saw the The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi at an event on campus. The lighting was "trippy," but the auditorium was over packed and too hot... I drifted off a bit, still overall pretty entertaining.

Great post - ya salam!

I managed to see this group at their tiny campus in Istanbul. Western culture's initial take on the Whirling Dervishes is that they're associated with war and spinning scimitars (thanks to M:tG, AD&D and other fantasy games), yet in describing themselves, they are a peaceful sect with deep spiritual connections to the world and the environment around them. As they spin in a semi-hypnotic state, their left hands are held down toward the ground, and right hands up to the sky to facilitate the flow of energy between them. It's rather fascinating stuff to explore, should you encounter more information other than what's posted on the wiki article.

More recently, realizing the great value of the tourist economy, the Mevleviye have turned toward donning robes of different colors other than the traditional white linen, and have even accepted and trained female members. From what I hear of the travelling show, however, they still hold true to the original roots of the religion.

Thank you, Halon. I think your post captures the spirit of VideoSift for me perfectly.

The Mevlevi, or "The Whirling Dervishes", believe in performing their dhikr in the form of a "dance" and music ceremony called the sema. The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives to the "Perfect." He then returns from this spiritual journey as a man who has reached maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation....

Sema literally means a joyful song and comes from the Arabic word, sam that means to listen, but Sema' at whole means song (avaz), ecstasy (vajd) and dance (pay-kubi and dast-afshani) with its special rules and orders. Sema-o-raghs means the Sufism dance.

The Sema is a beautiful thing to see, there is a video of it on YouTube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S45OJnQp6mI

"The Sema Ceremony comemmerates the passing of Hz. Mevlana Jelaluddin RUMI, known in the west as a 13th-century mystic poet. He also founded the Mevlevi Sufi Order, still active worldwide 733 years after his passing from this world. This clip shows Whirling Dervishes of the Mevlevi Order of America in the Sema Ceremony in Istanbul, December 2005. We presented the Sema Ceremony in Eugene, Seattle and Portland December 2006, and will present Sema in N.Y., D.C. and New Jersey in December 2007. Further information at hayatidede.org. "

Great stuff, Farhad. Again, for me, this is really where the Sift excels.

Thank you . . .

Sc

nice tag: dramamine

I love the cell phone ring when there's 20 seconds remaining.

Dance without *music just looks like someone trying to get dizzy. Cool.

Video added to music channel (music called by gold star member Krupo)

*promote

Re-promoting this video to the front page as a VideoSift Classic. Originally published on Friday 26th January 2007 (promotion called by gold star member gwaan)

Who are the ones who spin on boards with a nail sticking out it between their toes?