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Episode 91: Which Witch pt. 4
526 Plays1 year ago
Welcome back Witches! Who's ready for a brand new Which Witch Episode?? This episode is bringing you part 4 of our Which Witch series, where we go in depth on specific types of witches and their practices. So get in losers, and let's learn all about Romani and Celtic Witchcraft.
We would be forever thankful if you left our podcast a 5-Star review. If you really loved the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast & Buy Me a Coffee links below. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @GetinWitches, on TikTok @weredoingwitchcraft, or email us at weredoingwitchcraft@gmail.com. You can support our show through our links below.
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
- What is Celtic Witchcraft? (n.d.) Terra Vara. https://www.terravara.com/celtic-witchcraft/#:~:text=Celtic%20witchcraft%20is%20a%20practice%20that%20uses%20Celtic,distinct%20cultural%20flavor%2C%20distinguishing%20them%20from%20other%20traditions.
- Ceridwen Ward (2023). Celtic Wicca: A Complete Overview of Irish Witches and Celtic Witchcraft. Craft of Wicca. https://craftofwicca.com/celtic-wicca-overview-of-irish-witches/
- Kitty Fields (2021). Celtic Witchcraft: 10 Ways to Add Celtic Traditions to Your Magical Practice. Other Worldly Oracle. https://otherworldlyoracle.com/celtic-witchcraft/
- Jennifer Derrig (2023). Mysteries of the Celts: Unveiling the Secrets of Celtic Witchcraft. The Irish Jewelry Company. https://www.theirishjewelrycompany.com/blog/post/mysteries-of-the-celts-unveiling-the-secrets-of-celtic-witchcraft
- Marsh, Adrian. Gypsies, Roma, Travellers: An Animated History. (2013) Open Society Foundations. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/gypsies-roma-travellers-animated-history
- Nocturne, Nicholas. A Gypsy Witch’s Perspective: Romani Culture & Folk Magic in the Modern Era. (2023) Medium. https://medium.com/crow-and-caravan/a-gypsys-perspective-33092715a6b1
- WiseWitch. Gypsy Witch (Romani Witches). https://witchcraftandwitches.com/types-of-witches/gypsy-witch-romani-witches/
- Luca, Ana Maria. The Age of the Roma Witch: A European Witch Hunt. https://przekroj.pl/en/society/the-age-of-the-roma-witch-ana-maria-luca
- Youtube:VICE Asia- Witchcraft in Romania
Truly- We’re Feared Because We’re a Family of Witches
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft Exploration
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost on where to start? Then welcome to Get In, Loser! We're Doing Witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about the craft. So
Romani and Celtic Witchcraft Traditions
00:00:16
Speaker
get in, witches, for a duo witch witch episode as we explore the mysterious magic in Romani and Celtic witchcraft.
00:00:42
Speaker
Ingers crossed. We just get through this with no hiccups. Yes, because it's a longer one.
Deep Dive into Celtic Witchcraft
00:00:50
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. We picked some hefty ones. It is. I will say, though, so about for the Celtic witchcraft, there's a lot of what
00:01:06
Speaker
we have like researched other things, whether it be a deity or a holiday or practice. We've already discussed a lot of it on the podcast already. Um, so like some of it's going to be new information. Some of it's going to be old information and some things I've just didn't put in there because I'm like, we've already talked about that. We've already had a whole episode on this. I'm not going to like rehash something. So yeah, I will say though, with like my portion on Romani witchcraft, I,
00:01:36
Speaker
had to go a little bit into the history of the people to be able to explain the practice. So mine's a little bit heftier. Yeah. Well, I'm excited because I don't know very much about Romani practices and witchcraft. So you're not going to know very much about their practices. And we'll get into that. All right. Well, I'm excited. Let's kick it off with Celtic witchcraft.
00:02:06
Speaker
So
Romani Witchcraft Complexity
00:02:07
Speaker
historically, Celtic witchcraft draws on the culture of the ancient Celtic people and it can vary in how it's practiced. And I saw this definition of Celtic witchcraft online and I thought it was amazing. So essentially it said that Celtic witchcraft is a way to weave pagan customs and traditions from Celtic people into a magical practice. And so at the core of Celtic witchcraft, that is what it is.
