Queer Devotion: Spirituality Beyond the Binary in Myth, Story, and Practice

by Charlie Claire Burgess

A liberating exploration of the queer divine in deities and figures of myth and legend that opens pathways for LGBTQIA+ people to revere the divinity within and create an affirming spiritual practice.

A spiritual practice can be an intensely affirming thing, but for many LGBTQIA+ individuals, it is instead an alienating one. Queer Devotion seeks to open pathways for LBGTQIA+ people to connect with the divine by revering and celebrating the queer divinity in ourselves. By exploring the Queer Divine in existing gods, goddesses, and goddexes of mythology—Inanna, Hermes, Loki, Osiris, and more—we’ll resurrect the queer divine within ourselves through explorations and queered retellings of their stories. But we can also queer the idea of divinity itself, illuminating queer threads in Arthurian legend, European folklore, Victorian monsters, and witchcraft.

Lastly, to build a queer devotional practice, Burgess offers exercises, reflection prompts, and ritual suggestions for you to build your own, personal practice of liberated, self-defined, and self-directed queer devotion.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, Spirituality, Mythology, History, LGBT

264 pages, Paperback

Published May 20, 2025

Reviews

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked Charlie Claire Burgess's work, so this was a fun read. I think the choice of myth to feature was kind of strange, since the book is pulling from so many different stories and traditions. The result ends up being pretty uneven since it's like three chapters about Greek mythological figures, a couple about King Arthur, one about Jesus, etc. Just not super clear why the breakdown ended up being what it was. But I liked the journaling prompts.

[Lorien Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the readability of a novel, yet is chock full of citations and quotes, it feels like the sort of book I would feel lucky to read for a theology class in College. Each chapter stands on it's own which is great for us adhd readers who are always reading way too many books at once so we don't have to track one continuous story/essay.

I was surprised by how much examination of Christianity is in the book, however it did not feel at all like the author saw Christianity as any more or less valid than Heathenry or Greek Paganism or any other sort of religion/spirituality. I suspect at least one reason for the in depth examination of several Christian figures and concepts is because many of us, especially Americans, live in a predominantly Christian country, therefore it's both useful to know more about Christianity, and potentially healing to consider parts of it that we don't tend to hear from mainstream Christianity.

As a heads up in case you're look for a specific subset of deities. There's 3 chapters on Greek/Roman gods (Aphrodite, Dionysus, Artemis), 2 on Arthurian myth, 3 on Christian figures or concepts, & one on Norse gods (Loki & Odin).

I will also say that even if most of the chapters aren't the subsets of myths or religions that you're primarily interested in, the book's still very worth reading. I didn't think I had ANY interest in reading about Christianity, (I also didn't think I had much specific interest in Greek/Roman gods or Arthurian legend either) but I loved every chapter.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not exactly what I was looking for, but I enjoyed it anyway. This book is not of any specific religious tradition (the author describes themself as a witch, but clearly incorporates pieces of various traditions in their spiritual practice), but it is a crash course in queerness in the western religious canon. You will probably get more out of this (especially the reflection questions and activities) if you identify as queer and/or some form of witchy; that being said, I do not identify as either of those and still really enjoyed the mythology and the discussions about historical figures and the interpretations of them over the centuries.

[Angel Lemke]

Not usually my cup of tea, but I have enjoyed the author's writing on tarot so I gave it a shot and was pleasantly surprised. Intriguing questions and framings for thinking through one's relationship to Western spiritual traditions.

[may · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

I lovelovelove queerness this altered my brain chemistry in the BEST ways

[Leanna Florez · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot to love about the book. The narrative was amazing, it was fun to read, and the author was someone you could really connect to. Their voice was super enjoyable.I think the guided exercises after each chapter were also nice and helpful, all the more connected to the author and their message. My favorite section was probably the Joan of Arc chapter, and that’s coming from someone who wasn’t a huge Joan of Arc obsesser. The reason I docked a star was because for an author who does a really good job of being inclusive towards the queer and disabled community, I wish that there had been more perspective or analysis on non eurocentric witchcraft, because african and caribbean witchcraft has been queer and genderless for a long time, so even a bit of that mentioned would have been nice. Basically, I just wanted them to go further, researching not just what they’re connected to, but what a potential reader might be connected to. A person of color might feel kind of excluded from this book, even though that wasn’t the intention. Overall though, a lovely gay witchy read.

[Rikyjanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected, and simultaneously what I expected at all. I thought this would be a historical reading of queer saints and mythical figures, and it turned out to be that, but also a part queer divine practitioners guide. This felt uncomfortable at times, but as I read on, the devotion Burgess put into these pages made me appreciate the writings even more. The reading questions are a very nice addition to deepen my own thoughts. I would not recommend it to people who shy away from spiritual and divination practices like tarot, ancestral communion, and queer joy.