By Mary Adamski - Honolulu Star Bulletin - HI, U.S.A.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
The gentle circle dancing by the Prayer Cluster at Calvary-by-the-Sea Lutheran Church Tuesday felt like a throwback to the '60s, where interfaith sharing of sacred dance has its roots.
"My idea was to have something on the way home from work that reconnects you with God," said Pulelehua Quirk, who started the group a year ago. As a participant for years in the Sacred Dance Guild, her idea for a devotional experience just naturally had to include dance.
With the dance comes music "which resonates for so many" followed by shared prayer intentions typical of all small prayer groups. People reveal their vulnerabilities as they lay out their worries and frustrations; it can be a relief when it is done among friends.
The group clasped hands in a circle as Fatah Borsos called them to focus on their feet "connected to Mother Earth. Bring energy up from the earth." Next, "Open the top of our heads to the heavens and bring that energy down. Let what we do be in remembrance of the one holy being."
The words come from his Sufi studies, he said later. The Sufi tradition is a mystical branch of Islamic belief, with practices of combined meditation, chanting and dance -- the extreme end of which is the mesmerizing turning, spinning of "whirling dervishes" of Turkey.
"We need a direct, pure connection with nature and its elements," said Borsos. He is a participant in the Dances of Universal Peace, a movement that was started in the 1960s by a Sufi teacher and a Buddhist Zen master. Ecumenical groups worldwide gather to share ethnic and sacred dances, including a group that meets at 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month at Niu Valley Intermediate School.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
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Saturday, October 21, 2006
Sacred Dance
By Mary Adamski - Honolulu Star Bulletin - HI, U.S.A.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
The gentle circle dancing by the Prayer Cluster at Calvary-by-the-Sea Lutheran Church Tuesday felt like a throwback to the '60s, where interfaith sharing of sacred dance has its roots.
"My idea was to have something on the way home from work that reconnects you with God," said Pulelehua Quirk, who started the group a year ago. As a participant for years in the Sacred Dance Guild, her idea for a devotional experience just naturally had to include dance.
With the dance comes music "which resonates for so many" followed by shared prayer intentions typical of all small prayer groups. People reveal their vulnerabilities as they lay out their worries and frustrations; it can be a relief when it is done among friends.
The group clasped hands in a circle as Fatah Borsos called them to focus on their feet "connected to Mother Earth. Bring energy up from the earth." Next, "Open the top of our heads to the heavens and bring that energy down. Let what we do be in remembrance of the one holy being."
The words come from his Sufi studies, he said later. The Sufi tradition is a mystical branch of Islamic belief, with practices of combined meditation, chanting and dance -- the extreme end of which is the mesmerizing turning, spinning of "whirling dervishes" of Turkey.
"We need a direct, pure connection with nature and its elements," said Borsos. He is a participant in the Dances of Universal Peace, a movement that was started in the 1960s by a Sufi teacher and a Buddhist Zen master. Ecumenical groups worldwide gather to share ethnic and sacred dances, including a group that meets at 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month at Niu Valley Intermediate School.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
The gentle circle dancing by the Prayer Cluster at Calvary-by-the-Sea Lutheran Church Tuesday felt like a throwback to the '60s, where interfaith sharing of sacred dance has its roots.
"My idea was to have something on the way home from work that reconnects you with God," said Pulelehua Quirk, who started the group a year ago. As a participant for years in the Sacred Dance Guild, her idea for a devotional experience just naturally had to include dance.
With the dance comes music "which resonates for so many" followed by shared prayer intentions typical of all small prayer groups. People reveal their vulnerabilities as they lay out their worries and frustrations; it can be a relief when it is done among friends.
The group clasped hands in a circle as Fatah Borsos called them to focus on their feet "connected to Mother Earth. Bring energy up from the earth." Next, "Open the top of our heads to the heavens and bring that energy down. Let what we do be in remembrance of the one holy being."
The words come from his Sufi studies, he said later. The Sufi tradition is a mystical branch of Islamic belief, with practices of combined meditation, chanting and dance -- the extreme end of which is the mesmerizing turning, spinning of "whirling dervishes" of Turkey.
"We need a direct, pure connection with nature and its elements," said Borsos. He is a participant in the Dances of Universal Peace, a movement that was started in the 1960s by a Sufi teacher and a Buddhist Zen master. Ecumenical groups worldwide gather to share ethnic and sacred dances, including a group that meets at 7 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month at Niu Valley Intermediate School.
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