Ottawa Turkish Festival

July 24, 2010

Whirling Dervishes of Rumi

from the program:
"They perform their praise of God in the form of a "dance" and music ceremony called the Sema, which involves the whirling from which the order acquired its nickname. 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 at 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. The Sema was practised in the semahane (ritual hall) according to a precisely prescribed symbolic ritual with the dervishes whirling in a circle around their sheikh, who is the only one circling around his axis. The Sema is performed by spinning on the right foot. The dervishes wear a white gown (symbol of death), a wide black cloak (symbol of the grave) and a high brown cap (symbol of the tombstone)."

the host tells us the dances are about to start!