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Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession
Saints are the powerful, benevolent dead. They remain connected to the living to provide assistance, especially in times of need. Everyone has patron saints, even the marginalized who may feel abandoned and removed from these spiritual traditions. Antonio Pagliarulo, author of The Evil Eye, grew up among Italian immigrants, practitioners of folk magic and saint veneration, in New York City. Pagliarulo, a lifelong lover of saints, seeks to bring their blessings to those who have long felt cut off from these traditions.
Queer A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession is a contemporary reimagining of an ancient spiritual practice—the intercessory power of saints. “Intercession” is typically defined as the action of intervening for another. Saints intervene with the highest powers on behalf of their devotees to provide them with protection, safety, prosperity, healing, and fulfillment of needs and desires.
Saints derive from many spiritual and religious traditions, not just Roman Catholicism. No canonization process is required for folk saints, also known as unofficial saints. Pagliarulo offers readers a wide range of saints that includes the traditional, such as Mary Magdalene, Francis of Assisi, and Hildegard of Bingen, as well as re-envisioned saints specifically for a queer constituency. These include Saint David Bowie, Saint Freddie Mercury, Saint Alexander McQueen, Saint Audre Lorde, and Saint André Leon Talley.
Pagliarulo explains why these are queer saints and offers practical information on how to venerate them—from building altars to making offerings. Both a primer on magical practice and a guide to radical transcendence and transformation, Queer Saints is a book with widespread appeal. Queer Saints makes change and self-empowerment accessible to readers of all faiths and belief systems by spotlighting the transformative impact queer saints have had on our world and their burgeoning influence on our spiritual future. Whether queer themselves, or people whose allyship or achievements are embraced by the queer community, queer saints are a new and needed paradigm for those seeking new paths to meaning.
Queer A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession is a contemporary reimagining of an ancient spiritual practice—the intercessory power of saints. “Intercession” is typically defined as the action of intervening for another. Saints intervene with the highest powers on behalf of their devotees to provide them with protection, safety, prosperity, healing, and fulfillment of needs and desires.
Saints derive from many spiritual and religious traditions, not just Roman Catholicism. No canonization process is required for folk saints, also known as unofficial saints. Pagliarulo offers readers a wide range of saints that includes the traditional, such as Mary Magdalene, Francis of Assisi, and Hildegard of Bingen, as well as re-envisioned saints specifically for a queer constituency. These include Saint David Bowie, Saint Freddie Mercury, Saint Alexander McQueen, Saint Audre Lorde, and Saint André Leon Talley.
Pagliarulo explains why these are queer saints and offers practical information on how to venerate them—from building altars to making offerings. Both a primer on magical practice and a guide to radical transcendence and transformation, Queer Saints is a book with widespread appeal. Queer Saints makes change and self-empowerment accessible to readers of all faiths and belief systems by spotlighting the transformative impact queer saints have had on our world and their burgeoning influence on our spiritual future. Whether queer themselves, or people whose allyship or achievements are embraced by the queer community, queer saints are a new and needed paradigm for those seeking new paths to meaning.
240 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2026
About the author
Antonio Pagliarulo
10 books17 followersAntonio Pagliarulo has written about crime, entertainment, and spirituality for numerous publications. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 23, 2026
I believe readers of Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession by Antonio Pagliarulo are going to fall into one of two camps: you are either going to love this book or absolutely hate it. For witches, this book may be polarizing due to its use of Christian saints. I know many modern witchcraft practitioners are adamantly opposed to all things Christian, while forgetting that many magical practices around the world are deeply rooted in it. Practitioners of brujeria, vodou, and conjure do not consider their work witchcraft, and to call them a witch is to potentially endanger their lives. These are Christians, working within the confines of the Christian religion.
Despite not using Christian aspects in my own practice, I do see the value of saint work. It does work, after all. However, Christianity is deeply rooted in misogyny and homophobia, making it difficult to navigate for members of the queer community. Pagliarulo seeks to rectify this by rethinking sainthood and expanding the saints beyond their current confines to include the venerable dead. Pagliarulo argues that canonization by the Church should not prevent practitioners from developing their own working list of saints.
I resonated with Pagliarulo's approach, as much of our modern reconstructions of witchcraft and pagan practices require some guesswork, modifications, and updating. The inclusion of queer saints is a much-needed update for modern times, especially as a form of resistance against an authoritarian government seeking to erase Black and queer history. Pagliarulo includes research, personal experience, and interviews with experts and laymen alike to construct his argument for the use of new queer saints, as well as for the queer-interpretation of existing saints such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, and Saint Sebastian. Much of the book includes different new and old saints one can work with, whether they be queer themselves or queer allies.
