Words you will hear at the Sema
The whirling dervish ceremony is the Sema; the dervishes who turn are semazens, in a hall called the semahane of a lodge called a mevlevihane. They wear a tall felt hat, the sikke, and a white skirt, the tennure, under a black cloak, the hırka. The music is led by the ney, a reed flute, and the kudüm drums, and the turning comes in four selams.
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Pronunciations are a guide for English speakers, with the stressed syllable in capitals. In Turkish, ş is "sh", ç is "ch", ı is a short "uh", and ü and ö are as in German.
- Âyin AH-yeen
- The composed music of the Sema, in four sections that accompany the four salutations. Each âyin is written in one makam, a Turkish melodic mode.
- Çelebi CHEL-eh-bee
- Title of Rumi's descendants, who headed the Mevlevi order from Konya.
- Çile CHEE-leh
- The traditional novitiate of a Mevlevi dervish: 1,001 days of service, much of it in the lodge kitchen, before full membership.
- Dede DEH-deh
- An elder dervish who has completed the çile. Also used as an honorific: Sırrı Abdi Dede, founder of Kasımpaşa Mevlevihanesi.
- Dervish
- A member of a Sufi order, a follower of the mystical path in Islam. Whirling dervishes are the Mevlevi order's semazens.
- Destegül DES-teh-gyul
- The short white jacket with long sleeves worn over the tennure.
- Devr-i Veledî DEV-ree veh-leh-DEE
- The walk of Sultan Walad: three slow circuits of the hall by the dervishes before the turning, bowing to each other at the sheikh's seat.
- Dhikr (zikir)
- Remembrance of God, usually by repeating His name. The Sema is the Mevlevi form of dhikr.
- Hırka HUR-kah
- The black cloak worn over the dervish's white clothes and let fall before the turning. It stands for the grave.
- Kudüm koo-DYUM
- A pair of small kettle drums played with sticks. Its first strike is read as God's command 'Be!'.
- Mevlânâ mev-lah-NAH
- 'Our master': the name Turks use for Rumi.
- Mevlevi MEV-leh-vee
- The Sufi order founded after Rumi, and a member of it.
- Mevlevihane mev-leh-vee-hah-NEH
- A Mevlevi lodge, with its ceremony hall, cells, kitchen and graveyard. Kasımpaşa Mevlevihanesi is one.
- Mukabele moo-kah-beh-LEH
- Another name for the Sema ceremony, from a word for 'facing': the dervishes face each other and the sheikh.
- Naat-ı Şerif nah-AHT-uh sheh-REEF
- The solo hymn in praise of the Prophet that opens the ceremony.
- Ney nay
- The end-blown reed flute, the voice of the soul in Mevlevi music. Its player is the neyzen.
- Peşrev pesh-REV
- An instrumental prelude; the walk of Sultan Walad is made to one.
- Post
- The red sheepskin at the head of the hall, the sheikh's seat, marking him as Rumi's representative.
- Postnişin post-nee-SHEEN
- 'The one who sits on the post': the sheikh who presides over the ceremony.
- Selâm seh-LAHM
- One of the four salutations, the four parts of the turning. Mevlevi teaching reads them as stages of the soul's journey.
- Sema seh-MAH
- The ceremony of the whirling dervishes, from the Arabic samāʿ, 'listening'. Inscribed by UNESCO as the Mevlevi Sema Ceremony in 2008.
- Semahane seh-mah-hah-NEH
- The ceremony hall of a lodge, usually octagonal or round, with a wooden floor and a gallery for musicians and guests.
- Semazen seh-mah-ZEN
- A dervish who turns in the Sema.
- Semazenbaşı seh-mah-ZEN-bah-shuh
- The leader of the semazens on the floor, who walks among them and keeps the spacing.
- Şeb-i Arus SHEB-ee ah-ROOS
- 'Wedding night': the anniversary of Rumi's death on 17 December 1273, the most important night of the Mevlevi year.
- Sikke SEEK-keh
- The tall camel-hair felt hat of the dervish. It stands for the tombstone of the ego.
- Taksim tahk-SEEM
- An improvised solo; the ney taksim precedes the walk and the turning.
- Tekke TEK-keh
- A Sufi lodge of any order. Turkey closed them all in 1925.
- Tennure ten-noo-REH
- The long white skirt that opens into a disc as the dervish turns. It stands for the shroud.