How gypsies attract good luck, and what is it - gypsy happiness

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Gypsies consider good luck to be God's blessing. It is given to a person by birth. Lucky is the one who knows how to work and is able to take care of himself. Therefore, many treat the making of amulets as an "unclean business." Nevertheless, talismans accompany the gypsies throughout their lives. Why aren't gypsies afraid of the bat? Who can cure a thousand diseases? And what is the magic power of gold?

In different countries, amulets brought side income to gypsy fortune tellers. The main demand was for - who promised good luck in love. In Serbia, girls bought a love spell from gypsies - small bagels mixed with breast milk. In Poland, the aphrodisiac talisman was made from plantain inflorescences. In the gypsy communities themselves, where success to a greater extent means material well-being, completely different amulets were used to protect loved ones and attract good luck. Many of them have already gone down in history, others are remembered or are still used today.

Indralori

Gypsies are afraid of the evil eye. Especially expectant mothers and children are protected from him. Symptoms of the evil eye are: nausea and yawning, unexplained crying. Many recipes for protection from the evil eye have been learned by the gypsies from the surrounding peoples. Ilona Latskova, a gypsy memoirist from Slovakia, described a case when a relative unwittingly jinxed her little daughter Manya, just admiring the beauty of the child aloud. The girl suddenly began to cry, began to choke. Manya was saved by charmed water, into which nine hot coals were thrown. They washed the child with it, splashing out the remains on the door hinges … Russian gypsies remove the evil eye with holy water. For example, unexpectedly sprinkling it on a "patient". For protection, children are pinned to their clothes with pins. To this end, the Kelderars tie a scarlet ribbon around the infant. Slovak gypsies put a red rag called indralori on the child's wrist.

Bayero

It is also customary for the Kelderars to hang around the necks of children, especially boys, an amulet, which is called bayero or laiboru. According to legend, it brings good luck and strength, protects against diseases and witchcraft. It is sewn in the form of a linen bag, square and flat. Inside are specially selected herbs and other components to which the people attribute miraculous properties: bat wings, incense, bark of a tree struck by lightning. Shells protect the child from ear diseases, beads - from the evil eye and eye diseases. A piece of iron, for example, a scale from an armor in an amulet, makes its owner invulnerable. Another belief connects the iron in bayero with the legend of a nail intended for the breast of Christ, which was stolen and hidden by a gypsy during the crucifixion …

Gold is necessarily sewn into the amulet. It can be a piece of jewelry that belonged to an ancestor, or a pectoral cross. According to gypsy ideas, gold has purifying and healing properties. It is used in folk medicine and magical practices. Gold dust dissolved in water is used for fractures, stomach problems, to strengthen the body. In families where children often died, a gold earring was put on the child for protection … In addition to amulets for children, some groups of gypsies had beautifully decorated "bags of happiness" for adult men.

Happy Trail

In the 19th century, the glory of the gypsy choirs resounded throughout Russia. They performed at mass events - festivities, and at permanent venues, for example, in restaurants. The popularity of the choirs would be the envy of modern pop stars. The portraits of the singers were printed on candy boxes. Poems and romances were dedicated to them. For the crown dance number or favorite song, the most frantic fans were ready to pay big money. Well, and in times of forced downtime, in the season when the wealthy public was leaving for the resorts, the choirs had to live with what they earned for the year. To rectify the situation, they resorted to magic. Hearing that in some restaurant there was no end of visitors, they sent one or two girls there to look for the trail of a generous guest on the ground. According to legend, by dragging such a "happy trail" to oneself, one could attract the public and improve matters. Of course, competitors knew about this method. A scandal was inevitably awaiting those caught in magical manipulations. Don't interrupt your luck!

Snake skin

The "snake" theme is widely represented in gypsy folklore, fairy tales, songs. There are many different superstitions associated with reptiles. Gypsy writer Mateo Maximoff described the Feast of the Snakes, which was celebrated on March 15 by the Greek Kelderars who migrated to France. The holiday was held as a kind of snake hunt. The snake encountered was to be decapitated with a piece of gold, placing one foot on its head and the other on its tail. According to legend, the gypsy who found the snake first will be the luckiest of all throughout the year and will be able to cure a thousand diseases.

Among the Russian Kelderars, finding the skin shed by a snake is considered great luck. Russian gypsies made a talisman from the skin of a snake. After killing or finding a killed snake, they carefully skinned it. The dried skin was worn in a wallet or in hair for money. A prerequisite is that the skin must be intact, otherwise it will not work.

In other groups, the killing of reptiles, snakes, toads and lizards is discouraged or strictly prohibited. The Kelderars in Poland still have a belief that clarifies the origin of the idea of the inviolability of snakes: they are descendants of enchanted people, so they cannot be killed. The killing of the first snake encountered in the spring is fraught with misfortune. Polish Kelderars recall a terrible incident that a nomadic gypsy once experienced. Once a night shower soaked her tent through and through. In the morning, when the weather cleared, she decided to dry the contents of the laundry basket in the sun. At the bottom, the woman was horrified to find a tangle of snakes. Without thinking twice, she killed them. The perfect did not remain without consequences: soon the children of the gypsy died!

Lilyako

Europeans associate the bat with evil spirits, with evil. In the culture of the gypsies, this eerie animal, on the contrary, is the embodiment of happiness, a harbinger of good luck. Previously, his appearance above the camp site meant that the place where the tents were pitched was safe. A bat that has flown into the house - fortunately. The Calderars call her "lilyako." It is considered good luck to find the corpse of a bat untouched by decay. By hiding the find in a wallet, a person provides himself with wealth. Polish lowland gypsies tied severed mouse wings to a whip to make the journey easy.

The Kalderars use the beast to craft a talisman. To do this, cut the bat's neck with a gold ring or earring and, wrapping it in a cloth, hide it in a pocket. Then they take wax candles, gold, bread, a bat and roll a ball out of all this. Lilyako is kept behind icons or in a feather bed. Its manufacture must be kept secret. The one who made the talisman needs to be careful for six weeks and not go anywhere. It is believed that such a person is "beaten by luck", and he can be beaten by the first comer. After six weeks, the owner of the talisman will be lucky, money will appear. The Kelderars say about a successful person: “Sy forest lilyako” (He has a lilyako).