Whirling Dervishes

Whirling Dervishes

The mevlevis are also known as the ‘whirling dervishes’ due to their famous practice of whirling as a form of dhikr (remembrance of God). Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi path; whirling is part of the formal sema ceremony and the participants are properly known as semazens.