Whirling dervishes

A few days ago some Spanish cultural center organized an event after the iftar (that’s when Muslims break the fast at sunset during Ramadan) in a park downtown Damascus. Since the evening was rather pleasant I decided to attend it with some friends. The show I was attending featured dervishes and I must admit that up to that day I didn’t know much about them. I actually thought they were some kind of artists, dancers. 

The show was so overwhelming I was completely absorbed in it. It all starts just with music and singing. These are prayers, and often they simply repeat the name of their God, Allah – la illa-ha illa' llah - . I found the singing extremely sad, and apparently this is a frequent feeling even though not everyone experiences it the same way.

Dervish means doorway to god or enlightenment, and they are members of the most mystical and ascetic branch of Islam, the Sufi. Mystical because they believe mainly in respect, tolerance and love. Ascetic refers to their indifference toward material goods, pleasure and comfort.

The most recognized characteristic of dervishes is the way they dance. They whirl with their white skirts flying in circles with them. They can whirl for hours, and the idea is to go into ecstasy, or what they call wajd – finding, finding God, peace.

They always whirl from right to left, emulating the movement of stars and planets in the universe, also like the movement of blood around the heart. And if we think about life, it is in constant movement, the atoms, the planets, even us humans and our own circumstances. And these movements tend to be in circles, on one hand because we tend to do everything in cycles, on the other one because we look for beginnings and ends, we complete cycles and circles.

The movements of dervishes are full of symbolism, and understanding them makes you enjoy watching them even more. The leader of the group, the master, often simply stands in the middle of the room; he emulates the sun while the dervishes whirl around him. 

Dervishes hold their hands in unique positions, full of meaning. The right hand is lifted with the palm-out, towards God and his gifts. The left hand faces down, towards the earth, both to take its sustenance and to share god's gifts.

As for their clothes, the skirt is like a shroud but also it represents the sky. The hat interestingly puts a limit to the ego of the dervish because only by controlling or even eliminating any self egos can the dervishes have contact with God. 

While they whirl they seem to abandon their bodies, their eyes look lost in the horizon, or perhaps the complete opposite, totally lost in the deepest of their own selves. It is said that while watching them whirl it is possible to go into ecstasy with them. I can tell you for me it was an amazing experience, so peaceful and deep, even though I was surrounded by way too many people and the room had too much light.

la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah

 * All pictures except the 2nd one were taken by la elfa