Hodjapasha

Thursday night we had reservations to watch a show performed by the Whirling Dervish. We might use that title irreverently to denote someone or something spinning around in circles, but it actually represents a religious sect that spin in circles out of devotion to God. I found the following explanation of the group:

            “Whirling dervishes perform a dance called the sema. It is a religious dance performed to express emotion and achieve the wisdom and love of God. It originated in Turkey, in the Islamic sect of Sufism, which was founded by Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi. The Sufis support their knowledge from the Qur'an and the words of their master, Rumi. The dervish considers himself an instrument of God so he cannot direct or retain the power that enters him. Today semas are performed privately in homes or for the amusement of tourists.

            The dance of the whirling dervishes, originated in the 13th century near Turkey. It is performed by semazens (whirlers) that belong to the Mevlevi sect of the Sufi. Sufism is the Islamic practice of attempting to achieve divine knowledge and love though a personal relationship with God. The dance is sometimes interpreted as everything spinning around the sun but most commonly is thought of as a re-enactment of death and resurrection.”

It was explained to us that this was not a performance, it was a religious ritual. Every move or action has a significant meaning and is used as a religious expression. The ritual lasted about an hour. During the course of the ceremony, the spectators were asked to use no photography at all and there was to be no applause.

The service began with several musicians playing softly and rhythmically. Soon they interjected some chanting. The sounds were old world and hypnotic. At an interlude in the music, four dancers slowly entered the room. When the music began again, they proceeded to perform rituals of kneeling and standing and crossing their arms and slapping the floor. The intensity of the music slowly increased as each dancer one by one unfurled their arms and raised them to the sky as they began to rotate. Soon they were all whirling gracefully in perfect unison, as if the movements of each were part of a finely tuned mechanism. They all had the same pose. Their right hand was open to the heavens and their left opened downward, resembling a spout, receiving from above and passing on to others. With their heads slightly cocked toward the receiving hand they continued to rotate in precise harmony with each other and the music. Their whirling slowed, paused, and restarted several times. When the ritual was finished, one by one they gracefully exited the room from where they entered. The musicians then followed suit and the ceremony was over.

It was a simple yet enchanting ritual. It left us with a feeling of beauty and awe, much like one feels after viewing a beautiful sunset or observing some other act of nature that can only be attributed to a divine source.