Whirling Dervishes

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On our first night in Cappadocia we went to a performance of Whirling Dervishes. The formal name for the ceremony is called Sema. It is part of Turkish custom, history, and culture. It symbolizes the seven different parts of the mystic circle of perfection that the Sufis (Sufism is a mystical sect of Islam) believe in. One of the main themes of the ceremony is revolution. The Sufis believe that all beings revolve and carry life. Man’s very existence comes from the revolution of the atoms he is made of, the circulation of his blood, his coming from Earth and his return to it, and even the revolution of the Earth. The Sema ceremony represents a mystical journey of man’s spiritual ascent through love, the desertion of his ego, the discovery of truth, and finally his arrival to the Perfect. This is all represented in the ceremony when the Dervishes come out dressed in black cloaks and headdresses. They remove the black cloaks to reveal a white skirt and top. The removal of the cloak represents an advancement to spiritual maturity through the stages of the Sema. Then the dervishes began to whirl. This part was so amazing. They would spin in circles for periods of about five minutes and they did this four times! They have to do lots of meditation and practicing to be able to spin like this without getting sick. While they are spinning they have their right hand directed to the sky and their left hand turned toward the ground. In this way they are acting almost as a pathway for communication, their right hand receiving God’s word and their left hand bringing it down to Earth.

Overall it was really neat to watch this ceremony. It is definitely a different way to express religion and faith and I thought it was interesting how every aspect of the ceremony represented something spiritual. Even though I could do without with whole twirling part, I thought that the mysticism of it all was really intriguing. The dervishes entered into these trances while they twirled and I thought they looked so peaceful. On the back of our brochures there was this little excerpt called the “Seven Advice of Mevlana,” which I’m assuming are seven acts that the Sufis try to live by or use as inspiration…so I thought it’d be cool to share…

1. In generosity and helping others be like a river.
2. In compassion and grace be like the sun.
3. In concealing others faults be like the night.
4. In anger and fury be like the dead.
5. In modesty and humility be like the earth.
6. In tolerance be like the sea.
7. Either exist as you are or be as you look.

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Comments

[Anita]

7A of Mevlana
Thanks for sharing the Seven Advice of Mevlana. Very cool.

[Dad]

In voices, be like Figaro.

[NikkiT]

hahaha. oh figs.