Gifts and Celebrations

Every Romani dhat I 'ave 'eard of celebrates dhe Festival of Rai. Dhat is a celebration of life and living in 'armony wit' our brethren and our distant ancestors; 'umankind.
 
I'm all for life and living in harmony, except for the bloody, fracking crows. Luckily a good, loud "QUORK" in the early morning chases the thieving buggers away!

MaDCap
 
I know ziss may be hard to understand do to my accent, but I vill try my best to speak clearly. As a Gypsy, vee LOVE to celebrate any chance vee get! Anysing from a Birth, to a Naming, vich is ven a Gypsy recives his or her name, to a Gazering of Heros, anysing vee can get togezer and sing and dance and make merry about, vee vill! Some of zee bigger celebrations for our culture are Famillia based, and very internal ven it comes to gaje, but, vee have no holds against sharing in drink and music vith anyone! You vant to party? Find me!
 
WynterRose said:
I know ziss may be hard to understand do to my accent, but I vill try my best to speak clearly. As a Gypsy, vee LOVE to celebrate any chance vee get! Anysing from a Birth, to a Naming, vich is ven a Gypsy recives his or her name, to a Gazering of Heros, anysing vee can get togezer and sing and dance and make merry about, vee vill! Some of zee bigger celebrations for our culture are Famillia based, and very internal ven it comes to gaje, but, vee have no holds against sharing in drink and music vith anyone! You vant to party? Find me!
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What ahr you talkingk about? You 'ave nye an accent to mine ear, mi sorella! And where do you come from, mi sorella? I would you drank wit' me one day!

And 'ave you ne'er been to a place to call yoursel' Romani? Gypsy...Romani...gypsy...Romani, 'ow deed dhat even start?
 
Gypsy, Romani......Two different sings dearest. Romani iz not only zee first Gypsy, but iz a Clan Name. A Gypsy in itself iz a Race. My Clan, for example, is zee Draken Clan. Zee muzical gypsies. Atleazt, zat is vot my mozer taught me az a child.
 
Ah! What differences we do 'ave from dhe lands you travel and dhe seas dhat I do! Beautiful in dheir own right, I would we shared customs and exchanged presents one day! But, where I am from, Gypsy is a derogatory statement made by gaje.
 
I sink, as far as Gaje go, it is zeir relation to you zat determens iif iit iz derogatory or not. My lover refers to me az hiz "little Gypsy-rouge" and I giggle at him. Now, iif a stranger ver to valk up and call me a "fillthy Gypsy" or say iit vith an attitude, I may end up having to curse him!
 
Ah, dhere lies dhe difference! I 'ave jus' been to places where I were preparing mysel' to die for dheir cause and dhey refered to me as naught but "Dhe Gypsy". Very rude ting to say, I tink. Mi kama, he refer to me as "Marcey". So may you, mi sorella dear. :)

I would love to hear of oter customs. Oter flavors of Romachal. Eet 'as been FAR too longk since I were in dhe company of familia even in dreams...and I am afraid much longer 'til I shall be again.
 
I vould love to sit and tell tales vith you! For I have been long vithout zee company of other Famillia az vell. It seems to me zat zere are but few of us vere I spend my time now. You may call me Rose, dear brozer, az all those close to me do. I vas vondering, one Romani to anozer, I have my eyes on a gaje man, and I vas vondering, do you sink he could vithstand one of ze famouse Gypsy fire-dances, or do you not have zees sings vere you are from?
 
Brot'er?! Hahahah! Nye, I am very much a sorella! Dhe Kris of dhe Dagon familia. Your younger, I tink as vell.

Of course we dance where I am from! And eet eez difficul' to say. I suppose it depends on your gaje. I 'ave a gaje man of mine own set in my eyes. But dhere is a word for him kind in mi familia. Seta. We call dhe gaje dhat burn wit' dhe spirit of a Romani "Seta". I would nye marry anyone who were nye. If your gaje man is like dhis, you may 'ave anoter word for it, dhen you 'ave each and ev'ry blessing I may give.

