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Customs and Beliefs of the Roma and Sinti
Some of our customers have been surprised to get Gypsy/Romani population matches in their results for the DNA Fingerprint Test. Typically, these are combined with Middle Eastern and Indian matches due to the Gypsies' historical migrations. Other customers were not surprised at all and called to tell us about the fortuneteller great-grandmother or mysterious ancestor who traveled with the circus. Gypsy heritage is not unheard of among Melungeons. So for those who think they may have Roma/Sinti or Romechal (the term used in the British Isles), we have compiled the following list of customs and beliefs taken from an excellent authority.
Strict monotheism similar to Jews
Keeping the seventh day holy
Lighting candles on the evening of Parashat (Friday)
Blasphemy a sin, as is cursing an elder
Beng (Satan) the enemy of God and of the Roma people
The Evil One called bivuzhó (impure) and bilashó
Code of Law
No social classes, only a division into Roma and Gadje (non-Roma)
A court of justice called Kris (Judiciary Council), composed of clan representatives as judges
Both men and women serving on Kris
Issues between Roma to be judged only by the Kris, not by Gadje
All Roma equal before the eyes of the Kris
Belief in blood revenge and compensatory payment for clan of victim
Banishment from territory of victim’s clan for wrong doing
Forfeiture of protection if banished offender reenters
Roma not even to acknowledge or greet one who is banished
Accursed or banished called mahrimé (impure)
Roma not to ask interest for loans to other Roma, only from Gadje
Sexuality, Marriage and Childbirth
Nudity is taboo, allowed only with a husband and wife
Showing naked legs before an elder disrespectful
Homosexuality an abomination
Not allowed to wear clothes of the opposite sex, even as a joke or disguise
Virginity before marriage essential
Tokens of virginity shown to the assembly after wedding
Prostitution strongly condemned
Incest taboo, defined in the same way as Mosaic law (including step-siblings and in-laws)
Permissible to marry your cousin
Members of the Kris must be married
Lack of a spouse makes a man or woman incomplete
Groom’s family pays dowry to the bride’s family
Dowry for a widow amounts to half that for a virgin
A man dishonoring a woman should pay the dowry to her family anyway
Runaway couples considered legitimately married
Marriage endogamic, even within the same clan
Clan recognized by a common ancestor within a few generations
Divorce admitted: husband sends wife out or she leaves
Remarriage expected after divorce
Levirate law practiced (Deut. 25:5-6)
Childbirth impure, must take place outside the home
Mother giving birth isolated with baby for seven days strictly, followed by 33 days of less strict isolation (cf. Lev. 12:2, 4-5)
New mother cannot show herself in public or attend religious services
Both sexes marrying very young (child marriage)
Funeral and Mourning Rituals
Dead to be buried intact (autopsy or cremation sacrilegious)
Close relatives of the dead impure for seven days
Not to touch a dead body
Family and relatives of deceased forbidden to bathe, comb their hair, cut their nails for three days
On third day after a death, relative must wash thoroughly, and then not again until seventh day
All food in house where a person died is thrown away as defiled
On third day after a death, the house is purified (“the ashes of the burning of the sin”) and a virgin sprinkles running water
The same ceremony repeated on the seventh day after a death, with food brought to the mourners from another dwelling place
Mourners stay at home
Sitting on low stools
Covering mirrors
Not using oils or perfumes or cosmetics
Not wearing new clothes
Not listening to loud music
Not taking photographs or watching television
Not painting, cooking, and cannot greet people
Day mourning extended after seventh day remembrance ceremony until thirtieth day
Another remembrance ceremony on thirtieth day, closing the strict mourning period
Beliefs in Afterlife
Death is final, no reincarnation or return
Soul goes to Paradise or Hell
Purity and Impurity
Concept of marimé (similar to kashrut)
Lower body and things associated with it impure
Sleeping regarded as an impure state
Not to greet anyone upon waking until washed
Disrespectful to greet anyone in an impure state
Dogs and cats impure
Horses, donkeys or riding animal impure
Carnivorous animals impure
Avoidance of horseflesh
Shoes, pants, hose, skirts, trousers, etc. impure
The camp pure
Restrooms built outside the home
Clothes for the lower body and menstruating women washed separately
Dishes washed in a different place from clothes
Other Practices
Custom of mangel, asking for favors from Gadje
Painting doorposts of dwelling with animal blood to protect against angel of death
Invoking the Prophet Elijah, particularly when seeing lightening or hearing thunder
Firstborn son considered a special blessing to the family
Wearing of whiskers
Left hand related to the public domain (Gadje), impure
Separate dishes and cups for Gadje
Only eating ritually slaughtered animals
Slander considered very a very serious offense, worth taking to Kris
Lack of belief in divination (contrary to general view of Gypsies)
Practice of Tarot cards and crystal balls for Gadje only
Having a Gypsy name besides a civil name
Names that are Hebrew, Greek, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, Persian, never Indian or Hindu
Beef a favorite food
Interest in bullfighting
Middle Eastern music and dance with zithers, etc. (Flamenco in Spain)
Fingernails and toenails filed with an emery board, not a clipper
Going to a church called Filadelfia (Brotherhood)
Claiming to be Egyptian in origin
Making pilgrimages to the burial places of your ancestors
Source: Abraham Sándor, “Comparison of Romany Law with Israelite Law and Indo-Aryan Traditions”
Comments
Thank YOU, Shari, for this long comment. Actually, it was your emails that inspired me to research the true history of the Gypsies. Great idea about a Gypsy Forum on DNA Communities. I have a Gypsy modal DNA profile I can post. Would you consider being a co-moderator with Kim de Beus?
