Whirling Dervish

After the Bazaar, we raced off to one of Istanbul’s treasure performances: the Mevlana Dancers. The original Mevlana dancers are from the Turkish town of Konya. They are named after Mevlana Rumi, a spiritual master and founder of the Mevlevii Sufi Order (a type of Islam). Rumi is known for his messages of kindness and humanity, giving up one’s entire self to God so as to become non-existent. His greatest message is: Love, Divinity Love, and Unity. The Mevlana dancing is a journey to unity with God. The dancing, or spinning as many view it, is accompanied by music and props. Included in the music ensemble are a flutist, drummer, chanters, and choir. The journey begins with music, when the whirling dervishes (dancers) enter. They bow to each other over sheep skin representing the Divine Truth they believe each to hold in their hearts. They then remove their cloaks and begin spinning, which symbolizes the birth of humanity. They begin spinning with their arms crossed, signifying one, or a unity with God. During the dance their arms extend above their heads. One palm will face up, the other down: “From God we receive, to man we give; we keep nothing for ourselves”.


Notice the palms.




They dance in socks, much easier to spin.




Though the past 48 hours have been filled with new experiences and adventures, this was perhaps the highlight my trip. One of the quotes in the gallery before the performance stood out to me:

Come, come again, whoever you are, come!
Heathen, fire worshipper or idolatrous, come!
Come even if you broke your penitence a hundred times,
Ours is the portal of hope, come as you are.

The reason I am sharing this message is not because the Mevlanas inspired me to undergo my own spiritual conversation. No. But this message does preach something that I very much respect: come as you are, we will respect you for standing up for yourself. For fear of getting far too into politics or spirituality, I will refrain from continuing to divulge how I interpret this quote, and will let you come as you are, and decide for yourself.