00:02:32
Speaker
regardless of which sect or branch of Celtic witchcraft you practice. The practice provides a lot of the basic structure and ritual format for Wicca, so there are a lot of Celtic Wiccans who practice Celtic witchcraft, but you don't have to be Wiccan to be a Celtic witch, and you don't have to be a Celtic witch to be a Wiccan.
00:02:52
Speaker
They don't go hand in hand. Most of what we see practiced today doesn't actually draw from a lot of historically accurate sources, but instead came out of a romantic revival of ancient Celtic practices. When you think of Celtic witchcraft, a lot of what most people practice is this romantic revival of ancient Celtic practices.
00:03:15
Speaker
So this movement was spurred by a new found interest in folklore, which then started a Celtic revival and increased interest in Scottish Gallic culture. And so many modern day witches continue to practice using the practices that were essentially created from the Romantic revival as a way to connect with their ancestral roots and to bring old traditions to today. And
Cultural and Historical Accuracy in Practices
00:03:39
Speaker
an example of this would be like Celtic Wiccans.
00:03:41
Speaker
But there are some Celtic restrictionists, and they seek to keep their practice as culturally and historically accurate as they can. And so for this sect of Celtic witchcraft, they use their practice to revive and preserve the continuity of Celtic traditions. And they rely on historical records and folklore to guide them. And from what I was reading about this
00:04:05
Speaker
Celtic reconstructionist path, it's essentially a very rigid belief system. There's not a lot of room for any sort of interpretation. It is literally based on we practice this way because this was historically documented and everything else, we don't believe in that. That is not how ancient Celtics practice.
00:04:25
Speaker
we just believe in this. But there's a bit of a, I think it's difficult for these Celtic restrictionists because a lot of the ancient Celtic practitioners were Druids. And so as we know, like what we know about Druidism is that it was a practice that was passed down through generations through oral tradition. So we don't know very much about them. And we've talked about that on the podcast because what we do know about them
00:04:53
Speaker
A lot of it is being documented and seen through the lens of Christianity and them not understanding what Druidism actually was. So Druids, just as like a very general overview, are powerful magicians and healers who were responsible for communicating with the gods and performing rituals for the community. Druidism just in general is very much tied to the Celtic reconstructionists and they will practice along again what is historically written down
00:05:22
Speaker
And anything outside of that is something that they don't believe in. If
Spiritual Significance of Oam
00:05:25
Speaker
you're interested in learning about Celtic witchcraft, it's important to understand the tree Oam. I believe is how it said. There's honestly, there's like three different pronunciations online. It's Oam.
00:05:38
Speaker
or om, so choose one, I guess. This is the ancient system of writing, but in this, I don't want to call it an alphabet because it's not as simple as an alphabet, but it's
00:05:54
Speaker
an alphabet essentially where each letter or marking has a deep spiritual meaning that goes beyond just a simple meaning of like the alphabet that we use in English. And each symbol contains its own universal power. And so like with everything, Christianity kind of came in with these ancient Celtic traditions and changed up things. And this is why we don't see as much history being passed down with
00:06:23
Speaker
Celtic reconstructionists because there just isn't, because a lot of it was oral traditions. But when Christians made their way through Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, they associated pagan beliefs with the devil, and of course they were considered evil. And many ancient Celtic beliefs and practices were forbidden and suppressed. And so that is why we don't know very much about the Druids, and that is why we don't know as much as we should know about some of their ancient practices, because again, a lot of it was orally passed down.
00:06:50
Speaker
So going a little bit into Celtic Wicca just just as like provide like a little brief I guess overview of it and the differences when compared to other types of Wiccan practices.
00:07:02
Speaker
Within Celtic Wicca, there is the Celtic Pantheon. And so all of the deities that are revered in Celtic Wicca are represented by Irish, Scottish, or Welsh deities. They have a belief in fae, which are powerful and sometimes troublesome little creatures who can assist someone when they see fit. Some witches work with fae, others avoid them entirely and protect their home against them.
