Mark Green's Atheopaganism Blog

I am fascinated by the tradition of the sin-eater.

Found in several European cultures but primarily known from southern Wales and parts of England adjacent, the tradition is that after someone dies, their body is laid out with food atop its chest or on a sideboard next to it, with a small coin in a dish. A designated person, the sin-eater (who is poor and generally shunned by the local community) is called to enter, and comes to eat the food and take the money, “eating the sins” of the deceased person and leaving them purified to go to heaven.

There is something so Gothic, so folk-horror, so primal and creepy about all this that I am, of course, completely drawn to it.

Now that October has rolled around, I find myself thinking how I can adapt the concept into a Hallows ritual. So this post is a bit of a stream-of-consciousness walk-through of my working the idea into a ritual design.

Of course, I don’t believe in “sin”. Certainly not in “original sin”, but I also don’t believe we are subject to an “accounting of bad deeds” other than how we hold ourselves accountable or are held accountable by those around us. The Christian Overculture’s ideas about judgment and punishment are destructive, confining concepts, and when combined with a supposed power on the part of a priest class to “absolve” these sins, they comprise a formula for authoritarian and theocratic domination.

I don’t believe people carry “sin”, and thus there is nothing for a sin-eater to “eat”.

But I love the idea of the ritual itself, the idea of “absorbing” or gaining something from the departed in this solemn, intentional way through eating: taking into yourself a quality or qualities.

This might be best done with…a straw dummy? A stuffed pillowcase? A cloth laid out to represent the body? Should the food be atop the body or on a sideboard next to it? Details, details.

I think this ritual reminds me in some ways of the traditional ritual concept of a silent supper*: a meal in which a place is set for the dead and they are served the very best morsels of the dishes circulated, while the living eat in silence, contemplating the departed. The plate is then set outside for wildlife to eat (often interpreted as the dead themselves, or the fae).

So perhaps to begin with, the “body” may be laid in its “bed” while speaking the names of the Beloved Dead of the past year. Then, in silence, dishes containing the food items are laid out on and/or beside the body. Foods could be individual pieces like Jordan almonds or other candies, miniature cupcakes or muffins, etc. Sweet and savory should both be represented, and everything should be delicious. Participants then leave the room.

The sin-eater usually worked alone, since the community shunned them. This can be adapted so that each participant goes into the room with the body individually, contemplates the departed in silence for as long as they need to, selects a food item or two, and leaves for the next person to come in.

When each participant has had their solo trip into the deathbed room, all then re-enter the room to gather around the body, and the meanings/gifts of the foods are revealed, rather like a divination activity. These can be on a scroll sealed with wax or tied with a ribbon, which is opened and read out loud.

And what gifts would they represent? Wisdom, kindness, perspective, abundance, and joy come to mind: qualities we can draw from another without diminishing them. Use your imagination!

After the revelation of what the foods mean, participants eat their selected foods–or even trade them, if there is something they really need but didn’t select. Gratitude is spoken for these gifts and the others we enjoy. A blessing is spoken for the memory of the Beloved Dead. The ritual ends, followed by a feast in honor of the departed.

I think this could be an interesting and moving Hallows ritual. I hope to try it someday.

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*Traditionally “dumb”–meaning mute–supper, but that term is now considered offensive, so I prefer “silent”.