In his 2009 live performance of A Winter’s Night at Durham Cathedral, Sting includes a unique version of an old English begging song that originated in the tradition of baking “soul cakes” for the dead. As is the case in many other folk rituals of the world, for example in Tibet, it was customary in Celtic and rural Christian England to feed the deceased who might still be roving about the Earth hungry and in search of food.
The cakes were often filled with spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, as well as raisins, and were traditionally set out with glasses of wine on All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day. Children, but also the poor and homeless would then go around town finding those gifts, or asking for a soul cake—a custom that most likely constitutes the origin of today’s Halloween practice.
The song is also associated with the time of Christmas, when we give to the poor and to the whole of the human family.
This Christmas, when we give, let us also think about how to nourish each other’s souls so that none will roam the world alone and in search of spiritual food.
Related:
A Winter’s Night – Sting live at Durham Cathedral (YouTube)
Sting (Homepage)
Soul Cake (Wikipedia)
Soul Cakes and Souling: A Musical Tradition from the Past (HubPages)
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