Let's start with the literary tradition. From the quotes below, one can judge what has been written about the religiosity of the Gypsies for the past two hundred years:
They do not profess any religion, but follow fetishism, that is, they worship objects useful for their life: tents, carts and forges; they believe like the Turks in predestination. In Christian lands they pretend to be Christians, in Turkey they are Mohammedans, and with Jews they are Jews.1
Mikhail Kogalniceanu. 1837
The gypsies do not have a trace of religion, and if one oriental writer claims that “there are seventy-two faiths and a half in the world,” meaning by “half” the faith of the gypsies, then this is not true, because they have no faith at all.2
"Light in pictures". 1880
Understanding nothing in the Christian faith, the gypsies usually willingly accept it, but only outwardly. He even...
One of the most frequently asked questions to me is what is the REAL faith of gypsies?
The adherence to the faith of the ancestors among the Gypsies is surprisingly stable, although I have seen statements many times in tyrnetik that the Gypsies always follow the religious customs of the area where ...
Most of the Roma profess Christianity or Islam, but there are also representatives of other faiths.
Gypsy Christians are very devout, great attention devote to church holidays.
Orthodox gypsies in everyday life dress strictly according to the recommendations Orthodox Church. In the house of Orthodox gypsies, just like Russians, there is a “red corner” in which icons are located. The wedding is considered more important than the civil registration of marriage. More important than a wedding is only the "gypsy wedding", that is, the recognition of marriage by gypsy society. It is usually played before the wedding.
Orthodox gypsies consider St. Nicholas and St. George to be their patrons, Catholics - Blessed Seferino (officially approved in this role by the Vatican), as well as Mother Teresa and the mythical character Saru Kali.
The most significant religious holidays for all Christian Gypsies are Easter and Christmas.
Muslim gypsies are also religious, but do not follow some Muslim customs. For example,…
Here is what the Soviet gypsy linguist and ethnographer Lexa Manush (Alexander Dmitrievich Belugin, 1942 - 1997) wrote in his article "The Cult of Shiva and the Gypsies", published in No. 6 of the journal "Soviet Ethnography" for 1979.
The question of the religion of the Gypsies is one of the problems of undoubted interest both for scientists (Gypsies and religious scholars) and for a wide range of non-specialists. When it comes to gypsies, most often, perhaps, one has to hear: “And what faith are they? What is their religion?
However, despite long history gypsy research, very little has been achieved in this area, although almost every monograph on gypsies, the authors touch on this issue. True, as a rule, in the sections devoted to religion, it is only reported that the gypsies believe in a god, whom they call devel 'devel', and that his antipode is the devil, whom they call beng 'beng'. among the gypsies of the official religion of one or ...
Religious scholar Roman Lunkin on how religion determines the fate of the world
Yakov Krotov: I want to start the program with a short video interview. If we are going to talk about how faith affects the planet Earth, all of humanity, culture, it is probably good to remember that faith, first of all, affects the believer, the person who professes this faith. And about this interview with the poetess Daria Serenko.
Daria Serenko: At some specific, very difficult moment for me, there were good people, which turned out to be churched, that is, there were some very simple things - I think for many they are common. And in the wake of this depressive state, religion had some therapeutic value for me (now I already appreciate it, but then I would be very offended if I were told this).
I am engaged in poetry, modern literature, and I had a very strong conflict with my confessor - art and religion. This shouldn't be a dichotomy, but...
The gypsy tribe is a mystery from the very beginning, historically. A people that does not have its own land will never settle firmly in world history. It's simple: we have never seen their buildings of 3-5 centuries ago, household items, have not read the reports of archaeological expeditions (one of the most reliable ways to supply various numbers and dates to history). They do not have their corner on this planet, they have not inherited anywhere.
G. Gass finds the beginning of the gypsies in the southern side of the Bosphorus, M. Niger - in the northern part of the kingdom of Tunisia; H. Gerbello assumed that the gypsies came from Zanzibar, E. Sylvius - from the mountains of the Caucasus; K. Ekkar claimed their relationship with the Circassians, Vagesil - with German Jews. K. Grisemann pointed to Egypt, PS Pallas - to the Danube and Ukraine. And they are Bulgarians, goddesses, Hungarians and many others. And this is not a stigma: today a Jew, tomorrow a Spaniard. No formalities.
Disagreements about the origin of the gypsies were stopped by Grelman and Pott. Taking linguistics as a basis for analysis. If you plant even a modern gypsy, ...
Gypsy beliefs: a couple of words. gipsylilya - 03/14/2012 One of the most frequently asked questions to me is what is the REAL faith of the gypsies?