And if he are like dhis, dhen I bet he can wit'stand dhe Romani ale as well, nye? :D

Does your familia celebrate dhe festival of Rae? It comes up soon! And 'appy New Year, to you as well! Dhat ended jus' two weeks ago! You make any wishes? Did you play any games? Did you make a new trinket to give to someone you love? Is dhe year of Good Hope, mi sorella. May it be dhe best e'er.
 
Iffa you izza still intawested in wearnin' about otha' cultuhs celabwations, it would be a goo' way fur me t' intwoduce m'self.
See, I izza Tuzin'doduajja, but ah bettah known as Warpfang inna common tongue. Yah, I gorra teeth dat kinda wahp'd fwom how dey should be, which make wicking mah teef difficult sometime, azza I norra wanna cut mah tongue. Izza messy, yah yah.
So ah, I izza wat... err "rat," gorra take extwa care inna pwonouncin' dat one. More commonwee cawed a scavenguh. O'course, we izza Dodeeja t' each othah.

Annaway, I gorra caweed away. Iffa yah wharra know about mah people, y'say so, yah? Wite now, I izza intuhwested in evvrat'ing else, 'cuz I norra so exposed tuh yer people. I just weecentwee awwived on da island, and izza wookin' intuh twavel options. I sure I gorra see someone soonuh or watuh, but da know-wedge izza empowuhing.

I feel a sneeze wakin' me up,
Warpfang
 
How do you say iit...Umm...Mi Dispiache? Iz zat how you say sorry? I sink it is. Yes, Happy new year to you as well, Sister! I vove a scarff for my lover to carry vith him at zee tournament as a luck-charm! And I do celebrate Rae! I cannot vait! Also, zee word my Famillia uses as you'r word of Seta iz Rai. It means "gypsy Friend" and zat is vat I use to call the gaje zat are close to my heart. Zis man, he is very much a gypsy at heart, and I vas going to ask him to vander together vith me. Zough I'm not asking him zis any time soon. My Famillia calls zis Vandarie. You? Zee vish I made for zee new Year vas to come closer to zis man, and learn iif hiz Mulo is Gypsy enough for my Famillia to accept him az Rai also. I played vith the Ava in circles of zee flowers, hand games and such. You? I vould love to hear how you celebrate!
 
Nye need to apologize, mi sorella! In dhe Dagon familia, eef you need to apologize, eet means dhat you mess up terrible and you need rectify through makingk dhe offended party a gift dhat dhey could nye make easily dhemsel's or doingk dhem a favor. We call dhis Afedersin.

Seta is at dhe end of ones name. Dhis is nye jus' "friend". Dhis is a gaje accepted as familia. It eez also applied to our animal companions. Dogs, cats, birds, monkies, as well as people. But oter cultures may see dhis to be derogatory. Dhey are dhe ones dhat see animals as dheir inferior. Dhis is nye dhe case in Dagon.

Mi familia 'as alvays been seafarers. When a child of Dagon decides to make him or her own way, wit' dheir own ship, it eez called informally "Atq'vale".

Dhe wish for dhe new year...I 'ave nye made one yet. But is dhe Year of Good 'ope, so I s'pose I shall wish for dhat.

Him Mulo? What eez dhat?

As for ceremonies, dhere is coming-of-age at dhe age of 25 where a Dagon becomes a man or a woman. Dhere is a gift (usually a ship), dhe giving of a name dhat outlines dhe Dagon's accomplishments, a party, and at dhe end of dhe ceremony, dhey dive overboard and swim to dhe mainland to accpet dheir gift. Dhat is jus' tradition, nye actually part of dhe ceremony. It started vhen mi opa's oma turned 25 and dhe ship's rope broke off during the celebration so she actually swam ashore to look for her boat in dhe morningk after! Found it, luckily washed up on dhe shore.

