Samhain: A Time of Remembrance: Special Edition Blog
The nights are stretching out longer now, and there’s that certain crispness in the air that whispers change is coming. It’s time for our Samhain gathering here on the blog, a moment to honour the turning of the Wheel and the ancestors who walk beside us.
Hello creative alchemists,
The nights are stretching out longer now, and there’s that certain crispness in the air that whispers change is coming. It’s time for our Samhain gathering here on the blog, a moment to honour the turning of the Wheel and the ancestors who walk beside us.
A Cuppa and a Catch Up
In last week’s blog, I shared a little about how, living here in the Southern Hemisphere, Samhain aligns closely with ANZAC Day.
Growing up in a military family, ANZAC Day has always held deep meaning for me. It's not just a public holiday; it’s a personal day of remembrance. Since the Boer War, members of my family have been involved in almost every conflict Australia has seen.
So, when I pause on April 25th to honour the ANZACs, I’m also honouring my own bloodlines, my ancestors, and the stories they carried, stories of survival, sacrifice, strength, and deep resilience.
It feels fitting that Samhain, the festival of remembrance, weaves so closely into this sacred time.
In Flanders Fields - Original Painting by Ange Foster
Art Witch Musings: The Origins and History of Samhain
Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) is one of the four major fire festivals in the ancient Celtic calendar, marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It falls halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, a true liminal space where endings and beginnings meet.
For the ancient Celts of Ireland, Scotland, and parts of Britain, Samhain was the most important festival of the year. It was believed that during this time, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead grew thin. Spirits could cross over more easily, and humans could reach across the divide through dreams, divination, and ritual.
Bonfires were lit across the hills to ward off wandering spirits and to offer light in the growing darkness. People would extinguish their home hearth fires and relight them from the communal bonfire, symbolising unity and renewal for the whole community.
Offerings of food and drink were left out for the ancestors and the 'Good Folk', the fae, who were especially active during this time.
Samhain wasn't a festival of fear, it was a deeply respectful time, an acknowledgment that death is simply part of life’s cycle. A pause. A breath. A sacred in-between.
In many ways, our modern practices like Halloween echo this older, earth-based wisdom, even if some of the nuances have been lost along the way.
Misty Samhain Morning in the Austrialan Bush
Working with Samhain in the Studio
Samhain is an incredible time to lean into shadow work and explore the themes of memory, loss, transformation, and rebirth in our creative practice.
Here are some ways you can weave the magic of this season into your art:
Ancestor Altars: Set up a small corner of your studio space with photos, mementos, or objects that connect you to your ancestors or beloved dead. Let their energy inspire your work. Light a candle in their honour as you begin creating.
Shadow Collages: Play with darker colours, torn edges, layered textures, and hidden imagery. Let yourself make art that feels raw, messy, honest.
Release Rituals: Write down what you are ready to release on scraps of paper. Burn them safely in a cauldron or fireproof dish or tear them into tiny pieces and collage them into a background, transforming them into something new.
Crows and Symbols: Crows, bones, bare branches, seeds tucked into cold earth, these are the icons of Samhain. Let them find their way into your sketches, paintings, or journal pages.
Divination Drawing: Try pulling a card before you begin your studio session and allow it to shape your theme or palette for the day.
Remember: Samhain art is not about perfection. It’s about authenticity.
Let your hands be guided by your spirit, not your inner critic.
Art Journal Prompt
"What stories am I ready to release, and what deeper truths am I ready to honour?"
Let this question guide your next art journal page.
Work intuitively, let colour, line, texture, and symbol speak louder than words. Trust that whatever rises to the surface is exactly what needs to be witnessed.
Art Journal spread
Samhain Oracle Reading — 3 Card Spread
I pulled three cards for us, asking what energies we should honour this Samhain:
1. What needs to be honoured:
The Ancestor — Your bloodline and spirit line are present. Honour the sacrifices, dreams, and love that brought you here. You carry them forward.2. What needs to be released:
The Mask — The need to pretend, to "perform" for others. Samhain calls you to lay down the masks and let your truest self breathe.3. What is emerging:
The Seed — A quiet spark of new beginnings is stirring beneath the surface. Tend to it gently. It’s not time for full bloom yet, but trust that it’s growing.
