Vayse VYS0058 | Queer Devotion - Vayse to Face with Charlie Claire Burgess
Feb 25, 2026
Charlie Claire Burgess, author and artist blending spirituality and queerness, shares their journey from secret teen witch to creator of the Fifth Spirit Tarot. They talk about reclaiming queer magic, the chaos that fuels creativity, designing indie tarot decks, mythic fluidity, and building authentic community while resisting harmful co-options.
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Teen Tarot Hidden Then Ditched
- Charlie Claire Burgess hid a Rider Waite deck and Wicca books as a teen in a conservative Christian household and eventually threw them in a dumpster to avoid discovery.
- That rejection coincided with suppressing emerging queer identity, leading to a decade living as a cishet woman before a later spiritual and queer reawakening.
Tarot Reading Sparked Life Upheaval
- A chance conversation after a bookstore reading and a subsequent tarot reading triggered Charlie's second spiritual awakening.
- She left her marriage, job, and house, moved across the country with only what fit in her sedan, and resumed tarot and pagan practice.
Chaos Is The Wellspring Of Possibility
- Chaos is the creative source that inserts uncertainty, enabling possibility and the extraordinary to emerge in magic and life.
- Charlie links tarot practice and spellwork to leaving room for unpredictability rather than over-specifying outcomes.