00:07:28
Speaker
but you will see that belief in fae in Celtic Wicca and there are commonalities with neo-druids and kitchen and hedge witchcraft. A lot of Celtic witches and Wiccans in general see
00:07:40
Speaker
magic in the everyday and instinctively weave magic into recipes, herbal medicine, and other aspects of their life without the need for formalized ritual. And if that's one thing that we know about Wicca just in general, and we've had an episode on Wicca, there's a lot of ritual involved with Wicca. But from what I've been researching as it relates to Celtic Wicca, while there is that formalized ritual aspect, it's not
00:08:06
Speaker
as much of a formalized ritual in everyday things. It's just instinctively weaving magic into whatever you're doing. And that's something that you also see with the other two sects of Celtic witchcraft as well. So some
Sacred Spaces and Deities in Celtic Witchcraft
00:08:20
Speaker
important things to know about Celtic witchcraft, their sacred spaces and tools, for instance, they use the cauldron, the wand, and the pentacle. So the cauldron would symbolize the womb of the goddess.
00:08:33
Speaker
The wand is the tool for directing energy, and often it's made out of yew, oak, or ash. And the pentacle is a protection symbol representing the five elements. And you see this very commonly used in all sex of Celtic witchcraft. Beliefs, common in Celtic witchcraft, regardless of which path you take, include veneration for the earth, belief in fae and elementals,
00:08:56
Speaker
celebrating the eight Sabbaths. Most of these come from Celtic solar holidays and the four major ones are in bulk, Beltane, Lamas and Samhain and they celebrate 13 lunar espats throughout the year. Another common belief is ancestor veneration and working with ancestors is very common practice because many who practice Celtic witchcraft have Irish, Scottish or Welsh ancestry. Now what's important to note here though is you don't have to have a
00:09:25
Speaker
cultural background in Irish, Scottish, or Welsh ancestry to be a Celtic witch. And that's something that I've seen pointed out on every website that I went to whenever I was researching this. That's just, that is a common practice because a lot of people who do practice Celtic witchcraft have this background, but you don't have to come from these backgrounds in order to practice it. It's not a closed practice.
00:09:51
Speaker
So there are some common deities in Celtic witchcraft, a lot of them
00:09:55
Speaker
I'm pretty sure all of them. We've actually talked about in depth on the podcast, so I'm not going to go in depth with all of these, but these are the main ones that you will see in Celtic witchcraft. Brigid is, of course, a goddess of fire, inspiration in arts, and she's associated with the hearth, the home, and family. Cernunnos, the horned god of fertility, worshipped as a lord of animals and wild. He's associated with the cycle of life and death.
00:10:22
Speaker
rebirth, and is seen as a bringer of abundance and prosperity. Danu is a mother goddess revered as the source of all life, nurturer of the land and its people, associated with fertility, wisdom, rivers, and the embodiment of the primal forces of nature. Lu, the god of light and the arts, patron of smiths, bards, and artisans, he's associated with the harvest, sun, and
00:10:47
Speaker
was the protector of his people and a bringer of victory in battle. And the Morrigan, the trio of goddesses representing war, fate, and death. The Morrigan was often invoked before battle or for just basic protection. And so again, like I said, we've talked about every single one of these deities on the podcast. I wasn't going to go into depth with any of them. But if you would like to learn more about them, go check out some of our previous episodes where we've discussed all of these deities in detail.
Practical Guidance on Celtic Witchcraft
00:11:15
Speaker
But
00:11:15
Speaker
Just before I end here, let's talk about how to practice if you are interested in learning about Celtic witchcraft. Most important thing, like I said before, you don't have to be Celtic to practice Celtic witchcraft, but what is important is to do your research. Choose which path you want to take, whether that be the romanticism path, Celtic reconstructionist path, or even just
00:11:36
Speaker
becoming a Celtic Wiccan, connect with the natural world, spend time in nature, observe the Sabbats, celebrated along the cycles of the moon. I do think it's important to note that while whenever I talk about like, oh, it's important to observe and celebrate the Sabbats, Celtic witchcraft
00:11:52
Speaker
while a lot of what they practice falls along the wheel of the year, they don't necessarily practice everything that's celebrated along the wheel of the year. So make sure that you understand the difference between what Sabbats they do celebrate and what Sabbats they don't.
