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A sin-eater is a person who, through a ritual meal, takes on the sins of a household, often because of a recent death, thus absolving the soul and allowing that person to rest in peace. In anthropology and the study of folklore, sin-eating is classified as apotropaic ritual〔Hilda Ellis Davidson (1993) (''Boundaries & Thresholds'' ) p.85 quotation: 〕 and a form of religious magic. ==History== Although the figure of the sin-eater has had various references in modern culture, the questions of how common the practice was, what regions of the world in which it was most common, and what the interactions between sin-eaters, common people, and religious authorities were, remain largely unstudied and in the realm of folklore. Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of earth, motherhood and fertility, had a redemptive role in the religious practices of the Meso-American civilization. At the end of an individual's life, he was allowed to confess his misdeeds to this deity, and according to legend she would cleanse his soul by "eating its filth". The biblical Jesus of Nazareth has been interpreted as a universal archetype for sin-eaters, offering his life to atone or purify all of humanity of their sins. John Bagford, (ca.1650–1716) includes the following description of the sin-eating ritual in his ''letter on Leland’s Collectanea'', i. 76. (as cited in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898) 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: The 1926 book ''Funeral Customs'' by Bertram S. Puckle mentions the sin-eater: Howlett mentions sin-eating as an old custom in Hereford, and thus describes the practice: "The corpse being taken out of the house, and laid on a bier, a loaf of bread was given to the sin-eater over the corpse, also a maga-bowl of maple, full of beer. These consumed, a fee of sixpence was given him for the consideration of his taking upon himself the sins of the deceased, who, thus freed, would not walk after death." The 1911 ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' states in its article on "sin eaters": 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sin-eater」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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