Soul cake

Not to be confused with Soul food.

Soul cakes eaten during Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day

A soul cake, also known as a soulmass-cake, is a small round cake with sweet spices, which resembles a shortbread biscuit. It is traditionally made for Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day to commemorate the dead in many Christian traditions.[1][2] The cakes, often simply referred to as souls, are given out to soulers (mainly consisting of children and the poor) who go from door to door during the days of Allhallowtide, singing and saying prayers "for the souls of the givers and their friends",[1] especially the souls of deceased relatives, thought to be in the intermediate state between Earth and Heaven.[3] In England, the practice dates to the medieval period,[4] and it continued there until the 1930s by both Protestant and Catholic Christians.[5][6][1] In Sheffield and Cheshire, the custom has continued into modern times. In Lancashire and in the North-east of England, soul cakes were known as Harcakes, a kind of thin parkin.[7]

The practice of giving and eating soul cakes continues in some countries today, such as Portugal (where it is known as Pão-por-Deus and occurs on All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day), as well as the Philippines (where it is known as Pangangaluwa and occurs on All Hallows' Eve).[8][9] In other countries, souling is seen as the origin of the practice of trick-or-treating.[10] In the United States, some churches, during Allhallowtide, have invited people to come receive sweets from them and have offered to "pray for the souls of their friends, relatives or even pets" as they do so.[11] Among Catholics and Lutherans, some parishioners have their soul cakes blessed by a priest before being distributed; in exchange, the children promise to pray for the souls of the deceased relatives of the giver during the month of November, which is a month dedicated especially to praying for the Holy Souls. Any leftover soul cakes are shared among the distributing family or given to the poor.

  1. ^ a b c Mary Mapes Dodge, ed. (1883). St. Nicholas Magazine. Scribner & Company. p. 93. Soul-cakes," which the rich gave to the poor at the Halloween season, in return for which the recipients prayed for the souls of the givers and their friends. And this custom became so favored in popular esteem that, for a long time, it was a regular observance in the country towns of England for small companies to go from parish to parish, begging soul-cakes by singing under the windows some such verse as this: "Soul, souls, for a soul-cake; Pray you good mistress, a soul-cake!
  2. ^ Simoons, Frederick J. (1998). Plants of Life, Plants of Death. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-15904-3.
  3. ^ Cleene, Marcel. Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe. Man & Culture, 2002. p. 108. Quote: "Soul cakes were small cakes baked as food for the deceased or offered for the salvation of their souls. They were therefore offered at funerals and feasts of the dead, laid on graves, or given to the poor as representatives of the dead. The baking of these soul cakes is a universal practice".
  4. ^ Carmichael, Sherman (2012). Legends and Lore of South Carolina. The History Press. p. 70. ISBN 9781609497484. The practice of dressing up and going door to door for treats dates back to the middle ages and the practice of souling.
  5. ^ Hood, Karen Jean Matsko (1 January 2014). Halloween Delights. Whispering Pine Press International. p. 33. ISBN 9781594341816. The tradition continued in some areas of northern England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door "souling" for cakes or money by singing a song.
  6. ^ Mosteller, Angie (2 July 2014). Christian Origins of Halloween. Rose Publishing. ISBN 978-1596365353. In Protestant regions souling remained an important occasion for soliciting food and money from rich neighbors in preparation for the coming cold and dark months.
  7. ^ Ditchfield, Peter Hampson (1896). Old English Customs Extant at the Present Time. pp. 165–166.
  8. ^ Paul Fieldhouse (17 April 2017). Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions. ABC-CLIO. p. 256.
  9. ^ Por Joaquim de Santa Rosa de Viterbó (1865). Elucidario Das Palavras, Termos E Frases, que Em Portugal Antigamente Se Usaram. A. J. Fernandes Lopes. p. 265. dia dos fieis defuntos.
  10. ^ Kullstroem, Chris (27 May 2009). Making a Monstrous Halloween: Themed Parties, Activities and Events. McFarland. p. 85. ISBN 9780786444380. The Halloween tradition of trick-or-treating started as a European Christian custom called souling.
  11. ^ Nevares, Diana (29 October 2014). "Is Halloween a Christian event?". St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. This Allhallowtide at St. Andrew's, we are experimenting with a reverse of the "souling" tradition. As children in the Gregory Gardens neighborhood come to St. Andrew's collect candy, we are offering to pray for the souls of their friends, relatives or even pets. On Sunday, when we celebrate All Saint's Day we will include these prayers and remembrances along with the names of the saints who have passed away in the last year.