Son of the moon Part 1

Long ago in an unknown land for many people, it may have been here or there, but it was, there lived certain tribes of gypsies, each separated from the other by its own lineage. The Calé here, the Lovari there, the Sinti beyond, the Kalderash next door and the Manouche further to the back. Gypsies alike but with marked differences.

It is said that once, a woman of the Kalderash tribe fell madly in love with a Calé, a man of powerful character, but with an inner flame for right, family, and justice. That woman imagined a life with that man, but life did not allow it; by tradition, the tribes did not relate to each other, and that love was an impossibility.

At night, the woman escaped from her tribe, and watched the Calé walk along the banks of the river, wishing strongly to share with him and even speak to him. There was nothing else in this world that the gypsy woman wanted more. To his luck, the Calé knew that the woman saw him, and liked him too, but the mere fact of betraying his tribe terrified him.

Everything was the same until one night he ventured out to see the Calé, and in a passionate denouement, they both stayed in the forest. Almost at dawn they were discovered, and the woman was forbidden to leave the village forever, and the Calé was threatened with death if he saw the lady again.

On the top of the mountain in the forest, the moon rested in solitude, with the sadness that the darkness offered. The moon, in her eagerness to look for love, manifested herself in the form of a beautiful white woman, covered with a silk dress, and appeared to men at night, who fled in fear because they thought it was death itself. It is said that once, a man fell in love with that woman of white complexion, and they consummated a secret romance.

Nice people, with nice content

Every night the man went to the mountain to meet his beloved. The moon always came down to meet him. It is said that the man's father discovered what his son was doing, and one day he decided to follow him. The man's father was proud of his ethnicity, so he would never allow a romance between tribes, much less with someone who was not even a gypsy. That same night, they surprised the man with the moon, his father went mad and with a sword tried to pierce the moon, but on the way, his son stood before him and was killed by his father. Once his son was lying on the ground, the white woman fled without a trace.

The moon fled the scene as she looked dead at the only man she loved. With whom she imagined a family and the only one of those gypsies who accepted her as she was. The moon went out, and in total darkness, many men lost their lives at the hands of predators, and an insatiable cold flooded the tribes. From there was born the legend of the lady in white, a spirit that haunts the forest, although others, wiser, knew that it was the moon in search of her happiness.

Within the tribes, they knew it was the moon, and therefore, some decided to make an offering in peace, to end the darkness that haunted them. The moon accepted the offering, and after a hundred days, it lit up, but never again crossed paths with any of the tribesmen. And as a warning she left them, never to look for her again.

But what does that gypsy woman have to do with the moon? Well, everything.

To be continued...

This story is fully inspired by an ancient gypsy legend, but the idea was taken openly and adapted from the song of the Spanish band "Mecano", with their song "Hijo de la luna" who released this song and brought it to fame in 1987.

Thanks for reading!

Lead image by samer daboul on Pexels