00:12:08
Speaker
Also a huge thing to do whenever you are interested in practicing Celtic witchcraft is connect with the land, sea, and sky. These are the three most important aspects of the divine to the ancient Celts and so incorporating those into your practice is huge. Also learn about and work with Celtic deities. Choose one that resonates with you and spend time learning about their qualities, their attributes,
00:12:31
Speaker
how you can honor them by creating altars in their honor, leaving them offerings, etc. And also understanding that, you know, just in general, working with deities while
00:12:42
Speaker
It is awesome. And especially if that's a path you want to take, not everybody should be working with deities, especially if you've not done your research and you don't have that reverence and respect for them. So you can't just like all of a sudden decide, I'm going to be a Celtic witch and I'm going to create an altar for Danu and I want her to work with me. Like you can't just approach it from that way. You need to make sure that you do your research and learn how to honor and respect them.
00:13:11
Speaker
Also, if you're wanting to work with fairies or just the fae or elementals in general, approach them with respect, build a connection, and just like with deities, slowly learn how to work with them respectfully because a lot of
00:13:26
Speaker
people who believe in Celtic witchcraft definitely have a fear of the fae and elementals and all of the little tricky things that they can do. So just be careful if this is a path you want to take. And then also something easy that you can do is just bring Celtic traditions into your home. Learn how to use things like tree bark, seeds, pods, and blooms into your spells.
00:13:50
Speaker
work with the land sea in the sky, hang a horseshoe upside down over your home to keep negative spirits away. All of those things are seen in Celtic traditions. Cook traditional Celtic meals, maybe even try to make your own beer or mead and dedicate it to a Celtic deity.
00:14:05
Speaker
study and connect with the sacred animals that were revered by the Celts. These are things like the boar, horse, bear, wolf, serpent, salmon, stag, and cow. Something that you could do really easily is to add figurines to your altar. I've seen a lot. I don't know if I've seen this a lot in America, but I did see this a lot in England. Whenever we would travel, if they had little crystal shops, but they would be like,
00:14:29
Speaker
jewelry, it wouldn't be like a magic shop. Yeah, you're in a cult shop, they would have little like figurines carved of these specific animals and all of the shops and you could buy them. And like every time we would go like we have a few of them just because the girls will be like, Oh, I want that I want that because it's so cute. I'm sure you can find them online, you can find them
00:14:50
Speaker
if you're traveling, and I'm sure you could probably find them in the States as well, but add those figurines to your altar, or you could even use any ethically sourced animal part in your rituals, and this can include animal bones, feathers, or teeth. These can be used in rituals as well as in divination. And learn and use the tree oum. Like I said before, it could be pronounced a couple of different ways, but do your own research on it, learn about it, and understand how it works within Celtic witchcraft, and also
00:15:19
Speaker
using Celtic symbols in your practice. So this includes, again, the land, sea, and sky, having different representations of the land, sea, and sky on your altar, having the symbols of the triple goddess, anything related back to the Morrigan, and also one of the biggest symbols is birth, death, and rebirth. So making sure that you are including that in your practice as well.
00:15:46
Speaker
And that is it on Celtic witchcraft. It's kind of a shorter overview, but again, I feel like, I mean, as much as I am really drawn to Celtic witchcraft, I will say that like a lot of what I was researching when it came to Celtic witchcraft and practicing as a Celtic witch, it's a lot of what we've already discussed on the podcast before. So I didn't want to go into this huge deep dive where it was like, okay, but we actually talked about this on episode 30.
00:16:15
Speaker
in detail. Thanks again. We have not discussed any of my information before, so buckle up because it's a lot. Yes.
