"Prohasar man opre pirende-sa muro djiben semas opre chengende"
"Bury me standing. I’ve been on my knees all my life."
---Romani proverb

Author Isabel Fences writes that, "It is a commonly said that Gypsies are irreligious, adopting the going faith as it suits them in hopes of avoiding persecution."

It seems to be true, at least as the centuries passed, and the Gypsies wandered or were shunted or expelled from country to country. The Gypsies had to face time and again, the separation from their religion. Either by law, as in Albania during the cultural revolution in 1967, when religion was outlawed. Or, when they were not excepted, which was not unusual, and adapted to the popular local beliefs for acceptance and or safety.

Albania is not now a religious culture. It is a superstitious one. Being a mixture of animism, fear of ghost ancestors, and imported religions- which is what Islam was. Isabel Fonseca said that "It is clear from the fact that personal responsibility is an unknown cultural value here that formal religion and especially monotheism, has made n impact. The absence of formal religion was significant though for what flourished in its place is a powerful sense of tribe."

During the 15^th century the Gypsies saw how the religious pilgrims were privileged and traveled unencumbered and fastened on this as a mode of travel. Pretending to be religious pilgrims on their way to various sights of significance, shrines and such. It is doubtful they actually visited many of them.

Stories were spread that the Gypsies traveled the earth because it as they who fashioned the nails that crucified Christ. Their curse was to travel the Earth and never be able to settle down for the sin of that blacksmith gypsy. The story of the glowing nail following him to any place he stopped is rather good actually. The Gypsies say that they tried to steal the nails away but were only able to make off with one. A Popular folk tale as to the reason the gypsies wander has a religious feel to it also. Along time ago the Gypsies were given a church made of stone and the gadje were given a church made of cheese. Now the Gypsies liked the cheese church better and the gadje liked the church of stone more, so they traded. The gadje immediately began conducting services and the Gypsies sat right down and ate their church. Since they had no church left, they set out to look for one. And to this day are still looking. The Gypsies also say that the gadje did not pay them the full agreed upon price so that is why they ask for money.

One of the popular Gypsy stories for the begging of the God and man goes like this, Earth always existed, one day on Earth appeared God, Del or o pouro Del. At his side loomed up the Devil, or o Bengh. They ceaselessly contended one another, and competed to out do the other. The Devil, Bengh, made statuettes of earth, one in the shape of a man, one in the shape of a woman. God, o pouro Del. breathed the word into them. At the same time two non-fruit bearing trees sprung from the earth and touched ‘Adam and Eve’. It was on this contact that the earth turned to flesh. It is interesting how they look at Earth, God and the Devil. The universe existed long before God or Devil. The Earth/universe is known as the mother of us all, and is called De Develeski, the Divine Mother. The story continues to tell how the man, Damo, eats a pear from the now fruitful tree, though this tree is not yet of paradise. The serpent, sap, sees how the man is becoming tried to prevent the woman from eating the apple. But o Del intervenes and the serpent retires. The biblical tradition is reversed as you can see. With the ‘Devil’ trying to prevent the eating of the fruit, while God encouragers it. The fruits arouse the sexual desire of the two and they ‘know each other.’ Afterwards the man is satisfied but the woman wishes to begin again. God gives permission and they embrace a second and third time. She is still unsatiated. It is since that woman has unceasingly craved love.

This is an interesting story to mull over. One could imagine that the reason Yewah, or Eve was unsatisfied was because Damo, Adam was an unskilled and hurried lover. At the same time does this have a link to the marime pollution taboos or perhaps to the danger associated with woman’s sexuality imported from India. In India the original reason for the piercing of the female’s nose was the belief that by so doing their "dangerous sexual urges would be nullified, since they can not control themselves from resisting temptation."

A more whimsical story, one day God decided to make a man so he took a sour lime, and made a statue and put it in his oven to bake. ‘Why a sour lime for goodness sake?’ Anyway he went for a walk, and when he got back he realized he had left it in too long and it had burnt. This was the birth of the Negroes ancestor. He then shaped another lime and watched the oven, but he was worried and pulled it out too soon, so the statue was to pale. This was the ancestor of the Whites. Finally he left the statue in just the right amount of time, until it was a nice tan color. This was the birth of the Gypsies.

