What is the religion of the gypsies? Christian or other

Despite the generally accepted opinion, gypsies believe not only in the free wind and a dashing horse. For the most part, they adhere to the religious beliefs of the people on whose land they live. These people bring part of their originality to Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, about which Roman Lukin, an employee of the Center for Problems of Religion and Society at the Russian Academy of Sciences, knows a lot.

Features of Gypsy beliefs and traditions

Even if they adhere to the official religion, the Roma do not consider themselves bound by any conventions. Catholics, for example, venerate the real saint Blessed Seferino and no less zealously the fictional character Sara Kali. Anyone who adheres to Orthodoxy respects St. George and St. Nicholas the Pleasant.

Russian gypsies are quite devout; they always baptize their children and get married in church. In the houses of settled camps you can see corners with several icons. Representatives of this people try to observe all the rituals prescribed by the church, but they also do not forget about their customs.

A church wedding for gypsies means disproportionately more than registration at the registry office. But before the newlyweds go to church and consecrate their marriage, the camp noisily plays a “gypsy wedding.” Without observing this tradition, the marriage is not considered valid. Only a “gypsy wedding” legitimizes a couple’s relationship in the eyes of fellow believers and fellow tribesmen.

Main religious holidays and rituals

Of the Christian holidays, Easter and Christmas are especially revered in camps. In Turkey, the main celebration of the gypsies is Hydirlez, which in the Balkans is called Ederlezi. It is celebrated on the night of May 5th, when prayers are offered to St. George.

In Russia, on Radonitsa, gypsies go to cemeteries, but not to honor the memory of their dead, but to ask for alms. Such “holiday begging” is common among the Vlach Gypsies. They ask for alms not in order to improve their financial situation - many beggars themselves are well off - but to provide their neighbor with the opportunity to do a good deed and thus become one step closer to God.

In Muslim countries, Roma are more selective in terms of observing religious traditions. For example, women never cover their faces, and men do not undergo circumcision, as required by Islamic dogma.

Gypsy legends

Like many other peoples, gypsies create their own myths. According to one of them, Jesus himself allowed the gypsies to steal because they stole one of the nails with which they were going to nail him to the cross. This tale was invented many centuries ago in the Balkans. Since then, the nomadic people believe that theft and fraud are not sins.

Gypsies are sincerely convinced that God forgives them a lot for their fun and singing talent. He gave the rest of the nations one country at a time, and the free gypsies the whole world. This is the unique interpretation of religion among this nomadic tribe. Faith in the One God coexists perfectly with various inventions and testaments of his ancestors.

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-set to hear one of the following options: “Hinduism/paganism”, “fire/sun worship” or simply “Gypsies don’t believe in anything”.

And I, as an honest woman, have to destroy their world, explaining that Muslim gypsies have a Muslim faith, and Christian gypsies have a Christian faith, and in both cases it is real. And if Christian gypsies are quite mobile in relation to Christian denominations (Catholic Magyars do not see a big problem in going over to the camp of evangelists, because there is a cross here and there, for example), then from Christianity to Islam and vice versa they rarely and reluctantly switch, mostly The transition is made by women to their husband's faith. True, interreligious marriages among Roma are rare.

The adherence to the faith of their ancestors among the Gypsies is surprisingly persistent, although I have seen many times in Tyrnetika statements that the Gypsies always follow the religious customs of the area where they are located. However, there are cases when Russian gypsies in France, having fled there during the Civil War with the nobles, did not baptize their children for years, looking for Orthodox churches - and having already found them, they baptized everyone en masse and at once, in large numbers. Some “newborns” at baptism were already fifteen or sixteen years old, they had a mustache or were growing breasts. Sometimes the next day after baptism, the newly baptized people got married right there (if this is not a joke, of course). The Lovarian gypsies, who have been living in Russia for decades, are moving from Catholicism to Orthodoxy slowly and cautiously and mainly for the small number of Catholic churches and for the reason that “here is Christianity and there is Christianity.” Muslim gypsies in Latin America have not forgotten Islam a hundred years after arriving from the Balkans; you can still meet them there.

Does this mean that gypsies of different religions have nothing in common and no common, primordial beliefs or superstitions?

Of course there are, although now they are partially blurred. But traditionally, there is. And here they are:

4. Beliefs in defilement. They are the ones who are disappearing with the development of hygiene products and assimilation; the rest are holding on much stronger. The carriers of defilement can be the organs of the pelvic region, women’s legs and skirts, death, human entrails, certain types of sick people (oddly enough, in addition to tuberculosis patients and others like them, this sometimes includes the mentally retarded and mentally ill), who have committed certain types of crimes, and well. , of course, feces.