Cultural Sensitivity in Romani Practices
00:16:28
Speaker
So I want to start my section off by just putting a little disclaimer out there and acknowledging that a term that I will be referencing in regards to Romani witchcraft, because this term is both kind of embraced and rejected in the community,
00:16:43
Speaker
Many Romani witches throughout my research refer to themselves as Gypsy witches or Romani Gypsy witches. So while the term will be included in some areas that I'm covering, I'm well aware that this term is considered to be offensive to some within the culture. And I'm only including the term in areas where the person describes themselves
00:17:03
Speaker
and or their practice in that manner because that's like not for me to relabel them because this isn't my practice or my culture. So I fully am aware that you know the term gypsy can be offensive but also it's like I said it's not my place to change the name of their practice if that's what they choose to call it. So please don't be mad if you hear me use that term throughout this portion.
00:17:30
Speaker
I'm just trying to be as culturally sensitive and also like not whitewashing their practice because if that's you know the term that they use that's what they prefer. So I'm going to be talking about Romani traditional witches and some other names that they go by are Roma Witch, Gypsy Witch, Romani Gypsy Witch, and Kobi Hani. And just before I even get into any of the you know witchcraft portion of it, I think it's really important to give
00:17:59
Speaker
at least a very brief history of their culture and their people to fully understand their practice. So Europe is home to somewhere between 10 to 12 million Roma or Romani people, but due to their complex history, most people today couldn't really tell you who they are culturally.
00:18:18
Speaker
They're often referred to as Roma, as Gypsies, and simply just Travelers. This group originated in parts of India, and they were seen as exotic to many of white European cultures. And the Boho Gypsy fashion style was created as a way to fetishize this group and their culture. And this happened approximately 200 years ago, but the exact timing isn't really known.
00:18:42
Speaker
And as far as the term gypsy, from what I understand, this stemmed from a mistaken identity. So apparently white Europeans thought that the Romani people were Egyptians, so they referred to them as Gyptians, like as a short way to refer to them. And over time, this morphed into the term gypsy and it became a slur used
00:19:04
Speaker
in describing their people as outsiders. The term has since been taken back or reclaimed by many within the culture who embrace it as who they are, but there are still many within the culture that do find it to be a very offensive slur. Damn. You know what that reminds me of? What people are so stupid. That's what we did with Native Americans, like indigenous Americans. We did the same thing. Oh, yes. We're in India. These are Indians now.
00:19:31
Speaker
You're stupid. You just have to hate them. I feel like it's nice to be able to learn it and then tell other people, hey, look how dumb they were. Right. They were so dumb. Look at our ancestors because they were fucking idiots. Yeah.
The Role of Witchcraft in Romanian Society
00:19:54
Speaker
So, during World War II, Nazi Germany carried out genocide against the Romani people. It's estimated that between, and again, this is a very broad number because they don't really know, but 25 to 50% of Roma people that were living in Europe at this time were just straight up murdered by Nazi Germany and many others were enslaved.
00:20:16
Speaker
Those that fall under the group like Roma or Romani are not a single homogenous group of people. They don't follow a single faith, they have various dialects in their language, and there are also variations in their cultural practices. While it would seem that these variations might keep these groups up
00:20:35
Speaker
part, the Romani people are actually bound and united by a common heritage of what was exclusion and being cast as the outsider and as like other historically. Culturally they live by a code that governs their ethics. Each person, I read this and I was like this is so like everyone should just follow this code and the world would just be such a better place. So each person is to stay clean
00:21:00
Speaker
respect others, be just in their dealings, and illustrate healthy and helpful principles that benefit the whole. Losing dignity or honor among their people results in banishment. Just get it together, be a clean person, help everyone, and if you can't, get out. I think every culture should abide by these rules. We probably wouldn't have some of the problems that we have.
00:21:24
Speaker
right? And then also just for this next part, I really want to point out like just real quickly that Romani people are not Romanian, but many Romani people do exist in Romania because they were enslaved there for a period of time.
