“Is a Gypsy Family Intimidating Psychics in Jackson Square?”

It would seem that a group of psychics could foretell a plot by gypsy women to intimidate them from operating freely in Jackson Square. Yet, that is exactly the claim that some palm and tarot card readers in the French Quarter are making.

The psychics allege that even though they have obtained an occupational permit from City Hall, they find additional hurdles and red tape in the form of controlling gypsy women in the French Quarter. Supposedly, these women belong to a long-time gypsy family from Romania that has used heavy-handed tactics to crackdown in Jackson Square.

If the gypsies want a particular psychic out, they have been known to throw the person’s table and chairs away into the nearby Mississippi River. They have also been known to threaten, intimidate, and make conditions unbearable for those targeted.

Although gypsies in New Orleans tend to live in obscurity, national T.V. shows like “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” & “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” on TLC have sought to mainstream the Romani subculture.

Gypsy was a term first used to describe an ethnic group that traveled into Europe from northern India in the 1400’s. Gypsies self-identify as belonging to various tribes that settled in nations across the U.K. and Europe, such as the Sinti, Roma, Manush, or Kalo. The Domari tribe settled in Jerusalem and the Middle East.

For centuries, gypsies had been negatively portrayed as beggars, thieves, and baby-snatchers, living in the underbelly of society. Historically, gypsies have been severely oppressed and ostracized, living in tent encampments along the outskirts of cities.

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