Gipsies traditional believes, faith and in religion

I think it's interesting to explore this subject, because quite a bunch is legend or misunderstood.

Today, most Gipsies are of Christian faith : Catholic, or Protestant by adoption *, Evangelical in their own churches (only for Gipsies and NOT trying to convert non-Gipsies). Other might be still seeking or because of lack of education and because of poverty they endure in some countries, they don't even know or can't think or spiritual matters. (* adopting Gipsies was common from as far as in the Middle-Ages days ; nobles and aristocrats mainly adopted Gipsies and monastries, covents also hosted them)

Other than this, it's useful to know that the Klezmer Gipsy community is the confirmed closest one to the Jewish community.

Non-Gipsies (Gadjo people) need to understand that first off, Hebrews, travel people aka Gipsies are MONOTHEISTS and not worshipping other gods or people being "god" incarnated. By no mean would most very old Gipsies (from Hebrew days before our era) worship an unknown god or human being.

There are still a few Gipsy minorities who, after the Klezmer community, are totally overlooked as Hebrew far away brothers and sisters to Jews, living in extreme, scandalous poverty in European Eastern countries : those Gipsies with no education at all keep all inside in matter of spirituality. Very few ones, like Baba Vanga from Bulgaria, are competent for remembering oral legends, myths.

Baba Vanga is an interesting case, because she impersonates the Gipsy woman being a truth-teller (she was BLIND), a prophet.

Truth-telling isn't common to all Gipsies though. Truth-telling is very old, from Shamanic traditions. But let's know that truth-tellling, prophecies were both Hebrew and Pagan, during the same eras, in India, Middle-East, Celtic countries. The only difference with Jews and Gipsies about truth-telling : they will never guide you towards an unknown or Pagan god, this is for sure and certain. By no mean would a Gipsy truth-teller speak of Shiva, Allah (who is a demon in Judaism and Gipsy faith). They would tell you about the Creator, the God of the Universe, "the one who knows all". It'd be about it.

Tarots cards are said to be the Gipsy Torah. This seems to be alleged and true, even confirmed by Rabbis. However it's a little more complicated, because Gipsy spirituality is only oral, from mouth to ear, from generation to generation. Gipsies would first of all concentrate on the destiny of their own family, their clan, their local community. Consequently work hard, sometimes for genealogical researches, remembering family history, stories and secrets. So Tarot reading inside the Gipsy community would be only for GIPSIES. All for making business or begging, via New Age is usurpation, especially from Gadjo people.

If a Gipsy comes your way, intentionally, detecting you're belonging to their faith (just from meeting you), you will be granted with a favour, bigger than Tarot reading : hand-palm reading, because this is anterior to Tarot, it's Asian, with both Hindu and Chinese origins. When a Gipsy comes to you for hand-palm reading, he or she detected in you that you might have very very old ancestors from the travel people, in Asia. If another Gipsy comes your way for a Tarot reading, it means that your ancestors are (also) from either Europe and/or Iran-Irak (Persia). If a Gipsy comes your way just telling truth about you from face-to-face meeting, talking, it might mean that your far away ancestors are true Gipsies.

Keep in mind something essential : a Gipsy speaking to you SPONTANEOUSLY about themselves or about you, it means : they recognise you bluntly as Gipsy from origins, but it needs to be spontaneous not preprared/planned face-to-face talk, meeting. If they use Tarots, a material support : they might recognise you but might not be sure if you're a Gipsy. The whole Gipsy tradition is only ORAL. A Gipsy feeling in confidence with you, recognising you as belonging to their community (EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT) will put you in the confidence in less than 7 days about their fears, family tree, small private stories and such. If in 7 days a Gipsy didn't manage it with you (FACE-TO-FACE ONLY, not in an organisation with witnesses around), it means you have nothing in common with them at all. They might tolerate you : you exist as a human being, but here's the end (it's quite the same with Jews, actually). Remember : A Gipsy you don't know at all, skeeping to you with a smile : it's already OK. Another one putting you in confidence SPONTANEOUSLY (only), away from witnesses, and telling you somthing about you, your possible ancestry: chances are you might have Gipsy ancestors. If you got somebody of your family being of Gipsy ancestry, you might know about it quite later in your life, after another member of your family passed away : it was my case with my grand-mother in the 80's after my grand-father died. Only after somebody passed away (in your close family), some family secrets are disclosed about the family tree, genealogy and so on. Family tree is essential in both Jewish and Gipsy traditions : they like to deal with such a subject and their memories about grand-grand-uncles, mothers, aunts is fabulous !