I am only seventeen. Howe'er, since all dhe Dagons older dhan I are dead, I am dhe sole at'ority of mi familia. Dhis is a burden I would nye wish on anyone.
 
Mulo means Spirit in my famillia. Zis is vat vee look at ven vee are considering a mate. In my famillia, our come-of-age iiz at zee age of 20. Zat iz anozer reason I vould like to get togezer vith ozerz, for MY coming of age vill be zis autum! I am excited, for vee in my famillia celebrate by zee child who is becoming a voman (zee males do not do zis dance) are given zer first chance at zee Fire Dance. Zis is a Dance ment to show zee change of zee Ava (child)'s body into a vomans, and iit iiz also used to lure a mate to her. IIf she already haz a mate, gaje, Rai or Gypsy alike, zen zee dance is dedicated to zat person. I am frightened and in aw all at zee same time!
 
Ah, you shall do jus' fine! I am certain dhat dhere shall nye be a man around dhat would be able to resist let alone your Mulo.

I 'ave yet to propose marriage formally to mi Mulo. In Dagon, eet eez a woman's place to propose marriage and doingk so by giving dhem a green-colored token of some sort. Eez eet different in your familia?
 
Iin My Famillia, zee Man iis suposed to do zee proposing. But vee can ask as vell, for as you know, our freedom means everysing. My Mozer told me zat iif I found I loved a man enough, Gaje or Tacho Rat, vich means "true Gypsy" or "pure of Blood" in my famillia, zat I should tell him, and he vill do right by proposing. Zee Fire-Dance of my Famillia iis in a vay a proposal. If my Mulo's eyes do not stray from mine zee entire dance, he iis seem az a fit mate by my famillia. Do you have such customes?
 
We do nye do Fire Dances as rites of proposal or courship. When I come of age, I would 'ave done one wit' many people. So many flames goingk at dhe same time. Mi familia mus' meet mi kama, of course and deem 'im a proper Seta to truly become a Roma. Dhere eez nye special ceremony for dhis before dhe wedding. But dhis is because I am a girl. Eef I were a man, dhe Mulo in question may 'ave to consent to a race change before beggeting children. Eet eez known dhat any child born of a Dagon woman shall be Roma. 'as yet to be untrue.

A wedding in mi familia last for t'ree days. Dhe firs' is to celebrate dhe past. Dhe second to celebrate dhe wedding itsel'. Dhen dhe t'ird to celebrate dhe future of dhe couple. Same in your familia?
 
Veddings in my Famillia are one big celebration. IIt starts at dawn, vith zee vomen of zee Clan singing and cooking untill Mid Day. Vonce zee men have voken up, vee all drink and eat, vile my Mulo goes to each Clan member, and speaks to zem of becomming my Mate. Ven he has spoken to all My Famillia, vee comence vith the vedding. It only lasts a single day, but iz very exciting, full of laughter and fod and dancing. I do not nkow iif it is required in My Famillia for my Mulo to race change before vee concieve Ava. My Mozer has not spoken vith me on zis yet. My Mulo IS a gaje, and it vorries me, for though he has zee spirit of a gypsy in him, I fear zat it may not be enough. But I love him all zee same.
 
Eef you 'ave a fear, dhen weigh dhe spirits well, mi sorella. You love 'im, aye? Dhe approval of your familia should dhen be imminent eef him love for you eez as pure as your love for him. 'Less your papa were anytingk like mi papa! Eef my man were to 'ave made my eyes as much as water he would 'ave found many an uncomfortable place to stick someting sharp in 'im!

Here eez how a race change ritual eez supposed to go in mi familia...

Dhe seta in question drinks from a cup of wine which each Romani in dhe familia 'as bled in. Eef even one familia member does nye believe dhat dhe man or woman should become Romani, dhe man or woman dies instantly.

Is dhe same in your familia?
 
You all make the mating process so overly complicated.
 
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