00:21:40
Speaker
Because of their presence in Romania, though, Romani witchcraft is well known and practiced within Romania. Witchcraft actually thrives in Romania where one in ten Romanians visit a witch and they pay them for spells. Romania's witch economy is worth more than 1 million euro a year and they practice it tax-free.
00:21:59
Speaker
Witchcraft became a listed profession in Romania in 2011 when the Ministry of Labor decided to include it in the official professions registry. It extended to fortune tellers, astrologers, witches, and healers. Taxation laws were then written, but then they never passed because many of the politicians feared backlash from the witches and they were afraid of being cursed if they started taxing the witches' practices.
00:22:27
Speaker
And then part of the non-taxable belief here, like within the culture, is that the craft and the practice is considered a gift that they were born with. It's not something that they learned in school, they didn't get a degree in it, they weren't hired and then trained into witchcraft. It's literally considered in their blood and passed down from generation to generation. And so culturally, their practice is no different than any gene that we would inherit from our parents when we're born.
00:22:55
Speaker
so they don't believe it should be something that can be taxed, which I think is amazing. I'm so invested. This is awesome. It gets better. And just because this is a common thing that is like,
00:23:12
Speaker
amongst like communities in terms of witches historically. I think it's also important to share that between the 16th and 19th century when witch hunts were prevalent, Romania had little to no witch hunts. And this is believed to have been this way because the like the Romanian Orthodox Church had this like unspoken policy of integration and toleration of pre-Christian beliefs. It was just like super relaxed informal Christian Orthodoxy unlike every other
00:23:41
Speaker
Christian belief where they were like, you have to be this way. They were like, we get that you do these things, but here's our things. And so a lot of the Romani practices, they are still considered like they practice Christianity with witchcraft. So they'll use like Jesus
00:24:02
Speaker
as their deity or incorporate Jesus into their witchcraft or God or the Holy Spirit. So it's really interesting, but it's also because they are a people that have been basically forced from their own home. They're just wherever they are, they have to adapt. And so essentially, they kind of just did that, but they were also not
00:24:27
Speaker
punished for it, which I thought was really cool. And again, this isn't to say that witches weren't demonized here because they absolutely were, but instead their punishments were just spiritual punishments versus straight up public murders everywhere else where they're burning people at the stake or hanging people. In Romania, they would just be like, you have to fast for X amount of days or you need to go pray about this situation.
00:24:53
Speaker
Or they would temporarily ban them from the church, which at first I was like, oh darn, you banned me from the church. But again, they had adapted to their surroundings and to those practices, and they incorporated those practices into their own magical practices. So making it to where they couldn't go to the church and be part of that community actually did hurt them.
00:25:15
Speaker
Witches were also deemed crucial for rural communities because they were village healers and herbalists, including some of the village priests. So some of the priests even practiced herbalism and they would go out and heal and work with the witches to help people within the community.
00:25:33
Speaker
they cured illnesses, and they acted as village doctors, essentially. And it's still believed that since this role was predetermined and acknowledged by the entire community, that this is why there was such a low rate of witch trials within Romania specifically, which I thought was really cool. And I love it. Witches are recognized within their communities as being powerful. And sometimes they'll even like seek to marry their children into other families of other witches to make them more powerful, which
00:26:01
Speaker
Again, it's so different than what we see historically when we do this, so it was really refreshing doing this research. It wasn't like, well, they found out they were a witch, so they hung them or they burned them. They're like, oh, you're a witch? My kid's a witch too. Let's get them married as quickly as possible.
00:26:22
Speaker
And then something else I found that was really interesting was Charles Leland.
Romani Witchcraft Practices and Beliefs
00:26:27
Speaker
He was an expert in folklore in like the 1800s. And he observed that the Romani magical tradition was very like, quote unquote, practical and handy. So he stated that they focus their spells towards matters of love, protecting farm animals, keeping people healthy, a sprinkling of luck, curses toward guilty parties, often to weed them out,
00:26:50
Speaker
and their important daily concerns. In terms of Romani witchcraft practices, you're not going to find a lot of information out there. So I did as much digging as I could. And we're going to like, when I wrap up this section, we'll talk about why.