If you show distrust towards a Gipsy being confident to you, telling you truth about themselves or about you : man ! you're done !  they will treat you like a stranger, a person to avoid. Also know and remeber truly well : it's the Gipsy who FIRST has to come to you in a spontaneous manner to somewhat test you. You, if you're Gadjo, you can't test a Gipsy easily : Gipsies have their own standards on whom they may trust or not. Just telling you this secret : Gipsies in general don't trust people being dominant, enslaving... or Muslims. Note this as important. Gipsies need to feel free and considered sincerely as free people. If you use them, they'll run away from you and you won't hear of them again.

Very rarely known is that Gipsies will send you a sign showing that they trust you, that they chose you as friend or confident, but again face-to-face meeting is necessary. It's when they start telling you about how food, a fruit, a drink tastes in their mouth (when you eat or drink with them). They would start asking you questions like "Don't you think it tastes too sweet, too bitter ?" Rarely do other people come to such a subject on how food or a drink tastes in mouth. My grand-mother and mother often talked about the taste of a fruit or a drink between each other or sometimes asked me. When coming to such a subject, a Gipsy shows you that you're on the point to belonging to their group. The taste of food/drink subject isn't matter of talk with people considered as pure strangers or needing to be seen as strangers - Gipsies never share a meal for example with people they truly don't trust in any way. You can't impose yourself to them, even not by a simple spontaneous visit to them at home. Either a Gipsy friendly invites you or just never will. But you don't come to their home without them knowing.

Gipsies' faith is however very synchretic because of the fact that historically they were slaves or serving, BUT NOT mistreated or deprived of all (before the nazi days). Some other Gipsies, before the French Revolution and similiar events in Europe and the coming United States, when adopted by noble, aristocratic families (it was the case formost Sinti Gipsies, like my father's and grand-mothers' ancestors, raised by aristocrats) where also baptised Christian (Catholic or Protestant - sometimes Orthodox). Quite naturally their descendents could only be Christian, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox.

But what about the Sarah celebration in Southern France which is outstanding among all ? Not much reasearch has been done on this point claming tha tJesus and Mary-Magdalene got married, got children in France. It all belongs to Apocrypha. All in all, Gipsies, or some of them love to believe that Jesus and Mary-Magdalene got a family, and Gipsies would be the descendants of that family.

The truth is that nothing in Apocrypha might contradict this point : Mary-Magdalene was the favourite closest disciple to Jesus. Did hey have children ? Here we got difficulties in researches, but one fact is that THEN in this option, some Gipsies in Jesus' days might have been old time Gnostics, alike and very similar to Cathars in the Middle-Ages. Gnostics, it's known today as a fact, are even mentioned in the Bhagavad-Gita, as an archive. Because let's remember that Gipsies were NOT Hinduists but lived amond Hindus. In that regard, again, we know today that most Gnostic traditions truly come from India, had a long stay and recycling path in Persia, Egypt, Greece. The Gnosis farest roots are from India and Persia at the same time. Many legends, myths come from both sides of the world. Gnosis in Greek means Knowledge. It's in Greece that all older faiths, traditions, beliefs concentrated and spread around for Pagan beliefs and even Gnostic believes : all was so to say 'compressed'. Apocrypha in early Christianity came from older Gnosis which the Three of Life from Jewish Mystics is all based on, itself coming again from India, then exported to Persia.