Gypsy men. The role of men in traditional gypsy society

11, 11:24 a.m.

We no longer wear national costumes. Secondly, we have forgotten many words from the gypsy vocabulary. And in
our speech already has Russian. After all, we do not have schools or even separate classes for the study of our history, culture, dance. On the one hand, there is no money for this, on the other hand, there are no teaching staff. Although all children in families are taught two languages ​​- Russian and Gypsy.

And in terms of the ritual side of the holidays?

Gypsy rituals are not much different from Russian ones. The only condition is that the girl must be clean. It's number one
and the sheet is shown to everyone.

Is it still preserved or is it just a formality?

It has survived to this day and is a must at every wedding. Only gypsy songs and dances. All gypsies without exception
sing, especially when they drink. And we also have men sitting separately, and women separately.

A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. What can you talk about at the table with women? You are with men
should communicate. There is time for the wife at home.

The marriage of a gypsy and a non-gypsy is not welcome ...

Dissolution of blood. If this happens, she must accept the gypsy laws in their entirety and live according to the gypsy
customs. Our women don't wear trousers. A woman does not speak when a man speaks. When gypsies come to visit a gypsy,
the woman only serves refreshments, she has no right to sit at the table. She submits to her husband in body and soul.

A woman is excommunicated from society if she has cheated. Most often, she leaves for another city where she is not known.

What about women's education?

At the lowest level. If the guys are now starting to enter educational institutions, then there are very few girls. Approximately
one to nine.

And now your organization stands for raising the level of education of gypsies, on the one hand, and on the other, you are obliged to obey
national laws, according to which a woman cannot contradict her husband ...

Yes, there is such a paradox. This European organization, the Center for the Protection of the Rights of Roma, tells us: you have no right
to marry children at fifteen or sixteen years old, this is contrary to democracy. But how can we not have the right, if this is part of our
the laws? What can a girl of sixteen or seventeen decide? Whom she should marry, her parents decide, and in 90 percent
without her consent.

Why should a girl be married so early?

The sooner this happens, the better, the sooner she will get used to it. And when she is 20-25, she has already formed some
hobbies that can lead in the wrong direction, we guard against this. It happens that young people who fell in love with a friend
friend run away. Then they return, but what can be done - you have to marry them. But this is not welcome.

And children, maybe, according to some rules, names are given?

No, we are given Orthodox names. True, 30-40 years ago there was a fashion to name children as in Indian films - Arthurs,
Raji. In fact, I know a little gypsy names - five or six. Merikla from the word "beads", Patrina from the word "picture",
men's Zabaro, Lacho, Gojo. We rarely use them now, because they are not in the church dictionary to baptize a child.

Most often, the gypsy people are associated with fortune telling ...

Fortune telling is a primordially popular gypsy occupation, despite the fact that, according to Christian laws, knowing the future is a sin.
The secrets of divination are passed down from generation to generation through the female line. It's in our blood. And after all, most of them are gypsies.
guess a lot. And what about fortune tellers on the street ... Women are most often let down by their own curiosity and desire for someone
bewitch.

And what character traits can you call national?

Number one is the gypsy in the house is the boss. Our stable family life follows from this, and fewer divorces from this. And in general,
we can say that the gypsies are a hot people.

Gypsies are considered a free and mysterious people, which is characterized by an ambiguous attitude of society. This is due to their way of life, traditions and customs. Some do not like the nationality for fraud and deceit, others "do not have a soul in it" and invite its representatives to various events and holidays to enjoy songs and dances. Signs of what gypsies look like include bright appearance and clothes that make them stand out from the crowd.

Characteristic signs of gypsies

Gypsies are a large ethnic group of Indian origin. A common self-name is Roma, Roma (or Romals in the vocative case). However, other ethnonyms are also used: the Finnish and Estonian peoples call the gypsies "black" (kale), the French - Bohemians, the British - Egyptians. They are also called sinti, manush and so on.

Since ancient times, the people have been wandering around cities and countries, without having their own state.

On April 8, 1971, at the First World Gypsy Congress, they were proclaimed a single non-territorial nation. Since then, this date is listed as the international day of the gypsies. Traditionally, they light a candle in the evening and carry it down the street.

The territories where the people live include the countries of Europe, North Africa, North and South America, Australia. According to Wikipedia, the number of European gypsies is 8-12 million. In Russia in 2010, the number of representatives of the nationality is 220 thousand. In many countries, there are few gypsies, and they are scattered throughout the territory. Such few groups are found among the Croats or in China.

However, it is difficult to say exactly how many Roma live in a particular territory. This is due to their characteristic feature - the lack of "legal visibility". Gypsies and their children live in a camp, often not registered, do not have documents, passports, are listed as “missing”.

The nationality belongs to the Indo-Mediterranean race of the large Caucasian race. They speak the Romani language of the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European family, which is divided into a number of dialects.