People who ask it are usually pre-configured to hear one of the following options: "Hinduism/Paganism", "Fire worship/Sun worship", or simply "Gypsies don't believe in anything".
And I, as an honest woman, have to destroy their world, explaining that the Muslim gypsies have the Muslim faith, and the Christian gypsies have the Christian, and in both cases the real one. And if Christian gypsies are relatively mobile Christian denominations(Magyar Catholics do not see a big problem in moving to the camp of the Evangelists, because here and there a cross, for example), then they rarely and reluctantly pass from Christianity to Islam and vice versa, mostly women make the transition to the faith of their husband. True, inter-religious marriages among gypsies are rare.
The adherence to the faith of the ancestors among the gypsies is surprisingly persistent, although ...
Gypsy culture is very diverse and rich. This is due to the wide distribution of gypsies around the world, a rich, albeit short, history and the complexity of the ethnic composition of this non-territorial nation. Gypsy culture has a noticeable influence on the musical culture of the world.
Indian heritage
The ancestors of the gypsies lived in the north-west of India, they, according to the most popular hypothesis now, belonged to the “house” caste (scientists still have not come to a consensus about the place of this caste in the Indian pre-Muslim hierarchy) and spoke a language derived from Sanskrit and related to modern Hindi. The occupations of the caste were songs, dances, jewelry and blacksmithing.
AT contemporary culture Gypsies have preserved some heritage of Indian ancestors: the grammar and vocabulary of the Gypsy language remained related to Sanskrit, the crafts of the “dom” caste are included in the list of traditional Gypsy occupations, the initial division into ethnic groups occurred on the basis of a profession, just like in India ...
The Gypsies profess the dominant religion in the country of their residence. In some places, they also learn the language of the surrounding population, finally losing their native language.
For example, in Russia the gypsies are Orthodox, in Spain they are Catholics, in Turkey they are Mohammedans, and so on. This does not prevent them from observing many religious rites and views taken from the old homeland. This is evidenced by their most ethnographically interesting wedding, funeral, childbirth, naming and so on rituals. Their views on afterlife and funeral rites belong to the most primitive.
Gypsy rituals
Here are some customs and rituals from the life of gypsies: Wedding. A week before marriage, the bride and groom go to a river or lake and place two lighted candles on the shore. If one of them goes out without burning out, this is considered a bad omen; then young people throw apples and eggs into the water (sacred objects of common Aryan mythology), for propitiation ...
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Gypsy Ivanov, for the sake of faith in God, went against the camp, but the camp followed him
When Elizbar's father was still Edik, the city of Kimry had a reputation as the heroin capital of Central Russia. The electric train from Moscow was popularly called the “green needle”: normal people did not get into the last carriage - only drug addicts rode in it. All junkies within a radius of three hundred kilometers gathered for cheap heroin here, at the Savelovo station, or rather, to Hollywood: this is how the gypsy village is called here. Local youth quickly mastered a simple business: you, Muscovite, stay on the platform, I will run to the camp instead of you, and I will give ten percent to myself. Very soon it became difficult to find a teenager with an adequate expression in the eyes in the city.
Hungarian gypsies live in Hollywood, they are called Lovari, - a local intelligence officer told me at that time. - They appeared here at the end of the sixties, after they were turned away from Ukraine. First, these lovari launched trade ...
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I am a gypsy, can I be a real Christian? How can I be strengthened in faith? Asks victor
Answered by Vasily Yunak, 01/20/2012
Victor writes:
…
Gypsy culture is very diverse and rich. This is due to the wide distribution of gypsies around the world, rich, albeit short, history and the complexity of the ethnic composition of this non-territorial nation. Gypsy culture has a noticeable influence on the musical culture of the world (especially Romanian, Hungarian, Balkan, Spanish folk music, as well as classical music 19th century, jazz, flamenco).
For gypsies different countries characterized by uneven development of regions high culture. So, most of the gypsy artists are natives of Hungary, the most developed musical culture among the gypsies of Russia, Hungary, Romania, Spain, Balkan countries, gypsy literature on this moment more developed in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia, acting - in Russia and Ukraine.
With all the diversity of gypsy culture among different ethnic groups, one can note a similar system of values and perception of the world.
The ancestors of the gypsies lived in the northwest of India, they, according to the most popular ...
Gypsies are one of the most mysterious peoples of our Motherland. What is the religion of the gypsies? Are there Orthodox gypsy priests? Who will bring Orthodoxy to the camp?
Through half the world - to Russia
Why the gypsy tribe left their historical homeland of India, the northwestern lands of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kashmir is not known for certain. One version says that the Mughal conquest is to blame for this, another says that a group of gypsy jewelers and musicians were presented to the Persian Shah and some of their descendants moved to Europe, the third believes that the gypsies are the descendants of captives brought by Macedonsky from India. The Gypsy language consists of two thirds of Sanskrit words, a stop in Byzantium added Greek words, otherwise it depends on the country of residence.
