Do you believe in judgment after death? While superstition still
exists today, there used to be a time when it would define the way
people carry out rituals, such as the death of a loved one.
In
19th century England and Scotland there existed a very strange
occupation. After the death of a loved one, relatives could hire a
“sin-eater” to come and cleanse the soul of the recently departed. To do
so, the sin-eater would be given a small meal, consisting of bread and a
glass of wine or ale; the body would be laid out and the wine would
have to be literally handed over the corpse (or coffin) and the bread
waved over the deceased person, or even placed on their chest. It was
believed that in doing this that the sins of the dead were absorbed into
the food and drink. After saying a quick prayer, which traditionally
went something like this, “I give easement and rest now to thee, dear
man. Come not down the lanes or in our meadows. And for they peace I
pawn my own soul. Amen.” It was also believed that if a person died
suddenly their soul would be left behind to wander the physical
plane—or, in other words, haunt the houses and countryside. Hiring a
sin-eater would guarantee that the departed soul leaves in peace, and
carries over to the other side. After reciting the speech, the sin-eater
would consume the bread and wine, and it was believed that in doing so
they took on the sins of the dead, therefore absolving them.
Unfortunately,
little is known about sin-eaters as far as specifics in location and
time period. The tradition is thought to have taken place through the
18th and 19th century in England and Scotland. The poor and hungry were
usually the ones who would volunteer for the act, as it came with a meal
and a little money. However, it did make them an outcast from society
and ostracized from the church. Sin-eaters would be treated as if
diseased or unclean, and were only called upon at the time of a person’s
death.
The last known sin-eater, Richard Munslow, died in 1906 and was buried in Ratlinghope, England.
The
strange and macabre tradition of sin-eating has had little recognition
in popular culture, but one episode of Night Gallery showcases the
funeral rite and the terrible psychology that can come along with it.
The episode, called, “The Sins of Our Fathers”, stars Barbara Steele as a
grieving wife, desperate to find a sin-eater to send her husband’s soul
to heaven. The 2003 film, The Order, stars Heath Ledger as a priest
researching the ghastly ritual.
A favorite artist of mine from
Herefordshire, England works under the name Sin Eater; you can see some
of his gorgeous artwork here.
For
some, hiring a sin-eater was a way to find peace after the death of a
loved one, for others it was a source of disgust and repulsion. Either
way, the tradition did not survive to see the 21st century, and so it
remains in history a strange and fascinating ritual.
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