In Albania, fervently held beliefs, come from the group not from an unseen power, and they are strictly enforced and followed. A Tightly woven structure of taboos and superstitions are zealously followed, as a guard against contamination of the group, individual and of ones reputation. These practices though, seem to be the key to the gypsy’s unusual ability to survive and endure persecution and adverse and extreme changes, of many kinds and remain Rom. The burden of keeping the taboos and customs falls mostly to the women. At the same time it is the women who hold the ultimate power, though it may not seem that way on the surface. Women have the knowledge of spirits and medicinal cures & finally, they have the power to pollute a man.

The belief system is not as complicated as the keeping track of the customs dealing with the system. The body is separated into the clean and the unclean, the waist as a division line for the clean, the upper body and the unclean, the lower body. The woman’s lower body, once she is married, ie having sex, is very unclean. The tubs that wash the clothes are separate man from woman and the upper from the lower. Tubs to wash the dishes, children and the food are all separate. Yes the food is washed, and not just the fruits and vegetables. The meat is scrubbed, because it more than likely came from a gadje butcher. Generally the head female who is young enough to do work is in charge of this project, which involves much changing of the ‘bath’ and subsequently, much time. Meat with the skin still attached was a preferred grocery item, since the skin could be stripped off. A Gypsy avoids at much cost the act of eating food prepared by gadje. They also carry their own knives and do not share and may even go hungry rather than use a non tribe members utensil. In Romipen tradition liqueds are poured into the mouth rather then letting the lips touch the rim. Shared pipes are drunk rather than puffed, which is achieved by making a fist around the pipes stem.

The Gypsies are appalled by the fact that gadje keep cats as pets, and uphold them as clean animals, for the Gypsies see them as some of the dirtiest, mahrime, animals. Because they clean themselves by licking their dirty fur, which brings the outside dirt into the pure insides of their bodies. This act of cleaning by licking is a telling factor. The animals they uphold as clean are first the hedghog, who’s spines assure cleanliness and the horse who does not lick himself and because they drink water through clenched teeth. Isabel Fonseca writes that with the British Gypsies one does not even mention the "long tails" by names, snakes and rats, because to do so you risk pollution. The snakes were especially repulsive because they shed their skins, therefor bringing the inside to the outside, and because they ate other animals whole, devouring their dirty skins.

The homes of the Gypsies though the yards be filthy and cluttered, the insides are kept spotless by the women. At the same time the menstruating woman is very unclean, she can have nothing to do with the food preparation or the cleaning or handling of anything for the men folk. She is not allowed around a newborn, which are the purest of things. A baby lends cleanliness to those that carry them. A woman can not walk in front of an older man, it is a great insult. But if she carries a baby she can, because the baby lends its purity to her.

On the other side of the coin of birth is death and Ann Sutherland said that, "Death; the final authority is a man. But only a woman can frighten him off." They think that death can actually be scared off. Screaming or lifting skirts and flashing were/are believed to hinder the progress of death. It is know that the act of the sick breathing into the mouth of a fish and putting it back in the water will trick death into following it. Also changing the name of a dying person to that of a hated one. A well-known thief or policeman, were favorites, believing that death would surely not want their souls.

The Gypsies fear death greatly and will resort to going to the church and its keeper for precautionary measures, after death has taken its toll. When all else failed and the gypsy died a great ceremony of the funeral was had. Much wailing and bawling, breast beating, pulling out hair and fits of convulsions, are not unheard of. At times they will put wax in the nose of the deceased to prevent an evil spirit from entering. Gypsies believe that the spirit of a person who was disgraced, or not given the due respect at an older age, would likely become malevolent. They fear grave yards, so one would presume that it works out that they were more often than not, not allowed to be buried in them.

The truth of their religious faith lies in the evidence of an intense religious faith outside of any religious persuasion. Whether they are Christian or Muslim or Evangelical, which is rising in popularity, the great majority of Gypsies gives proof of a strength and enthusiasm in matters of faith, which astonish even priests.

Ottoman archives rudimentary statistics of settled gypsies in Buda in the mid sixteenth century show, fifty-six in 1546, ¾ of which were Christians the remainder Muslim. Thirty years later the population had raised to ninety and nearly all of them were Muslim.

One book noted that not until the nineteenth century was there much concern shown for the state of the gypsy’s souls. The church showed much suspicion and hostility toward the gypsies and the Italian states, including papal, showed little desire to give gypsies access to the sacrament. That did not mean lapses were tolerated. In Portugal the bishops, in 1635, excommunicated Gypsies who did not go to confession on Lent. Emperor Joseph II forced conversion and ordered compulsory religious instruction. Many German states sought to remove children from their parents so they could be baptized and raised by sound Christian families. One would think the Gypsies would at least grow apathetic about religion, after dealing with the hypocritical shifting of how monarchs and religious leaders deal with the Rom.