The religion of the Gypsies includes the Christian religion, Islam. Representatives of the people of the Orthodox faith greatly revere God and observe church holidays and customs. Significant events for Christians are Easter and Christmas.

The self-name of the gypsies who profess Islam is Ogly.

Depending on the territorial affiliation, 6 branches of the nationality are distinguished.

Western Gypsies include:

Eastern Gypsies:

In addition to those named, there are narrow groups: British, Scandinavian kale, Romanichels, and so on. An ethnic group known as the Lovari formed in Hungary. The composition of a large branch of Roma also includes various groups, for example, kotlyars, shown in the photo.

In European countries, there are ethnic groups that are close to the gypsies in their way of life: Irish travelers, Central European Yenish. However, they have a different origin.

Hindus are truly anthropologically similar to gypsies. The former are distinguished by high growth, the Hungarian representatives are characterized by average indicators.

Face and head shape

Gypsies are characterized by dolichocephaly (long-headedness), a straight and slightly sloping forehead.

The photo shows the famous boxer Johann Wilhelm Trollman "Rukeli".

A gypsy is easily distinguished by a swarthy complexion, reminiscent of a shade of chocolate or old parchment.

Eyes

Mostly the eye color of a representative of the people is dark, brown, green is possible.

The latter is especially revered by the gypsies, as it is characterized by magical powers. But they avoid blue-eyed people because of the "bad look" that can send trouble.

The photo shows an actress, dancer, singer Soledad Miranda, who tragically died at the age of 27.

Gypsies are distinguished by their expressive, piercing and quick look, which introduces a person into a state similar to hypnosis, helps to see the past and the future.

Nose

The forms of the olfactory organ in gypsies are diverse. The nose is predominantly large. At the same time, it is long, thin. The shape is possible straight or aquiline with a hump.

The photo shows the footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Hair

For gypsies, hair is a sign of happiness - the longer, the better. Previously, they were often sheared exiled and isolated. Therefore, women and men try not to wear too short hairstyles.

Dark and curly hair is characteristic, red color is considered to attract happiness. Gypsies also have chestnut, golden brown shades.

The photo shows a dancer, model, artist Adelina Plakhotnaya and singer, member of the Roots group Alexander Berdnikov.

Adelina Plahotnaya

Alexander Berdnikov

In France, there are Zhitans - blue-eyed representatives of the nationality with blond hair.

Blonde gypsies are shown in the photo.

Appearance of a gypsy

The image of the fairer sex among the gypsies is bright, there is always an expressive make-up, puffy colored skirts, beautiful gold jewelry: rings, brooches, chains.

At the same time, modern Western European standards of beauty are alien to them - they do not show long naked legs.

It is believed that the area below the belt is clear only in young girls before the birth of children. After it becomes "bad" and you can not touch this area. Two puffy skirts to the toes cover the "dirty" area, while one is not enough.

The photo shows gypsies in traditional costumes.

Face

The look of the beautiful gypsy is mesmerizing, you can look into her “diamond” eyes endlessly. Their color is predominantly brown or green.

Hair is lush, long, thick, black, dark chestnut, red, light brown shades. Curl often. The skin is usually dark, but a light color is also possible.

Actress, model, dancer Rita Hayworth is recognized as one of the most beautiful gypsy women.

Figure

A good look at the figure of a gypsy allows traditional gypsy dances.

Such dances help fathers to look after the girls who are suitable as brides for their sons.

Gypsies are characterized by a flexible, graceful body. Young girls are slender, fragile, tender.

The photo shows the actress and singer Diana Savelyeva.

Since families with many children are characteristic of gypsies, the figures of a woman become rounder and fatter towards maturity. However, numerous births do not affect natural grace and grace.

Gypsy names and surnames

The full name of the nationality includes 3-5 parts:

• official;
• secular;
• patronymic;
• surname;
• the nickname of a branch of the family.

The official name is registered in documents or received at baptism.

Secular is widely used when communicating in everyday life with gypsies or other nationalities. These include:

• A nickname is a peculiar characteristic of a person or the events taking place with him ("Waterman", "Crow").
• Baptismal - if it differs from the official one;
• Name in gypsy or other exotic language (Tagari).

Secular names may coincide with official ones or be their abbreviations: Dmitry - Mito. At the same time, a person is called so not only in childhood and adolescence, but throughout his life.

Patronymic is used when you need to introduce yourself officially (when interacting with government agencies, with solemn congratulations, and so on).

The peculiarity of the naming system is present in boilers. They may have a middle name from their father, mother, or both parents.

A gypsy suits a secular name, which is used even together with a surname.

Surnames are used in the same way as other Europeans. With a large family, a special nickname is added to the surname. In Russia, it usually comes from the secular name of famous ancestors.

In gypsy society, good names are those associated with faith, God, jewelry, the sun. These are Bogdan (given by God), Zlata, Vera, Drago (precious), Ruby, Diamond and so on. "Flower" names for women are also welcome: Lily, Jasmine, Rose and others.