Thanks so much for, “Do You Have Gypsy Matches?” It’s fascinating reading. My U.S. Gypsy-Roma great-grandparents were quite religious, I believe Baptist. Mom’s grandparents were “Genetic Gypsies,” not cultural Gypsies. My guess is that they were either “Silent Gypsies,” covering up their ethnicity, or they didn’t know about it. (They emigrated to the U.S. in the 1880s and later owned farms.)
In the Shetland Islands mainland these ancestors’ occupations were the typical fishing and farming. Their family naming patterns were traditionally Scottish. Most likely, early on, their ancestors adopted typical Scottish names and ways of life, passing these on to their descendants. In Scotland, Gypsies were persecuted, imprisoned, banished to other lands and even put to death if they didn’t conform.
Some or most of Mom’s maternal grandparents’ earlier Gypsy-Roma ancestors migrated from Aberdeen, Scotland to the Shetland mainland. Mother’s test also revealed DNA matches with people in Glasgow, Scotland - assuming Gypsy-Roma. Besides DNA, there are other clues that they were Gypsy-Roma. One clue is that one of our ancestor’s surnames - FEA - is a common Gypsy surname - http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/fealty.
During Internet searches I’ve found historical as well as current information about Gypsy-Roma. There are websites originating in England and Scotland as well as many sites reviewing ancient Gypsy history (some timelines) of migration from India to most European countries.
As I understand it, almost all researchers (such as Iovita in “Reconstructing the Origins and Migrations of Diasporic Populations: The Case of the European Gypsies,” the source cited by you, Don, in Mom’s DNA report) have concluded that Gypsy-Roma originated in India; and before that, Southeast Asia is mentioned. Only one site by Abraham Sandor (your source for your Gypsy blog entry) makes the argument that Gypsy-Roma did not originate in India, but instead in Mesopotamia, later migrating to India before beginning their European migrations - http://www.imninalu.net/Roma_map.htm. .
The records of early Gypsies in England and Scotland seem mostly to recount arrests, trials, banishment and being put to death - drowning and otherwise. In Europe a popular punishment was cutting off ears! Most early treatment described in European history is appalling. Estimates of up to 500,000 Gypsy-Roma individuals were killed by the Nazis in World War II.
There are few Internet accounts of Gypsy-Roma in the U.S. One website presents basic genealogical information - some Gypsy surnames and YDNA test descriptions for male descendants of known Gypsy-Roma persons banished (1600s-1700s) to the U.S. Southwest, South America and other lands (Peter Wilson Coldham books).
“Famous Gypsies” websites can be found on the Internet. Alternatively, there are vitriolic (sometimes downright racist) posts and sites about Gypsy-Roma. One is a U.S. police website giving an overview of Gypsy “criminals.” There are criminals in all ethnic groups who need to be caught and punished appropriately.
There is such a disconnect for me here. My mother’s grandparents and great aunt and great uncle raised lovely families and we descendants are very nice people! I’m certain that’s true of the overwhelming majority of Gypsy-Roma as well as “Genetic Gypsy-Roma.” No matter the ethnic group, people only wish to raise decent, happy children who grow up to be responsible, caring adults in our society.
With (mostly) dark skin and hair, colorful dress, “different” behaviors (including that of “traveling”) and with no country of their own, the Gypsies were forced to find safe “home places,” not easy to do in lands already occupied. The Gypsy-Roma were persecuted for centuries.
Today Gypsies live all over the world, still often enduring various forms of persecution. I believe these people have survived as well as can be expected under extreme circumstances. Some resigned themselves to or have been forced to take on the life styles of their resident neighbors to stop the persecution. Now some of us are discovering for the first time that we have various amounts of “Gypsy-Roma” DNA.
Gypsies could certainly use more positive “press,” so I’d like to make a request to be considered. Would DNA Consultants be willing to include a fifth posting category - “Gypsy-Roma” - along with Europe, Melungeons, Native American and World? Gypsy-Roma deserve more positive representation and something like this would certainly help.
I’m proud of my Gypsy great-grandparents. They sacrificed and worked hard to establish homes in the U.S., ensuring easier lives for their descendants.
I enjoyed “Do You Have Gypsy Matches” and am very pleased with Mom’s DNA Fingerprint Plus test. It will definitely enrich Mom’s family history (that I’m in the process of writing)! Thanks to DNA Consultants for a great service.
Shari
Looking forward to seeing the Gypsy modal DNA profile on the new Gypsy Forum at DNA Communities.
Don, thanks for the invitation to become a co-moderator with Kim, you and others on the new Roma (Gypsy) Forum that is now up and running in the DNA Consultants Communities site. This will be an important positive source for those of us who wish to exchange information and increase our knowledge about Roma (Gypsies) - DNA and history.