Lita-Luise Chappell

On the last day of November 1891, a village in southern France is preparing for the Christmas season. Small clay figurines called santons, representing the nativity scene and tradespeople of the village, go on display in the church. But on December 1st, a santon goes missing, then the man represented by that santon is found murdered. The villagers are terrified and the officers are faced with a harrowing task. The clues begin to add up, but not before this quiet and quaint village experiences its worst nightmare since the French Revolution. Read more

“Ms. Chappell takes you through an entire panorama of genres and styles in her 28 stories, but her unique voice binds them all together. Once you finish the book, you feel that you know something of her inner being and wonder how amazing her life must have been to this point, since many of them are based on real people, places or events…” Read more

The third week of our England travelogue has just been posted. For this final leg of the journey we explored London’s National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Vagina Museum, and the Museum of Curiosities. We saw The Mouse Trap at St. Martin’s Theater, visited the Leighton House in Kensington, caught the Fragile Beauty exhibit with photographs from the Elton John and David Furnish collection, and ate dinner at the Great British Restaurant where 007 first ordered his martini, “shaken not stirred.” Read more

The second week of our England travelogue through Somerset and Yorkshire has just been posted. For this leg of the journey we explored Coxwold, Byland abbey, Rievaulx abbey, Mount Grace, Fountains abbey, Newburgh priory, the Ryedale Museum, the Witch Museum, York cathedral and gallery, Kirkgate, Helmsley castle (plus Lita’s book signing at Helmsley Bookstore), Jervaulx abbey, Richmond Castle, Easby church and abbey, Kirkham priory, and many more stops along the way. Read more

Lita’s latest book has just been released! Twenty-eight short stories divided into seven categories: animal antics, criminal conduct, extraordinary events, fairy tales, puzzling places, unusual individuals, and states of mind. They were inspired by peculiar dreams, ancient myths, creative tales, instructive fables, family pets, world travels, fascinating characters, and strange experiences. The curious and unusual combine to make this group of stories unforgettable! Read more

“Mix in a little Da Vinci Code, a little Holy Blood, Holy Grail (considered as fiction), a little Name of the Rose (murder in a monastery!), add impressively researched historical background, and top off with a twist that I guarantee you never saw coming and you’ll get an idea of The Murder of the Mystras Nun…” Read more

In May, my husband Vere and I went on a trip to England, and having been there several times, we decided this time to focus on just two counties, Somerset and Yorkshire. Of course, we had to arrive and depart via London, so we spent some time there, too. We had two purposes: The first was to visit a particular abbey in Somerset which is the setting for a new book I am writing and to explore other sites in the county. The second was to do a book signing in Yorkshire, where we would also do a round of visiting ruined abbeys. Read more

The ‘Feasts for the Three Days of the Writing of the Book of the Law’ created by Lita-Luise Chappell in The Thelemic Cookbook employ elemental principles for those wishing to celebrate the Holy Days by incorporating magical correspondences into their ritual meals. Nine more recipes for these feasts have just been shared for the first time! Read more

“The story told here will appeal to anyone with an interest in Egyptology, in particular the study of the ancient Egyptian gods and their worship. Chappell brings an expertise to the subject which reflects her years of study, in-depth travels in Egypt…” Read more

History professor and Egyptian archaeologist, Sheridan Chase, is shocked when his cat tips over an ancient Egyptian jar. A papyrus is revealed with a warning and a clue to where a temple to the goddess Isis might be, on a small island in Lake Nasser. Tantalized, Chase enlists his top student, Ben, to go there and report back. But when Ben disappears, Sheridan and two of Ben’s friends also go. Their problems multiply when they go searching in deep tunnels surrounded by water. Read more

– I Know When Autumn’s Coming –

Summer’s crawling ivy across the gray brick wall,
has turned a russet red, a flag of coming fall.

The cat gets closer now when sleeping on the bed.
The birds are slower too, so fast cat is well fed.

Crickets have stopped their call, and swallows south have gone.
There’s fireflies at dusk, and new spun webs at dawn (…) Read more

Maevius Lynn spoke with Lita about the second edition of The Thelemic Cookbook: Cooking with Correspondences. They discuss insights on the book as well as Lita’s background and other projects to come. If you love food and magick, then be sure to check out the video!
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It had been a long wait to get there after three years of a pandemic, a cancelled flight due to another air-traffic controller’s strike, a dodging traffic-tango in a taxi from the airport, and an elevator that could barely squeeze in one person and a suitcase at a time. But we had finally reached our destination, at last arriving at our Airbnb in the 12th arrondissement in Paris. It was our ninth trip to Paris and we were glad to be back. Read more