In the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire gypsy men were engaged in buying and selling and exchanging horses, blacksmithing, weaving baskets, and women were engaged in divination and fortune-telling, embroidery. Gypsy songs and dances have long aroused interest among the surrounding peoples. Therefore, many gypsies, even before the revolution, joined Russian choirs or created their own, successfully performing on the domestic stage and touring. Russian nobles were crazy about gypsy songs and beautiful gypsies.
After the revolution, the new government tried to make the Gypsies settled, and this was largely successful. Nevertheless, the gypsies like to leave the house for a long time and remember the nomadic life.
During the years of the Great Patriotic War many young gypsies went to the front. After the war, 90% of nomadic families adopted a settled way of life. And today only one percent of Russian gypsies roam. Their professions are also, for the most part, ordinary, but there is a special penchant for creativity. Not only stage, but also literary, artistic.
There are no gypsy villages in our area, this people is exotic for us. Sometimes a car with a trailer scurries along the streets of the district center, gypsy men buy up iron. Scrap metal is sold for remelting. Or gypsies appear with large plaid bags, offering local residents inexpensive things. On Easter, gypsy families come to the temple from somewhere. Their Easter cakes delight the local parishioners with their size - huge, for the whole family at once.
And in the city of Balakovo, which is located not far from my small homeland, there are many gypsies and they take an active part in the life of the church community.
Gypsy religion
All Russian gypsies are Christians, the majority are Orthodox. But there are some peculiarities.
- Gypsies are very superstitious. They, divination, themselves ardently and naively believe in divination. Scolding among themselves, later they are confused by their wishes. At the "Deaconnik" forum, priests share their impressions about their gypsy parishioners. It turns out that temperamental guests from the camp often repent of curses and oaths spoken in haste: “A crying gypsy flies in: “Wai-wai, father, rather read the prayer, again I cursed my daughter-in-law!” And the other, offended by her husband, vowed not to cook dinner for him, as a result, the children were left without food. Three days later, the whole family came to the temple to save themselves from an unbearable promise by the prayer of St. Basil the Great.
- The source of superstition is ignorance. Often gypsies, pompously celebrating Christian holidays do not know the Bible at all. They do not have a clear idea of what the Almighty forbids and what allows. As a result, for example, at a funeral, luxury items are placed in the grave - up to televisions, carpets, expensive wines and laptops. At the same time, they invite the priest to perform the funeral service, there is a story about this by Archpriest Alexander Dyachenko.
- Lack of education is a consequence of early marriages and closeness from strangers.
Gypsies live closed, if there are many of them, then they gather on the same street or in the same village. Their communication with foreigners is purely business, and few close people are allowed into their personal lives, into the house. First you need to earn their trust.
Communication only in one's own circle gives little that is new culturally. The missionaries hardly remember the gypsies. Young people leave school at the age of 12-14, entering into early marriage. As a rule, couples are not registered in the registry office, therefore, according to the law, the priest does not have the right to marry them. AT better side these events differ from Middle Eastern Muslim weddings in that there is almost no, or no, difference in the age of the bride and groom. Here the girl will not be given for an old man. A pretty boy and a girl get married and soon begin to have children and provide for their families.
Gypsy family in Orthodox church on Palm Sunday
Many Roma do not receive either religious or secular education.
But, speaking between us, what then to attribute the religious ignorance of Russians, who are the clientele of the same fortune-tellers and do not know the Bible? How can we justify the fornication of our youth?…
The problems of the gypsy tribe are a reflection of the problems of other Russians, but with their own national specifics.
In the village of Vnukovo, where I once lodged, a gypsy lives. I met this cheerful woman sixty years on the platform, waiting for the train. The gypsy said that she was engaged in divination, including removing damage. She thought she was doing it with God's help. He goes to pray for his clients to the Matrona of Moscow. And he guesses for only 500 rubles. The gypsy invited me to visit, offered to spread the cards. The temptation was great. I barely resisted the visit - everyone wants to know the future. But the kind woman did not suffer from a lack of clients even without me. Many Russians turned to her for help constantly.
Sermon in the gypsy environment
Of course, the gypsy faith, mixed with folk superstitions, needs to be corrected. In addition, many do not know the exact moral norms of Orthodoxy. We need to talk about them.
In the gypsy environment there is a basis for deep religiosity - respect for traditions, family values.
According to eyewitnesses, the rest of Russians have much to learn from the gypsies.
- Respect for the elderly, by the way the elder.
- Large families, love for children.
