To the Lord who's fire I carry within; who makes me courageous enough to be a disappointment for the world but be in a pedestal from where only the mighty Sky eyes me face to face and boasts me to the clouds. Where my dreams are a success and my bed of death is rid of regrets. To Lord Ares, who gives me courageous to be relentless and fearless to pursue my dreams and decisions even if it's a disappointment for this outward world.
To Lord Ares -
God of war, god of battle, god of strength. Your humble followers, your devotees approach you, bowing at your feet, Lord of Slaughter. We worship you. We ask for your protection of veterans, for those who have given up their lives and bodies for others; and those who are turned away by the countries they once served. We ask you to defend the innocent, the helpless. We ask for an end to the ceaseless violence. We ask for protection.
Khaire, Lord Ares, protector of women. Khaire, Lord Ares, son of Zeus and Hera. Khaire, Lord Ares, husband to beautiful Aphrodite. I ask your protection. I ask you to remember your devotee.
A Soul! A Soul! A Soul Cake!: Traditional Spirit Offerings for Allhallowtide, Samhain, & Halloween
by Keziah Zibelmann | Support on Ko-Fi
It’s that time of year again. In the northern hemisphere, Summer is slowly slipping by, making way for darkening days, longer nights, and the incoming of autumn. For some practitioners of witchcraft and folk magical traditions, preparations for Samhain, Halloween, and Allhallowtide are already underway. With each passing year, more and more witches are incorporating folk customs in their magical works and practices, and bringing traditional ways into one’s holiday commemorations is a great way to do this. There are many traditional and folk customs one can partake in for Samhain, Allhallowtide, and Halloween, and one of these practices is that of the soul cake — small cakes (though more like cookies/biscuits or crackers than cakes) that are usually spiced and/or slightly sweetened.
The origins of soul cakes — also called souls, soul-mass cakes, somas cakes (in Stafford), saumas loaves (in Yorkshire) — are hotly debated. Some sources say they hail from pre-Christian practices as offerings to the souls of the dead, while other sources cite medieval Christian customs as the true roots. The latter narrative is the more widely accepted of the two. Whatever their origin, the baking of soul cakes as an offering or gift to the those of the Otherworld — be they the souls of those passed on, spirits, sìth, or the like — is still practiced in some regions around the world today and is making a comeback among in the magical community amongst practitioners of folk magics of Britain, those who have ancestral ties to those regions, and amongst practitioners of folk Christianity, particularly European folk Christian customs.
In this post, we’ll explore a few different versions of soul cakes, sharing recipes and exploring their different purposes. Let’s dig in!
THE PURPOSES OF SOUL CAKES
These spiced cakes, breads, or cookies are prepared as gifts for soulers at Allhallowtide (the days of All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day) and as part of the Halloween, Samhain, and Yuletide celebrations and observances of many.
As offerings to the deceased:
Soul cakes can be prepared and placed on ancestral altars or graves as an offering to the dead. In Wales, they're also left outside the home or on the hearth as offerings to the spirits of loved ones and family members who've passed.
In return for prayers:
The Christian custom of souling was practiced (and still is in some areas) during Allhallowtide (most commonly on All Saints’ Day or Hallowmass) and Christmastide. Soulers, usually gathered in groups to walk the streets of their neighborhoods, going from door to door and offering prayers for the household or for the souls of the deceased family members and friends of the household members, and singing songs, playing instruments, and chanting. In return, they were given soul cakes from each house they visited.
As gifts for poorer community members:
Traditionally, souling parties were usually made up of children and those within the community that were not as financially secure. Soul cakes were not only given to those in need who came souling, but they were also commonly donated to the poor or to churches who could oversee the distributing of soul cakes to those in need. In some Christian traditions, the cakes are blessed by a priest before being distributed.
In exchange for protection:
In some communities in the United States, particularly Southern communities with ancestral ties to Britain, cakes and cookies, including regional treats that share similarities with British soul cakes and likely find their origin in the custom of soul cakes, are prepared to be given as an offering to spirits during the days surrounding Samhain, Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Such treats were left on windowsills, porches, and stoops (and usually were set out along with a glass or bottle of some alcoholic beverage, typically wine or whiskey) as gifts for the wandering spirits in hopes that they’ll then be deterred from entering the household.
