Gypsies are the largest ethnic minority in Europe with a predominance of predominantly Indian roots. These folk groups live among the population of different countries and are divided into six large branches with their own name.
For this reason, the influence of European states on the cultural characteristics of each of them was not without. However, in the religion and customs of the Roma, common features that unite the ethnic group still remain. This is especially true of funeral traditions, known for their scale, why the answer to the question "how do gypsies bury their dead" is of great interest to many.
Law and Culture
The cultural customs of some gypsy tribes often lead to disagreements with laws in the territory where the camp roams or lives. This is due to a strict taboo on damage to the integrity of the body of the deceased, and the roots of such a ban should be sought in magical beliefs.
Russian, Baltic and Scandinavian representatives of this ethnic group are of the opinion that a person is not able to find peace without such internal organs as the brain and heart, therefore they oppose the forensic medical examination.
This position forces you to receive a death certificate, bypassing law enforcement agencies. If the matter takes too serious a turn, the gypsy baron deals with the problem. In this case, if the latter considers the disputes with the law useless, the deceased will go to the SME, but with the condition: after the examination, the internal organs must be returned to the body of the deceased.
Gypsy customs and traditions
There is an opinion that only three branches of this ethnic group are usually given a luxurious funeral. However, isolated cases allow exceptions depending on the traditions that have developed in a separate camp or community. Of the established, only two can be distinguished: a persistent aversion to death and the erection of a cult of the deceased.
Gypsy funerals at the Baltic, Russian and Scandinavian tribes last for 2-3 days, while accompanied by "songs and dances." Such unusual customs are explained by the beliefs of the Roma: it is believed that with the death of the physical body, a person becomes free from all worldly problems and sorrows, passing into a better world devoid of suffering.
Moreover, a person dying of a disease is never left alone. In nomadic tribes, he moves to a special tent - "Bender", where he remains with him until recently. In this case, until the very moment of death, relatives should behave as usual: eat, drink, laugh and even sing.
Not a single gypsy will ever allow himself to die in a common tent or house, because by his death he will make this place dirty, unsuitable for further residence. Because of this, the personal belongings of the deceased, also dirty with foulness, were previously distributed to the poor at churches, and in recent decades they have been lowered underground with the deceased, placing them as if in a room.
In a word, since the gypsies bury, today no one does. For example, instead of praying for the deceased, they conspire and, if possible, lower the body into the grave without a coffin.
Funeral preparations
Some branches of Roma are noteworthy in advance of preparation for burial: it is expressed in the creation of savings from childhood, in order to later be able to secure a worthy funeral. For example, there is often a pre-purchase of a place in a cemetery where gypsies are buried.
Otherwise, the process of preparing the body for burial depends on the religion of the tribe itself. The funeral rites of Orthodox Roma for the most part consist of observing Christian traditions: the body is also washed and mourned with the difference that herbal decoctions are used for ablution, and prayers are replaced by conspiracies.
In France, it is generally accepted that the soul of a dying person is able to move if it is given a “vessel”. Therefore, at the time of death, a bird was brought to the person’s mouth, which was then released into the wild.
How gypsies are buried
In many regions, Roma funerals are magnificent, especially if the gypsy baron dies. In 1998, in Moldova, a local Bulibashi was interred only for 14 days, so that everyone who wanted to say goodbye to him could arrive, at the same time building a richly finished crypt with special niches. They are needed in order to place with the deceased his household items and favorite alcohol.
In this, the funerals of the Russian, Baltic and Scandinavian branches of the Roma are similar. They differ only in the general scope, depending on the status of the deceased, and the number of days allotted for preparation.
Gypsy burial
So, we have almost considered the question of how the gypsies bury their dead. We also note that the process largely depends on the place of burial.
Nomadic tribes do not have the means to buy a place in the cemetery, therefore they have left the world gone to the earth in a deserted, uninhabited corner, like a thicket or the steppe under a blackberry bush. According to legend, this plant protects the grave from desecration by animals. Things of the deceased are often simply burned.
Other sedentary representatives of the ethnic group bury their loved ones, like everyone else: in cemeteries. Large gypsy settlements have their own graveyard on the purchased land.
