A sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the

sins In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considere ...

of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

of the person.

Cultural anthropologists Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

s classify sin-eating as a form of

ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

. It is most commonly associated with Scotland, Ireland, Wales, English counties bordering Wales, and

Welsh culture The culture of Wales encompasses the Welsh language, customs, Traditional festival days of Wales, festivals, Music of Wales, music, Welsh art, art, Welsh cuisine, cuisine, Welsh mythology, mythology, History of Wales, history, and Politics of ...

Attestations

History

While there have been analogous instances of sin-eaters throughout history, the questions of how common the practice was, when it was practiced, and what the interactions between sin-eaters, common people, and religious authorities remain largely unstudied by

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

academics. In

Meso-American Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

civilisation, Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of vice, purification, steam baths, lust and filth, and a patroness of adulterers (her name literally means 'Sacred Filth'), had a redemptive role in religious practices. At the end of an individual's life, they were allowed to confess misdeeds to this deity, and she would cleanse the soul by "eating its filth". The 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states in its article on sin-eaters:

In Wales and the Welsh Marches

The term "sin-eater" appears to derive from

and is most often associated with Wales itself and in the English counties bordering Wales. Seventeenth-century diarist

John Aubrey John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He was a pioneer archaeologist, who recorded (often for the first time) numerous megalithic and other field monuments in southern England ...

, in the earliest source on the practice, wrote that "an old Custome" in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

had been

John Bagford John Bagford (1650/51, Fetter Lane, London – 5 May 1716, Islington) was an English antiquarian, writer, bibliographer, ballad-collector, bookseller, and biblioclast. Life Originally a shoemaker by trade, his premises were in the Great Turnstil ...

() includes the following description of the sin-eating ritual in his ''Letter on Leland's Collectanea'', i. 76. (as cited in

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'', sometimes referred to simply as ''Brewer's'', is a reference work containing definitions and explanations of many famous phrases, allusions, and figures, whether historical or mythical. The "New Edi ...

, 1898) By 1838,

Catherine Sinclair Catherine Sinclair (17 April 1800 – 6 August 1864) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and children's writer, who departed from the moralising approach common in that period. She is credited with discovering that the author o ...

noted the practice was in decline but that it continued in the locality: A local legend in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England, concerns the grave of Richard Munslow, who died in 1906, said to be the last sin-eater of the area. Unusually, Munslow was not poor or an outcast, instead being a wealthy farmer from an established family. Munslow may have revived the custom after the deaths of three of his children in a week 1870 due to

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

. In the words of local Reverend Norman Morris of

Ratlinghope Ratlinghope (, ) is a hamlet and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 138. It is situated west of Church Stretton and south of Shrewsbury. Historically it was located in the hundred ...

, "It was a very odd practice and would not have been approved of by the church but I suspect the vicar often turned a blind eye to the practice." At the funeral of anyone who had died without confessing their sins, a sin-eater would take on the sins of the deceased by eating a loaf of bread and drinking ale out of a wooden bowl passed over the coffin, and make a short speech: The 1926 book ''Funeral Customs'' by Bertram S. Puckle mentions the sin-eater:

References

{{Reflist

External links

Online Book: ''Funeral Customs'' by Bertram S. Puckle at Sacred-Texts.com

The Weird but True History of Sin Eaters

"Sins of the Father", Night Gallery episode based on sin-eating

"Sin Eater", Website of a traditional New Orleans Sin Eater
Folklore Religious food and drink Funeral food and drink Traditional religious occupations Souls Death customs Sin