The Whirling Dervishes

Hello everyone! I hope you’re as ready for the trip as I am!

As someone intrigued by dance and dramatic performance, my interest was piqued when I saw the Whirling Dervishes on the calendar. After reading more about the origin and in meanings behind the ritual, I am even more interested.

The Whirling Dervishes is part of a belief system called Sufism, the pathway followed by Sufis, believers in the mystic sector of Islam. This group of Muslims participates in rituals to symbolically cleanse the spirit and become closer to God, resulting in a believer that lives not for worldly pleasures, but to satisfy the will of God. According to The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi, the many definitions of this belief system can be consolidated to mean this: “Sufism is the path followed by an individual who is seeking to free himself or herself from human vices and weaknesses in order to acquire angelic qualities and conduct pleasing to God.” In addition, the Sufi who completes this process becomes one with himself and his God in a way that is life-changing and purifying.

This process seems to be incredibly eye opening and spiritual. The Whirling Dervishes is only one branch of Sufism, but it is truly the physical manifestation of the Sufi way of life – loving and servicing others, rejecting one’s ego, striving to be one with Allah, the Truth. The Mevlevi Ritual Dance, or Semi has multiple stages, each of which has a different meaning:

1.     Naat-i Sherif: a eulogy giving praise to Allah

2.     Taksim: an expression of the divine breath of life, through an improvised flute performance

3.     Devr-i Veled: a procession that included the whirling dervishes that represents three phases of knowledge: (a) ilm-al yaqin, the knowledge received from study or other people, (b) ayn-al yaqin, knowledge through observation, (c) haqq-al yaqin, knowledge received from actual experiences.

4.     Sema: the dance itself, which includes four movements, called selams: (1) human birth to truth, (2) the human witnessing the omnipotence of God, (3) the expression of total submission to God, (4) the renewed and pure spirit of the whirling dervish, now a servant of God.

At the end of this process, a scripture is read and the dervishes disperse for a time of solitude and reflection on God. I would imagine that witnesses of this deeply religious performance would experience feelings of spiritual awakening and reflection. When I was a bit younger, I participated in the liturgical dance ministry at my church and I remember that as a very moving experience. My memories of those performances fuel my interest in the Whirling Dervishes. Hopefully the experience will be as spiritual and intriguing for all of us as I anticipate them to be.

Ephesus

Hi everyone!

Like Sarah said earlier, I'm also really excited for our day trip to Ephesus.  Originally, I was looking forward to this because in religion class last year I had to do a project on the Book of Ephesians.  I thought it would be so cool to walk among the ruins of a city that once had a book of the Bible addressed to them.

I find the whole religious aspect of the city fascinating.  For example, two councils of the early Christian Church were held in AD 431 and AD 449 in the city, but even further back in its history are the gods of the Greeks and Romans.  This is demonstrated by many of the ruins, like the Temple of Hadrian, which was built in honor of one of the five good emperors of the Roman Empire, Emperor Hadrian.  It really interests me to see how religion and politics interact, and this ruin is a perfect example of that.

I also think that ancient ruins are interesting- it amazes me that the buildings have survived for so long and have weathered so much.  It makes me feel so small to think that we will be walking where people thousands of years ago walked as well.  I do not know exactly what we will be seeing, but I read about The Library of Celsus, and it seems like such a beautiful ruin.  Apparently, the statues in the niches each represent a certain trait: Sophia (wisdom), Arete (virtue),Ennoia (intellect), and Episteme (knowledge).

I hope everyone's having a good break!  Can't wait to see you all!

Mevlevi Sema Ceremony

        One ceremony from our itinerary that I am excited to attend isthe Mevlevi Sema Ceremony. Earlier that day we’ll be at the Galata MevleviTekkesi, which, from what I gather, is a Mevlevi Whirling Dervish hall (theMevlevi are an order of Sufis).

    The tradition of the whirling dances originated Konya andeventually spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. Dancers receive 1,001 days oftraining in ethics, codes of behavior, prayer, religious music, etc. to be amember of the dancing order. Directly before the ceremony, dancers fast for a fewhours. They proceed to then whirl in white robes while reciting prayer forabout 15 minutes at a time (I think it’s remarkable that they don’t get dizzy! Icertainly would!). They keep their eyes open and watch the world blur by. Thehope is that after the training and dances, the members of the order go back totheir former occupations and resume their lives with a deeper spiritualunderstanding.

    Due to secularistpolicies, the entire Mevlevi order was outlawed in 1925 by the Turkish government. Though the orderremains illegal, the government granted the Mevlevi rights to perform. Thesedances are mostly tourist attractions nowadays. I found this tradition reallyinteresting because so many cultures have traditional dances, yet I haven’tseen anything like this before. Not only is it a cultural dance, it’s alsoreligious and philosophical and they receive nearly 3 years of instruction! I’m very excited to see this groupperform! 

    This is a link to a youtube video of another group with anarration.There is also a bit of information about this tradition in the Istanbul travelguide we have on page 47 under Winter- events.