Whirling Dervishes

The turning dance

Before the Sema (turning dance) ceremony begins, a red-dyed sheepskin is placed on the floor on the east side of the room.

This is where the order's Sheikh sits. The red skin represents birth and existence.

An orchestra of drums, flutes, lutes and other instruments accompanies chanters as the disciples wander into the room. Before they start the first of four spinning sessions, Dervishes wander the room three times, bowing to each other in salute.

The Dervishes then gather in a line. One by one, each approaches the Sheikh and bows at his side. The Sheikh kisses each on the back of the neck, which is returned by a small armless hug, to signify the beginning of their first turning. Slowly each Dervish spins with arms crossed to chest to signify a desire to be one with God. As they pick up speed, their skirts unfurl and their arms extend in meditative rapture. At all times their right feet remain planted on the floor as their left feet pump them counterclockwise. "At each turn they say in their minds, 'Allah, Allah,' " Kazas said.

The right hand to heaven and the left hand to earth, said Kazas, is to symbolize the Dervishes' desire to receive God's grace. Rather than keep it, the Dervish passes this energy on to the Earth and the rest of humanity.

Rotation is important to the Mevlevi way. Members explained that just as the smallest atoms have rotations so do the planets and galaxies. Even the blood in the human body has a cycle. "Rotation is life," Kazas said.

Out of the some 15 Dervish lodges once in Istanbul, only one remains. It is now managed by the Turkish government, but disciples still conduct ceremonies there. The Mevlevi way, which was formally established by Rumi's son shortly after his death, still endures in the Turkish city of Konya, where Rumi's remains rest within the walls of a colorful mosque.

For a short time in 1925, turning was stopped by an overall ban of religious groups in Turkey but was restored later on. Mevlevi members said other Sufi lodges burned down in Istanbul, but they claim they were all by accident.

Kazas said members of his order travel the world, performing music and meditation, in an effort to spread their message of love.

As Rumi history professor Annemarie Schimmel said, "Rumi teaches man to look with the eye of love at this world, to smell in every rose the fragrance of the eternal divine garden, to discover the divine weaver behind the manifold colors and patterns of life's carpet."

Jalaluddin Rumi poem

A moment of happiness,

you and I sitting on the verandah,

apparently two, but one in soul, you and I.

We feel the flowing water of life here,

you and I, with the garden's beauty

and the birds singing.

The stars will be watching us,

and we will show them

what it is to be a thin crescent moon.

You and I unselfed, will be together,

indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.

The parrots of heaven will be cracking sugar

as we laugh together, you and I.

In one form upon this earth,

and in another form in a timeless sweet land.

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