Last night Michael and I went to the Arsht Center to see the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi, sponsored by the ANATOLIA CULTURAL CENTER.
The program explained that the sema ritual "unites the three fundamental components of human nature: the mind (as knowledge and thought), the heart (through the expression of feelings, poetry and music) and the body (by activating life, by the turning). These three elements are thoroughly joined both in theory and in practice as perhaps no other ritual or system of thought. . . . [The] hat (sikke) represents the tombstone of the ego; his wide skirt represents the ego's shroud. By removing his black cloak, he is spiritually reborn to the truth."
A beautiful and holy evening.
