#sin eating

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.

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!

• 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.

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.

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.

Final Rites

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.