Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order
Overview
The Mevlevi οrder was founded in Konya by the followers of Jalal
ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, a 13th-century Iranian poet.
The Mevlevis perform their remembrance ritual, also known as sema,
in the form of a dance, a musical ceremony which involves endless
whirling. The sema represents the mystical journey of spiritual
ascent towards the ideal through love, abandonment of the ego and
turning towards the truth. The Sufi then returns from this
spiritual journey having approached maturity, perfection and is
able to love and to be of service to the whole of creation.