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Gypsy Life & Culture

Ailish

Ailish

Administrator Emerita
I’ve had two lifetimes with the Gypsies. :D The one I’m going to share a little about – is from Romania in the early 1500’s.

What I remember – is a big, loving family “group” moving together. My mother was a street performer – a musician. She had many other skills and means of earning money for our survival. If someone didn’t have enough, the other members of the community assisted them, so there was never a question of going without.

When we were with our people – I was safe and loved. I knew I was “different” from others, but no one from our group was ever unkind to me. It was entirely different when we moved into villages to perform. I never went along – I stayed hidden back at camp. My mother tried to hide me from others when she performed. I had malformed legs and she was aware of how cruelly our people were treated by “outsiders.” She knew they wouldn’t understand or accept her misshapen little daughter.

For the most part, we were carefree and didn’t remain too long in one place. Most outsiders were quite hostile and “our kind” was not welcomed in most places. That seemed to matter little to our community. We knew people in passing everywhere we went - other groups that travelled together. It was a happy life – until most of our “family” members were captured – and enslaved simply for being gypsies. Eventually, even the ones who eluded capture were separated.

I found some interesting things while researching:


“…the first recorded sale of Roma slaves was in Romania in 1385; a little later, in 1416, Roma were expelled from the Meissen region of Germany. In 1445 the Prince of Wallachia kidnapped 12,000 Gypsies from Bulgaria and put them to slave labour, and in 1449, Roma were driven out of the city of Frankfurt, Germany. The very first anti-Gypsy laws were passed in Switzerland in 1471 and in the same year 17,000 Roma were transported into Moldavia for slave labour.

During the rest of the 16th, 17th, and 18th century the harassment, persecution, and legislation against the Roma continued throughout most of Europe and Scandinavia. Punishment for merely being Rom in Western Europe included deportation (if lucky), galley slavery, flogging, mutilation, or even execution. Persecution of Gypsies has been the norm ever since.”
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A good friend of mine in my present life – Adriana – is from Romania. I told her a little about my memories, and mentioned several words to her that I had written down. She said she did not understand most of them – but a few stood out as being distinctly Romanian.

In Eastern Europe they were enslaved to work either in the fields or in the households of the landowners. The slaves that had been made to work in the homes of the landowners had lost their ancient tongue and acquired the Romanian, Latin based, language. These Romanian speaking Roma have now spread through Hungary and the Balkans into Western Europe and all parts of the western hemisphere. The agricultural slaves maintained much more of their ancient traditions including the Roma language. The Levara, the Churara, and the Macuaya all speak dialects of Roma known as Vlax, and these are the most numerous and widespread of the Gypsies.
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Since Gypsies have such a long and diverse history, I’m curious to know if anyone else has memories of being among the Roma people? Either as a Gyspy – or as someone who had close association with the people or culture?

Aili
 
I dont remember any lives as a gypsy but when I hear anything about them I have always been drawn to them. When I was little I used to ask my parents why we couldnt become gypsies.


Kay
 
I don't have any memories like that either, but I wanted to thank you for sharing yours. It's wonderful that your friend could identify some of the words as Romanian; maybe the others were in the Roma language (is it called Romani?) Were the words your friend identifed as Romanian all related to a special subject, or just random words?
 
Thanks Aili, very interesting read. In my upbringing, we never learned much about Romania, or the countries of that region, for some reason. But I've always been fascinated by their nomadic, wondering life style. It is definitely a trait that is applicable to me. There's a romance to wondering, a lure to the next hillside, a curiosity about the tree line on the horizon. I can feel the sense of "being out of place" or unwelcome. But no memories specific to it. I'd love to hear more of that time, if you will.


Tman
 
I enjoyed reading about your memories Ailish. Please keep us posted as you remember more about your Gypsy life.


I dont remember having a gypsy life but like many others I felt a deep fascination with the Gypsy way of life. I liked their nomadic ways, their closeness they had with other members of their community, etc. For some reason what really appealed to me was how they were on the fringe of society, and always had the ability to pack up and leave. There is a sense of adventure in that, and something to always look forward to.
 
