Romani folklore encompasses the folktales, myths,

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

s, and

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

s of the

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

. The Romani were

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ic when they departed

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. They migrated widely, particularly to Europe, while other groups stayed and became sedentary. Some legends (often from non-Romani peoples) say that certain Romani have passive psychic powers such as

empathy Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...

, precognition,

retrocognition Retrocognition (also known as postcognition or hindsight ), from the Latin ''retro'' meaning "backward, behind" and ''cognition'' meaning "knowing", describes "knowledge of a past event which could not have been learned or inferred by normal means" ...

, or psychometry. Other legends include the ability to levitate, travel through

astral projection Astral projection (also known as astral travel) is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a subtle body called an " astral body" through which consciousness can functio ...

by way of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, invoke curses or

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...

conjure Conjure may be: * a verb with a range of common meanings; see its Wiktionary entry and Conjuration (disambiguation) * a noun used regionally in the United States for Hoodoo * the name of a 2000 poetry collection by Michael Donaghy See also * * ...

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

spirits, and skill with illusion-casting.

Romani folktales

* Bald Pate * Fedor and the Fairy, from ''

A Book of Charms and Changelings Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

'' *

Jack and His Golden Snuff-Box Jack and His Golden Snuff-Box is a Romani fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in ''English Fairy Tales''. He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's ''In Gypsy Tents''. Ruth Manning-Sanders included it in '' The Red King and the Witch: G ...

Mossycoat "Mossycoat" is a fairy tale published by Katherine M. Briggs and Ruth Tongue in ''Folktales of England''. Carter, Angela. ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'' New York: Pantheon Books, 1990. pp. 48-56. . It appears in ''A Book of British Fairy Tale ...

* The Creation of the Violin * The Captive's Tale and Circumcision * The Foam Maiden, from ''

A Book of Sorcerers and Spells Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifetime ...

'' *

The King of England and his Three Sons The King of England and his Three Sons is a Romani fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in ''More English Fairy Tales''. He listed as his source Francis Hindes Groome's ''In Gypsy Tents'', where the informant was John Roberts, a Welsh Roma.Josep ...

The Little Bull-Calf The Little Bull-Calf is an English Romani fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in ''More English Fairy Tales''.Joseph Jacobs, ''More English Fairy Tales''. "The Little Bull-Calf" Marian Roalfe Cox, in her pioneering study of ''Cinderella'', i ...

* The Red King and the Witch * The Yellow Dragon

Motifs in Romani folklore

* Alako * Bababiljos (male love deity) * Baba Fingo (Saviour) *

Bear worship Bear worship (also known as the bear cult or arctolatry) is the religious practice of the worshipping of bears found in many North Eurasian ethnic religions such as among the Sami, Nivkh, Ainu, Basques, Germanic peoples, Slavs and Finns. There a ...

* Beng (devil) *

Bibi Bibi is a given name, nickname and surname. Notable people with this name As a nickname or stage name * Bibi Andersson (1935-2019), Swedish actress * Bibi (artist) (born 1964), French visual artist Fabrice Cahoreau * Bibi Baskin (born 195 ...

* Butyakengo * Baro Kari: in Romani language meaning (Big Human Penis), see Shiva Lingam * Bona (baptism) * Biboldo (unbaptized) * Crystal ball * Crystal gazing * Curse * Chindo (circumcised) *

Devla Devla/Del/Devel, Devlam, Devles, Devleske or Dovel is the word used when directly calling or praying to God in the Romani language. Names ''Devla'' basically means "God". It cannot be confused with the English word Devil, because the word for "Devi ...

(universial God) * Devleski Day (Mother Goddess) *

Dhampir In Balkans folklore, dhampirs (sometimes spelled ''dhampyres'', ''dhamphirs'', or ''dhampyrs'') are creatures that are the result of a union between a vampire and a mortal human. This union was usually between male vampires and female mortal huma ...

Divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

Đurđevdan George's Day in Spring, or Saint George's Day ( sr, Ђурђевдан, Đurđevdan, ; bg, Гергьовден, Gergovden; mk, Ѓурѓовден, Ǵurǵovden; russian: Егорий Вешний, Yegoriy Veshniy, or russian: Юрьев ден� ...

* I Gudli Saybiya (female Guardian angel) * Fortune teller *

Gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

* Gitto Bach *

Horse worship Horse worship is a spiritual practice with archaeological evidence of its existence during the Iron Age and, in some places, as far back as the Bronze Age. The horse was seen as divine, as a sacred animal associated with a particular deity, or as ...

* Kakava (Spring feast) * Moshto * Mullo * Palmistry * Psychics * Hamsa * Household deity *

Ratcatcher A rat-catcher is a person who kills or captures rats as a professional form of pest control. Keeping the rat population under control was practiced in Europe to prevent the spread of diseases, most notoriously the Black Death, and to prevent dam ...

* Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer * Saint Sarah *

Shaktism Shaktism ( sa, शाक्त, , ) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti ( Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, al ...

Spells Spell(s) or The Spell(s) may refer to: Processes * Spell (paranormal), an incantation * Spell (ritual), a magical ritual * Spelling, the writing of words Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Spell'' (1977 film), an American ...

* Suyolak * Sunet Bijav (circumcision ceremony) *

Tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...

* Tasseography * Trushul: The Romany word for "cross". It is likely from

Trishula The ''trishula'' () is a trident, a divine symbol, commonly used as one of the principal symbols in Hinduism. In Nepal and Thailand, the term also often refers to a short-handled weapon which may be mounted on a ''daṇḍa'' " staff". Unlik ...

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

's trident. *

Urmen The Ursitory ("white women" also known as ''Ursitori'', ''Oursitori'', ''Ursitele'', ''Urbitele'', ''Urditele'', ''Osatorele'', ''Ursoi'', ''Ursoni'' or ''Urmen'', ''Uremi'', ''Ourmes'') are a group of three fairies or female spirits of fate in the ...

Vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

Vampire pumpkins and watermelons Vampire pumpkins and watermelons are a folk legend from the Balkans, in southeastern Europe, described by ethnologist Tatomir Vukanović. The story is associated with the Romani people of the region, from whom much of traditional vampire folklor ...

Werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

Witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

References

External links

*
Gypsy Folk Tales
' by Francis Hindes Groome

899 __NOTOC__ Year 899 ( DCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – King Arnulf of Carinthia enlists the support of the Magyars, to ...

at Sacred Texts.com *
Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling
' by Charles Godfrey Leland

891 Year 891 ( DCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 21 – Guy III, duke of Spoleto, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Ste ...

at Sacred Texts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Romani folklore

Folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

Romani folktales

Motifs in Romani folklore

See also

References

Further reading

External links