Misplaced Pages

Romani folklore: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 20:09, 8 May 2007 editAnyep (talk | contribs)521 editsmNo edit summary← Previous edit Revision as of 19:38, 16 May 2007 edit undoDesiphral (talk | contribs)4,059 edits cat upNext edit →
Line 36: Line 36:


==Also See== ==Also See==
*] *]
*] *]
*] *]

Revision as of 19:38, 16 May 2007

Roma (Gypsy) mythology is the myth, folklore, religion, traditions, and legends of the Roma people. The Gypsies, who call themselves Rom or Romany, are a nomadic culture which originated in India during the Middle Ages. They migrated widely, particularly to Europe. Some legends (particularly from non-Roma peoples) say that certain gypsies are said to have passive psychic powers such as, empathy, precognition, retrocognition, or psychometry. Other legends include the ability to levitate, travel through astral projection by way of meditation, invoke curses or blessings, conjure/channel spirits, and skill with illusion-casting.

Origins The Romani originated in India. According to mythology, the country was going through a social restructuring and adopting the strict social hierarchy system of castes. Various groups were not included in these newly formed castes for political and religious reasons, and left at the bottom of the caste system. Three groups made up the majority of the casteless: Thieves, musicians/actors (RL fact time, historically performing arts have had a negative social conotation... take a look at eastern theatre's history, for example...), and magicians whose magic was deemed 'heretical' by the local religion. With life in their once native land now unbearable, these casteless people grouped together forming bands which migrated originally to the west. Over many many years, their language and culture developed into something entirely foreign from their roots, and they were truly gypsies, or the Romani as they call themselves.


Roma myth topics include the following:

Also See

External Links

  • Encyclopedia Mythica
  • Gypsy Folk Tales
  • Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling by Charles Godfrey Leland
Category: