Sema Ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes

The Sema Ceremony commemorates the passing of Hz. Mevlana Jelaluddin RUMI, known in the west as a 13th-century mystic poet. He also founded the Mevlevi Sufi Order, still active worldwide 733 years after his passing from this world.

This clip shows Whirling Dervishes of the Mevlevi Order of America in the Sema Ceremony in Istanbul, December 2005. We presented the Sema Ceremony in Eugene, Seattle and Portland December 2006, and will present Sema in Honolulu, Maui, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in December 2007. Further information at hayatidede.org.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• mevlevi
• sufi
• whirling
• dervishes
• dervish
• mevlana
• rumi
• sema
• ayni
• ayin
• beyati

[gimmick5]

is it just men that participate? (i'm not judging, just wanting to know more.)

[mevleviyya]

Women and men are working with this practice. There are women involved in the ceremony shown in this clip.

[rexorsz21]

what do you caLL that kind of song? what's the titLe?

[mevleviyya]

This is part of an Ayin, which is one of many different pieces composed to accompany the Sema ceremony, this particular one is perhaps the most popular these days. It is called the Beyati (or Bayati) Ayin.

Beyati refers to the Makam, or scale/key of the piece. The concept of key is a little different than what we in the west might be familiar with, we might call it a scale with microtones (intervals of less than a semitone).

[jenniferstaten]

I think this is the most beautiful and peaceful thing I have ever seen..can someone do the whirling without the whole religious thing or is that the whole point?

[apollodionysus7]

Thank you for worshiping and spreading love and acceptance through following Rumi and this beautiful ritual. Even the comments here are beautiful... all the best

[mevleviyya]

Who can see into another person's heart and know if God is with them? Can we even see within our own heart?

The Wikipedia quote has some resonance, and does touch on the symbolism of the ceremony, but intellectual appreciation of the symbolism is a small part of what this practice offers.

[FedjaM]

This has nothing to do with Allah.

The ceremony is called "Sema".

"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." - Wikipedia

[wwfpeace]

that is right;) but not every dervish can fall in trance... peace

[Jallandhara]

Beautiful.

[ivlape]

The main point of this dance, I think, is to get in a special type of "trance" where the participants get the chance to hear Allah's wise words.

[tampa95]

A perfect example of the Turkish Spiritual Gyro Practice.

[hareemaz]

very heart-warming! thank you so much for uploading this.

[madbadandold]

are there any London groups that are authentic with a Shaikh?

Thanx