Thanks for your comments, everyone! ;)


I think perhaps many people resonate with that restless wandering from within – especially considering how many cultures had nomads. Even people in the US in the early days travelling in covered wagons could have a sense of that…….just them and the open prairie :D


Reynardine – The Romanian words were just average words, nothing special. Adriana was impressed – since Romanian is a difficult language. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone who speaks Romani, so I can’t verify that the words I was speaking were accurate Romani. One day, perhaps ;)


Tman – My mother and I were caught and enslaved. My mother managed to get us away; we found familiar friends on our journey that permitted us to travel with them.


Eventually, we were captured again and sent to some sort of….holding area. A building made of stone that had wooden bars. The floors were dirt – and straw. There were a few other Romani people there – women and small children. People would come and stare through the bars at us. They were predominantly men. They would point to a specific child and speak amongst themselves. Then the children were taken one by one and sold. They did not sell me – I was not considered valuable with my crippled legs.
 
Very interesting and fascinating memories, Aili! It's not often I've come across pl memories involving the Gypsies - or Romani to be politically correct :) .


I look forward to hearing more about it :) Hope you find some way to check those words. Could there be an online dictionary of Romani? You never know :rolleyes: :laugh:
 
It was really cool to come across this. When I was little, my Grandpa used to tell us stories of our heritage...and he always said that we originated from Gypsies. My maiden name is "Holiday". He always told such amazing stories, but of course as a kid I didn't try to remember it all...and now he has such a hard time remembering things, that I wish I had paid better attention. But, this has always been of interest to me. To think of a Life like that...just amazes me! :rolleyes:
 
Thank you Sunniva & Sunny! :D


Sunniva - I will have to check around for a dictionary. ;) I'd like to wait and do some more work around this life before looking for more information. My notes are old - I was just a child at the time. I haven't had anything new about this life for a very long time.


Sunny, that’s really cool that your ancestors may have been Romani. Perhaps your Grandpa would still be able to tell you some of those stories – and you could write them down for your own children. :D


Do you feel that you may have had a similar life at some point?
 
Hi ~Ophelia~


Welcome to the forum. :) Thank you for the comments, and for asking about my other lifetime.


The memories of that life are not as vivid, but I do know that I wasn’t born to the Gypsies. My parents were wealthy – and often allowed the Roma to set up camp on our land and gave them small jobs, for as long as they stayed.


My siblings and I became close to one of the woman who helped around the house. She used to tell the most exciting stories. Her husband worked the land outdoors.


I’m not certain how I got to be living with them on the road, but I believe that when they left, they took me with them. It was a difficult transition from a regular, privileged life – to one that was constantly on the road. I remember that I kept asking to go home – and this made the gypsy woman and her husband very sad.


I learned to understand them – their culture and their differences. I don’t think I ever really fit in though. ;)


I’d love to hear about some of your memories and experiences, if you’d like to share.


Ailish
 
Hi Aili,


The fact that you lived a life as a gypsy is not surprising to me. In the Brazilian/African spiritualist lines, the "phalanx" of the gypsies is considered as one of the most evolved... :thumbsup: In fact, I have a gypsy spiritual guide called "Vladimir".
 
Hi Aili,


I have a great attraction to gypsies and gypsy life, but don't recall any past life as one.


In the Brazilian/African spiritualist lines, the spiritual entities present themselves symbolically in divisions that they denominate "phalanxes", according to the entitity's level of development: as indians, ex-slaves, children, gypsies... Always symbolizing the more humble and "persecuted" races. During a very rough phase of my life, I was helped by a "Gypsy Lady" called Dolores. The phalanx of the gypsies is one of my favorite. In the spiritualist sessions held in some spiritual centers here in Brazil, they present themselves with lots of dancing, card playing and so on, just like the gypsies... :thumbsup:
 
I had a PL dream last night, where I belonged to a group of gypsies. But I am still too confused about it all to share much more.


