Prosper Mérimée was a French writer of the Romantic movement. As with many Romanticists, he was also a noted archaeologist, historian, and an important figure in the history of architectural preservation. He is best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.
Mérimée acknowledged that he chose to make his femme fatale Carmen a gypsy mostly because that's what he had been studying at the time he composed the novella, and he was very excited about the subject.
One can't fault any man who lived 200 years ago for not following modern academic styles in his research, but just because it's old doesn't mean his reports should be totally discounted. These are some of the best records we have about the life of the Romany people at the time.
Within his fictionalized story of Carmen, he sought to utilize known information about their lifestyle and magical practices. Because the story was widely read, these types of spells became general folk magic throughout the entire world. Here are some excerpts from the book:
We crossed the bridge over the Guadalquivir, and at the far end of the suburb we stopped in front of a house of anything but palatial appearance. The door was opened by a child, to whom the gipsy spoke a few words in a language unknown to me, which I afterward understood to be Romany, or chipe calli—the gipsy idiom. The child instantly disappeared, leaving us in sole possession of a tolerably spacious room, furnished with a small table, two stools, and a chest. I must not forget to mention a jar of water, a pile of oranges, and a bunch of onions.
As soon as we were left alone, the gipsy produced, out of her chest, a pack of cards, bearing signs of constant usage, a magnet, a dried chameleon, and a few other indispensable adjuncts of her art. Then she bade me cross my left hand with a silver coin, and the magic ceremonies duly began. It is unnecessary to chronicle her predictions, and as for the style of her performance, it proved her to be no mean sorceress.
“‘Oficial mio, where are you taking me to?’
“‘To prison, my poor child,’ I replied, as gently as I could, just as any kind-hearted soldier is bound to speak to a prisoner, and especially to a woman.
“‘Alack! What will become of me! Senor Oficial, have pity on me! You are so young, so good-looking.’ Then, in a lower tone, she said, ‘Let me get away, and I’ll give you a bit of the bar lachi, that will make every woman fall in love with you!’
“The bar lachi, sir, is the loadstone, with which the gipsies declare one who knows how to use it can cast any number of spells. If you can make a woman drink a little scrap of it, powdered, in a glass of white wine, she’ll never be able to resist you. I answered, as gravely as I could:
“‘We are not here to talk nonsense. You’ll have to go to prison. Those are my orders, and there’s no help for it!’
I have said that most gipsy women undertake to tell fortunes. They do this very successfully. But they find a much greater source of profit in the sale of charms and love-philters. Not only do they supply toads’ claws to hold fickle hearts, and powdered loadstone to kindle love in cold ones, but if necessity arises, they can use mighty incantations, which force the devil to lend them his aid. Last year the following story was related to me by a Spanish lady. She was walking one day along the Calle d’Alcala, feeling very sad and anxious. A gipsy woman who was squatting on the pavement called out to her, “My pretty lady, your lover has played you false!” (It was quite true.) “Shall I get him back for you?” My readers will imagine with what joy the proposal was accepted, and how complete was the confidence inspired by a person who could thus guess the inmost secrets of the heart. As it would have been impossible to proceed to perform the operations of magic in the most crowded street in Madrid, a meeting was arranged for the next day. “Nothing will be easier than to bring back the faithless one to your feet!” said the gitana. “Do you happen to have a handkerchief, a scarf, or a mantilla, that he gave you?” A silken scarf was handed her. “Now sew a piastre into one corner of the scarf with crimson silk—sew half a piastre into another corner—sew a peseta here—and a two-real piece there; then, in the middle you must sew a gold coin—a doubloon would be best.” The doubloon and all the other coins were duly sewn in. “Now give me the scarf, and I’ll take it to the Campo Santo when midnight strikes. You come along with me, if you want to see a fine piece of witchcraft. I promise you shall see the man you love to-morrow!” The gipsy departed alone for the Campo Santo, since my Spanish friend was too much afraid of witchcraft to go there with her. I leave my readers to guess whether my poor forsaken lady ever saw her lover, or her scarf, again.
A note on terminology: The word gypsy or gipsy, though historically common and certainly the preferred term in Mérimée's day, is considered outdated and often carries pejorative connotations in modern times. It originates from the mistaken belief that these communities came from Egypt (gypsy derives from the word Egyptian), a myth that persisted in European languages since around 1600. While historically associated with the Romani people, it is not the preferred term in modern usage. Meanwhile, the English slang gyp, meaning to cheat, is unrelated to the Romani people, contrary to popular belief. It actually derives from 18th-century slang for university servants in Britain.
The Romani, also spelled Romany, are a diverse ethnic group with roots tracing back to northern India, often self-identify using terms like Rom (a man), Romni (a woman), or Roma (plural). The term Romany, attested in English in the early 19th century, is also derived from these roots. The etymology of Romani connects to the Sanskrit ḍomba, referring to a class of musicians and artisans. Over centuries, this term evolved through linguistic shifts, including the transformation of the retroflex "ḍ" into a rolled "r" in some dialects. The coincidental resemblance to the English word roam has probably helped the term's adoption in English over other names such as bohemian, traveler, gitano, etc.