There are those gypsies that follow the Hindu practice, which is said to be the original of their religions. Under this doctrine, Ganesha the elephant headed God of new beginnings is much reveard though not as much as Kali, the black mother. Parvati and Durga are popular also. As you study history you see a swing of growth of interest in one religion and then another.

Everywhere they have been accused of lacking true piety, while this alleged indifference is frequently overstressed; there may be certain eclecticism in Gypsy religious belief and practice. They think nothing of celebrating another religions holiday.

Of the sacraments, baptism became popular, but gypsies go their own way for burials and particularly marriage. A movement started in 1952 by Clement Le Cossec, a Breton pastor of gadje origins that swept the gypsies up in a surge of Evangelical furor. The popularity is due to the easy recruitment of priest from the families themselves. They could speak the language, new the people and could spread their enthusiasm, while teaching simple bible themes. Later a strategy was instituted were the missionary work was handled on a tribal basis. Using specific preachers from that tribe to talk to those people. 1960’s the fire spread to Spain, it spread more slowly through Western Europe and Greece. The early 70’s showed progress in Eastern Europe and America. The author Angus Fraser states that "in Britain, the annual Evangelical convention can muster thousand of Travelers. In its first three decades, the Gypsy Evangelical Church was said to have converted and baptized some 70,000 Gypsies. The charismatic aspects of the faith are highly attractive to these freethinking people.

Though at many times in the past the Christians for lack of a better word crucified the Rom, ether forcing them to follow the church or forbidding them entrance, there are many that are Christians. Attracted by the ritual, community, singing and the saints.

The most popular Saint by far, being Black Mary or Sarah. Also known as the Black Madonna. Each May 24^th and 25^th, in Saintes-Maries, thousands of gypsies from all over the world come to participate in the religious festivities. The stories differ from group to group of course as to the exact story of the saint. According to information found on the Net, two sisters, Marie-Jacobe and Marie Salome landed on the beach of Les Saintes. They where coming from Palestine on an unsafe boat, in the company of some followers of Christ. Marie-Jacob and Marie-Salome converted the nomads who frequented the lagoons to the new faith. Some say that Sainte Sarah was the Egyptian servant of the two Maries. That when they were exiled by the Jews and caste into the sea that Sarah, left ashore, wanted absolutely to share her mistresses fate. She spread her veil upon the water and it became a boat allowing her to join them. Others say that when Mary Magdalene and Mary Salome were exiled and placed in the sea, with Joseph of Aramathea, they encountered bad storms. Nearing land their boat nearly capsizing, Sarah, a female Romboro or leader of a tribe, laid her skirts upon the waves and using them as a raft went to them and rescued the three. The authors recounting goes like this, "One of our people who received the first Revelation was Sara the Kali. ‘The name given by the Gypsies to Sara-‘la Kali’-means in their language both ‘the black woman’ and ‘the Gypsy woman’. She was born of noble birth and was chief of her tribe on the banks of the Rhone. One day Sara had visions which informed her that, the Saints who were present at the death of Jesus would come, and that she must help them. Sara saw them arrive in a boat. The sea was rough, and the boat founder. Sara threw her skirts on the waves, and, using it as a raft, she floated towards the Saints and helped them reach land. The saints baptized Sara and preached the Gospel among the gadje and the Rom." Lastly, the gypsy tradition has it that during the gypsy migration, which took them from the eastern countries toward the sea, a woman of dark skin guided them through their trials. The Gypsies identify her as Sarah, their patron saint.

The worship of Sara is one of the few activities that the gadje can be present at. Up until 1912, only Gypsies were allowed inside the church crypt were the statue of Sara is kept. The Gypsies would spend the whole night there, worshiping and sleeping. They usually would be bareheaded and footed, and seemed content to hold watch. Those who arrived would kiss the hem of her many dresses and ask her to bless themselves and small icons of ones not present. The rite of having clothing blessed is known in India. They believe that a sick person could be cured if their clothes were purified by contact with a sacred tree. They call these sacred trees Chitraiya Bhavani, ‘Our Lady of Rags’. The second part of the right is to process with the statue down to the sea for symbolic immersion. The procession has become a famous and much publicized event. There are tours to go witness the celebration available from your local tour service.

The information available on gypsies is often times confusing for it contradicts one another. Gypsies believe in one God says one book. They find it hard to believe in a monotheist religion says another. It could very well be impossible to find out and track what exactly were their beliefs through out time and through out the world. But it sure is interesting trying!

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