To designate a character trait in a person, they call: Veselina (cheerful), Svetlana (bright), Shanita (calm), Shuko (beautiful) and so on.

Origin

In the world

The roots of the Gypsy people originate in India. This is evidenced by their genetic analysis. Haplogroup H (Y-DNA) is present in Gypsies (60%) and Indigenous Indians (27%). It is also found in Tajik, Syrian peoples, Kalash, Kurds from Turkmenistan.

Gypsies come from the north-west of India and appeared about 1.5 thousand years ago. Their language was influenced by the Persians and Greeks. Gypsies are home to Rajasthan, Kashmir and Gujarat.

After 6 centuries, there was an immigration of the people to Europe, most likely due to their oppression by Muslims. At the same time, there is a mixture of blood with other nationalities. The main part of the representatives of the nationality occupies the territory of Europe, but most of all there are Romanian and Hungarian gypsies. Their number is in the range of 2.5-8 million people. In Bulgaria, the share of nationality is 4.7% of the population (370 thousand people). A sufficient number of representatives among the Serbs.

The photo shows gypsies in Romania and Hungary.

Gypsies in Romania

Gypsies in Hungary

The description of the story during the tyranny of the German fascists led by Adolf Hitler includes the massacre of the Gypsies, along with the Jews.

For a long time, the attitude of other nationalities towards the gypsy people has been ambiguous. Until the 15th century, Europeans were friendly towards them, but then the situation changed to the opposite. Why this happened is explained by the behavior of the gypsies: it turned out that they steal, deceive, beg, which earned them a reputation as swindlers and vagrants.

After that, the displacement of the people from the territories began, rottenness, mockery of them and even murders. However, after 3 centuries the situation stabilized, the gypsies are more tolerant.

In the nationality, there is a division into sedentary castes, semi-sedentary and nomadic. The latter lived in a camp, in which the vaida, the leader, was the main one. He resolved internal conflicts, represented people before the authorities of the country where they roamed at that moment.

Settled or semi-sedentary took root everywhere, adjusting to religious customs and accepting the faith of the people where they were located.

In Russia

The ways where the gypsies came from on Russian soil are the Balkan countries (in the 15th century), Germany, Poland (in the 16th-17th centuries). They appeared in the 17th century on the territory of modern Ukraine.

The increase in the number of gypsies occurred with the expansion of the borders of Russia. When part of Poland was annexed, Polish Roma appeared, Bessarabia - Moldavian, Crimea - Crimean.

Before the 1917 revolution, men traded horses, women engaged in fortune-telling and magic. Nomads were fond of begging, divination and witchcraft, sometimes blacksmithing. Gypsies who settled in St. Petersburg in the 30s of the 19th century filled up the choirs, many of which were freed by the government from serfdom. The popularity of the people and their culture at that time was extremely high. Noble people married gypsy girls.

After the revolution, a decree is issued for the people to organize a way of life suitable for work. So the gypsies joined the Soviet family, the peoples fought the enemy together during the Great Patriotic War.

The only gypsy who was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" was Timofey Prokofiev, a Marine. Thanks to the gypsy, the Germans did not defeat the Nikolaevsky landing. He fired machine-gun fire to the last, and even after a mortal wound to the head, having gathered his strength, he fired a burst at the approaching Nazis.

In 1956, a decree was again issued, after which the bulk of the nomads adopted a sedentary lifestyle. Modern gypsies are endowed with the right: to choose the sphere of work, to receive secondary and higher education. However, only a few use them.

The origin of the gypsies is known to scientists, but there are rumors everywhere about who they are and where they came from. There are versions that they are Moldovans or Romanians. And even the gypsies are the descendants of the sunken Atlantis. Moldovan and Romanian people belong to other ethnic groups. And the version of belonging to Atlantis is due to the mystical abilities of the ethnic group.

Nationality is correctly spelled in the plural "gypsies", despite the fact that the poem by Alexander Pushkin is called "Gypsies" - this is an outdated form.

Features of the character and life of gypsies: customs and laws

In 1971, after the World Roma Congress, the national anthem and the flag shown in the picture were adopted.

As a coat of arms, the people use symbols: a deck of cards, a horseshoe, a wheel.

Gypsies are characterized by a free way of life. To this day, its representatives are engaged in primordial affairs: they sing, dance beautifully, walk, play the guitar, train bears and other animals, and like to guess. At the same time, mostly friendly and warm relations develop in the community.

Cheerful jokers are invited by order for holidays: birthdays, weddings, anniversaries.

Gypsies are often represented as swindlers, beggars. They can be found at stations, in trams, trolleybuses, electric trains, sitting on the roadsides with small children, where they beg.

They pester passers-by with an offer to tell fortunes, they are excellent psychologists who can ingratiate themselves. If a person speaks and answers, they beg him for alms by suggestion. In this case, the victim voluntarily gives all the money from the wallet.

Of interest is the ethnic group of sea gypsies - Bajo, roaming the Indian Ocean. They live in huts above the water, they are engaged in fishing. They land on land exclusively for trade, boat repair, replenishment of fresh water, or in the event of a funeral.

However, today's young sea gypsies are often unwilling to live by the rules of their ancestors. They move to land, study and work in normal conditions, which was not accepted by previous generations.

Movies are made about the life of gypsies, rules and traditions: “The Return of Budulay”, “The camp goes to the sky”, “Gypsy” and so on. Many world-famous actors have gypsy roots.

For example, the People's Artist of Russia Ekaterina Zhemchuzhnaya, shown in the photo.

The famous actor and comedian Charlie Chaplin was a gypsy.

There are disputes about belonging to the nationality of many famous people. Data are given that the famous singer Elvis Presley comes from a family of German gypsies who emigrated to the United States.

The peculiarity of the life of the nationality lies in the fact that its representatives are often either fabulously rich or poor. In the first case, their houses resemble palaces with luxurious and expensive furnishings.

In the second case, the gypsies live in extreme poverty in the absence of basic living conditions. They often act as illegals.

Gypsies eat simple food, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian trends can be traced in national cuisine. They love chicken, lamb, beef, soups made from beets, sauerkraut, they cook tumals (tamals) - minced meat wrapped in corn cake, harba - a product made from blood, liver and lard. The national drink is black tea with herbs and berries.

Gypsy life is filled with customs and rules, many of which are subject to mandatory execution.

Other nationalities have beliefs associated with gypsies. If you dreamed of a camp, the dream book speaks of the desire for a promiscuous sex life with a frequent change of partners. A dream, when gypsies ride from place to place, signals nostalgia for the past. The fortuneteller is seen to hand over fate to the wrong person. In general, what gypsies dream of means haste in decisions and actions. If you went to buy something from them, this portends a loss of money.

Wedding

The rite is responsible for the transition of young guys and girls to a new hierarchical status. This is the reason why gypsies marry early. If a girl is 19 years old unmarried, she is considered an old maid. At what age young people get married, parents often decide. The girl is recognized as a potential bride after 14 years. Only in late marriages are the feelings and choices of the lovers taken into account.

The wedding is preceded by the betrothal performed by the parents. In early marriages, the decision to marry does not depend on the will of the children.

It is possible to ransom the bride, but in this case, she is expected to work off the money spent.

The girl marries a virgin. Proof in the form of a bloody bed sheet is provided after the wedding night. If a gypsy girl is not a virgin, this is considered a disgrace by the nation.

Marriages between representatives of the nationality of different states are unlikely. This is tantamount to marrying a non-gypsy, which is discouraged by gypsy law. Remarriages are not approved.

Funeral

The rite, how the funeral takes place, is due to the belief that a person in the other world needs things that are in life. Gypsies prepare for the burial in advance, children save up money in order to worthily see off their parents. A tombstone of impressive size is considered luxurious, where the deceased is depicted in full growth.

When a person is buried, 3 items are passed to relatives or friends through the coffin: an icon (male or female), a carpet and a bed. Inside put the essentials and alcohol. Mirrors are hung for 40 days, mourning is observed for a year.

gypsy curses

Rituals are recognized as carrying magical power and are considered among other nationalities the reason why gypsies are dangerous. However, not all of them are characterized by mystical abilities. A real magician will not waste complex rituals. Therefore, curses from angry fortune-tellers are usually an empty phrase.

Gypsies can curse when hurting the family. Usually there is no charge for it.

Signs that a person has a curse are:

• weight loss or gain, deterioration in well-being, appearance (aging);
• the development of diseases that are not treatable;
• apathy;
• nightmares;
• a believer does not wear a cross, refuses to attend church because of fear;
• scandals in the family;
• care of pets from home.

To remove damage, it is advisable to use water - wash your face in the river in the morning for 12 days, uttering a special conspiracy. Also, to get rid of damage, cemetery rites and others are used.

gypsy law

It is an unwritten set of rules for execution in gypsy society and outside it. At present, each country has its own law, and even within it among different types of nationality.

Compliance is monitored by elderly members of the community, conflicts and violations are sorted out by a gypsy court, which includes authoritative people.

The most terrible sentence is the expulsion of the criminal.

The main postulate of the law is the observance of the rules and restrictions of non-Roma society in dealing with it.

Murder, rape, severe physical harm are prohibited.

The rules of conduct within the gypsy society are also announced: clothing, holidays, household layout, an overview of professions, and so on.

Common stereotypes

The stereotypes about the Roma come from numerous stories about their lives, stories of victims of fraud and people's own observations, since Roma are present in almost every country in the world.

