The definition of a person who consumes a ritual meal is a sin-eater. Cultural anthropologists and folklorists classify sin-eating as a form of ritual. Sin-eaters were individuals who, through a ritualistic meal, took on the sins of a deceased person, a practice steeped in complex cultural and religious beliefs.
Historical Context of Sin-Eating
Dying in a hospital is a new thing. As in, in the trajectory of modern history, it’s only been maybe fifty years since the majority of Americans have spent their final hours or days in a hospital (or hospice or nursing facility) instead of at home. But before that, when death was an intimate, in-home experience, daily life, including food and eating, was tied up in it. The concept of sin-eating dates back centuries, with variations found across different cultures. In England and Wales, the practice was prevalent from the 17th century until the early 20th century. Sin eaters were called in to relieve the deceased of any sins they might be carrying with them into death.
Sin-Eating in Europe
In England and Wales as far back as the 17th century, sin eaters were a universally reviled but necessary evil. Against the wishes of the church, sin eaters were called in to relieve the deceased of any sins they might be carrying with them into death. Bread placed on the chest of the laid-out body sucked up the sins of the dead, clearing them for passage to heaven. Once the sins had been captured, the sin eater sat on a stool facing the door and ate the bread, taking on the sins as his own, washing them down with a wooden bowl of ale.
A local legend in Shropshire, 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.
In Upper Bavaria sin-eating still survives: a corpse cake is placed on the breast of the dead and then eaten by the nearest relative, while in the Balkan peninsula a small bread image of the deceased is made and eaten by the survivors of the family. The Dutch doed-koecks or 'dead-cakes', marked with the initials of the deceased, introduced into America in the 17th century, were long given to the attendants at funerals in old New York. at funerals to hire poor people, who were to take upon them all the sins of the party deceased. One of them I remember lived in a Cottage on Rosse-high way.
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Sin-Eating in Other Cultures
In traditional Chinese funerals, sin eaters consume the iniquities of the dead which are transferred to dishes of dim sum by a religious authority. In Meso-American 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.
The Ritual of Sin-Eating
The sin-eating ritual typically involved a specific sequence of actions. Bread was placed on the chest of the deceased, believed to absorb their sins. The sin-eater would then consume this bread, along with ale or another beverage, symbolically taking on the sins of the dead.
John Bagford (c. 1650-1716) includes the following description of the sin-eating ritual in his Letter on Leland's Collectanea, i. 76. Notice was given to an old sire before the door of the house, when some of the family came out and furnished him with a cricket [low stool], on which he sat down facing the door; then they gave him a groat which he put in his pocket, a crust of bread which he ate, and a bowl of ale which he drank off at a draught.
A strange popish custom prevailed in Monmouthshire and other Western counties until recently. Many funerals were attended by a professed "sin-eater," hired to take upon him the sins of the deceased.
The Social Status of Sin-Eaters
There’s no doubt this was a soul-crushing profession. Sin eaters were often homeless wanderers that kept moving through the countryside so as not to be caught and executed by church officials. Abhorred by the superstitious villagers as a thing unclean, the sin-eater cut himself off from all social intercourse with his fellow creatures by reason of the life he had chosen; he lived as a rule in a remote place by himself, and those who chanced to meet him avoided him as they would a leper. In public they were social pariahs who were avoided at all costs. Even during the sin-eating ritual they were barely tolerated: when the sin eater’s meal was complete, mourners kicked, punched, and otherwise abused him right out the door to keep the vulgar contents of his belly from contaminating the house.
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Despite the vital role they played, sin-eaters were often ostracized and feared. They were seen as social outcasts, living on the fringes of society.
The End of an Era
Sin eating remained popular in England and Wales all the way until the turn of the 20th century when England’s last sin eater, Richard Munslow, died in Ratlinghope in 1906. A symbolic survival of [sin-eating] was witnessed as recently as 1893 at Market Drayton, Shropshire. After a preliminary service had been held over the coffin in the house, a woman poured out a glass of wine for each bearer and handed it to him across the coffin with a 'funeral biscuit.'
