Sufi Whirling (Dervish Dance)

Sufi whirling (or Sufi turning) (Turkish: Semazen borrowed from Persian Sama-zan, Sama, meaning singer, from Arabic, and zan, meaning doer, from Persian) is a form of physically active meditation which originated among Sufis, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa’i-Marufi. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the Sema, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes (also called semazens, from Persian سماعزن) aim to reach the source of all perfection, or kamal. This is sought through abandoning one’s nafs, ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one’s body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun.