We Borrow the Earth: An Intimate Portrait of the Gypsy Folk Tradition and Culture by Patrick Jasper Lee

Author:Patrick Jasper Lee [Lee, Patrick Jasper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romani traditions and culture
Publisher: Ravine Press
Published: 2013-10-18T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

ANCIENT ROMANI HEALING AND LIFE SKILLS

The Chovihano’s Specialized Craft

It is nineteenth-century Britain. Victoria is on the throne, the Industrial Revolution has begun, steam trains are travelling from one end of the country to the other at breakneck speeds and the British are a powerful nation of explorers and colonialists, settling in many parts of the uncivilized world where tribal people are undergoing mass religious conversion and education in the modern sciences.

In the thickest part of a forest in the British countryside a non-literate Chovihano squats on the wood floor, conducting an ancient ritual. He converses with the trees and with the Spirits of the Sun, Moon, Air, Earth, Fire and Water, asking for their assistance, and with the aid of his bakterimasko ran, or magic wand, he ‘conducts’ the flow of energy, jingling the wand’s bells to keep away unsavoury and untrustworthy spirits, who might just take an interest in what is going on and bring bad luck. This healer, who is more like a wizard, is like the leader of an orchestra conducting his musicians. He mutters words in the Romani language, sprinkles salt around to protect everyone and feels the spirits gathering all around him. He is in complete command of otherworldly activity.

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