#sin eating

[chateau-technicolor]

Folklore in Fargo

Spoilers ahead, Sailor.

One of the things I loved about Fargo this season so far, is the incorporation of Folklore, suberstition and God. We meet Ole Munch (Sam Spurrell) in the first episode. He seems to be a regular hitman of sorts at first, who is set to kidnap the main character Dorothy (Juno Temple) He comes across a bit excentric and the way he talks and dresses seem very anachronistic. We also quickly learn, that Dot is not the regular homemaker and loving mum, she seems to be. Munch and his handyman set out to kidnap Dot, but fail miserably, because Dot is setting up traps and generally fights back, like a tiger. Munch's handyman gets killed in the process. We also get to know Roy Tillman (John Hamm) who was the one who sent Munch on his mission. We're not sure yet why the right wing cowboy goes through so much trouble just to kidnap the young mother. Because Munch failed the task, Roy is refusing to pay him, which sets off a rather bleak storyline in which Roy and his son Gator (Joe Keery, my love) try to put an end to Munch and vice versa. The most intriguing thing about Ole Munch is the ritual he performs at the Tillman Farm. He kills a goat, covers himself in it's blood and leaves a message for Roy over his Daughter's beds. The whole shebang is very occult and seems heathen. And then there is also the flashback to Wales in 1522. See now, this is where it gets really weird. And where I had to start googling some stuff.

In the flashback scene, we see a character, dressed in what seems to be clothes of the lower class, entering a house full of upper class people who are in mourning, dressed in black and weaping. We have a funeral on our hands here. The poor person looks like Ole Munch. Is it him? Is it an ancestor of his? We dont know! On the belly of the deseaced man, which is laid out in the house, a plate with food is situated. When Munch enters the house, there is a tense energy in the room. Munch walks up to the dead body and consumes the food offered on the plate in an almos animalistic fashion. The people in the room gasp, some of them disgusted, some of them afraid. Or both. Before Munch leaves, he gets two silver coins. Which must have been a lot of money back in the day, I did not research that. But we clearly witnessed some sort of ritual happening. It turns out, sin eating was a practice rich people took part of in Wales, Ireland and England in the 1600s. A willing poor person was invited to literally eat the sins of the deseaced person, so they could be welcomed at the pearly gates, with a clean record. All the sins are transferred, to the person who ate the food. A grewsome fate for people at the time, but hey, a mans gotta eat. The world is bleak, so I don't go with the rational reason in fiction, ever. I like to think that Ole Munch ate so many sins, that he became a spirit, that can not die, who is forced to wander around the earth forever, and for some reason chose america. His very beautifully written monologues would suggest that. They almost sound shakespearian.

But how does this play into the bigger theme of Fargo S5? Well, if you think about it, the whole season is about unpaid depts and consequences. Dot ran away from Roy and the farm, because of the ongoing domestic violence Roy inflicts on her. In Roy's book, she owes him, because she made a pledge to him, when they got married. Even though it's very clear, that Dot wasn't so much older than his own son Gator, when the vows were exchanged. Ole Munch sees a debt not paid, because he didn't receive paymant for "eating the sin" of kidnapping Dot. Dot's mother in law, who is a very rich lady played by the brilliant Jennifer Jason Leigh points out "What is the point of being a billionaire, if you can't get someone killed.", while on the phone with an ex-president, apparently Bill Clinton, if I remember right. The show tries to say, we never got over the sin eating, because with money and power, you can pay your way out of any circumstance, be it kidnapping or murder. There is always going to be someone who needs the money more than their soul. And there is always going to be someone who takes advantage of that.

Roy Tillman, quotes the bible a lot. He thinks of himself as a right and just man, as a leader, even though he likes to bend the law to fit his own agenda. He does not give a flying fuck about the law of the land as it is "dictated by washington" and funds a right wing militia with taxpayer money, to actually kill democracy from within. He is the law of the land. These scenes sent shivers down my spine and reminded me vividly of January 8th.

Anyway. All of the storylines in this show are so amazing and worth writing about. Go watch it, you won't regret a second.

