Samhain Spiral 🍁
Produced: September – October 2026
Dimensions: 20” x 20”
Medium: matte acrylic
Canvas: Yupo tree-free paper

Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”) is an ancient Gaelic Celtic pagan festival celebrated from sunset on October 31 to sunset on November 1. It marks the end of the harvest and the start of winter.

Halloween evolved from Samhain, sharing roots in honoring the dead while differing in religious and culture practices. Traditional Samhain practices include spiritual reflection, lighting sacred communal bonfires, and acknowledging the “thinning of the veil” between the physical and spirit worlds.

The music playlist I curated for this art project follows this concept. What kinds of things would someone experience is they undertook a Samhain vision quest? What would be reflected upon? There would be guides and gatekeepers, trials and tribulations, reflections and realizations, slopes and spirals, illusion and disillusion, ascension and descension. Essentially a winding path, such as life.

The playlist maintains a spooky Halloween vibe throughout, bobbing and weaving through rock, punk, and metal genres. Although the music overall would be deemed as “dark”, I think there is also lots of hope and progress embedded in these songs.

Link to Spotify playlist.