Modern Interpretations and Rituals
In the West, there’s really one ancient funerary food custom that continues today: consuming something sweet after a funeral. And it’s not just a custom in the West; eating candy, pastries or other sugary foods to purify the living after encountering death is pretty universal, dictated according to cultural norms. In the Middle East and North Africa, the treat of choice since the 5th century has been honey-sweetened halva. In Mongolia, mourners eat a lump of sugar dipped in milk. It’s in these tasty treats-not to mention the casseroles and smoked fish platters and excessive amounts of wine-that today’s Western mourners must take solace.
Food Rituals Today
We all have rituals pertaining to food, whether they impact how we prepare, present, or eat our meals. Most of the time, these habits are harmless. But sometimes, behaviors can intensify and point to something more serious. Eating rituals refer to any compulsory behaviors involving food, whether they involve food preparation, food consumption, or other situations involving food or eating. While they may sound concerning, food rituals can often have a benign origin, including:
- Tradition: These are passed-down behaviors involving food and eating. Clinking glasses when making a toast or blowing out birthday cake candles are examples of food-related traditions.
- Convention: This describes the way something is “usually” done. If you see turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie on a table, thanks to convention, you’ll likely be able to tell what holiday it is.
- Comfort: Patterns we’ve developed around food or eating can help us feel good. For example, ordering the same thing every time at your favorite coffee shop can be comforting.
Food Rituals and Eating Disorders
It’s very common for people to have individualized and sometimes even strange ways of eating. This doesn’t necessarily indicate the presence of an eating disorder. But there are some ways to parcel out the difference between quirky behavior and something that’s potentially concerning. Generally, food rituals describe something considered compulsory-or mandatory-behavior. But how far people are willing to go in order to keep up these actions marks the difference between what’s considered harmless and potentially harmful. When someone’s dedication to their rituals becomes so extreme that it impedes their ability to partake in a normal, healthy diet, it’s a good indication that something more significant may be at play. Someone experiencing a problem with ritualistic eating behavior may feel too embarrassed to eat in public, for example, and express undue fear of people teasing them about their habits. Some people may also feel acute distress if they can’t follow their rituals, which can lead to several other anxiety-related issues.
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Ritualistic Eating Behavior and Anorexia Nervosa
One of the major symptoms of anorexia nervosa (AN) is the fear of gaining weight. In their attempt to avoid this outcome, people who struggle with the condition may develop a number of ritualistic eating behaviors. Some of the most common include:
- Pacing: These behaviors are meant to slow the pace of eating. They include taking time to add several condiments, chewing food for a long time, and taking tiny bites over a prolonged period.
- Pretending: Someone with AN may mimic eating food without actually consuming it. This can look like cutting food into little pieces, pushing food around the plate, using specific cutlery, like a very small spoon, or leaving large portions of food uneaten.
- Researching: Looking through ingredient lists, keeping track of calorie content, or determining what food group each item comes from are examples of ritualistic researching behaviors.
- Managing: Behaviors concerning how someone eats their food can be ritualistic, including keeping foods from touching, eating foods in a specific order, choosing foods of just one temperature, or choosing to eat alone.
The Reasons Behind Food Rituals
Many people with eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, have elaborate rules and regulations that govern the way they eat. The causes are complex and varied.
Rituals Ease Stress
Anxiety plays a key role in many eating disorders, and many disordered eating behaviors develop as an attempt to control these unhelpful feelings. Since so much of the stress experienced by people with eating disorders is expressed as a deep fear of food or gaining weight, these individuals can often feel overwhelmed or out of control when they are near food or have to eat. In these cases, ritualistic eating can be used as a maladaptive coping mechanism. For example:
- Someone with AN may cut up their food into small pieces to control their portion sizes and make a tiny meal last longer.
- Counting calories can offer assurance that overeating will not occur.
- Being strict about mealtimes can help convince a person they won’t snack too much.
Co-Occurring Conditions Play a Role
Anxiety disorders aren’t the only common co-occurring conditions for people with anorexia nervosa. More than 40% of people experiencing an eating disorder were found to simultaneously struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in one formative study. OCD is characterized by intrusive, unhelpful thoughts that are only quieted by performing a ritual. Someone who continuously tells themselves that gaining too much weight will make them unlovable, for example, might satisfy that thought by participating in ritualistic eating.
