Mevlevi Dervish - Sema Eminonu-Istanbul

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The Mevlevi Order or Mawlawiyya (Turkish: Mevlevilik or Mevleviyye; Persian: طریقت مولویه) is a Sufi order that originated in Konya (a city now in Turkey; formerly capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate) and which was founded by the followers of Jalaluddin Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet, Sufi mystic, and Islamic theologian. The Mevlevis are also known as the "whirling dervishes" due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.

In 2008, UNESCO confirmed "The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony" as amongst the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Principles and practices
Approximately 750 years old, the Mevlevi Order is a living tradition based on the teachings of Rumi, also known as Mevlana, who is perhaps Turkey's most celebrated poet and in Iran, second only to Hafiz. He is also venerated as a divine mystic within Sufi Islam. Rumi's friend and spiritual mentor, Shams of Tabriz, is also revered within the order and within Sufism more widely.

Rumi said, "As long as I have life, I am the slave of the Quran. I am dust at the door of Muhammad the Chosen",[5] and the Mevlevi path is based firmly on Islamic principles. Kabir Helminski, a Mevlevi shaikh, writes 'It is a rigorous path of initiation and service continually adapting itself to changing circumstances and times.... Mevlevis have always been progressive and liberal in spirit while at the same time conserving the best of tradition.'

The Mevlevis insist that love is at the centre of Islam. Mevlevi shaikh Şefik Can writes, 'Rumi tells us to take the love of God to the forefront, to abstain from being attached to the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it, to find the essence of the faith, and to raise our faith from the level of imitation to the level of realization.'

In addition to obligatory Islamic worship, some of the main spiritual practices within the Mevlevi Order are as follows:

Dhikr: invocation of the Divine Names which is believed to purify the heart
Sema (sama): the whirling ceremony
Study of the Quran and Rumi's works (especially his poetic masterpiece the Mathnavi)
Spiritual conversation led by the shaikh (sohbet)
Meditation (known as muraqabah in Islam)
Adab (developing courtesy and mindfulness)

Sema
The Sema with the greatest significance to the Mevlevi order is the annual celebration of Mevlana's marriage to god (death), also called Seb-i Arus, meaning Nuptial Night or Night of Union. [9] It is observed for one week, with the final night occurring on the anniversary of his death. Pilgrims from all over the world travel to Konya for the official celebration. The event is so popular that a ticketing system is in place for those who wish to attend.

Those who turn in the direction of prayer,
whirl in both this world and the next.

Pay heed when a circle of friends whirl,
circling round and round, the Kaaba is the center.

If you wish a mine of sugar, it is there;
and if you wish a fingertip of sugar, it is gratis.

Origins of Sema
According to a popular story, Rumi was first inspired to whirl when he heard the hammering of the goldsmiths in Konya's bazaar, however, Mevlevi historian Abdülbâki Gölpınarlı believed that Rumi must have learnt whirling from Shams of Tabriz. Şefik Can claimed that whirling was practiced among Sufis at least as early as Abu Sa’id Abu’l-Khayr (d. 1049). Though they have cultivated it to the highest degree, Mevlevis are not the only Sufis who practice whirling, and Kabir Helminski suggests primordial origins: "The practice of whirling may have its origins in the timeless shadows of Central Asian spirituality where shamans used it to induce altered states of consciousness."

Method and symbolism
Sema (or sama) is traditionally practised in a semahane (ritual hall) according to a precisely prescribed symbolic ritual with the semazens whirling in a circle around their shaikh. Semazens whirl using their right foot to propel themselves in a counter-clockwise circle, whilst their left foot remains rooted to the floor acting as an axis about which the semazen turns. Both arms are extended and raised to the level of the head, with the right palm pointing upward (believed to be receiving Divine grace) and the left palm pointing downward (believed to channel that grace to the world). With each 360° turn, the semazen is inwardly chanting "Allah" – a form of dhikr.

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