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sin-eater
Sign in to saveA sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the soul of the person.
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- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
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5 sectionsContents
- Attestations
- History
- In Wales and the Welsh Marches
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A sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the soul of the person.
Cultural anthropologists and folklorists classify sin-eating as a form of ritual. It is most commonly associated with Scotland, Ireland, Wales, English counties bordering Wales, and Welsh culture.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “sin-eater” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.