00:27:06
Speaker
So much of their craft is practiced in the form of charms, talismans, and amulets. These items are easy to carry around with you and they're super practical which is like what their witchcraft or their practice is. It's meant to be practical and easy. They're also known to have their own tokens or small trinkets like a crystal, a piece of resin, coins, or even like shells just to like name a few.
00:27:33
Speaker
And it's believed that the longer this token stays with the carrier, the more of the person's attributes that it absorbs. And then this token takes on a demigod-esque power itself that they incorporate into their practice, but they have to use it with great care. Common to their craft are divination and elemental reverence. They will watch for signs in nature like animal tracks or the directions that certain birds are flying to help divine the future.
00:28:00
Speaker
They use surfaces like still ponds of water or even like shiny rocks that they find out in nature for scrying. Tarot is a major piece of their culture as well as scrying and crystal balls and much of what was fetishized about Romani women included kind of this caricature image of women in traditional boho style with bright colors and like telling fortunes or you would see like
00:28:25
Speaker
they would be like super eccentric and then have like crystal balls. And in terms of the elemental Romani witchcraft or this is where it gets kind of like a lot of times when they practice this form is where they would refer to themselves as gypsy witchcraft or gypsy witches. They tend to have a strong affinity for water and there's a common practice among those that practice with water
00:28:48
Speaker
that they never take water from any source without first leaving a gift for the spirits that abide there to avoid bringing bad luck upon themselves. From a young age Romani children are taught to pay attention to the content of their dreams, the meanings of specific omens, and warnings of other worldly spirits like the bang, which was the devil, and the mueller, which was the dead man, but again like
00:29:15
Speaker
I couldn't really find a lot of information on either of these, like why they're called that and what these warnings were. There are also told stories that instill the belief that the supernatural and the spiritual are just
00:29:30
Speaker
normal part of everyday life and that as long as you do what you're expected then you're not going to attract like unsavory spirits or jinx yourself with like your thoughts or your actions. They learn that words have great power and they can be used to either curse or bless themselves with the words that they choose to use. Today the practices are still like it's still being done pretty much the exact same way from what I'm like understanding.
00:30:00
Speaker
I was trying to find good resources and not coming up with it. There wasn't anything that was definitive. And so I went on YouTube and I actually found this person is considered one of Romania's
00:30:18
Speaker
Most powerful witches and her name is Mahala Minka and it's her and her daughters. They're like a coven of witches and She like I said, she's the most powerful most feared in Eastern Europe She was married to her husband at the age of 13 because both of their families were from strong lines of witches and they wanted to strengthen that power and
00:30:39
Speaker
People call her and her daughters like day and night to work spells, to brew them potions, to tell their fortunes, to carry out curses, to heal them, to cleanse them like anything that they need. Magically, they pretty much they just call this family. And in an interview, she wouldn't give exact prices like she didn't want to like tell
00:31:01
Speaker
the interviewers like exactly what she gets paid but she gave a ballpark of between five to nine hundred euro per spell and something that i thought was kind of funny was that you know people would call her and they're showing like this happening and she's telling them exactly what to do
00:31:20
Speaker
And then at the end of it, she's like, okay, we'll send the money, you know, via whatever, like her bank or whatever. And when she hung up the phone after doing this, they were like, what, like, what if they don't pay you? And she was like, Oh, no, they'll pay. They don't want to be on a witch's bad side. Like, and they were like, have you ever had an instance where like, they didn't pay you? And she was like, No, I've never gone without payment for what I do.
00:31:45
Speaker
That's amazing. Oh, great. I love this. They were really interesting though. Like they they have like a whole social media presence. And there's like several YouTube videos of people that have like interviewed them. And they have let them like watch rituals or like watch them work magic. It was crazy.
