Roma Religion Has a Name
Discovering the Roma Belief System
Dr Raven Dolick MsD/Chovihano
June 5, 2016
All rights reserved
What is the Gypsy religion? The answer depends on who you ask… Turks have been known to call them “Allahsiz insaniar” – godless. The Dutch, at one time, branded them “heathens”, “moon-men” was a popular French appellation of the enlightenment – and then there’s the remarkable Balkan folklore, "the Gypsy church was built of cheese, they ate their church, and for this reason", the story concludes, "the Gypsies have no religion".
Ask a Gypsy his religion and he will likely say – Catholic, Muslim, Orthodox or any one of the proselytizing neo-Christian denominations that have been sweeping through the Gypsy camps. Western influence is an important component to defining the Roma religion since the level of integration into European society directly impacts the indigenous Roma belief system, known as Romanipen, settling at the base of their conscience and influencing their daily actions in however small or large a way.
“Marginalized Roma” phenomenon that so often pops up in the social and political debate has managed to creep into academia on the topic of religion. Even though Romanipen, much like Christianity, Islam and Judaismon, possesses a personal theology, developed sense of morality and taboos, congregation, clergy and sacred text, a "religion" definition is time and again omitted in place of superficial labels like “philosophy”, “culture” or “set of laws”.
Understanding Our Romanipen
Little is known of the Roma religion because unlike other popular religions, Roma do not proselytize. They do not accept converts since Romanipen is a birthright. You are either born of the faith or not. A “non-Roma”, in a strange turn of events, falls into the shadowy category “gadjo”, a derogatory term among Roma with a varying degree of definitions much like the majority label "Gypsy", "tzigan", "tatar" or even "crow"... Who is a Roma can be a complicated issue that resonates of the Jewish debate, “who is a Jew?” – and not surprisingly, the responses are quite similar…
The Romanipen religion is composed of three major elements: a theology centering on universal dualism. Dualism defines the universe as a harmonious balance between two opposing principles: good and evil, light and dark, hot and cold, etc. Secondly, ancestral worship and finally a congregation formed through a brotherhood bounded by a mutual bloodline. Secrecy and isolation is the key to our survival and therefore the sacred text are never put to paper, instead preserved by orally transmitting to other trusted members of the congregation, generation after generation. A long history of nomadism have done away with the concrete place of worship so often associated to organized religion; the Roma church is anywhere the fire burns; Romanipen is a religion that has no church as an actual building….
We Roma Build Altars of Ancestors and Devel
Roma Gabor Decor Symbolizing Family Unity
Ancestral Worship – Brotherhood - Dualism
The worship is performed by honoring of the ancestors, the Roma saints, carried out in the day-by-day following of the traditions taught by the elders, just as the previous elders had taught, a line theoretically tracing all the way back to our Hindu-Indian origins at the banks of the Ganges. These traditions come to light in the dress codes, family roles, and overall “doing things the gypsy way”. Observing the sacred traditions appeases the ancestors who much like the long line of Christian saints guide and protect the family. They guard them from evil spirits and bless them with the gifts of “baxt” (good luck). Luck is not perceived as unexplained, unpredictable and uncontrollable force, but rather as karma. Everything has a cause revealed by a good day of sales - finding money on the street corner - the seemingly insignificant stubbing your toe - to the losing of your hair. These are all rewards or punishments of the family’s behavior and therefore we Roma follow our traditions on a daily basis "with every footprint" out of respect, honor, duty, and yes, also fear.
Ancestor worship
“Phralipe”, Roma brotherhood, forms the community. There is no sense of individuality in Roma life but a collective body of family called Familia and community and this forms both our identity and purpose of being; “all for one – and one for all”. “Phralipe” offers a valuable support system that also collectively disciplines by exclusion varying between uninvited to community events to the extreme and permanent excommunication, a punishment considered worse than death.
Brotherhood/Phralipe
Christianity is a religion of strict morals yet which withholds condemnation till the final “judgment day” when an individual’s good and bad deeds are collectively weighed. This added time allows the sinner the chance to experience on his own and "find his way". In addition, there are means of correcting past transgressions through penance and a little something called “absolution” that can completely erase the slate clean. Roma, on the other hand, follow a karma justice system that strikes as you go along.
The cornerstone of our Roma belief system is the concept of dualism. The Roma perspective is a universe of conflicting forces: good and evil, light and dark, hot and cold, that magically comes together forming a harmonious balance revealed in the daily rising of the sun - then its set, the changing seasons as well as death of the old followed by new life. The world and all on it is a balance and maintaining this harmonious balance is the key to good living. Everything in this world has its place on the shelf of life and must be maintained in that order it’s been placed to keep the balance. A break in the order results in an unbalanced universe and the tipping of the shelf which we all know results in an ungodly mess on the floor (chaos).
Katma and Our Karma Symbol
All religions acknowledge the human conflict between good and evil. While the mightier force is commonly awarded to the power of good, like they say, “love conquers all”, Romanipen, fears the negative, evil, as the stronger entity; it's tricky and sneaky, so that letting even a single drop into the area of good can spread and contaminate and ultimately lead to ruin. Therefore the pollutant (marime our maxime) is religiously kept in its place and forbidden from mixing with what is pure (uzo).
This balance of opposing forces is everywhere and in everything and which includes the human body, most notably the mystical female body that through the miracle of childbirth offers a holy gateway into the celestial spirit world of unborn souls. Above the waist where the child’s milk is distributed is clean and therefore contrary to modern western morality there is absolutely no shame in exposed breast. The area below the waist, however, is unclean and must be carefully covered to prevent the spreading of impurities (“maxrime”). One of most threatening acts a woman can perform is lifting the front of her dress and transmitting these impurities onto others. Those infected by the spread must immediately go through a purification ritual of removing the stain with a thorough washing.
Gadjo are another area of concern as they are full blown “maxrime” and therefore a wall of separation must be thoroughly maintained. In this instance “maxrime” takes on a more pragmatic synonymous meaning for “cultural change” that once let in can spread like a plaque by knocking-out one seemingly insignificant custom at a time (for example, women wearing pants) leading into further integration until ultimately assimilation takes over destroying the culture, identity and race.
Socializing with Gajo is only through business. In some cases separate sets of dishes, utensils and cups are set aside reserved only for gajo guest for fear of “maxrime” spreading through the food. Any contact with things “maxrime” are followed with immediate purification ritual of intense washing. It is seriously guarded because evil introduced into the family disrupts the harmonious balance that can move about under the skin like a virus spawning illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancers.
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