Gypsy Veiling - Hijab Head-covering - Dupatta Modesty | Gypsy Interview


By EelKat Wendy C Allen

I keep getting sent questions asking where I got my veils, specifically the pink embroidered one, which several people have now stated they wanted to buy one like it. So, I thought I'd make a page telling you where to get one.

Most people who have asked, have referred to it as a hijab, which, actually, it is not a hijab, rather it is a dupatta, though I know Muslim women who wear dupatta as a hijab.

One note, a dupatta is sheer/ transparent/ see-through, so if you are going to wear it as a hijab, you'll need a second scarf or some sort of lining under it. If you wear only a dupatta in hijab style, it will show your hair through the cloth. Muslim women I know who have worn only a dupatta, say they have to layer it and wear 4 dupattas at once to make the cloth opaque enough to not be see-through.

For those wondering what it is, a dupatta is a modesty veil worn by Jews, Hindu, Pakistani, Christians who practice modesty, some Vodun, and some Muslims, though Muslim women more often wear the hijab only, or both the hijab and the dupatta, same as Catholic nuns do, but rarely the dupatta alone. Catholic nuns wear both a hijab and a dupatta, the hijab, usually being white and the dupatta usually being black.

I am a Voodoo Priestess, by the way, rank of Medsen Fey, Marija Loa to Damballa, servitor of Erzulie. This is why you often see me wearing long white robes, fuschia veils, and lots of pink embroidery and sequins. Damballa's colours are white and Erzulie's colours are pink.

The hijab, known in the English language as a wimple, is a medium to long, but not very wide, scarf worn to hide the hair, and cover the forehead, neck, and chest.

The dupatta, known in the English language as a veil, is a very long, very wide scarf, worn pinned to the top of the head, and covering the hair, and most of the body, reaching to knee or ankle length.

How each is worn is dependant upon the religion in question, the woman doing the wearing, and the level of fashion statement she s going for.

For example, very modest, very religious women, such as Catholic nuns, cover every last inch of skin with only their face and fingertips left uncovered. A Muslim woman who was as equally fanatical as a Catholic nun, would instead of wearing a hijab and dupatta, instead wear a burka. Whereas a Muslim woman who was not very religious, but was still modest, would be seen wearing a hijab over a pant suit. On the other hand, a woman who held to no religious beliefs at all, and simply wanted to wear a headwrap as a fashion statement might be seen wearing a hijab with a bikini.

Common urban myth is to believe that a head covering automatically equals Muslim, when in fact, there are more non-Muslims who wear head coverings, then their are Muslims who do wear them. (Many Muslim women these days do not wear any head covering at all.)

A few years ago, I was unfamiliar with Muslim traditions, and in fact, before 2012, I had never even heard of the Muslim religion before. It was through multiple local people, complete strangers, randomly yelling hate slurs at me in WalMart, while accusing me of being Muslim, that resulted in my wondering what a Muslim was and looking into it to find out. I then sought out the local Muslim community to ask several men and women among them, what their various views on head covers were, thus how I came to find out the existence of the hijab (which I also had never heard of before haters in WalMart attacked me.)

The veil in question, which has resulted in Muslim haters attacking me, mistaking me for a Muslim, can be seen here in this video (which is the only video I have where you see it from behind and see how very long it is... it almost touches the ground). If you skip to 1:42 and watch when I get out of the car, you can see how very, extremely long it it. Most of my videos, you do not see me walk away from the camera so you almost never see my viel past shoulder length to see how long it it.


This is also the same veil which most people reference, when they ask where I get my veils and how they can get one like it. As stated already, this is a dupatta, not a hijab. It is a common part of Gypsy culture, though most modern Gypsies no longer wear them. This one in particular was a Christmas gift from my mother. She bought it off eBay.

They are commonly seen on Amazon, and here are a few:

Clicking on any of those images, will take you to the Amazon page for that scarf and it'll tell you how much they cost, plus also show you other designs available.

A plan one goes for about $15 or $20, but they can run to over $100 depending on level of embroidery and beadwork. With cotton ones being cheaper then silk ones, and polyester ones being cheapest of all.

Do not that they are always handmade, hand dyed, hand beaded, and hand embroidered and no two are alike. The designs you see in the pictures are usually just an EXAMPLE of what some finished ones look like. Typically you order the base colour you want (red, yellow, pink, etc) and have no choice on what the pattern will be. Sometimes you can pick from types of patterns like "geometric" or "floral" or "elephants" or "stripe" and you'll get that general design, but it'll almost never be the exact same design as shown in the picture of the listing.

So, make sure you know to expect completely random designs when it arrives, due to the fact they are not mass produced in a factory, but are handmade by tribal women in India and sometimes in Egypt.

The ones with the heaviest embroidery tend to come from India, while the ones with the flashiest beadwork tend to come from Egypt. The Indian ones usually have a rougher texture, while the Egyptian ones tend to have a satiny texture.

The Video Interview That Answers The Reader Question:
"Why would a non-Muslim wear a hijab?"





The dupatta, which is worn by us Gypsies, is quite a bit different from the hijab, and if you know what a hijab actually looks like, you'll never mistake a dupatta for a hijab again.

The fact that local Muslim haters attacked me, accusing me of wearing a hijab, is proof that, though they hate Muslims and claim to know a Muslim when they see it, they in fact have no clue what a Muslim is as can be prove by the fact they have no clue what a hijab even looks like and simply calls EVERY head scarf a hijab whether it is or not.

For those who do not know the difference, here is what a hijab looks like:

And, here is the style that is worn by more extreme religious beliefs, who wear the dupatta over the hijab, wearing both at the same time.

Note that this is a CHRISTIAN style of head covering, specifically, Catholic, not a Muslim style. I am often amused when I see Muslim haters, lashing out at the French Catholic women of Biddeford, Maine. Many of the older French residents of Biddeford, Maine are very devout Catholics. You'd think, seeing the lace veiled women walking along side the nuns and the Monseigneur with his black cassock and 100 tiny red buttons, you'd think they might realize the veiled women are Catholic. But no, the Muslim haters around here are just lashing out at any veiled woman without stopping to find out what religion she belongs to.

But, here is the Christian style:

The less extremist style of Catholic head covering, is to wear simply a dupatta only, with no hijab underneath, with the dupatta being made of lace and much smaller than usual. Usually referred to as a mantilla.

This often refered to as the "Italian" or "Latin" style veiling.

This style headcovering is also worn by some Baptists, Anabaptists, Amish, and Mennonites as well, though not as commonly seen.

This style is also worn by some Jewish women, as well as some Greek Orthodox women, Russian Coptic women, and also Gnostic Orthodox women.

I believe there are a few other religions which wear this style as well, but I can't remember which ones they are.

Devout Catholic women wear them every day, all day long, while less devout Catholics wear them only on Sundays in church.

As for Gypsy culture and the way we wear veils, we descended from a mix bloodline of Persian and Hebrew. Sometimes referred to as "The Mountain Jew".

We therefore wear the old style "Mountain Jew" style of wearing a veil, which is what you typically see in paintings of Mother Mary or other women from the Bible.

The reason behind it is from the line in the Bible which states:

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.' And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Sêmîazâz, their leader, Arâkîba, Râmêêl, Kôkabîêl, Tâmîêl, Râmîêl, Dânêl, Êzêqêêl, Barâqîjâl, Asâêl, Armârôs, Batârêl, Anânêl, Zaqîêl, Samsâpêêl, Satarêl, Tûrêl, Jômjâêl, Sariêl. These are their chiefs of tens.

And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

Then later, the Bible says this, in reference to that first part:

"For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels"

Gypsy culture holds a very strong belief in the Watchers alka The Grigori angels, and their ability to walk among us and abduct women.

There are many people who believe in Alien Abductions.

We Gypsies do not believe in aliens coming from outer space. We do however believe the people who claim they were abducted. We believe they were abducted by The Grigori Angels, the Watchers.

We also believe, that to prevent such abductions, is why the Bible states for women to wear veils, to hide their hair from the angels, as the Bible states many times the Watchers lust after women because they found their long hair sexually enticing. 

It is for this reason, that we Gypsies wear veils.

The Gypsies wear the dupatta the same way Pakistani and Hindu wear it, as seen in these photos...proper way to wear a dupatta is the style you see in these pictures here, which is also the way I wear it:





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