Queer Saints Book Review: Magic, Miracles and Radical LGBTQ+ Spirituality

In Queer Saints: A Radical Guide to Magic, Miracles, and Modern Intercession, Antonio Pagliarulo offers something both ancient and strikingly contemporary: a spiritual handbook for people who have often been made to feel that sacred traditions were never meant for them. Warm, practical and unapologetically inclusive, the book reclaims saint veneration, folk magic and intercession for LGBTQ+ readers, allies and others from marginalised communities.

Pagliarulo, the son of southern Italian immigrants, grew up in New York surrounded by folk practices, magical traditions and devotion to saints. That personal inheritance gives Queer Saints its emotional depth. This is not a detached study of spirituality, but a loving invitation to reconnect with ritual, imagination and personal power. The result feels particularly relevant for urban readers seeking meaning beyond conventional institutions: people who may be spiritually curious, culturally adventurous or simply open to experiencing the sacred in a more creative way.

At the heart of the book are three practical practices. The first is designing an illuminated altar: a personal sacred space that reflects your needs, desires and chosen saints. Pagliarulo’s memorable message, “Go to the altar and you’ll be altered,” captures the book’s central belief that ritual can change not only our surroundings but our inner state. An altar becomes more than decoration. It is a place of focus, beauty, remembrance and possibility.

The second practice involves rituals combining prayers and spells. Pagliarulo does not present magic as something remote or theatrical, but as an accessible language for intention and transformation. Readers are encouraged to develop a relationship with ritual that feels authentic to them, regardless of their formal religious background. The third key practice is creating a sacred sachet, a portable object of devotion and magical intention that carries the energy of the altar into everyday life.

One of the book’s most empowering teachings concerns how we ask for help. Rather than approaching the saints from a position of poverty, fear or desperate begging, Pagliarulo encourages readers to ask with a sense of spiritual entitlement. This does not mean arrogance. It means remembering that dignity, protection, healing and joy are not privileges reserved for other people. Asking from a place of worth can alter our inner vibration and remind us of our own power. For anyone who has been excluded, shamed or told to make themselves smaller, this message is deeply moving.

Queer Saints also contains engaging biographies of traditional, folk and contemporary saints, each accompanied by their particular patronage and feast day. Familiar figures such as Mary Magdalene, Francis of Assisi and Hildegard of Bingen appear alongside modern cultural icons re-envisioned through a queer spiritual lens. Saint David Bowie, Saint Freddie Mercury, Saint Alexander McQueen, Saint Moms Mabley and Saint André Leon Talley form part of a vivid new constellation of intercessors.

This imaginative expansion of sainthood is one of the book’s greatest strengths. Some figures may have had queer lives or associations, while others are embraced because their creativity, courage, allyship or achievements have transformed queer culture. Pagliarulo does not suggest that sanctity belongs only to those officially canonised by religious authorities. Instead, he asks us to consider who has offered protection, inspiration, beauty, defiance or liberation to communities in need.

The tone throughout is generous rather than dogmatic. Readers do not need to follow a particular religion or accept every supernatural claim to benefit from the book. Its rituals can also be understood as tools for mindfulness, self-reflection, creative visualisation and emotional resilience. This openness makes Queer Saints an appealing introduction to LGBTQ+ spirituality, modern folk magic and radical self-empowerment.

I highly recommend Queer Saints, especially to LGBTQ+ readers and people from other marginalised or excluded communities. It is equally suited to curious allies, artists, healers and city dwellers seeking new forms of connection. Pagliarulo reminds us that spiritual traditions can be challenged, expanded and made welcoming again.

Ultimately, Queer Saints celebrates survival, chosen lineage and sacred possibility. It encourages us to build the altar, perform the ritual, carry the sachet, make the request and remember our power. Its hopeful vision of intercession leaves nobody abandoned and affirms that everyone is worthy of a miracle.

Queer Saints is available directly from www.redwheelweiser.com and through major bookshops and online platforms.