While for most of us the chance to achieve some enlightening through dancing routines might only work out as a result of serious alcohol consumption and that before we even dear hit the dance floor. And as a result of the intoxication our movements would be anything but harmonic, for Sufis (followers of the inner mystical dimension of Islam, the Sufism) – body movements following the tempo of a given music lead to a state of complete harmony of interior and exterior worlds, with other words a spiritual drunkenness.
We might examine Sufism in-detail in a future entry, as today are focusing strictly on the Dervish Sufi Order. The name dervish derives from the Persian word darvish “beggar, poor,” hence “religious mendicant;” “ascetic” as dervish live an ascetic life and many of them have taken a vow of poverty. And the whirling dervishes are simply an Order among many.
The history of the whirling dervishes starts from the Mevlevi order, founded in 13th century by the son and followers of the Sufi theologian – Rumi, who believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dance as a path for reaching God. The Order of the Whirling Dervishes was set in Konya (in nowadays Turkey), where Rumi spent most of his life and was occasionally seen whirling in ecstatic joy in the streets. The place – which preserves Rumi’s spirit and body (The Mevlana mausoleum holds the tomb of Rumi, along with those of his family, descendants and dozens of Mevlevi sheiks- leaders of the Order) is a must-visit for everyone who is interested in Sufism.
The Sema ceremony (from the Arabic sama to the Turkish sema, meaning listening) – the practice of whrling as a form of remembrace of God, was proclaimed by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. But that happened in only 2005, 90 years after the Turkish government passed a law which dissolved the Sufi Order and banned the dervish ceremonies, which in 1950 were allowed to perform only once a year in Konya during the December Mevlevi festival. 40 years ago, dervishes were, for the first time, permitted to travel to the West and fascinate with their mystical believes and whirling ceremonies.
Whirling Dervish in travel books
Obviously, back in times, the only way Westerns could learn about the existance of dervishes was through travel books. The first time the word dervish was presented to the English readers, was back in 1585, in the English translation of Thomas Washington of the Turkey voyage book of Nicholas Nicholay Daulphinois. Daulphinois, Lord of Arfeuile, a chamberlaine and geographer to the King of France named the dervishes as the third sect of the Turkish muslims who live in devotion and ascetism.
The first Englishman, to refer to the order of the whirling dervishes and their dancing cderemony, was the geographical editor and compiler Samuel Purchas, who ironically was only an armchair traveler. 1626, Pilgrimes: “An order of Dervishes, that turn around with music in their devine service.”
One of Rumi’s most famous writings is his invitation to a Sema ceremony:
Whoever you may be, come
Even though you may be
An infidel, a pagan, or a fire-worshipper, come
Our brotherhood is not one of despair
Though you have broken
Your vows of repentance a hundred times, come.
We have all been invited to whirle in Sema (traditioanlly only men can dance as Whirling Dervishes, but that is beginning to change) – a harmony of music (most traditionally tambourine, bells, flute), poetry and dance (counter-clockwise whirling with arms raised towards heaven) which accompany the mystical journey of man’s spiritual ascent through mind and love to perfection and extasy.