• They don't have a homeland. Gypsies are people without a specific citizenship, which they are often denied even if they were born in a given country. Recognition of the nationality as non-territorial made them legally "invisible".
• They don't like to study. Representatives of the nationality send their children to school to teach elementary knowledge: to read, write, count. Often, after that, the child quits classes, helping parents in the trade.
• Gypsies consider it honorable to drink a lot and not get drunk at the same time.
• Gypsies are good psychologists with hypnosis. For this reason, they should be avoided, divination from them will do more harm than good. The main goal of the gypsy is to earn income. Rare individuals have the ability to predict, the rest create a magical image around themselves: witch balls, tarot cards and other paraphernalia.
• Gypsies have a high rate of domestic violence. The wife bears a heavy burden, submitting to her tyrant husband, and at the same time she is forced to endure, since the tradition assumes marriage for life.
• A gypsy family must have at least one son. If this does not happen for a long time, the boy is taken from the shelter, regardless of his nationality. This was one of the reasons explaining the claim that the gypsies stole children. Often people, seeing a bright, blue-eyed and completely different child in the camp, declared that he had been stolen.
• If the family has a two-story house, the woman cannot go up to the second floor if the husband is on the first

Gypsies and Belarusians keep apart from each other. Mainly because over the centuries both they and we have already developed a traditional opinion about each other. These stereotypes, as always, not only measure everyone with the same brush and do not change over time, but are also difficult to eradicate in principle. However, there is one way - just to learn the gypsy national customs and try to understand them. That is why we chose Oleg Kozlovsky, the head of the Belarusian Gypsy Diaspora public association, as our interlocutor.

- Oleg, why, in your opinion, is there a mutual distancing of Roma and Belarusians from each other?
- This phenomenon has been present for more than one decade, and maybe even a century. There have been stereotypes about gypsies for a long time. They are associated with some kind of crime, mistrust, if one of the officials finds out that gypsies are involved in the business, they begin to suspect that something is unclean there. Even if there is some good undertaking, it often happens that officials do not want to undertake it, because they are afraid of unnecessary rumors.
Previously, there was a lot of talk about the fact that gypsies steal children. There are even families in which children are frightened by gypsies, they say, they will come and take you away. Everything happens because of the negative vision of our life, our features. We will never be able to overcome this alone, we need the help of the state wherever the gypsies live. The first step is to improve the education of our population. So that they can enter society as normal people who would work for the good of their homeland. The problem is that many gypsies have gone down the criminal path. And they do this not because they want to do just that, but because they have nowhere else to get a livelihood. Well, the truth is that they do not want to hire. Anyone else will be taken faster.

- But after all, the gypsies also have a division into friends and foes?
- Yes, and it's true. There are "Roma" - our nation, and "gadzhi" - all the rest. There is also “korohaya” or “kale”, as we still say, these are Asian people, dark. From the "gadzhi" we have always lived separately. We live in such a closed state. Our customs, our problems, we never submit for general discussion, we decide everything in our family. We have our own gypsy courts. Court of honor, so-called. If you have sinned or lied somewhere, then we force the person to swear the veracity of his words. And the oath is given only to one person. She is final. You can swear before a non-gypsy, and it will not cost anything, as they say, three kopecks will not cost.

- Continuing the theme of the courts. Who has the right to judge?
- The court consists of elders. Based on today's life, these are not necessarily elderly people, there may be gypsies who have proven themselves on the good side, as reliable and truthful people.

- And how many of them can you name in the Belarusian diaspora?
- There are a lot of them. We have our own courts in every city. That is, in each city, three-four-five people are in court.

- And for what crimes are they tried?
- There are a lot of crimes. For example, if a young man leaves the girl he married for no reason, this is already punishable. You must explain why you did it. In addition, there are commercial disputes. We have such a concept as "magirdo" - this is a person excluded from society. If he deceived, they believed him, then he deceived again ... He has no right to be at the table, nor to take a glass or a fork. Punishment is worse than death.

- What about other national customs? To what extent has assimilation occurred?
- First of all, we no longer wear national clothes. Secondly, we have forgotten many words from the gypsy vocabulary. And in our speech there is already Russian. After all, we do not have schools or even separate classes for the study of our history, culture, dance. On the one hand, there is no money for this, on the other hand, there are no teaching staff. Although all children in families are taught two languages ​​- Russian and Gypsy.

- And in terms of the ritual side of the holidays?
- Gypsy rituals are not much different from Belarusian or Russian ones. The only condition is that the girl must be clean. This is number one and the sheet is shown to everyone.

- Is it still preserved or is it just a formality?
- It has survived to this day and is a must at every wedding. The rest of the wedding is the same as the Belarusians are used to. Only gypsy songs and dances. Without exception, all gypsies sing, especially when they drink. And we also have men sitting separately, and women separately.

- And why?
- A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. What can you talk about at the table with women? You have to communicate with men. There is time for the wife at home.

