ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Last November UNESCO included the 'Mevlevi Sema Ceremony,' a spiritual and religious tradition of Sufism, on its list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO’s decision, which highlighted the whirling dervish dances both in Turkey and on the international platform, is expected to increase tourists to Konya as well as promote the Sufi tradition.
The sema or "whirling" dancing ceremony of the whirling dervishes is expected to draw more attention from tourists after the inclusion of the ceremony on UNESCO's list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
UNESCO had included the the "Mevlevi Sema Ceremony," a spiritual and religious tradition of Sufism, on its new list, which aims at preserving the world's intangible cultural heritage treasures, at a ceremony last Nov. 25.
Following UNESCO's decision highlighting the whirling dervish dances both in Turkey and on the international platform, Konya is expected to become a center of interest for those who want to know more about Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi, the father of Sufism, and sema dances as well as those wishing to visit the famous philosopher's tomb in Konya.
Selçuk University's Mevlana Research Center Associate Professor Nuri Şimşekler said they were pleased by UNESCO's decision, which they believed would promote Mevlana and his philosophy to all humanity and that would further attract tourists to the city, reported the Anatolia news agency.
Şimşekler said sema meant “listening, singing beautifully” in Sufism as well as signifying an act of feeling God and a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfection" or “God.”
In this journey the whirling dervishes symbolically turn towards the truth, grow through love, abandon the ego and all materialistic values of the world, find the truth and arrive at the "Perfect" then return from this spiritual journey with greater maturity, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.
He said whirling dancers existed during and even before the period of Mevlana, despite the fact that the philosophy of Sufism did not yet exist, and that Mevlana added a new perspective and philosophy to sema dances, adding that sema became a more mysterious notion and ritual as it gained a systematic nature through the establishment of the Sufi order after Mevlana's death.
Noting that sema was predominantly shaped in the 16th century, Şimşekler said, “Yet Sema, a tradition of over 700 years, maintains its importance even today and comes with all its traditions despite new having new characteristics added and its disciplines changed over time.”
“In fact, there is no big difference between the sema of Mevlana's period and the sema performed today due to the fact that traditions in Sufism haven't changed so much. Thus, it is important to preserve the sema for the future,” said Şimşekler.
“Of course, it is difficult to say that the clothing during Mevlana's period, for instance, hasn't changed completely. However, we can say the whirling dervishes of the period wore clothing similar to what they wear today and that an adopted tradition doesn't change easily in Sufism.”
The Sufi looks at his heart through his eyes:
Şimşekler said during the sema dancing, whirling dervishes danced with the right arm held high, palm upwards, and the left arm held low, palm downwards, which signified, according to Sufi belief, his wish and aim to share divine secrets he received from God with other human beings.
“So, this way of dancing symbolizes that the Sufi is a kind of ambassador between God and humans.
The dervishes, crossing their arms over their chest to hide their two extremities, form a pillar-like structure before starting the sema ritual. In this way they also resemble “Alif,” the first syllable of the Arabic alphabet, in shape. Alif is also the first syllable of the word Allah in Arabic. The sema dancer slightly bends his head to the right and looks towards his heart, symbolically conveying that he feels God deep in his heart.
“Sema doesn't consist only of dance ritual. It is a ritual comprising a series of activities. According to tradition, first of all a prayer is said followed by reading the Koran and the dissemination of information about the Sufi tradition. Then sema dancing is performed. The ritual concludes with a reading out of the Koran and praying,” he added.
Friday, November 03, 2006
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Friday, November 03, 2006
A 700-year-old ritual of worship: sema
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Last November UNESCO included the 'Mevlevi Sema Ceremony,' a spiritual and religious tradition of Sufism, on its list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO’s decision, which highlighted the whirling dervish dances both in Turkey and on the international platform, is expected to increase tourists to Konya as well as promote the Sufi tradition.
The sema or "whirling" dancing ceremony of the whirling dervishes is expected to draw more attention from tourists after the inclusion of the ceremony on UNESCO's list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
UNESCO had included the the "Mevlevi Sema Ceremony," a spiritual and religious tradition of Sufism, on its new list, which aims at preserving the world's intangible cultural heritage treasures, at a ceremony last Nov. 25.
Following UNESCO's decision highlighting the whirling dervish dances both in Turkey and on the international platform, Konya is expected to become a center of interest for those who want to know more about Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi, the father of Sufism, and sema dances as well as those wishing to visit the famous philosopher's tomb in Konya.
Selçuk University's Mevlana Research Center Associate Professor Nuri Şimşekler said they were pleased by UNESCO's decision, which they believed would promote Mevlana and his philosophy to all humanity and that would further attract tourists to the city, reported the Anatolia news agency.
Şimşekler said sema meant “listening, singing beautifully” in Sufism as well as signifying an act of feeling God and a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfection" or “God.”
In this journey the whirling dervishes symbolically turn towards the truth, grow through love, abandon the ego and all materialistic values of the world, find the truth and arrive at the "Perfect" then return from this spiritual journey with greater maturity, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.
He said whirling dancers existed during and even before the period of Mevlana, despite the fact that the philosophy of Sufism did not yet exist, and that Mevlana added a new perspective and philosophy to sema dances, adding that sema became a more mysterious notion and ritual as it gained a systematic nature through the establishment of the Sufi order after Mevlana's death.
