Gypsies

Gypsies

Gipsies:

Gypsies

A nomadic population who originated in northern India. A mass exodus began about the middle of the ninth century, as large groups of people departed their homeland and moved westward. They passed through Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Persia, eventually reaching the Caspian Sea north of the Persian Gulf. There the large group split into two distinct, smaller groups, one moving northward through Turkey and, by way of Byzantium, into Bulgaria; the other, smaller band, going southward, sweeping down through Jordan into Egypt. By 1348 the nomads were in Serbia, with others heading north, through Walachia and into Moldavia. By roughly 1400, they were so widespread that they could be found as far away as Peloponnesus and Corfu in the south, as well as in Bosnia, Transylvania, Hungary, and Bohemia. By the early 1400s, they had moved into Central Europe, carrying on into Germany by 1417 and England and Wales by 1430.

As the nomads spread across Europe and other areas, their origins were unclear. With their dark, swarthy skin and colorful dress, it was suggested that perhaps they were descendants of the ancient Egyptians. When that idea caught on, they were referred to as "Egyptians," which was sometimes shortened to "'Gyptians" and, eventually, to "Gypsies."

Gypsies (more correctly, Romanies) were, in many places, equated with witch- es and sorcerers. They were accused of engaging in black magic and dealing with the devil, and in many countries they were banished. Tenaciously they held off their oppressors. When people treated them as mystics, they were quick to play that role. They carried tarot cards and read palms and told fortunes. While doing so, they kept their own pagan beliefs hidden, outwardly adopting the main religion in whichever region they happened to be in.

Charles Godfrey Leland says that Gypsies had a goddess named Gana, whom he identifies with Diana. Although it is difficult to label the Gypsies' actual religion, there are many similarities between their practices and those of Witches. For example, both work magic, do spells, and perform divination, and both prefer to worship a female rather than a male. The Gypsies "Saint" is known as "Black Sara," or "Sara la Kâli," who differs in many respects from the Saint Sara of the Roman Catholic Church. La Kâli means both "the black woman" and "the Gypsy woman" in Romanes, which is the Gypsies' language.

Gypsies believe in vampires, ghosts, and spirits of the dead. The Kalderash Gypsies say that God is not the creator of the world. Rather, the world has always existed as the mother of all humans. They refer to the earth as De Develeski, "The Divine Mother."

Two modern-day gypsy women and a young girl walk through town in Sibiu, Romania. AP/WideWorld Photos.

Gypsies

The Gypsies are a nomadic population who originated in northern India. A mass exodus from that area began about the middle of the ninth century and large groups of people departed their homeland and moved westward. They were driven out of their homeland by successive armies of invaders: Greeks, Scythians, Kushites, Huns, and Mohammedans. The Gypsies passed through Pakistan, Afghanistan and Persia, eventually reaching the Caspian Sea, north of the Persian Gulf. There they split into two distinct groups, one going northward through Turkey and into Bulgaria by way of Byzantium; the other, smaller band, going southward, sweeping down through Jordan into Egypt. By 1348, the nomads were in Serbia with others heading north through Walachia and into Moldavia. By the turn of that century they were to be found as widely spread as in Peloponnesus and Corfu; Bosnia, Transylvania, Hungary, Bohemia; and, in the early 1400s, in Central Europe. They were in Germany by 1417 and England and Wales by 1430.

As they spread across Europe and other areas, the local populations wondered where these travelers had come from. With their dark, swarthy skin and colorful dress, many people believed that they were descendants of the ancient Egyptians. The idea caught on and they were referred to as “Egyptians.” This was sometimes shortened to “‘Gyptians,” and eventually to “Gypsies.” The Gypsies themselves played up to this idea, claiming to have originated in “Little Egypt.”

Gypsies—more correctly Romanies, or Roma—were in many places equated with witches and sorcerers. They were wrongly accused of engaging in black magic and dealing with the devil. In many countries they were banished, but they managed to hang on tenaciously. They did whatever they could in order to survive. Along with making metal and wooden objects, weaving baskets, and mending pots and pans, they trained animals to dance and to do tricks. They also told fortunes. Everybody was interested in trying to learn what the future held, so fortune-telling was a big attraction. Not being great mathematicians, the Gypsies seldom got into astrology or numerology, but they did do a great deal of palmistry, tea leaf reading, and various forms of card reading. People treated them as mystics and mediums and the Gypsies filled that role. They carried tarot cards and they worked magic, did spells, held séances, and performed divination. The Gypsies were probably most responsible for the spread of tarot cards across Europe, because they traveled and took the cards with them wherever they went.

Charles Godfrey Leland (1824–1903), the scholar and litterateur who was founder and first president of the Gypsy Lore Society, wrote, “Next to the Bible and the Almanac there is no one book which is so much disseminated among the millions, as the fortune-teller in some form or other … Gypsies have done more than any other race or class on the face of the earth to disseminate among the multitude a belief in fortune-telling, magical or sympathetic cures, amulets and such small sorceries as now find a place in Folklore … By the exercise of their wits they have actually acquired a certain art of reading character or even thought, which, however it be allied to deceit, is in a way true in itself, and well worth careful examination.”

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Gypsies