- As far as I know, the marriage of a gypsy and a non-gypsy is not welcome ...
- Yes it is. Dissolution of blood. If this happens, she must accept the gypsy laws entirely and live according to the gypsy customs. Our women don't wear trousers. A woman does not speak when a man speaks. When gypsies come to visit a gypsy, a woman only serves refreshments, she does not have the right to sit at the table. She submits to her husband in body and soul.

- What about treason?
- Oh, punished. A woman is excommunicated from society if she has cheated. Most often, she leaves for another city where she is not known.

What about women's education?
- At the lowest level. If the guys are now starting to enter educational institutions, then there are very few girls. The ratio is about one in nine.

And now your organization stands for raising the level of education of gypsies, on the one hand, and on the other hand, you are obliged to obey national laws, according to which a woman cannot contradict her husband ...
- Yes, there is such a paradox. Here's a European organization, the Center for the Protection of the Rights of Gypsies, tells us: you have no right to marry children at fifteen or sixteen years old, this is contrary to democracy. But how can we not have the right, if it is included in our laws? What can a girl of sixteen or seventeen decide? Whom she should marry is decided by her parents, and 90 percent without her consent.

Why should a girl be married so early?
- The sooner this happens, the better, the sooner she will get used to it. And when she is 20-25, she has already formed some hobbies that can lead in the wrong direction, we are protected from this. It happens that young people who have fallen in love with each other run away. Then they return, but what can be done - you have to marry them. But this is not welcome.

- And children, maybe, according to some rules, names are given?
- No, we are given Orthodox names. True, 30-40 years ago there was a fashion to name children as in Indian films - Arthurs, Rajas. In fact, I know a little gypsy names - five or six. Merikla from the word "beads", Patrina from the word "picture", men's Zabaro, Lacho, Gojo. We rarely use them now, because they are not in the church dictionary to baptize a child.

- Most often, the gypsy people are associated with fortune telling ...
- Fortune telling is a primordially popular gypsy occupation, despite the fact that, according to Christian laws, knowing the future is a sin. The secrets of divination are passed down from generation to generation through the female line. It's in their blood. And after all, for the most part, gypsies guess a lot. And as for the fortune-tellers on the street… Belarusian women are most often let down by their own curiosity and the desire to bewitch someone.

- Gypsies and bears are also already kind of inseparable concepts ...
- As for the attitude towards animals, the Gypsies are given by God to understand them. They always spoke the language of animals. Bears now, probably, no one has. Although when I was little, about eight years old, my brother bought a bear cub. How I loved him! Although it was necessary to guard him so that he would not run away. And when he drank milk from a nipple, he grumbled so funny. Then we gave it to someone.

- And what character traits can you call national?
- Number one - the gypsy in the house is the owner. Our stable family life follows from this, and fewer divorces from this. But in general, we can say that the gypsies are a hot people.

Although we often encounter gypsies in everyday life, we do not know much about them. These people still live according to the laws that were established many centuries ago, and their women, although they look rather liberated, have practically no rights in the camp.

Married at 16

Remaining an old maid in the gypsy community is unlikely to succeed - girls are married at 16-17 years old, while guys marry at 18-19. Divorce, of course, is impossible - marriage should be one and for life. Those women who still decide to divorce "desecrate" the community and cast a shadow not only on themselves, but also on their daughters. And there can be no talk of any new relationship.

A gypsy girl who marries must certainly be a virgin. Otherwise, the bride will be dishonored - she will be declared dirty, defiling the community. Having lost her virginity before marriage, a gypsy runs the risk of being left alone forever - a gypsy man will never go against the laws of the camp and will not marry a girl who has given herself to another.

As for marriage with representatives of other nationalities, this is not welcome among the gypsies. The aliens are called Gorger, and girls in extremely rare cases agree to such a marriage. The fact is that the gypsies value their own culture very much and are trying in every possible way to preserve it. For this, marriages are concluded even between cousins ​​and sisters.

Parents are the main

Of course, in many cultures girls must strictly follow the will of their parents, but in gypsy families they have a particularly high authority. The daughter does whatever she is told. And marries the one they show.

It happens, of course, that a girl is involved in choosing a future husband, but marriages by agreement of parents are a very common occurrence. After a gypsy woman marries, she must obey her husband in the same way that she obeyed her parents.

By the way, an unmarried gypsy woman cannot leave the house unaccompanied - her parents, brothers, sisters or other relatives must be nearby. But the guys have much more freedom - they independently leave the house and choose the bride themselves.

Bright outfits

In the community, gypsies are quieter than water, lower than the grass, but their outfits in public directly scream the opposite. In general, it is bright clothes that help them attract future husbands, because the first gypsy has no right to approach and speak.

American gypsies are especially passionate about sequins and rhinestones - they dress every day as if for a holiday. And if a wedding or a birthday is planned in the community, then one can go blind from the radiance of their outfits.

