Artists

AYIN-I DJEM

Turkey

Wandering through the little streets of Konya in Anatolia , Jalaludin Rumi heard the hammering of a jeweller working with gold. The name of God seemed to ring out with every beat of his hammer, and touched Rumi’s heart. He started to whirl. And so for entire nights, he and his friends danced to the sound of poetry, music and song. These dance gatherings were called Sema'(listening).

During the 15 th century, this dance became a ritual, accompanied by a form of music called Ayin which relates to each step of the ceremony. For seven centuries, this ceremony has developed and today has become an expression of spirituality through dance.

As in all Sufi brotherhoods, the Whirling Dervishes came together to share their Dhikr prayers, invoking the names of God. The Sema' ceremony is also an inner prayer, in communion with God which in turn leads to a state of ecstasy expressed in dance.

Amongst the Mevlevia brotherhoods, there were weekly ceremonies that were open to the non-initiated. At other times, the disciples gathered spontaneously around their Seyh, to listen to the ney flute or to singers. They would thus experience these moments of ecstasy, as their master Rumi. Such ecstasy (djezba) was not allowed to them during the ceremony. These intimate gatherings of the brotherhood are called Ayin-i Djem, or ceremony of the gathering.

Rumi, the beloved master, so revered, whose works were studied by all Sufis and disciples of other brotherhoods (Tarqat), often came to take part in this ceremony with the Mevlevis.