The modern list of queer saints is quite beautiful to behold. While these saints have not been officially canonized by the Church, they are incredibly important figures from queer history. Each entry includes their history, what they are patron of, their feast day (usually the day of their death), corresponding tarot, and sacred offerings, allowing for flawless integration of these new saints into your existing practice. New saints occasionally include a petition, candle spell, or sacred sachet you can use to work with the saint, which is a wonderful inclusion. He even uses the correct honorific based on the person's faith and culture, which is just...fabulous.
Even if you are not interested in working with saints in your own practice, Pagliarulo offers an amazing glimpse into queer history. Many of the figures I knew, such as Alan Turing, David Bowie, Scott Cunningham, and Harvey Milk. Others I was less familiar with, such as Josephine Baker and Simeon Solomon. I was trying my best to hold it together as I read through all the amazing people who paved the way for us, but I lost it when I made it to Keith Haring. Growing up, my mother talked extensively about the AIDs crisis and the impact that it had on the world. She was very close to a gay couple down the street, and when I was born, one of them refused to hold me because he was "sick" and didn't want to pass it on to me. He had AIDs and would later die from the disease, never having held me. It devastated my mother. As an artist, she knew many people in the community who would eventually contract and succumb to AIDS. While my mother did not know Keith Haring personally, he was one of her favorite artists. She has always taught his work, having her students create their own artwork inspired by his style, saying it is the least she can do for a man who had such a profound impact on her life. So thank you, Pagliarulo, for including him.
Apart from discussing the new and old saints, Pagliarulo also breaks down spells versus prayers and the different types of saint magic he practices: petition papers, candle spells, and sacred sachets. These are the same types of spells given for certain saints at the end of the book. He also talks rather extensively about reciprocity, which I absolutely loved. This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately in my own practice (hence it showing up recently in blog posts), and I was thrilled to see another author do the same. Apart from sacred offerings, Pagliarulo also offers a list of potential pilgrimage sites where you can also honor the saints, which is, again, just a great list of queer historical sites.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed reading Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession by Antonio Pagliarulo and highly recommend it to anyone interested in saint work or even just interested in queer history. My only complaint was chapter 3, which felt completely out of place. It could have been deleted, and the book would still make sense and be workable. But other than that, excellent book!
Despite not using Christian aspects in my own practice, I do see the value of saint work. It does work, after all. However, Christianity is deeply rooted in misogyny and homophobia, making it difficult to navigate for members of the queer community. Pagliarulo seeks to rectify this by rethinking sainthood and expanding the saints beyond their current confines to include the venerable dead. Pagliarulo argues that canonization by the Church should not prevent practitioners from developing their own working list of saints.
I resonated with Pagliarulo's approach, as much of our modern reconstructions of witchcraft and pagan practices require some guesswork, modifications, and updating. The inclusion of queer saints is a much-needed update for modern times, especially as a form of resistance against an authoritarian government seeking to erase Black and queer history. Pagliarulo includes research, personal experience, and interviews with experts and laymen alike to construct his argument for the use of new queer saints, as well as for the queer-interpretation of existing saints such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Hildegard of Bingen, and Saint Sebastian. Much of the book includes different new and old saints one can work with, whether they be queer themselves or queer allies.
The modern list of queer saints is quite beautiful to behold. While these saints have not been officially canonized by the Church, they are incredibly important figures from queer history. Each entry includes their history, what they are patron of, their feast day (usually the day of their death), corresponding tarot, and sacred offerings, allowing for flawless integration of these new saints into your existing practice. New saints occasionally include a petition, candle spell, or sacred sachet you can use to work with the saint, which is a wonderful inclusion. He even uses the correct honorific based on the person's faith and culture, which is just...fabulous.