- Communities, mutual support.
- Self-management, problem solving at the meeting.
The moral atmosphere in a gypsy settlement, in a clan uniting families, depends on older relatives and authoritative people. But this medal has two sides. If the leaders are set up for honest business, then everything is fine in the camp. If not, woe to both your own and others.
Gypsies at a service in an Orthodox church in Sviblovo, Moscow
It doesn’t happen once at a time - somewhere they earn money by photography and video filming, construction, trade, musical performances, and somewhere by crimes. The environment also influences - there is a request for fortune-telling, there is a request for heroin - there will be those who will provide everything.
I am surprised by the position of the press: if someone sells drugs, then his buyers are innocent sheep, seduced from the true path. I think there is a mutual fault here.
Unfortunately, from the side Orthodox people there is no purposeful missionary work among the gypsies, as well as among many other nations. Articles are no substitute for real dialogue when people meet face to face. On the Internet, they write a lot about the history of gypsies, about culture, about crime. But if you look for videos on the topic of missionary work, then, as a rule, they are filmed by representatives of other Christian denominations and sects. They have something to say about their successes, about activities in the gypsy environment, which lasts for more than a decade. Many gypsies are involved in their organizations and testify enthusiastically about Christ. And on the part of the Orthodox, only priests scold the fortune-tellers, warning the flock.
For half a day I was looking for some kind of meaningful video about gypsies and Orthodoxy, but more often I came across videos of Protestants, evangelists, Baptists ...
Here is the story of one Ukrainian preacher, a Christian, but not Orthodox, who enlightened the gypsies of Transcarpathia. Oksana Serdyuk: “What was not easy to do was to share the message of Christ with adults. The reason was that they were afraid to trust us. We thought that we, like many other people, want to ridicule them, and once again remind them of their position in society. But it was easy to bring the Good News to children, teenagers and youth. They were always available to us and were with them almost 24 hours a day throughout the month. This caused many of them to give their youthful lives to Christ! Until then, I never thought that I would “connect” with the gypsies. It was so unexpected and strange for me. But the fact remains, and I do not dare to regret anything, on the contrary, I fell in love with them very much. Now they are part of my heart. Serving the gypsies is great!”
Another Ukrainian preacher, seeing the camp, at first became shy, he moved away from it for three kilometers, but found the strength to return to the fires, near which the gypsies rested. And his ministry has been going on for 16 years. Now the gypsies talk about meeting him with tears in their eyes - they are happy that this man with the Bible in his hands once became their friend.
And how many gypsy delusions need to be dispelled.
Archpriest Dimitry(Kineshma) shares in his blog: “I heard more than once from Russian gypsies (Russian Roma) the idea that it is impossible to pray in a gypsy way - God, they say, does not hear”.
Archpriest Michael(Rostov region) notes: “In gypsy families, daughters-in-law are strictly commanded by the elder mother-in-law. There were cases when tearful gypsies returned icons and crosses bought without a “blessing” to the temple, there were also “withdrawals” from the service ”.
The work of a priest is service in the church; he cannot embrace the immensity - thousands of people in camps, almost unaware of Christ. We need initiative on the part of believing laity.
This is a rare but welcome occurrence. An Orthodox Gypsy cultural and missionary center operates in St. Petersburg. Details in the video.
Every nation gives birth to the righteous. At an Orthodox forum, I saw the reflections of one girl about her familiar gypsy. She lives honestly and fervently believes in Christ. Once in their area was Procession and this old woman walking along with everyone had a heart attack. She recently suffered a heart attack. But despite the heavy state of health, the gypsy did not leave the procession and behaved stoically. “I am far from such a sincere hope in God!” the narrator notes.
The life of the Stavropol gypsies, including the baptism of the baby and the opinion of the priest about them in this film.
Gypsies consider Nikolai Ugodnik, George the Victorious, Basil the Great to be their patrons, beloved saints. Of course, Christ and the Mother of God.
Heart to Heart
Evgeny Chernyaev
Correspondent:“Hello, Eugene. I am the author of the Orthodox publication Yelitsy Media. Please tell our readers about the problems of missionary work among the Roma. How did you come up with this idea? How it all began? What difficulties do you face in the course of your work?
Evgeny Chernyaev, missionary (Moscow):“I always dreamed of being a youth pastor, and I never thought of dealing with gypsies, I was a rather squeamish person and did not like dirt. Once, during my studies at the seminary, a friend called me to go serve in the camp, to testify how I came to God. When I got there, I felt uneasy. Dirt all around, dirty kids screaming at incomprehensible language throwing stones at you. Dirty glasses, dirty dishes, I was afraid to even drink water. But what struck me was the joy in the apparent poverty. I said, how can they enjoy living such a life? ..
