cheesecake With Silver Almonds‘ from the ‘Three Feasts for the Three Days of the Writing of the Book of the Law‘ as an offering to Nuit, or serving up some ‘Tahuti Moon Salad with Mint and Yogurt Dressing’ at the next potluck.

Lita-Luise Chappell’s lifetime of experiences as a chef, world traveler and priestess have coalesced into this great work, which provides in its pages not only a bevy of tempting courses to “eat and to drink”, but also, if one looks deeper at the possibilities, a simple formula by which one can fortify themselves thereby, and infuse their cooking with both love under will and intention.

“Delicious recipes with meticulous magical correspondences”
Review by Michael Paul Barry
I received this book as a birthday gift last year, and I couldn’t be more pleased. The recipes are delicious and well themed according to their correspondences , and it creatively uses ingredients that you might not be used to in the average kitchen.

“Masterpiece of Magickal Feasting!”
Review by K. M.
Wowee… this book is AMAZING!!! I didn’t even know how badly we needed it until it appeared! Thelemic holidays already tend to be a bit under-celebrated so it has been challenging for me to come up with delicious ways to celebrate them. Lita-Luise Chappell has truly created a masterpiece of cooking with magickal correspondences. In this book, she offers suggestions for menus for all of the major Thelemic feasts, including handy tips on where to buy the best ingredients – super helpful for obscure ingredients such as marigold tea or dried wisteria blossoms – as well as some historical background concerning the feasts and why certain foods may be apropos. The recipes range from very simple and classy – like buttered parsnips – to fairly complex (for a kitchen noob like myself) and still classy, like rhubarb cake with brazil nuts and rhubarb sauce! No idea what the heck Thelema is or why you would ever want to cook with its feasts in mind? Never fear – just skip to page 257, and you will still have 393 interesting pages full of recipes and feast menus relating to the seven classical celestial spheres, the twelve astrological signs and the seven classical chakras! This book deserves a spot on every magician’s kitchen shelf! (Just make sure it’s a strong shelf – this is a big book!!!) The scholarship, love and experience that went into this book is incredible. Worth every cent.

“This book is basically having a magical Julia Child caterer in your kitchen.”
Review by William
This book has five sections for different recipes, a bibliography, a glossary of cooking terms, retailer’s list and a recipes index. The format is that there are Feasts for different events (Spring and Summer Equinox, Planets, Astrological signs, Chakras, etc). Under each feast, there is a careful crafted menu created by the author, the menu is divided into 7 different parts: Appetizers, Soup/Bread, Salad, Main Course, Side Dishes, Desserts and Beverage Suggestions. Under each part, there are one or more recipes which can be used. Inside the recipes, we have an ingredients list, step-by-step instructions on how to prepare the dish and at the end a correspondence from the author. While reading each recipe, I can feel that the author is beside me and having a conversation with me about the ingredients being used in the dish. Not only that, but the author speaks to you through each recipe.

For example, in her Red Salmon Caviar Bites with Cream Cheese recipe she writes: “I know what you’re thinking, oysters on the half shell and caviar — they don’t really go well with a student’s budget. However, only a small amount per person is needed so a lot goes a long way. After all, it’s a celebration, so make it special.”

The recipes are lovely, the feasts are huge and the guidance of author is genuine and special. This is not your normal Food Network Recipe book, this is take foodie mode to the next level beyond your imagination. I strongly recommend it to anyone. The recipes are made for large quantities (because the recipes as I have mentioned before are for feasts of 10 – 20 people), but you can always do the math and reduce the recipe down.

“This is an amazing cookbook”
Review by Stephanie Olmstead-Dean
Okay, first off, the recipes are all delicious and easy to follow. Second, ever wanted to create a meal with a magical theme but didn’t have the time or energy to do the research? Don’t despair — it’s all been done for you, right here! This book would be a bargain at twice the price, but it’s reasonably priced instead. Spiral bound for easy use while cooking, and with a great index of places to find some of the harder-to-source ingredients. A must for any kitchen witch!

“A Triumph!”
Review by Taren Robinson
Whether you are new to cooking or an old hand, this wonderful cookbook is sure to take you on an adventure you never would have imagined. I have been studying Thelemic Magick for 11 years now and have been an avid student of cooking and culinary technique for the last 20 years of my life. So needless to say I was very excited to hear that this book was being written. Lita Chappell’s greatest triumph with this book is its heart. Whether your are in awe of the fantastical dishes like Chicken Pate en Croute with Escargot en Croute or the Black-Eyed Pea Fritters with Mint Sauce that make you feel like a contestant on Master Chef or whether you are delighted by the elegant simplicity of the Leo Fruit salad or the nostalgic charm of the Prophet and His Bride Anniversary Cake, it is the balance of the refined and gourmet sensibility of a 5-star restaurant with the charisma and exuberance of a theme party that make this cookbook a masterpiece. Just as the Law is for all, so too are the delicious dishes presented in this cookbook. Lita Chappell maintains the most important aspect of this kind of a cookbook, love. All her menus speak directly from their source, that of feeding and nourishing her friends and family. The recipes in this book present many exciting challenges and may well push the pallet of those who mightn’t have been adventurous up to now, but all who pick up this amazing cookbook will be compelled to rise to the challenge just by reading the menu, for Lita makes it all sound so wonderful just from off the page. Her directions are clear and concise, the layout is brilliant for those who might be trying to read through the steam rising from pots on the stove, and the resources given in the Retailer’s List are wonderful and a true God-send. Not to mention the extremely helpful tips and advise peppered throughout the book and some of the trickier recipes. The Piece de Resistance and crowning jewel of the work is the remarkable system of correspondence Lita has developed and lists for all of the foods contained in each recipe. Lita-Luise Chappell has truly set herself among giants in the world of magical scholarship for this work alone. The attention to detail and pioneering work to stand on the shoulders of those who have come before and to reach a realm all her own. Lita has given the world an amazing addition to our practices as Magicians and because of it “as much as meat and drink are transmuted in us daily into spiritual substance” the Miracle of the Mass will never taste the same! The one disappointing note is that correspondences are only given for those items used in the book. Lita-Luise has decided to keep the full list of correspondences from publication, however, one cannot blame her; a Lady, and just as well, a Chef cannot be expected to reveal all her secrets. If you love food and you love Magick this book will synthesize those passions to bring forth an ecstasy that can only be answered by the beauty of love and fellowship as Brothers and Sisters feast and rejoice together. Here’s hoping there will be a volume 2!

“Wonderful Tasty Magick!”
Review by Matilda Somerfeld
I really am impressed by the way each dish is amazingly described and preparation is brilliantly broken down. Her correspondences are right on and provide much mystical joy.

Review by Anon
This book is nothing short of fantastic! The correspondences are all meticulously researched, the recipes are amazing…it’s a must have for any Thelemite involved in feast planning!

Review by Sekhet-Maat OTO Lodge
This book is incredible & full of literal Magick! Since we obtained our copy it has been used in some capacity to contribute to almost every Feast our lodge has had! Lita-Luise Chappell has collected almost all the information one could ever need to help create feasts so powerful as to alter the consciousness of those eating them without the use of any drugs!