Despite its enormous popularity, not many people are aware of the history of America’s beloved holiday, Halloween. Halloween has roots that stretch back some 2,000 years, back to when it was a tradition celebrated by the Celts in Ancient Ireland. 

This tradition–called Samhain and pronounced sah-win– dealt with the supernatural, as fires were lit to both please the gods and encourage the return of a healthy season for crops. 

The Celts believed that during Samhain, spirits both malevolent and peaceful could cross over to the physical world. They often dressed in masks as monsters to ward off spirits with bad intentions, which were thought to come from mounds outside villages known as sidhs. 

Samhain was observed in between the fall equinox and winter solstice and was thought to be the division between the lightness of summer and the darkness of winter. 

Traditions within the holiday included sacrificing cows in order to burn their bones in communal fires. The flames were used to relight burnt out hearths in the homes of participants. 

Samhain changed with its celebrants, and in the Middle Ages traditions early versions of traditions we know today were innovated, such as carved turnips and the burning of fires near farms to protect families from witches are responsible for the prominence of witches in Halloween today. 

During the Middle Ages, leaders of Christianity attempted multiple times to claim Semhain as Christian. 

However, the emergence of the holiday we know today happened as All Hallows Eve became widely celebrated on the 31st, with Samhain influence being introduced by 19th century Irish-American immigrants.