Romani Roots Of Tarot: The Untold History You Should Know

is still a popular, but unfortunate, Halloween costume.

Popular because we white people love the idea of dark-haired babes with seductive smokey eyes who can give us access to unseen realms. Problematic because gypsy is considered an ethnic slur in Romani communities that has been whitewashed into acceptability. So it's as good a time as any to listen to contemporary Romani fortune tellers who have something to say about the cultural appropriation of certain forms of divination, and the exoticization and fetishizing of Romani femmes.

A little context for the unaware: Roma are a diasporic ethnic group, originally from India around the 10th century, explains Jezmina Von Thiele, a fortune teller, co-host of the Romanistan podcast , and author of " Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling ." "When Roma started leaving India and arriving in the West around the late 1300s, they were met with a lot of persecution, which continues. And so survival trades like fortune telling, metalworking and basket weaving became essential for Romani people to carve out a living," says Von Thiele.

Fortune telling, particularly cartomancy in this case, isn't a parlor trick or trending fad for Romani people ― it's a survival trade rooted in their history. You might think: OK, but aren't tarot cards from, like, France or Italy or something ? What's their connection to Romani culture?

Tarot reportedly appeared in Italy in the early 15th century , right around the same time that Roma began migrating to Europe. "Because Roma arrived in Europe around the same time that tarot was created, Roma were likely the first people to use Tarot as a divination practice," explains Von Thiele. "Roma have been surviving on fortune telling trades for centuries and have shaped a lot of modern divination techniques, including tarot, palmistry, and tea leaf reading."

And yet, besides the stereotype of the sexy gypsy who can steal your soul, Roma have largely been left out of our cultural obsession with tarot — and out of its known legacy. Fortune telling, tarot and palmistry are often associated with , which is an earth-based spirituality popularized at the beginning of the 20th century. While some Wiccan practices may be derived from Romani practices , Wicca is not derived from Romani culture.

"There isn't much about our history in the history books," says Paulina Stevens, owner of Romani Holistic , a wellness store in Laguna Beach, as well as Von Thiele's podcast co-host, and co-author of "Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling."

"A lot of our history is based on family traditions and what has been passed down." This historical omission means that a lot of people don't know much about Roma or the persecution they've endured, Stevens explains.

Stevens wants to clarify that while she does consider fortune telling a Romani cultural practice, like any people and their customs, not all Roma have the same relationship with divination. "Some Romani people do a lot of fortune telling, some Romani people don't," she says. "In my family, fortune telling was a survival trade, so we were not even allowed to go out and have regular jobs."

In other words, fortune telling is so deeply embedded in some Romani families that other careers are discouraged. "It's deeply rooted in survival [of] racism and being pushed out of our homes wherever we were," Stevens says. "We can do fortune telling from anywhere." Embracing fortune telling as a survival trade, then, allowed Romani people to make a living no matter where the diaspora displaced them. Providing this context was crucial to both Stevens and Von Thiele, who explore the cultural context of the craft in their book, "Secrets of Romani Fortune Telling."

For Von Thiele, who grew up in New Hampshire, fortune telling became a way to reconnect to their lineage. "My maternal grandmother is of Romani heritage," they said. "She passed down these traditions after coming to America alone, and she wanted her culture to continue with me. Fortune Telling was a survival trade for her, and I spent time with her learning about fortune telling from the age of four. She taught me as a way to connect with her culture, and also so I would always have something to fall back on. No matter what, she knew I would always be able to make money with our family's skills."

Unlike some of the discourse on the appropriation of spiritual practices, Von Thiele and Stevens's work to bring to light the accurate history of tarot is not to propose that non-Romani folks stop reading cards, or even saying that fortune telling should be limited to professional Roma fortune tellers. They just want — out of respect for the families who passed down these gifts over centuries — for Romani people to be acknowledged and credited for their contributions to what has become a trend but also a significant tool of healing and reflection in the mainstream. And they want Roma who do this work today to be uplifted for their generational expertise, instead of parodied for the sake of entertainment

"We are real people, and we have our culture, we have our language, and when it comes to fortune telling, this is something that we take really seriously," Stevens says.

Von Thiele adds that they hope educating people about the roots of tarot and other divination practices will amplify awareness about both the persecution and the contributions of Roma and other marginalized people.

"I would really love people to understand that the modern divination and techniques that people love so much come not just from Romani culture, but also other marginalized ethnic groups have contributed a lot, and we, as well as other ethnic groups, are continuing to experience persecution, not just for these spiritual practices, but in so many ways."

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The popularity of tarot has come at a cost. Roma have been stigmatized and objectified for the same practices that we have neatly woven into our daily lives without thinking about where these practices come from. Von Thiele and Stevens are inviting people to do just that. "We ask people to be mindful of how they present themselves," says Von Thiele. "So if you're reading professionally, unless you're Roma, don't use the word 'gypsy' to market yourself, or dress up like the Gypsy fortune teller. But also, if you're not doing this for work publicly, I think it's still nice to make an effort to learn from Romani sources."

"We don't own tarot," says Stevens, "and nobody does, but Roma popularized it. You have it because of us." The displacement and suffering of Roma should be acknowledged as part of the very real history of tarot, instead of being ignored or fetishized. Stevens adds, "I love that the world is getting to experience tarot. All we ask is that you respect it. Respect it as our spiritual practice. You can practice it too. We welcome that... But at the same time, you need to have a deeper understanding of it."