As for the animation of the forces of nature (the vampire moon, the kidnapping whirlwind) and the beliefs in brownies and mermaids, upon closer examination, almost all of this turns out to be borrowed, and especially a lot from the Slavic population. In addition, they clearly occupy a smaller place in the worldview of the Roma than those listed above.

By the way, as for my story about Lilyanka Horvath, if you noticed, only the beliefs around the dead and - a little - monotheism are actively revealed. However, I have a background there for the next gypsy theme - of course, Bakht. The first person to notice this was, it seems,

Many people think that all gypsies are pagans and worship fire or the sun.

But in fact, most of the gypsies profess the religion of the country where they live. This could be, for example, Christianity, Islam or Buddhism.

What do gypsies believe?

The Gypsy faith has its own characteristics. Thus, Orthodox gypsies consider St. Nicholas the Pleasant and St. George their patron, while Catholics consider Blessed Seferino and at the same time a certain Sara Kali, who is a mythical character.

Candidate of Philological Sciences, religious scholar, senior researcher at the 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 located and where they have lived for quite a long time. Currently, as far as I know, there are those who profess Islam and those who profess Christianity (these are the majority because many gypsies live in Russia, Romania, Hungary, Moldova. In general, gypsies live in Europe - Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox and Muslims."

What religious customs do Gypsies observe?

In Russia, the majority of Roma are Orthodox and undergo baptism. Many of them are quite devout. Thus, in the houses of settled gypsies there is a “red corner” with icons. They try to observe religious rituals, and married couples are sure to get married in church, and the wedding ritual is considered more important than registering the marriage in the registry office. But even more important is the “gypsy wedding”, which takes place even before the wedding - it means recognition of the marriage by the gypsy community.

The biggest religious holidays for Orthodox Roma 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 an interesting custom. On Radonitsa, women and children certainly visit cemeteries, where they beg for alms from visitors. And these are not necessarily beggars. In this way, they fulfill a certain Christian “duty” by helping other people do a good deed. By the way, Russians often know about this and on this day they willingly give the gypsies small change.

Muslim gypsies also pay attention to religious customs, but not all. Thus, gypsy women in Islamic countries never cover their faces. Not everyone practices the ritual 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 sometimes steal. Therefore, gypsies do not see anything wrong with theft and fraud. Experts in gypsy culture 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 pieces of land, as he did with other peoples, but gave them the whole world. Therefore, they led a nomadic lifestyle. Indeed, gypsies can be found in all corners of the Earth, except perhaps Antarctica.

As you can see, the gypsies have their own interpretation of faith. “I can’t say that the Roma are very religious people,” says Roman Lunkin. - They rather have a more developed 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, into which they integrate.”

In Russia, the majority of Roma are Orthodox and undergo baptism. Many of them are quite devout. Thus, in the houses of settled gypsies there is a “red corner” with icons. They try to observe religious rituals, and married couples are sure to get married in church, and the wedding ritual is considered more important than registering the marriage in the registry office. But even more important is the “gypsy wedding”, which takes place even before the wedding - it means recognition of the marriage by the gypsy community.

The biggest religious holidays for Orthodox Roma 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 an interesting custom. On Radonitsa, women and children certainly visit cemeteries, where they beg for alms from visitors. And these are not necessarily beggars. In this way, they fulfill a certain Christian “duty” by helping other people do a good deed. By the way, Russians often know about this and on this day they willingly give the gypsies small change.

Muslim gypsies also pay attention to religious customs, but not all. Thus, gypsy women in Islamic countries never cover their faces. Not everyone practices the ritual of circumcision of the foreskin.

In Russia, the majority of Roma are Orthodox and undergo baptism. Many of them are quite devout. Thus, in the houses of settled gypsies there is a “red corner” with icons. They try to observe religious rituals, and married couples are sure to get married in church, and the wedding ritual is considered more important than registering the marriage in the registry office. But even more important is the “gypsy wedding”, which takes place even before the wedding - it means recognition of the marriage by the gypsy community.

The biggest religious holidays for Orthodox Roma 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 an interesting custom. On Radonitsa, women and children certainly visit cemeteries, where they beg for alms from visitors. And these are not necessarily beggars. In this way, they fulfill a certain Christian “duty” by helping other people do a good deed. By the way, Russians often know about this and on this day they willingly give the gypsies small change.

Muslim gypsies also pay attention to religious customs, but not all. Thus, gypsy women in Islamic countries never cover their faces. Not everyone practices the ritual of circumcision of the foreskin.