"Fel"

Although we live in the 21st century, the concept of so-called filth is still widespread among the gypsies. This means that the lower part of the body of a married sexually mature woman is "impure". Touching her skirt or even her shoes is like getting yourself dirty. This does not apply to girls and unmarried girls.

Because of the "filth" women are forbidden to go up to the second floor, they can only live on the first floor. If in a gypsy house the first floor is uninhabited and the whole family lives on the second, then other gypsies say that the family has “been filthy”.

For the same reason, feasts for men and women are held separately. Separately, guests also come to the house: men - to a man, women - to a woman.

Beat means love

Roma communities have an incredibly high rate of domestic violence. In the UK, even a study was conducted, according to which 61% of married gypsies living there admitted that they regularly fall under the hot hand of their husband. And women have to put up with it.

Gypsy Mellie, a participant in one of the British shows, said that once her husband locked her in a trailer, and when the woman got out, he beat her. The family persuaded her to take her husband back, and she obeyed, explaining that such behavior is part of the gypsy traditions, and they need to be honored.

After the wedding, only the skirt

Girls and unmarried girls may wear pants or jeans, but married ladies are only allowed to wear long skirts.

In modern society, gypsy girls are so accustomed to wearing jeans that after the wedding they wear skirts right over them.

domestic bondage

Gypsies are required to be housewives and have no right to be lazy in terms of cooking and cleaning. In European culture, it is customary to consider gypsies to be dirty, but cleanliness reigns in their homes.

A woman must wash everything regularly, and she must not share her dishes and cutlery with anyone, even with her husband. All dishes are washed several times: under running water, in a separate bowl with boiling water and again under running water.

Women's and men's clothes should also be washed separately. And also separately you need to wash clothes above and below the waist - due to the "dirt" on the latter. Well, underwear - it is also washed separately.

Amnesty during pregnancy

Pregnancy for a gypsy woman is a wonderful time. She is released from household duties, and her husband is engaged in cooking and cleaning.

And pregnant women are prohibited from any physical contact. They cannot sleep in the same bed with their husband and wash only with holy water. However, many American Romani women do not follow these rules, they have achieved a certain independence.

no police

If the gypsies have a misunderstanding, then the showdowns are noisy and bright - with fights and curses of the family up to the seventh generation. But this is their own business. Going to the police is like going against tradition.

It may come to the point that the family will disown a relative who has applied to law enforcement agencies. Men understand this very well, but some modern girls still try to resolve conflicts in a civilized way.

Earrings - for women only

In films, we are often shown dashing gypsies with an earring, but in fact only women in the community can wear earrings. Gypsies generally love jewelry, and the larger and brighter they are, the better.

As you can imagine, living among gypsies is not easy at all. And also, if only girls are born in a family, the gypsies do not curse fate, but go to an orphanage and adopt boys - they believe that it is not so much blood that is important as upbringing.

That is why in the camp you can often meet fair-haired or red-haired children - hence the rumors that gypsies steal children.

We continue to acquaint readers with the life, traditions and customs of different peoples of the Crimea. Today we will talk about gypsies. There are many stereotypes about this freedom-loving people. They say that gypsies wander around towns and villages, guess, dance and steal... To separate truth from fiction and find out how the Roma live in Crimea, Gazeta met with a gypsy baron, and part-time head of the public organization "Roma Cultural and Educational Union" German Filippov.

- German Petrovich, who is a gypsy baron? What are your responsibilities?

A baron is the leader of a group of people or a tribe (as it used to be). I inherited this title from my father, he - from his father. A baron is like a supreme judge. I can punish violators according to our laws. There are Russian laws, and there are our internal ones - the laws of ancestors, the laws of the Roma. The most terrible punishment is the expulsion of a person from gypsy society. But there are others. For example, it used to be like this: a person was guilty, he stole something - they beat him with a whip. Yes, and now it is practiced, just very rarely. They have already stopped stealing, robbing, doing bad deeds. And earlier, I remember how my grandfather took a whip and, in public, beat a person with it until he lost consciousness, and he never did it again in his life.

Everyone must unquestioningly fulfill the word of the baron. If someone disobeys, then other gypsies will look askance at him and stop communicating with him, to the point that we will expel him from our community. Well, if I pass a sentence to exile a person, then this will spread throughout the world - not only in Russia, but also in America, France, Italy, Yugoslavia ... This is a very cruel punishment. A gypsy would rather agree to serve 10 years in prison than to this sentence.

- Is it true that there are “non-Gypsy” professions that are prohibited for the Roma?

No, there is no such thing. It's just that there are professions that are historically familiar to the majority of Roma people. This is blacksmithing, for example. It can be said that they were born blacksmiths - they forged horses, made horseshoes, swords ... And modern people are engaged in anything: someone is scrap metal, someone is equipment, there are journalists, and doctors of science, and writers ... Even the president was alone. Nicholas Sarkozy. He is a purebred gypsy, although he has long been in exile. That is why he took revenge on the gypsies up to their deportation from France. There were many famous gypsies, take at least the actor Charlie Chaplin.