[pieandhotdogs]

Lots of talk about oath-breakers lately, you wanna know what breaking an oath actually does to you? Spiritual and magical and mystical talk aside. Breaking an oath makes you feel less worthy. When you break a promise to someone, whether that’s to your loved ones, your God, or yourself… you carry that with you. When you break someone’s confidence, you will always remember that you cannot be trusted. You lose faith in yourself. It haunts you. I know this to be true. Personally. It damages the image you have of yourself, until you feel there’s no point in trying to fix it. Until it’s impossible to forgive yourself. Until you believe you have become what you deserve.

[thedigitalhuman]

Corpse cakes and sin-eating, Dining with the Dead, The Food Chain - BBC World Service

The old English traditions where food had the power to absorb sins

More about sin eating and death rituals with Helen Frisby - and to be honest if you’re not listening to BBC World Service you’re missing out on some absolute gems!

Digital Human, Series 12, Episode 1 : Sin-Eaters

[pieandhotdogs]

• When entering a graveyard or cemetery, knock three times on the post to the right of the gate to announce yourself.

• Leave an offering of tobacco or alcohol (rum) at the entrance.

• Tend the graves of the yard, use a bucket of water to wash headstones, clean up any weeds or trash around the grave.

• Leave honey and sugar water at the graves to attract ants and flies, who remove the sorrow from the dead as they consume the sweet offerings.

• Leave coins on graves to pay for passage elsewhere.

• When visiting a graveyard at night, do not speak, and do not look behind you until you have made it back to the gates.

• Exit the yard backwards to prevent spirits from following you home.

[pieandhotdogs]

The Devil’s Triumph and the Resurrected Consort

This weekend I celebrate the Easter feast in familiar, yet inverted ways. This year, Venus rises in the morning briefly before the sunrise, and that comes with a slew of symbolism.

Tonight, Good Friday, I celebrate what I’ve dubbed the Devil’s Triumph with a sense of debauchery. Christ has been buried and Death rejoices in the demise of a God. This culminates with the rise of the Morning Star, seen as Lucifer making a brief escape from the chains of Hell. His mad dash for the Heavens is cut short however, by the rising light of the Sun, banishing him from sight.

Saturday will recognize the Harrowing of Hell, the release of purified souls from their cages, allowing them to pass in peace. A busy day for a sin-eater. I’ll spend part of the day at the cemetery and petitioning for the souls of the damned.

Sunday, Venus will play Her part again, this time as the Queen of Heaven, Who descended into the earth to retrieve Her slain consort (the Sun). She is the Magdalen and Aphrodite-Cybele leading the Nazarene and Adonis/Attis from the Underworld. My plans are to feast merrily and celebrate the return of the Green God.

A blessed weekend to you all.

[pieandhotdogs]

The Way of the Rose Novena Day 39

Our Lady speaks

The Land of the Dead is many lands. Lands in every direction. Lands as far as the eye can see, the ear can hear, and the feet may travel. Lands above and below. Lands to the north, lands to the south. Lands to the east and the west and all points in between.

Each death is a land unto itself, and all of these lands lie together—touching, close, and in intimate communion and conversation. The messages that travel between them require no time. What one knows, they all know. What one feels, they all feel. What one does, they all do. The Dead are of one body, one spirit, one mind. Nothing is hidden from them, and nothing is impossible for them. No one is beyond their reach. No one can fathom them or understand them. No one can harm them. They are beyond all injury.

But everyone can speak to them, feel their presence, and receive their guidance. This is really all you need to know.

People speculate about religion before religion, what their earliest ancestors believed. I tell you it is this: the Land of the Dead is many lands, but those lands all lie together. They belong to one body, one soul, one spirit, and one mind.

[pieandhotdogs]

Final Rites

(AI generated artworks)

[pieandhotdogs]

What deities/spirits do you involve in your practice as a sin-eater?

Unsurprisingly, I reference the Earth Mother and the Heavenly Father in my prayers. I also pay respects to a variety of graveyard spirits who are specific to the cemetery I visit, and who act as guardians of the dead. I will usually leave these spirits an offering of tobacco upon entering the yard itself.

If there is a crossroads within the cemetery, I will sometimes approach the Arsonist in dealing with more tenacious ghosts. On the new moon, I honor Hekate by leaving a meal for the Restless Dead. Before I moved, I used to leave this meal in the large Catholic cemetery that I frequented.

I also like to choose a particularly worn headstone in the graveyard and tend to it, cultivating a friendship with the dead who still reside in the yard so that they will bring me their troubles more willingly.