Even if you are not interested in working with saints in your own practice, Pagliarulo offers an amazing glimpse into queer history. Many of the figures I knew, such as Alan Turing, David Bowie, Scott Cunningham, and Harvey Milk. Others I was less familiar with, such as Josephine Baker and Simeon Solomon. I was trying my best to hold it together as I read through all the amazing people who paved the way for us, but I lost it when I made it to Keith Haring. Growing up, my mother talked extensively about the AIDs crisis and the impact that it had on the world. She was very close to a gay couple down the street, and when I was born, one of them refused to hold me because he was "sick" and didn't want to pass it on to me. He had AIDs and would later die from the disease, never having held me. It devastated my mother. As an artist, she knew many people in the community who would eventually contract and succumb to AIDS. While my mother did not know Keith Haring personally, he was one of her favorite artists. She has always taught his work, having her students create their own artwork inspired by his style, saying it is the least she can do for a man who had such a profound impact on her life. So thank you, Pagliarulo, for including him.
Apart from discussing the new and old saints, Pagliarulo also breaks down spells versus prayers and the different types of saint magic he practices: petition papers, candle spells, and sacred sachets. These are the same types of spells given for certain saints at the end of the book. He also talks rather extensively about reciprocity, which I absolutely loved. This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately in my own practice (hence it showing up recently in blog posts), and I was thrilled to see another author do the same. Apart from sacred offerings, Pagliarulo also offers a list of potential pilgrimage sites where you can also honor the saints, which is, again, just a great list of queer historical sites.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed reading Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession by Antonio Pagliarulo and highly recommend it to anyone interested in saint work or even just interested in queer history. My only complaint was chapter 3, which felt completely out of place. It could have been deleted, and the book would still make sense and be workable. But other than that, excellent book!
Read
September 3, 2026As a child, I loved reading about the saints. What gory endings some of them had! In ‘Queer Saints,’ the retelling is there, minus the salacious martyrdoms. On the other hand, we have photographs now.
I loved Pagliarulo’s previous book, ‘The Evil Eye,’ which I bought the day it came out. As a person, as well (we are acquaintances), I like him a lot. This book incorporates a bit from the previous one (rituals) along with stories of recognized (as holy, officially) saints and also recognized (for their contributions to modern-day culture, if unofficially) saints. (St. Mychal Judge, yes… but St. Tom of Finland?) It didn’t feel as cohesive; the weaving together of it didn’t quite gel for me. My ideal solution would be a full book of the biographies and a slimmer extension of the previous book describing what to do with them.
As much as I wanted to love ‘Queer Saints,’ the bread just needed a bit more kneading. I am not awarding this any stars because of my feelings on the unevenness.
I loved Pagliarulo’s previous book, ‘The Evil Eye,’ which I bought the day it came out. As a person, as well (we are acquaintances), I like him a lot. This book incorporates a bit from the previous one (rituals) along with stories of recognized (as holy, officially) saints and also recognized (for their contributions to modern-day culture, if unofficially) saints. (St. Mychal Judge, yes… but St. Tom of Finland?) It didn’t feel as cohesive; the weaving together of it didn’t quite gel for me. My ideal solution would be a full book of the biographies and a slimmer extension of the previous book describing what to do with them.
As much as I wanted to love ‘Queer Saints,’ the bread just needed a bit more kneading. I am not awarding this any stars because of my feelings on the unevenness.
July 4, 2026
I struggled with this book. In the canon of queer occult and magick literature, it offers very little. The text is undercut by simple typos (like the one on page 43) and relies on amateurish writing mechanics—even descending into the classic undergraduate trope of starting a thought with, "According to dictionary.com..."
More than anything, the book feels sheepish in how it addresses the very practices it suggests to the reader. It actively rejects the "self-help" label, yet constantly offers basic CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) strategies and goes so far as to quote Marianne Williamson. Ultimately, it hesitates to fully commit to its own premise, leaving it caught awkwardly between shallow therapeutic advice and timid esotericism.
More than anything, the book feels sheepish in how it addresses the very practices it suggests to the reader. It actively rejects the "self-help" label, yet constantly offers basic CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) strategies and goes so far as to quote Marianne Williamson. Ultimately, it hesitates to fully commit to its own premise, leaving it caught awkwardly between shallow therapeutic advice and timid esotericism.
July 3, 2026
This is a very thorough book. It starts out discussing Catholic saints and then moves into modern day Beloved Dead who are Saints to LGBTQ+ people and their allies. There are many workings included in this book, along with a way to reframe how you approach saints for intercession, as well as tarot card associations for many mentioned. If you are looking for a way to work with those who have passed on, I recommend giving this book a read.
July 21, 2026
Great book for those not familiar with saint veneration or those seeking a new way to look at it.
August 14, 2026
I found this book to be quite enjoyable. It was a different view on saints . Thank You
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews