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Hello there. I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about the myths/legions around a mulo. A mulo is the term from Romany culture ( commonly called Gypsy). From the little bit that I have been able to find mulos are formed when a Rom is murdered and the bodies either mutilated or not given a correct burial. Causing the Rom to return and seek revenge.

Sadly this information like most around the Rom are well hidden. I've found some but what I can find is rather complicated. These last few years I've been working on a collection of short historical fiction stories and the main character is a mulo. I really want to make sure I get as many of the facts right as I can.

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Gypsies all over Europe generally believed that the mulo
was the spirit of a dead person which left its corpse in its grave at night and returned to the corpse at dawn. The mulo was generally invisible but could be visible to certain people, in which case it usually appeared in the original form of the dead person.

Some Gypsy clans believed that their muli were too loyal to their clan to trouble them. But in the cases of clans who believed otherwise, especially in Balkan countries such as Kosova, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia, the
mulo often played the role of the vampire.

The vampiric mulo mostly preyed on sheep and cattle, but there are tales of entire households being victimized by a mulo. In the Balkan countries, the adult male mulo typically came at night to visit his widow or perhaps a woman he had loved during his lifetime. In some versions of the story, he acted kindly towards her, helping her with household tasks and regaining her
favor. Or, he might make demands on her for good tasting food, always rejecting what she offered. While visible to his wife, he might at the same time be invisible to other family members, behaving much like a
poltergeist.

In a third version, the mulo is invisible even to his
wife--but he lies upon her and rapes her while she feels paralyzed and is unable to cry out for help. In these chases, the widow may become sick with terror, refuse food and drink, and eventually die.

Some Gypsies in Kosova believed that twin brothers and sisters born on a Saturday could see a vampiric mulo if they wore their underwear and shirts inside out. The mulo would flee as soon as it was seen by the twins. A Gypsy practice in Moravia, now the eastern province of the Czech Republic, was to use a hen's egg to bait and ambush an invisible mulo. When the egg suddenly disappeared, the men would fire their guns
at the spot.

Reference:

Mulo: Gypsy

this is a interesting topic though i personally thing there existance is to just put fear in those to give correct burrials,i think long time ago myths were used in a way of teaching so that they would not do wrong to a deceased beings body.

male) is an undead, revenant, or vampire of gypsy (Roma) folklore. 'Mullo' means 'one who is dead'. A dead person would return and do bad things and/or feed on the blood of a living person. The victim was usually a relative who had caused the mullo's death, or who didn't correctly observe the burial ceremonies, or who kept the corpse's possessions instead of destroying them as was proper. A European mulo shares similarities with the Japanese onryo.

So it is a gypsy or is it called that BY gypsys? I am of Gypsy heritage. Cool huh? But I guess I should be reading more about them. I have not heard of that.

It would be a Gypsy and it was called that by Gypsies from what I have been able to find.

Never heard the term until this thread, and ty PsiVampire for such a thorough post -- I was able to learn a great deal from it. Now, I'm interested in looking up more about the lore :)

Cultures and generation all have their own way to keep living in fear of the dead, many have gone from the pharaohs who claimed to curse anyone who touch the tomb, ( turns out most have a biological agent causing death, so no curse just biology) to the zombies and certain criminals on death row as there are being “put down” ( no offence intended here, please no flaming) they “curse” people, turns out the fear controlled so much the persons they ended up believing and got the consequence of their own belief.

Once dead we are dead period. No vengeance no coming back nothing nada.
Simple and logic.

Yui this topic wasn't to discuse if they are real. But the myths about them. The book I'm writing is a work of historical fiction. I'm just the type of person that wants to get facts straight. Even if the facts are around folklore.

Duchess they are an interesting read. Sadly much of what can be found is rather cryptic. The Roma while a very proud culture hides alot of their faith. Mostly because of the hatetred they have faced throughout history.

I leave in an area inhabited also by a few gipsie family.
It`s curious I never heard of it.I`ll ask around.

Interesting fact: in Stoker`s DRacula, the only leaving servants of the count were gipsies.
Or were they alive?
Hmm

and untell you are ither born or excepted in to a rom family you will never now

and if any one on here claims to be a rom and gives up there family secrets so easily then i will not belive them to be a roma

I was not familiar with the word so I went searching and this is what I found: The gypsies have many rituals and beliefs about death. The strongest one is that a gypsy must die in a good way, or he or she will come back for revenge as one of the Mulo, or living dead.
It is traditional for the dead Gypsy to be cremated with all his or her possessions, including the caravan (varda). There is no unseemly squabbling by relatives their inheritance, because there is none – relatives only get what the person chooses to give while he or she is still alive. Anything taken from a dead person is considered bad luck, bad luck. To buy or sell things belonging to a dead person is extremely bad luck, and will surely result in that person coming back as a ravenous wolf or evil spirit.
On June 30, 2003, the UK `Gypsy King” Joseph Smith, was given a traditional Romany Funeral at Brecon, in Wales. Joseph’s modern caravan was burnt with all his possessions, also he was buried in a coffin. (Modern sensibilities to gypsy rights doesn’t quite extend as far as burning the body). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/3031922.stm

The Gypsy Chief has told me he is particularly fearful that a Mulo, a gypsy vampire, has been seen in the hills above the camp. The Mulo is a terrifying creature, with no bones, and only three fingers on each hand. The Gypsies will all wear red on All Hallow’s Eve, to ward off evil spirits – the campfire with not be permitted to go out – and it is advisable to tie a small piece of iron to a string and wear it round your neck. Hawthorn branches should also be carried – Hawthorn is the only wood that will kill a Mulo .
There will be much singing and dancing and feasting to frighten the Mulo away – she is a life hater, a life taker, and most fears laughter and good spirits. No one will be permitted to wander from the camp fire in case the Mulo is lurking in the trees – and if you do insist on straying off, it will be at your own risk.
The Mulo is a pale thin woman – she may be wearing a red dress to fool you, or be accompanied by two children, begging for a piece of bread to feed them. The children are as ravenous as she, so beware!
If you meet the Mulo on All Hallow’s Eve you will need to be very cunning and quick to escape her.

There is an article on Romany death rituals at the Romany site, Patrin. It mainly concerns modern funeral rites.