Take a moment to sit with these cards. Maybe even pull your own and see what additional messages come through.
🎶Samhain Playlist
To honour the turning of the Wheel, I’ve also created a special playlist for this liminal time — weaving together songs that speak to both the fire of Beltaine in the Northern Hemisphere and the deep introspection of Samhain here in the South.
Light a candle, pour a cuppa, and let the music guide you as you journal, create, or simply sit with the energies of the season.
A Little Reminder
If you’re feeling drawn to crow energy this season (and honestly, how could you not, crows are the messengers between worlds!), don’t forget:
🖤 My Crow Series is available my Redbubble store! 🖤
There are prints, stickers, journals, perfect companions for your Samhain altar or seasonal space.
Visit My Redbubble Store Here,
That’s it for this special Samhain edition, creative souls.
May this season bless you with deep connection, sweet remembrance, and the courage to move forward with open hearts.
Until next time,
Creative Crossroads: Art, Ritual, and the Turning Wheel
Cuppa & Catch-Up
Welcome back. Pour yourself a cuppa and settle in, it’s time for a little studio and life catch-up, some witchy musings, and a whole lot of creative magic. Let’s dive in.
This fortnight has been full….
Colour Swatches
Hello, Creative Alchemists,
We find ourselves in a curious liminal space, between equinox and Samhain, as the moon begins its quiet return to shadow. The energy is shifting, and I can feel it echoing through both my body and my creative practice.
Cuppa & Catch-Up
Welcome back. Pour yourself a cuppa and settle in, it’s time for a little studio and life catch-up, some witchy musings, and a whole lot of creative magic. Let’s dive in.
This fortnight has been full, Easter came and went, and while it’s a big part of the broader cultural calendar, it’s also a bittersweet time for many pagans. The first Sunday after the first full moon following the autumn equinox, so clearly rooted in ancient seasonal rhythms. It’s hard not to feel the tension when the most significant day in the Christian calendar echoes such overtly pagan symbolism, especially when we remember the women and wise folk persecuted in the church’s rise to power. I always try to walk a respectful line, acknowledging the past while recognising that I have family of many different faiths.
Sadly, this time, that wasn’t received as I’d hoped. In a post on my personal Facebook page I was challenged by a prominent member of the pagan community who felt my words were gaslighting or incorrect. It hurt. Not because we disagreed, that happens, but because they chose to attack rather than seek to understand. I share this because it’s important to remember we can hold nuance. We can respect others and still speak our truth with care.
On the studio front, it’s been all systems go! The countdown is on for the Creativa Exhibition with Collective 24 next month. We’re finalising the opening event, the promo is rolling out, and suddenly it all feels very real. Months of planning are now becoming something tangible. I think part of me thrives under deadline pressure, a hangover from art school, maybe?
I’m writing this between layers drying, and I’ve got a feeling there’ll be a couple of midnight sessions coming up. Make sure you’re following Collective 24 on Facebook and Instagram and RSVP to our opening event over on Facebook, we’d love to see you there!
Creativa by Collective 24
Art Witch Musings
This week’s Witchy Little Things was all about cleansing and clearing our art spaces, something that felt particularly timely as I recently had to reset mine to make space for my new electric wheelchair. It was more than just a rearrange; it was a full energetic clearing.
I talked about calling in the elements:
Earth — placing grounding crystals around my space.
Air — incense smoke curling through the air, shifting the energy.
Fire — lighting a candle with intention.
Water — misting with moon water I’d infused with lavender oil.
As promised, here’s my simple Lavender Moon Water Spray recipe:
Start with moon-charged water (leave a jar of water out under the full moon overnight).
Add a few drops of lavender essential oil.
