Charlie Claire Burgess
Charlie Claire Burgess (they/them) is a queer and trans-nonbinary tarot practitioner, author, artist, and deck creator. Their first deck, Fifth Spirit Tarot, a queer and inclusive deck for a world beyond binaries, was first crowdfunded and self-published in 2020 and has since been picked up by Hay House for publication in early 2023. (You can still grab a first edition indie deck here for a limited time!) Their book Radical Tarot, a guide to creating the future through personal revolution with tarot, will be coming out from Hay House in fall 2023.
Charlie is currently at work on two new decks: the Gay Marseille Tarot and the Aquarius Rising Oracle. They are also the (sporadic) host of The Word Witch Podcast and teach tarot classes online and on Cowlitz and Clackamas traditional lands in Portland, Oregon, where they live with their spouse and an extreme number of houseplants and fantasy novels.
In addition to their tarot work, Charlie writes fiction and non-fiction when the mood strikes. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Vanderbilt University. Their tarot and non-fiction is represented by Kelly Van Sant of kt literary.
The best places to connect with Charlie are on Instagram @the.word.witch or by joining them on Patreon.
Writing
Non-Fiction
"Remember Us With Your Imagination," Medium
"Fools and Believers," F(r)iction, Arcana issue, forthcoming
"Eight of Quills," The Literary Tarot, Brink Literacy Project, forthcoming
Fiction
"Ghost Story," Joyland
"Upper Middle Class Houses," Third Coast -- Pushcart Prize Special Mention 2014
"Last Dog," Hunger Mountain -- Notable mention in Best American Short Stories 2012 and Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012
"Male Seeking Female," Annalemma
"Salt" and "Clean," PANK
Anthology
New Stories from the Midwest 2016: "Upper Middle Class Houses," originally published in Third Coast
Press
"Fifth Spirit Tarot," deck review on the Wildly Tarot Podcast
"Kickstarter's Season of the Witch," by Rebecca Hiscott, Kickstarter.com
"Why Queer People Love Witchcraft," by Amanda Kohr, Refinery29
Interviews
YouTube
Tarot Adventures with Jules
Deck Creator Chat with Charlie Claire Burgess
November 15, 2021
Podcasts
In Search of Tarot
Live from the 2021 Searcher's Solstice Tarot Conference,
A Panel Discussion on Expanding Sex, Sexuality, and Gender in the Tarot with Cassandra Snow, Charlie Claire Burgess, and Nick Kepley
June 29, 2021
Wellness Community Magic Podcast
The Messy In-Between with Charlie Claire Burgess
April 12, 2021
Cosmic Cousins
Aquarius New Moon: Conversation with Fifth Spirit Tarot Deck Creator Charlie Claire Burgess
February 10, 2021
In Search of Tarot
Gender in Tarot with Charlie Claire Burgess
December 21, 2020
We Are Our Own Lovers
Where Kelsey and Claire Emphatically Agree about the Power of Self-Acceptance
May 17, 2020
The Arnemancy Podcast
Tarot Beyond Binaries with The Word Witch
April 15, 2020
Rise Up! Good Witch
Tarot Storytelling with Claire Burgess, Diana Rose, and Sarah Gottessdiener
September 16, 2019
Blind Love Radio
Creating from the Void with Claire Burgess
July 16, 2019