Then I came several more times to the camp with these missionaries, and then these missionaries disappeared and I was left alone, and at that moment I had a turning point, I fell in love with this people, such love poured out in my heart for them that I understood: I I can not leave them, and continued to walk alone. Over time, God gave me a command, we began weekly, in addition to Divine services in the camp, to conduct lessons for children, teach them to read and write, bring them to church on Sundays, do medical examinations, provide humanitarian aid, hold camps for gypsies, arrange them for school.
What difficulties did you have to face?
It's hard enough to become your own for a gypsy if you're not a gypsy. Not one pood of salt had to be eaten with them before they even began to trust a little.
They are rather closed and marginalized, they do not have elementary education and skills, a lot of drugs and drunkenness, lack of housing and documents.
Evgeny Chernyaev with gypsy children
When I brought the children to the church for the first time, the church looked with suspicion at the gypsies, and those at the parishioners, it took a long time to reconcile them. The lack of documents makes it difficult for them to move around Moscow. And we constantly need to rent transport. People often do not like and fear the gypsies, which in turn leads to a shortage of ministers and donations. Today, we dream of having our own minibus for the ministry, which would make our life much easier.
Another significant difficulty is cultural. For example, parents can forbid their quite adult son or daughter to go to church, or a husband to his wife. Lack of education and profession makes difficult choice to earn money, most often it is begging or musicians in the subway, trains and transitions. What the gypsy ministry taught me is to love them and serve them without expecting anything, because you will be disappointed, you need a lot of patience and a lot of work.
Today it seems to you that there is already an awakening in the camp, but tomorrow you come and two or three people are sitting at the service. In my opinion, heart-to-heart ministry is even more appropriate here.”
Christian missionary Evgeny Chernyaev with camp
Gypsy priests needed
The gypsy ethnos needs priests who speak its language, think like gypsies, know gypsy customs and mentality. Then the influence of Orthodoxy on this people will bear more good fruits.
So far, there is only one gypsy priest in Russia, Elizbar Ivanov. The youth of the future shepherd, then the boy Edward, passed in a dysfunctional criminal environment, in a family of atheists. Interest young man to Orthodoxy made him persecuted by relatives. At first, the seventeen-year-old boy was forced to pray, hiding in the attic, and then completely in open field. It is time to remember the martyrs for the faith. The young man was supported only by a local elderly priest, Father Andrei Lazarev.
The drug trade flourished in the city, Edward's tribesmen distributed drugs, but they themselves got on the needle and died. Russian comrades drank, drank too much. Orthodoxy became a salvation for Edward. Then he led his neighbors to this salvation, managed to change their views. Baptized everyone. Willpower plus the power of faith works wonders.
On the left is father Elizbar Ivanov, on the right is father Andrey Lazarev
In one of the interviews Father Elizbar says: “I remember my first years in the temple. All my friends who had already married laughed at me, and reported to my mother. She began to scare me that she would kill herself if I did not leave the faith, that she would go to church and quarrel with all the clergy. It would be better for me to give away all the church books and return back to the gypsy life. But I answered her: “Mom, I’m already a gypsy, don’t worry, but I will never leave faith. Because faith gave me a lot. Faith gave me the fact that I did not become a drug addict or a drunkard, faith allowed me to understand what it means to be a person and treat everyone like a human being. Faith let me know where the soul is, where love is, and most importantly, what faith gave me is the understanding that God exists.”
Watch a documentary video about the fate of Priest Elizbar, listen to the hero himself and his mentor, Father Andrei.
What I noted in the stories of preachers, priests about missionary work is that, first of all, love for neighbors is needed. Don't skimp on love. It gives rise to interest and determination to enter the environment of a foreign nation. She strikes a chord in the hearts strangers and makes them like-minded, brothers and sisters in Christ.
How to love strangers? Probably, we need to think more about them, try on their problems, trying to understand: why do they live this way and not otherwise? And how to change their life and thinking for the better?
Christian missionary work is a matter of love, regardless of confession.
Many people think that the gypsies are all without exception pagans and worship fire or the sun. But really, most of Gypsies profess the religion of the country where they live. It can be, for example, Christianity, Islam or Buddhism.
What do gypsies believe?
The gypsy faith has its own characteristics. So, Orthodox gypsies consider their patron Saint Nikola the Pleasant and St. George, and Catholics - Blessed Seferino and at the same time a certain Sara Kali, who is a mythical character at all.
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Religious Scientist, Senior Researcher Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Roman Lunkin comments: “Gypsies accept the religion of the country where they are and where they live enough for a long time. At present, as far as I know, there are those who profess Islam and those who profess Christianity (the majority of these are because many gypsies live in Russia, Romania, Hungary, Moldova. In general, gypsies-Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and Muslims.