Likewise, such treats can be prepared as offerings to land spirits, faeries, the little people, and so on. It was believed by some that doing this would bring luck to the household as well as protect the home and those within from any malevolent spirits on the roam.
SOUL CAKES AROUND THE WORLD
Souling, believed by many to have been a predecessor of modern-day trick-or-treating, is a tradition that can be found amongst Christians in various regions around the world, and the spiced soul cakes (typically filled with allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) of British custom aren't the only treat on offer.
In the Philippines (more commonly within rural communities), souling is called pangangaluwa and takes place on Halloween. Instead of the cookie/biscuit like soul cakes of the Brits, kakanin — what's typically described as a traditional Filipino rice cake — is customarily given to soulers. Aside from kakanin, it's also traditional to serve dishes or treats made from purple yams and sweet potatoes.
In Portugal, Pão-de-Deus is both the name of the souling tradition practiced throughout the country and the name of the region's soul-mass cakes. Pão-de-Deus is described as a Portuguese sweet bread or bun, often (though not always) with grated coconut included in the recipe. Souling takes place in Portugal on All Saints' Day, a custom mostly enjoyed by children and young teens. Aside from Pão-de-Deus, braos — anise spiced cakes — are given to soulers, as are candies and even money in some areas.
In Wales, the custom of souling was called hel solod and hel bwyd cennady meirw, which is said to mean the act of "collecting food of the messenger of the dead," and took place on All Souls' Eve. Souling traditions of Wales involved church services revolving around prayers for the souls of the dead, the donating of candles to churches, the preparation of pice rhanna soul cakes, and the leaving out of food on the stoop or on the hearth as an offering to the spirits of deceased relatives who were believed to come to one's home in the night. Pice rhanna were distributed to soulers, though some regions of Wales more commonly handed out bread and cheese or souly cakes, which were small spiced buns, often containing dried fruit or nuts.
RECIPES
Here are a pair of soul cake recipes (following a couple of the British traditions) that I've tried my hand at, and I've included a variety of other soul cake recipes below.
Oatcake Version:
Oatcakes were given out as soul cakes in some areas of Scotland, and in Lancashire and Herefordshire in England. The oatcakes are flat and more like a cookie or thick cracker than a ‘cake’. Adding more water can make the oatcakes a little softer or chewier, and baking them a bit longer makes them drier and snappier.
Typically, oatcakes aren’t sweetened or spiced, but it’s usually said that those made as Soul Cakes/Somass Cakes were spiced at least a bit and sometimes slightly sweet. We’ll be sticking with the spiced, mildly sweetened recipe here. This recipe makes about 12 small cakes.
Ingredients:
3 ½ cups rolled oats
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ cup melted butter/vegan butter/margarine or oil
at least ½ cup of warm water (you can add more if your Soul Cake dough is a too dry for your liking)
What else you’ll need:
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Medium/Large bowl
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° (F). Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Whilst the oven is preheating, mix your dry ingredients (oats, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg) together in a bowl.
Press softened butter into the bowl, incorporating with the dry ingredients.
Add water bit-by-bit, mixing as you go, until a dough is formed. Remember, you can add more water for a chewier cake or if you feel your dough is too dry. Sometimes, overworking the dough or letting it sit for too long can dry the dough out, which produces a crumbly texture that flakes and isn’t as easy to work with. If this happens, you’ll want to add more water. We don’t want our dough too dry.
Sprinkle a dusting of flour on your table or countertop. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the surface as you work. Now, take your dough from the bowl and place it on your worksurface. Press the dough out, flattening it and spreading it out across the tabletop, until you’ve achieved the desired thickness of your dough. You’ll want the dough to be spread evenly. This will ensure the cakes bake evenly and all within the same amount of time.
