Whirling dervish - 10

The Mevlevis perform their dhikr (remembrance of God) thru Sema, a dancing ritual involving whirling, from which the order acquired its nickname. The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to the "Perfection". Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth, and arrives at the "Perfection".

The origin of Sema is credited to Mevlana, who, according to the legend, was walking through the town marketplace one day, when he heard the rhythmic hammering of the goldbeaters. It is believed that he heard the dhikr, "There is none worthy of worship but Allah", spoken by the apprentices beating the gold, and was so filled with happiness that he stretched out both of his arms and started spinning in a circle. With that, the practice of Sema and the dervishes of the Mevlevi Order were born, it is said.

The Sema is practised in according to a precisely prescribed symbolic ritual with the dervishes whirling in a circle around their sheikh, who is the only one whirling around his axis. The Sema is performed by spinning on the right foot. The dervishes wear a white gown (symbol of death), a wide black cloak (symbol of the grave) and a tall brown hat (symbol of the tombstone). The symbolism is further accentuated by the position of the hands during the whirling, where the right palm, opened, is turned upwards towards the sky, while the left one downwards towards the earth, meaning “taking from God and giving to this world”. The ceremony’s mystic atmosphere is completed with the accompanying ney, an end-blown flute used prominently in the Middle-East for more than five milleniums.