What religious customs do gypsies observe?
In Russia, the majority of Roma are Orthodox and undergo the rite of baptism. Many of them are quite devout. So, in the houses of settled gypsies there is a “red corner” with icons. They try to observe religious rites, and married couples are sure to get married in a church, and the wedding ritual is considered more important than registering a marriage in the registry office. But even more important is the “gypsy wedding”, which is played even before the wedding - it means the recognition of marriage by the gypsy community.
The biggest religious holidays for Orthodox Gypsies are Christmas and Easter. For Turkish Christian Gypsies, the biggest holiday is Hidrelez, which is celebrated on the night of May 5-6. It is also celebrated in the Balkans, where it is called Ederlezi and is dedicated to St. George.
The Russian Vlach Gypsies have a curious custom. On Radonitsa, women and children certainly visit cemeteries, where they ask for alms from visitors. And it doesn't have to be beggars. Thus, they fulfill a certain Christian “duty”, helping other people to do a good deed. By the way, Russians often know about this and on this day they willingly serve change to the gypsies.
Muslim gypsies also pay attention religious customs but not all. So, gypsies in Islamic countries never cover their faces. Not everyone practices the rite of circumcision of the foreskin.
Religious myths of the gypsies
By the way, there is such a legend among Christian gypsies. When Christ was crucified, gypsies passed by and stole one nail. For this, God allegedly allowed the gypsy people to steal sometimes. Therefore, the gypsies do not see anything wrong with theft and fraud. Gypsy culture experts consider this myth not so old and believe that it was born in the Balkans.
Another legend says that God especially loves the gypsies for their fun and talent, therefore he did not tie them to patches of land, as he did with other nations, but gave them the whole world. Therefore, they led a nomadic lifestyle. Indeed, gypsies can be found in all parts of the Earth, except perhaps Antarctica.
As you can see, the gypsies have their own interpretation of faith. “I can't say that Roma are very religious people,” says Roman Lunkin. - They rather have their own tribal system, which is the basis of their life and true religion. The rest is all the cultural features of the country where they live, in which they are embedded.
Reading Raymond Buckland's Gypsies. Secrets of life and tradition. Came across this place, in the chapter on religious beliefs:
“In the book Gypsies: Wanderers of the World (McDowell B. Gypsies: Wanderers of the World. Washington, D. C: national geographic Society, 1970) Gypsy Cliff Lee reports the following: “I often went to church, but only to baptisms. Priests at baptism gave the baby coins. I remember as children we went to church eight times in one Sunday and baptized the same baby each time. Each church gave a different name, and the baby was borrowed.”
What is overseas exotic! There are many of our gypsies who visit the Minusinsk Spassky Cathedral.
I love them like children ... Children, as you know, are uncompromising creatures, often cruel, emotionally drunk, extremely, sloppy, simply dirty, naive, and all this coexists in them with original purity (for whom everyday everyday observations of children are not enough and who live in ivory tower, feeding on the secondary homogenized puree of literature-film-music, he may recall "Peter Pan", "Lord of the Flies" by Golding or the film "Scarecrow" by Rolan Bykov, in extreme cases - the American comedy "Problem Child") - they still just learning to live, it could be like that in the Garden of Eden ...
Photo: Anzor Bukharsky, photosight.ru
Uncompromising - but Torquemadas and Vyshinskys are rarely obtained from children: the fate of exiles, the cross of sorrows and roads imposed on the gypsies by God, does not allow them to become stagnant in evil, that is, to rise to a spiritual level higher - and to commit evil a degree higher (remember, u, v "Meditation on the Psalms": "If God's call does not make us better, it will make us much worse. Of all bad people worst of all are bad religious people. Of all creatures, the worst is the one who has seen God face to face…. Offtopic: from here the philistine conclusion of a contemporary could follow: of all the current Russians, for example, the priests are the worst; but right, let's not rush!).
Priest Sergiy Kruglov
In our town there is an area consisting mainly of one-story wooden houses built in the 40s - 50s of the last century, called the Gypsy swamp. "Gypsy" - because a large part of the population here are Roma. "Swamp" - because Minusinsk lies at the bottom of a geological formation called " Minusinsk basin”, and the Gypsy swamp is the most swampy bottom of this basin: the area is located in the floodplain of some ancient reservoir, it is constantly flooded with spring melt water, the soils here are sandy and easily watered with moisture.
I remember that there, in the area of Manskaya and Krasnoyarskaya streets, there is a half-pond-half-pool, in which every spring you can see great armadas of juvenile harlots, plowing the water surface on gates torn from fences, rafts hastily knocked together from slabs, controlled by poles, and inflated chambers; ukhari arrange formidable trafalgars among themselves here, fighting not for life, but for death, downright street to street, in the best, time-honored heroic traditions of mysterious russian soul.