Rituals Hide Disordered Eating
For many people, eating disorders are deeply personal, painful, and possibly embarrassing situations. So rather than speaking to a trusted loved one about their concerns, they may employ eating rituals to mask their condition. When it comes to anorexia nervosa, cutting food into small pieces can help the person camouflage the true amount of food they’re eating. Using child-sized spoons can also help it look like they’re eating just as much as everyone else.
Treatment for Food Rituals
Generally, when someone seeks treatment for an eating disorder, the program will focus on all aspects of their condition. However, some therapies are designed to target ritualized eating directly.
Exposure Therapy
Because many ritualistic eating patterns develop to cope with anxiety around eating and food, challenging those rituals can be a daunting undertaking. Exposure therapy can help someone face these difficult situations in a safe, controlled environment. The idea is that continued exposure to these uncomfortable scenarios, coupled with the therapy to help understand the situation, can eventually help someone overcome their fears and break their habits.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
For many people, eating rituals manifest as an attempt to deal with unhelpful thoughts. Cognitive behavioral therapy works to change those thoughts-and, therefore, help change unhelpful behavior. Among the many treatments used to address eating disorders, CBT has become one of the most widely recommended programs, thanks to numerous studies that show its potential for curbing ritualized eating behaviors, among other benefits.
Habit-Reversal Therapy
Some evidence shows that the same mechanics in the brain that allow us to form habits are “hijacked” in the case of eating disorders, reinforcing unhelpful behaviors until they’re deeply ingrained in the brain. As such, some doctors are now trying forms of therapy that have proven effective at stopping other unhelpful habits to help people struggling with eating disorders.
Cannibalism and Ritual: A Controversial Connection
Cannibalism is more than just a scary story to tell in the dark, or the worst-case scenario of becoming stranded in the woods. The cannibal is the Dangerous Other, a justification of the brutal persecution of many an inconvenient population over the course of history, be they Jews, Aztecs, Pagans, or even Christians.
Historical Misconceptions and Stereotypes
Historically, European peoples were unwilling to entertain the notion that the Eucharist could have anything in common with the barbaric practices of the uncivilized peoples of Africa and the New World. This is a perception steeped in long-held colonial beliefs and a sense of so-called European superiority. However, the refusal to associate the Eucharist with non-Christian practices persisted for a surprisingly long time in modern historiography. Indeed, it was not until the late 1970s that scholars began to toy with the idea of comparing the ideologies of the Eucharist to those famed Indigenous practices of ‘man-eating savages’ of the New World.
The Man-Eating Myth
In the Man-Eating Myth, published in 1979, W. Arens claims that cannibalism was never practiced in any culturally significant manner. Yes, it existed, and from time to time was used in extraordinary circumstances such as starvation or an over-zealousness during times of great strife. However, it was never as widespread as folklore, mythology, and first-hand accounts from New World settlers would have us believe.
Categorizing Cannibalism
In 1986, Peggy Reeves Sanday published her book Divine Hunger: Cannibalism as a Cultural System, in which she proposed three categories of cannibalism based on the different reasons which triggered them. Of these suggested reasons, the first is called the ‘psychogenetic hypothesis’. This hypothesis suggests that cannibalism is a method through which individuals can satisfy certain psychosexual needs. Sanday’s second category of cannibalism is motivated by the ‘material hypothesis’, which suggests that historically, human flesh had been consumed strictly for its nutritional value, rather than having any religious or cultural significance. Finally, the ‘hermeneutical hypothesis’ simply states that the act of cannibalism is a part of being human, as natural as sex or death.
More broadly, scholars have also defined cannibalism by who is being eaten, rather than why they are being eaten. In this case, cannibalism is categorized as either endo-cannibalism-the eating of a member of one`s tribe in a gesture to honour-or exo-cannibalism-an act of violence against an outsider. Cannibalism can be defined further to differentiate between religiously influenced rituals and those that are more practically motivated. It is only with this categorization that we can firmly place the Eucharist within the framework of cannibalism, whereas the categories previously mentioned tend to focus on strictly on literal, unambiguous examples. Therefore, this method divides cannibalism into anthropophagy and theophagy. Anthropophagy is the eating of humans by other humans. Theophagy defines the sacramental eating of a god in the form of a symbol for the purpose of communion with or receiving power from that god.