Noting that sema was predominantly shaped in the 16th century, Şimşekler said, “Yet Sema, a tradition of over 700 years, maintains its importance even today and comes with all its traditions despite new having new characteristics added and its disciplines changed over time.”
“In fact, there is no big difference between the sema of Mevlana's period and the sema performed today due to the fact that traditions in Sufism haven't changed so much. Thus, it is important to preserve the sema for the future,” said Şimşekler.
“Of course, it is difficult to say that the clothing during Mevlana's period, for instance, hasn't changed completely. However, we can say the whirling dervishes of the period wore clothing similar to what they wear today and that an adopted tradition doesn't change easily in Sufism.”
The Sufi looks at his heart through his eyes:
Şimşekler said during the sema dancing, whirling dervishes danced with the right arm held high, palm upwards, and the left arm held low, palm downwards, which signified, according to Sufi belief, his wish and aim to share divine secrets he received from God with other human beings.
“So, this way of dancing symbolizes that the Sufi is a kind of ambassador between God and humans.
The dervishes, crossing their arms over their chest to hide their two extremities, form a pillar-like structure before starting the sema ritual. In this way they also resemble “Alif,” the first syllable of the Arabic alphabet, in shape. Alif is also the first syllable of the word Allah in Arabic. The sema dancer slightly bends his head to the right and looks towards his heart, symbolically conveying that he feels God deep in his heart.
“Sema doesn't consist only of dance ritual. It is a ritual comprising a series of activities. According to tradition, first of all a prayer is said followed by reading the Koran and the dissemination of information about the Sufi tradition. Then sema dancing is performed. The ritual concludes with a reading out of the Koran and praying,” he added.
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Last November UNESCO included the 'Mevlevi Sema Ceremony,' a spiritual and religious tradition of Sufism, on its list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO’s decision, which highlighted the whirling dervish dances both in Turkey and on the international platform, is expected to increase tourists to Konya as well as promote the Sufi tradition.
The sema or "whirling" dancing ceremony of the whirling dervishes is expected to draw more attention from tourists after the inclusion of the ceremony on UNESCO's list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
UNESCO had included the the "Mevlevi Sema Ceremony," a spiritual and religious tradition of Sufism, on its new list, which aims at preserving the world's intangible cultural heritage treasures, at a ceremony last Nov. 25.
Following UNESCO's decision highlighting the whirling dervish dances both in Turkey and on the international platform, Konya is expected to become a center of interest for those who want to know more about Mevlana Jalaladdin Rumi, the father of Sufism, and sema dances as well as those wishing to visit the famous philosopher's tomb in Konya.
Selçuk University's Mevlana Research Center Associate Professor Nuri Şimşekler said they were pleased by UNESCO's decision, which they believed would promote Mevlana and his philosophy to all humanity and that would further attract tourists to the city, reported the Anatolia news agency.
Şimşekler said sema meant “listening, singing beautifully” in Sufism as well as signifying an act of feeling God and a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfection" or “God.”
In this journey the whirling dervishes symbolically turn towards the truth, grow through love, abandon the ego and all materialistic values of the world, find the truth and arrive at the "Perfect" then return from this spiritual journey with greater maturity, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination against beliefs, races, classes and nations.
He said whirling dancers existed during and even before the period of Mevlana, despite the fact that the philosophy of Sufism did not yet exist, and that Mevlana added a new perspective and philosophy to sema dances, adding that sema became a more mysterious notion and ritual as it gained a systematic nature through the establishment of the Sufi order after Mevlana's death.
Noting that sema was predominantly shaped in the 16th century, Şimşekler said, “Yet Sema, a tradition of over 700 years, maintains its importance even today and comes with all its traditions despite new having new characteristics added and its disciplines changed over time.”
“In fact, there is no big difference between the sema of Mevlana's period and the sema performed today due to the fact that traditions in Sufism haven't changed so much. Thus, it is important to preserve the sema for the future,” said Şimşekler.
“Of course, it is difficult to say that the clothing during Mevlana's period, for instance, hasn't changed completely. However, we can say the whirling dervishes of the period wore clothing similar to what they wear today and that an adopted tradition doesn't change easily in Sufism.”
The Sufi looks at his heart through his eyes:
Şimşekler said during the sema dancing, whirling dervishes danced with the right arm held high, palm upwards, and the left arm held low, palm downwards, which signified, according to Sufi belief, his wish and aim to share divine secrets he received from God with other human beings.
“So, this way of dancing symbolizes that the Sufi is a kind of ambassador between God and humans.
The dervishes, crossing their arms over their chest to hide their two extremities, form a pillar-like structure before starting the sema ritual. In this way they also resemble “Alif,” the first syllable of the Arabic alphabet, in shape. Alif is also the first syllable of the word Allah in Arabic. The sema dancer slightly bends his head to the right and looks towards his heart, symbolically conveying that he feels God deep in his heart.
“Sema doesn't consist only of dance ritual. It is a ritual comprising a series of activities. According to tradition, first of all a prayer is said followed by reading the Koran and the dissemination of information about the Sufi tradition. Then sema dancing is performed. The ritual concludes with a reading out of the Koran and praying,” he added.
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