00:32:05
Speaker
so interesting. 10 out of 10 would recommend if you're interested in learning about any of this, go watch some of their interviews. So being born into a clan of witches in Romania allows a woman to choose how to live her life independently. So Romanian women or Romani people living in Romania, if you are a woman, basically, the only way that you can be independent is to become educated and getting a good job, which is like
00:32:35
Speaker
Extremely hard to do or being born as a witch otherwise you're married very young you're Just expected to start having a family having children and at that point most of them drop out of school And they become dependent on their spouse, but being born a witch you're like you don't have to do those things which families are
00:32:56
Speaker
the only one where women actually hold all the power and most of them are well off in terms of honey. They're also highly respected by the community leaders and they're not held to the constraints of a patriarchal society.
00:33:10
Speaker
While
Respecting Romani Culture and Practices
00:33:10
Speaker
you can purchase books about Gypsy witchcraft or Romani witchcraft, they will not fully encompass these practices because what they practice is part of their culture and their heritage. Much of their practices are considered to be close to those outside of the culture, so please be aware of that. Those without ties to this culture should not call themselves a Romani or a Gypsy witch and should not be practicing this form of witchcraft
00:33:33
Speaker
like full stop period. Just don't do it. As we always say, always do your own research and be respectful of other cultures and other practices. Just to further state, it is very unlikely that you will find a practicing Romani witch that's willing to teach you their craft.
00:33:49
Speaker
Culturally, their belief is that their wisdom is for their own use and for that of their kin. The Romani people lost so much of their culture and their language from colonization, so they take what they have left. They pass on what culture they can amongst themselves. Wow, that is super interesting.
00:34:07
Speaker
Yeah, which, you know, like, we had talked about this when we were talking about this topic for this episode. And I was like, immediately, like, I really felt drawn to just learning about this. I like, I don't have any Romani ties. I don't know what it was that like, my eye just like zoned in on this. But I was like, I really want to learn about this. And it was really hard at first. And I was like, where is this information? And then the more I dug into like,
00:34:34
Speaker
the history and the culture of the people, I was like, so much makes sense right now. So please don't practice Romani witchcraft unless you have, you know, been passed down information from your Romani ancestors outside of that. No.
00:34:52
Speaker
Yes. And like the whole time that you were talking, like all, it reminded me too of just like fantasy novel authors. I feel like they beat that shit up. Oh yeah. And I really hope that nobody is listening to this without Romani ancestry and no ties with the community and are like, you know what, this is a great premise for a series. I'm going to make it because no, no, no, no, not for you.
00:35:19
Speaker
You can learn all about their culture if that's what you want to do, but fully understand that this is not for you. It's not for you to practice. And the books and information that you can find that has their quote-unquote practices is not actually what's being practiced because what's being practiced is passed down orally traditionally from mother to daughter
00:35:43
Speaker
and like on and on and on. So yeah. So interesting. I'm gonna have to follow her on Instagram because that is really cool.
00:35:55
Speaker
Yeah, it was really interesting to like, you know, a lot of times, especially like, in any of the witchcraft that we've covered, like types of witches that we've covered, a lot of it is very emphasized on like, I don't know, what do you call it like white magic or light magic or like, you know, good versus like black magic or dark magic. And something I noticed, especially with
00:36:18
Speaker
the modern witches that we're practicing. They do it all because if somebody calls them and needs a curse done, it has nothing to do with them. They're just providing a service for somebody that needs it, so they don't see it as good or bad magic. It's just somebody needed help, so we're helping them. Yeah.
00:36:44
Speaker
So I did find that like really interesting too. Yeah. I definitely learned a lot. Yeah, no, it was, it was really funny. Like doing this research was really funny because I was literally like, this research took me way longer than it should have because I couldn't find anything. And then by the time I had spent like hours trying to find information, my little ADD brain was like, I,
00:37:11
Speaker
I can't. We'll deal with this tomorrow." And so I came back and worked on it this morning and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so much easier if I would have just gone to the history and the culture of the people to begin with. And it would have been so easy, but it was interesting. I really liked it. Don't practice it unless you have ties. Yes. Do your research always. Do your research always, always. Yeah, but that's it. That's it.
00:37:48
Speaker
That's
Episode Wrap-up and Contact Information
00:37:48
Speaker
it for this episode of Get In Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you loved this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get In Loser content,
00:38:04
Speaker
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