The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony is a Sufi ceremony that represents stages in accessing God and entails a wide range of religious concepts with detailed rules and characteristics. Founded in 1273 in Konya, this ancient art form eventually spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. Although it is distinct from the Mevlevi sect, this ceremony had no specific rules on Mevlâna Celaleddin-i Rumî's day (deceased December 17, 1273), it began to be formally performed under Sultan Veled and Ulu Arif-Çelebi. These rules were established and developed until the time of Pir Adil-Çelebi when they took their final shape. Nowadays, the Mevleviye can be found throughout the world in a wide variety of Turkish communities, however, Konya and Istanbul are the most important and famous centers of the order's activity.
The event is comprised of a noble eulogy to the Prophet Mohammed, flute solo, prelude, the Circling of Veled, and four sections (Selam). All of them are integral to the whole and each has different Sufi meanings. Following fasting for several hours, the whirler dancers rotate on their left feet in short twists, using their right feet to drive their bodies around the left foot. Whirlers are made to have supple bodies with their eyes open and unfocused so that the images become blurred. For dancing ceremonies known as Sema, a particular musical repertoire known as ayin is played. It consists of four sections for both vocal and instrumental compositions, played by at least one singer, a flute player, a kettledrummer, and a cymbal player. A dancer would receive 1,001 days of reclusive training within the Mevlevi-houses (Mevlevihane), where they practiced prayer, religious music, poetry, and dance to earn ethics, codes of behavior, and beliefs. They would remain in the order after this training and return to their work and families.
A whirling symbolizes watching God in all places and aspects. Stamping one's feet underfoot symbolizes crushing the insatiable desires of the ego, which one strives against and defeats. Holding one's arms out to the side represents striving for ultimate perfection. In the Sema, the arms are opened with the right hand held up and the left hand down, symbolizing, respectively, a blessing received from God with the right hand and distributing these blessings to everyone else with the left hand.
Secularization policies resulted in the closure of all Mevlevihane in 1925. However, in the 1950s, the Turkish government began allowing performances again, though only in public. Restrictions on the performance were eased in the 1990s. A number of private organizations are now re-introducing the original spirituality and intimate character of the Sema ceremony. In recent years, though, the tradition has been practiced clandestinely and transmission has focused largely on music and songs, as opposed to spiritual and religious traditions, robbing performances of some of their religious significance. As a result, many Sema ceremonies are no longer performed for their traditional audiences, but for tourist audiences and have been shortened and simplified for commercial purposes.
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