The gypsies who live here, what they live with - I don’t know for sure, therefore I won’t lie, but they sell techie alcohol (aka “shmurdyak”, aka “awl” in the local dialect) and marijuana, yes, they sell. In fairness, I note: they are far from alone ... But somehow they “trade”, and do not trade with might and main, brazenly and shamelessly, and they don’t build any magnificent palaces for themselves in Minusinsk - however, it’s better not to ask for specifics on these facts to me, but to the relevant local police authorities.
Gypsies often come to the Spassky Cathedral.
... Faina is an elderly gypsy, similar to the Indian actress Zinat Aman, if she is aged to 70 years (however, who knows - maybe the charming traitor from the Soviet-Indian film about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is already 70, I haven’t seen her for a long time new masterpieces of Bollywood).
She goes to almost every service, at every service, and repents with tears, all in the same thing ... She does not know the depths of patristic psychology, she cannot clearly voice the eight deadly sins with their divisions, but her tears for the whole family, for unlucky children and grandchildren, for a clumsy life - are genuine. That each of her confessions touches my heart - her joyful and incredulous amazement when I say a permissive prayer: “- Faina. “Yes, Faya!… Father, do you remember my name?!..”
... About ten years ago it was. The time is around midnight. I'm going to sleep. Persistent ringing at the door ... I open: madamaragaya! The stairwell is full of gypsies. Elderly woman He excitedly says to me: “Father, please come with us! I have a child, a girl, in intensive care, confess, take communion ... ”Where to go, got ready, went.
On the way I find out: how old is the girl?
“Yes, thirty-two.”
Whoa, I think. Big…
– What happened to her?
- “Yes, her husband left her, she drank vinegar ...”
I come to the ward - a young gypsy, a beauty, is lying on her back in bed, toiling terribly - acetic acid has burned everything, from the larynx to the rectum, she cannot speak, there are tears in her eyes ... It is clear that I can’t give her the Holy Gifts - she has nothing to swallow. At least confess... And what is the generality of that confession. He only asked in his hearts: “Do you yourself, I say, understand that you are a fool?” Nodding, crying... He covered it with a stole, read a prayer.
She died shortly after a few hours. Children, you say? Yes, she also had children, they usually give birth to all children, gypsies and protection are not honored. Well, there were a lot of relatives there, they didn’t let the children go to waste, I think.
... I always noted how earnestly they observe external rituals, they are baptized habitually and correctly, everyone knows by heart. Centuries of wandering, apparently, taught them to accept the religion of the country in which they stopped, to honor it, even to mimic ...
In the cemeteries of Minusinsk, both in the old and in the new, gypsy graves are the most prominent. And not only because the monuments are bright, expensive, the fences are forged, for centuries, because the pomposity of wreaths (children love toys) climbs into the eyes. These graves are family graves. The tables are strong, benches, barbecues are dug in nearby. And they come to parent days there the whole camp - from old people to great-great-grandchildren. And they will always find a priest in the vastness of the cemetery - on, for example, this is both troublesome and problematic - and politely take them by the arms to the grave, serve lithium, and greet with all respect. With superficial, someone will say? Yes, even so. Ordinary wrapped running ass and that's nice.
… In general, christenings and funerals are such moments of human life when you touch something simple and important. Christenings and funeral services for gypsies - including. They once baptized a gypsy girl, about two years old. Large, like a five year old.
As it often happens with children for baptism (in the church for the first time, they think that they may have brought to the hospital, they are afraid of a man with a beard in an apron and with a wand in his hand, even more so - if they were torn from their mother, they gave it to their godmother), the girl yawned to roar, powerful bass. The godmother, who tried to hold her in her arms, tore out a tuft of hair ... Numerous relatives present at the baptism yelled: “Jah! Jah!…”, grabbed the child, pushed me into a corner, tried to shove the girl into the font herself… barely repulsed and finished the sacrament. It's hot, I remember, it's summer, sweat is pouring from everyone in a stream.
The girl came out of the font quiet, and really like a newborn. In Church Slavonic, “baptism” is “bath of resurrection”. "Pakistanie" - eternal life; and the bath ... the bath is the bath.
I once buried two gypsies - husband and wife, young, about thirty years old. They killed them, took the car away, lowered them themselves under the ice, and found them in the spring.
Gypsy hut, a combination of luxury and dirt: expensive wallpapers, burgundy with gold, plastic double-glazed windows in the window openings of the hut, fragments of European-style renovation, the iconostasis in the corner shines with gilded foil. Two coffins made of mahogany (or imitation?) - next to each other; all relatives have a mink on their heads, leather jackets on their shoulders, unwashed fingers are all in gold.
