(1/9) THREAD on "SIN-EATING" 👇
In the 19th century, it was customary during a funeral to provide biscuits for mourners to take away. They were often wrapped and sealed in black wax. Here you see an example of a funeral biscuit wrapper from 1828.
Photo: @Pitt_Rivers
In the 19th century, it was customary during a funeral to provide biscuits for mourners to take away. They were often wrapped and sealed in black wax. Here you see an example of a funeral biscuit wrapper from 1828.
Photo: @Pitt_Rivers
(2/9) This tradition was probably derived from the earlier practice of "sin-eating," whereby the sins of the deceased were transferred to a person who, for a fee, consumed food & drink handed to him over the coffin.
(3/9) Mourners would pay the village sin-eater to rid their departed loved ones from all the sins they had accumulated during their lives. The sin-eater would then perform a ritual which would allow the dead to enter Heaven unburdened.
(4/9) One account: "The corpse being taken out of the house, and laid on a bier, a loaf of bread was given to the sin-eater over the corpse, also a maga-bowl of maple, full of beer. These consumed, a fee of sixpence was given for...taking upon himself the sins of the deceased.”
(5/9) The sin-eater was shunned. Villagers feared the type of man who was willing to “pawn his own soul” for little worldly gain. People believed that the sin-eater would become more & more corrupt with each ritual, as he took on the sins of others.
Image: Wellcome Collection
Image: Wellcome Collection
(6/9) The ritual soon became associated with dark magic as it bestowed human powers over spiritual matters. For this reason, sin-eaters were seen to be operating outside the bounds of Christianity, and were often condemned by the Church.
Illustration: Adam Waito
Illustration: Adam Waito
(7/9) The last recorded sin-eater was a man named Richard Munslow, who died in 1906 in Ratlinghope, Shropshire. He offered to absorb the sins of the recently departed purely out of kindness and love for his fellow villagers.
(8/9) In 2010, the citizens of Ratlinghope raised over a thousand pounds to restore Munslow’s grave, which had fallen into disrepair over the last century. A final act of kindness for a man who had given so much of himself to others.
Photo: Atlas Obscura
Photo: Atlas Obscura
(9/9) Speaking of funeral biscuits, how delightful is this treat from @lifedeathwhat in celebration of their new book WE ALL KNOW HOW THIS ENDS - out today! This is an important & thought-provoking book about death & dying, and I can't recommend it enough: amazon.co.uk/Life-Death-Wha…
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