Whirling Submission

Description

Whirling Submission

Known to the west as Whirling Dervishes, the members of the Mevlevi Order (named for their founder Mevlana) practice this Sufi ritual, which dates to the 13th century, which is full of symbolism. The full skirts represent the ego’s shroud. The camel-hair conical headdresses symbolizes the ego’s tomb, and the twirling itself acknowledges that everything — from the Earth to the atom — is constantly revolving. As the Dervishes extend their arms, their right palms face up and the left palms face downward. One hand is receiving (beneficence) from God, the other hand is delivering to the people.

This form of dance which is known as “Sema” is not just a routine movement of the body and arms but a spiritual experience that combines the music, the listening and the dance as one. The ritual is sacred and focuses on the relationship between the body and soul, man and god, lover and beloved, with an ideal Whirling Submission of God reiterated throughout.

Quote: ‘I am sick of shadows! Blind me with you’ – Rumi

alāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Persian: جلال‌الدین محمد رومی‎), also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī (جلال‌الدین محمد بلخى), Mevlânâ/Mawlānā (مولانا, “our master”), Mevlevî/Mawlawī (مولوی, “my master”), and more popularly simply as Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century Persian Sunni Muslim poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions, all of whom have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States.