Luxurious coffins stand on shaky stools, the floor is spit and covered in gobies, on the tables - vodka immeasurably; props of grief... What was real - the marble and calm faces of the deceased, and - the tears of their mother. Her cry, restrained, not to howl, but sincere - the woman who gave birth and buried children, Rachel, crying for her children, cries in all languages, in all religions and cultures - the same.
... Passion for what gypsies love to give oaths. They swear - and then, unable to fulfill, they go to the temple in horror, they say, remove the oath from me. The other day a woman came crying. What am I saying? “But I don’t know what to do! And I swore on the grave!…” – On what grave, what is it?! - “And on the grave I swore that I would slaughter him! I swore by this child! ... ”A child is loitering behind her back - a curly black-haired guy of about twenty, who looks like he is bursting with health and with this health adjusted to live at least a hundred years. “Eh,” I say. - What nonsense, you need to come to confession. He nods his head happily; I know for sure - it will come.
Gypsy women are generally a special article. Their husbands are often useless: they don’t work, they get drunk, and they force their wives to get money by any means. So they get it ... No matter how many of them came to the temple, with all sorts of needs - whether to ask for advice, whether to consecrate the house, whether to baptize a child - looking at all of them, I thought: yes, these are women. Such and such, it is clear that gypsies, what to take from them. Approximately the same as God created them back then, in the Garden of Eden (what thoughts, looking at European feminists, for example, cannot be said in a fairy tale or in nightmare you won't guess).
Much more could be written about gypsies. About an old woman who predicted to me a long time ago - just like that, for a ladle of water on a hot day - all the main stages of my life, which I did not believe in the slightest at that time. About the holy girl Rimma Zolotareva, who suffered from a brain disorder and communicated with angels, whom I communed until the day of her death and about whom I wrote the poem “Spring of Light”, which was subsequently translated into various European languages.
Mom said that my family was also mixed with gypsies, and I saw pre-war photos of my grandfathers cousins - handsome, each like Nikolai Slichenko, all communists and violent heads, somewhere these heads were then laid down, and I I myself don’t know anything about gypsies, how rum and scrap differ, or who Black Sarah is, nothing at all.
About the fact that we are all children of God, and who has what gifts and from whom what will be asked, and why God has useful laying hens, why - songful nightingales, and why - completely useless vagrants-sparrows ... There could be a lot of things write, is it worth it? For said in Holy Scripture wise Ecclesiastes: “… To compose many books there will be no end, and to read much is tiring for the bodies. a” (Eccl. 12:12b)
What is the religion of the gypsies? It's not just their outfits that are colorful. Their religious views are also very diverse. They mainly depend on where they live. Although, of course, there are exceptions to every rule.
Where do gypsies professing Orthodoxy live?
For example, among those who live in Russia, the prevailing religion is Orthodoxy, as is the case with the main part of Russians. As in the main part of the CIS countries. Romanians are also Orthodox.
In what countries do Muslim gypsies live?
Lyuli (gypsies living in Tajikistan) predominantly adhere to the Islamic faith. Like many who live in Central Asia and North Africa.
And where do the gypsies-Catholics and Protestants live?
Gypsies living in Poland and others European countries main religion is Catholicism. The same is true with Protestantism. In countries where this religion is widespread, they adhere to it.
In art
In the film "Gypsy Aza" the Sun was often mentioned, and even as a deity. Who knows, maybe they worshiped the Sun and followed him? In any case, one of these people could well.
A legend that is common among the gypsies
Among this people is common and beautiful legend. When the Romans decided to crucify Christ, they ordered the blacksmith (who, of course, was a gypsy) to make five large nails, that is, to forge, they were needed for the execution. Four are for the arms and legs, and the fifth is for the heart. He, of course, made an attempt to refuse, but he, with the help of whips, was forced to do this work.
When the execution began, the gypsy quietly swallowed the fifth nail intended for the heart. For this, the Lord loved all the gypsies and patronizes them to this day.
Another version is less poetic: the gypsy simply stole the fifth nail, and for this God allowed the gypsies to steal.
As with any nation, there are also atheists among the gypsies. This is especially typical in our time. And in principle, this is the most believing people. They regularly attend church and perform all the rituals typical of the country in which they live. This is especially true for the older generation.
What can be said as a conclusion?
The life and customs of the gypsy people are in many ways similar to the customs of the countries in which they live. That is, this people have the ability to adapt to everything. Including the religion of the state in which they live at the moment. They do not have an official religion, which these people adhere to in all countries of residence.