Drop in a couple of clear quartz chips for extra energetic amplification.
Pour into a spray bottle and shake gently before use.
I use it to cleanse my space, my tools, or even myself when I’m shifting from mundane to magical.
Art Journal Prompt
Taurus New Moon Prompt:
Taurus invites us to slow down and reconnect with the physical world, to root into what feels nourishing and real.
Where in your life are you craving more stability, beauty, or comfort? What would it look like to honour your creative practice as a sacred ritual of embodiment, not just something you do, but something you feel?
Use this moon to ground yourself in your creative desires and don’t rush. Taurus teaches us that what grows slowly, lasts.
Art Journal Page
Artist of the Season: Yayoi Kusama
I had the absolute joy of seeing her work at the NGV recently, and it was like stepping into another universe, one where repetition becomes rhythm, and colour becomes incantation.
Even more special, I took my grandkids with me. Mr 3 was totally captivated by the colours, dancing through the space with wide-eyed wonder. Miss 7 asked such incredible questions, curious about the artist, the meaning, the why. Watching them engage with art in their own ways made the whole day unforgettable. That’s the magic, watching creativity spark across generations.
Yayoi Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan. She began painting as a child, channelling the vivid hallucinations she experienced polka dots, infinite fields, strange patterns that engulfed her vision. Her art became her sanctuary.
In the 1950s, she moved to New York, a woman of colour in a deeply racist, male-dominated art world. And yet she carved out space with her mesmerising Infinity Net paintings and radical performance art.
Her work tackled trauma, mental illness, the body, and the oppressive systems around her, often decades ahead of her time. Many of her ideas were mirrored (and sometimes outright copied) by her male contemporaries. Still, she persisted.
In the 1970s she returned to Japan and checked herself into a psychiatric hospital where she still lives, continuing to create from a studio nearby.
Now in her 90s, Kusama is an icon, her mirrored rooms and giant pumpkins attract global audiences. She is a symbol of radical creativity, endurance, and the magic of trusting your inner world.
Her work reminds me that art can be loud, messy, obsessive, deeply personal and still powerful beyond measure.
Cycles of Craft Update
As we move closer to Samhain here in the Southern Hemisphere, I’ve been feeling that subtle shift, the soft thinning of the veil, the pull toward memory and honouring.
It always strikes me how this aligns with ANZAC Day, a moment in our national calendar where we collectively pause to remember those who served and sacrificed. In my family, this is deeply personal. Every generation has had someone step forward during times of conflict, believing they were protecting their families and their way of life. Some never returned. Others came back with the ghosts of war in tow.
For me, ANZAC Day and Samhain sit side by side, both rooted in remembrance. Both asking us to honour our ancestors, their choices, their burdens, their dreams.
This will also be the theme of my Samhain Special Edition blog post next week, where I’ll go deeper into ritual, remembrance, and the creative magic of this liminal time. Stay tuned.
Dawn Service
Before you go
Want to wear a little Samhain magic? Head over to my Redbubble store and check out my Crow Series — inspired by this season of shadow and mystery.
For a deeper dive into the Taurus New Moon, head to my Facebook page, where I’ve posted my latest astrology insights as part of the #CyclesOfCraft series.
And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and Facebook to stay in the loop with daily updates, behind-the-scenes chaos, and sneak peeks of what’s on the way.
Thanks for spending some time in the studio with me. However you’re moving through this season, I hope you’re finding ways to honour your own pace. I hope to see some of you at the Creativa exhibition, it’s going to be such a celebration of creativity and community. Until then, keep crafting your magic the world needs your light.
Wishing you a grounded, creative, and nourishing Taurus season. See you next week for the Samhain Special Edition.
P.S. If you haven’t yet, I’d be so grateful if you could vote for my torso sculptures in the Stop It Before It Starts Art Show’s People’s Choice Awards. Voting is open until April 30, and every vote truly counts. You can view all entries and cast your vote here.
Kintsugi of the Soul