- Is there any special tradition that unites all gypsies?

If a gypsy, whom I don't know, comes from, say, Romania or Moscow, and he is poor - he will have no money, no food, no roof over his head - we are obliged to help him. And morally, and materially - and money, and food, and housing.

- And often such "guests" come?

Often lately. As the war in Ukraine began - refugees from the Donetsk region went. We help them as far as possible - we collect money, food, clothes. Our public organization has been doing this for more than a year. And we collect money for their apartments, someone provides them with their housing, if they leave somewhere. We help everyone - not only gypsies, but also Russians. For us there is no special difference in nationality. If a person feels bad, if he is poor and asked for help, we are simply obliged to help him.

- Everyone has heard about "gypsy magic" - is it just a way to earn money or some special gift?

It is by no means a way to make money. It really is in the genes. But some dishonest people use their magic for profit. This cannot be done, after some time such a person will lose his gift. Believe only those people who can predict the future or help you without money, who will not name prices. If you yourself decide to thank, then, of course, you can bring food or give two or three rubles. And if you are called a specific cost - do not believe it, these are charlatans, scammers and swindlers.

I'll tell you more, there is also gypsy hypnosis. People who possess magic also possess hypnosis. Sometimes a person with a bad soul owns hypnosis. There are many in our nation. She will meet you on the street, look into your eyes and say: “Take off the chain, take off the ring!” And you will. This is a scammer. If we see such people, we immediately expel them. If they don't listen, we call the police. We have been living in Crimea for 52 years, we are well known as a respectable family. They knew my father, my grandfather. We don't do anything illegal, we live our lives, we do a little bit of business... But we don't have anything like stealing.

- I heard that the gypsies are loyal to thefts and even believe that God himself allowed them to steal ...

It's just a beautiful legend. They say that when Jesus Christ was executed, the gypsy stole the fifth nail and hid it in her hair. Therefore, Jesus was not killed, and God, as a reward for this, allowed the gypsies to steal. I do not believe in this and condemn theft. But after all, in every nation - not only among the gypsies - there are thieves and crooks.

- And how are responsibilities distributed in a gypsy family?

A woman should be the keeper of the hearth, and a man should earn. Of course, a woman should not stand aside if she is young. You have probably seen that gypsy girls are standing in the Central Market, selling shoes, clothes ... This is their business, this is how they earn. Someone works as a saleswoman, someone as a hairdresser, someone picks apples.

A woman, of course, should listen to a man. She cannot go anywhere without the permission of her husband, even to a friend. Even if the husband cheats, and the woman finds out about it, she should be silent and not argue. That is, men can do everything, and women can do nothing.

- Doesn't this seem unfair to your women?

They believe that this is very fair, and condemn those who do what they please. Our women reason like this: I have a husband, I have a family. So why should anyone look at me? Why should I be in such a place or in such a society where someone will look at me? Our women from some such thoughts become uneasy. They are very loyal and do not cheat on us. And we are changing.

- And you talk about it so calmly?

Yes, but what's wrong with that? I can tell the press and anyone, even my wife. This is normal with us, you can even have two wives. But this is only with my permission. I don't know much about such cases. Maybe one or two allowed. But only those who are able to provide for their families, give knowledge to children... Not everyone will go for it. Nowadays it is hard to feed one wife, let alone two.

- And how many children are there in an ordinary gypsy family?

In different ways, it happens one-mu-two, but more often five-seven-eight ... There are even twelve. But it's not enough to have children. It is necessary to give them knowledge, culture, education, a lesson in life... There are families that cannot cope with this. We are fighting this. Our public organization (and myself) travels around the Crimea. Sometimes we go to a family in which there are many children, and they are all illiterate - they can neither read nor write. Sometimes there is no money to bring the child to school, sometimes their classmates offend. If there is no money, we dress these children, buy them notebooks, textbooks. We communicate with school directors so that the class is given so that they don’t call names and offend ... It happens that parents themselves do not want to send their children to school. They used to live their nomadic life - so they got used to the fact that even an illiterate person can live in the world. Like, a child will grow up - he will go to sell potatoes, and he does not need to know anything, except for this potato and money ... But this is nonsense! We have to explain to people that now is a different time, that children need to be educated.

■ About 17,000 Roma live in Crimea.

■ In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Many gypsies moved from the Czech region of Bohemia to France. The French began to call them Bohemians. Since the creative part of the high society of France led the same noisy, eccentric and reckless lifestyle as the gypsies, they dubbed it bohemian.

■ There is an opinion that it was the gypsies who invented the belly dance and spread it in the Arab countries. Scientists still can neither confirm nor disprove this theory.

■ An inexplicable but very interesting fact: Gypsies never get leprosy. Modern medicine has not yet established the cause of this mysterious phenomenon.

Photo: oldro.me; personal archive of German Filippov