Dust the rim of a cup, glass, or circular cookie cutter in flour. Use your chosen cutter to cut circles into your dough and place each cake you’ve cut onto your parchment-covered baking sheet.
Folk Christian customs call for carving the shape of a cross into the top of your Soul Cakes, so now is the time to do so if you like.
Bake. Thinner cakes typically take anywhere from 16-20 minutes, while thicker cakes can take 20-30 minutes. Check your cakes throughout. You can turn them over, if you like, about halfway through, ensuring an evenly golden Soul Cake on both sides. Bake until at least lightly golden.
Cool before eating.
What else can be added to these oatcake Soul Cakes? You can add seeds, dried fruits, and ground nuts to your dough. Dried fruits were a common addition to many variations of Soul Cakes.
Cookie Version:
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cloves
¼ cup of dried fruit – i.e. raisins, currants, craisins, etc.
zest of a lemon or orange (optional)
½ cup softened butter/vegan butter/margarine
3 tbs. oil
3 tbs. water (can add more later if dough is too dry for your liking)
2 tbs. milk or vegan milk alternative (I like to use almond or cashew milk for these cookies)
What else you’ll need:
Baking sheet
Parchment paper
Bowl
Directions:
Preheat over to 360° (F). Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix softened butter and sugar together in bowl until a fluffy concoction is formed.
Add the oil and water, incorporating well.
Mix in the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Add your milk/vegan alternative and mix. Now, your dough will start to be formed.
Once a firm dough is starting to come together, add your (optional) lemon or orange zest and your dried fruit to the mix and stir. I recommend using your hands to incorporate the fruit into the dough, as this makes it easier (at least for me) to get an even distribution of fruit throughout.
Lightly sprinkle a tabletop or countertop with flour and spread the dough onto the floured surface. Roll or press your dough out to desired thickness.
Flour the rim of a cup, glass, or cookie cutter, and use your prepared cutter to carve out your round cookies. Place the cookies on the parchment papered baking sheet.
As with the oatcake version, now is the time to form the cross in the top of these cookies if you’re following a Folk Christian tradition. You can also add more dried fruit to the tops of the cookies in the shape of a cross.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden and cooked throughout.
Other recipes for Soul Cakes
Soul Cake Recipes for Samhain & Halloween - Sugar Maple Farm
Easy Traditional Soul Cakes - Fuss Free Flavours
Soul Cakes: the Original Halloween Treat - Downton Abbey Cooks
Kakanin:
Top 12 Best Filipino Kakanin Recipes - Panlasang Pinoy Recipes
7 Traditional Filipino Kakanin That Will Melt in Your Mouth - Chef Nip
Pão-de-Deus:
Pão-de-Deus: Traditional Portuguese Recipe - 196 Flavors
God's Bread (Pão-de-Deus) - Vegan Foundry
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
'Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe' - Cleene, Marcel
'Fairs, Feasts and Frolics: Customs and Traditions in Yorkshire' - Smith, Julia
'Folklore of Wales' - Ross, Anne
'the Folklore, Superstitions and Legends of Birmingham and the West Midlands' - Brown, Richard
'Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions' - Fieldhouse, Paul
'Kakanin: The Rich History of the Popular Filipino Rice Cakes, Explained' - Mahino, September Grace
'Lancashire Folklore: Illustrative of the Superstitious Beliefs and Practices, Local Customs and Usages of the People of the County Palatine' - Harland, John; Wilkinson, T.T.
'Legends and Lore of South Carolina' - Carmichael, Sherman
'North-Country Folklore in Lancashire, Cumbria and the Pennine Dales' - Lofthouse, Jessica
'Old English Customs Extant at the Present Time' - Ditchfield, Peter Hampson
'Soul-Cakes' - Dodge, Mary Mapes in St. Nicholas Magazina (1883 ed.)
'Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain' - Hutton, Ronald
'Pangangaluluwa: Reviving A Dying Custom' - Mallari, Delfin Jr.
As it's been a year I can't recall just how many cookies this made other than it made A LOT. So if you're making these for yourself, I'd recommend maybe freezing half of the dough for later OR cutting the recipe in half.
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