I have a question though : Has anyone heard of a massacre on gypsies, near the Italian border? Because I witnessed something like that, and when we fled, my companion said : 'Hold on, we will reach the Italian border soon, and then we will be safe.'


Eevee
 
Interesting, Eevee. I have always thought for some reason that I have once been a gypsy in Italy. :confused:


I think there have been many massacres of the Roma in the European history. :( What could be a clue for you, is that you were specifically talking about Italy, as the country hasn't been called that always. I think the history of Italy is very complexed, but after Rome it consisted of small autonomous (sp?) states, I think.


On the other hand, you never know if a modern word slips into your dream, even if it's set in older times. :tongue:


Keep us posted!


Karoliina
 
It's very interesting, Eevee :) The first thing that came to my mind was that the Roma were also prosecuted during WWII. Perhaps there was a massacre relating to that? Do you have a clue which time it was?


:)
 
Hi Eevee,


Like Sunniva, I also thought of WWII, when the gypsies were also persecuted by the Germans. Do you remember of any other past life in WWII, or would this be a good clue? :)


I also have very strong feelings about a past life as a gypsy, but no "memories". I do, however, have a spiritual guide who presents himself as a gypsy, whose name is Vladimir... :thumbsup:
 
I researched somewhat yesterday evening, and I also think one of the massacres during WWII would be most fitting. We were wearing clothes that didn't look too oldfashioned. However, I recognized the companion I had then as someone that I know now also, and has memories about a PL where he was born in 1945. It is possible of course that my companion didn't survive the massacre long..I have no memories of that yet.


Charles, I remember being a soldier...but it could have been in any war, the Napoleonic wars, WWI or WWII. I talked about that in a thread 'Soldier in the snow'.


BTW, the massacre took place on an open spot in the woods, and me and my friend were hiding in a cave nearby. So there were also hills or mountains in the region. I also remember that we were walking on rocky ground and climbing when we were fleeing.


Eevee
 
Hiya Eevee,


I was doing some research online - I know the Roma have been persecuted for many years in many different countries...


I thought this may be of interest to you - at least it's something to look into:

Gypsies under Italian Control
In Italy, before the war, the authorities rounded up Gypsies and put them on islands off the mainland. Later, Gypsies from the Three Venices area were sent to Germany for forced labour or to extermination camps. Gypsies who managed to escape the Ustasa massacres in Croatia were sheltered by the authorities in the Italian zone of Yugoslavia. In the fall of 1943, when the Germans took over territories that the Italians had held there, and in Albania, they interned Gypsies and sent some to concentration camps.
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Do you think it's possible you were coming from the Ustasa massacres - looking to find safety in Italy?


You can find more about the Gypsies in that time here. ;)


Aili
 
Thank you, Aili !


This really is valuable information ! I think indeed it must have been during that time and in that region - Croatia. Probably it was commonly known amongst the gypsies that Italy was a safe place to go.


Reading the article, I also think we didn't belong to the 'Mischlinge'. Because of what was going on earlier in my memory.


It had been a rainy day. Some of us had gone to town and have a drink in a local café or inn. We were drinking and having fun. There was also a lot of singing. A while after it stopped raining, we returned to our camping place. I remember us walking on a path, trying to avoid the puddles. We were all in a good mood, because that night there would be a feast at our camp, or a celebration, we would sing and dance and were looking forward to it. When we arrived near our camping spot, we heard and saw a lot of turmoil. My friend grabbed me by my arm and led me silently to the cave. Because it was dark already, the attackers probably didn't notice us, occupied as they were already.


A long while after everything was silent again, we came out of our hiding place and saw all the bodies lying on the ground. No sign of the attackers anymore, but my friend thought it wise to hide again in the cave for a while, and then escape.


The next scene I remembered was that we were already on the run, I was getting exhausted and sweating, and he encouraged me to hold on.


I think we were not aware - before the attack - that we could be in danger, since we were openly in town and at the inn. It came as a total surprise.


Eevee
 
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