Whirling like a Dervish? (like Michael Jackson?!)

Photo of MJ by Zoran Veselinovic



The above video highlights some of the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson's spins over the years. And following below is an enlightening poem, dancing the dream written by Michael Jackson - yes, he wrote poetry - about his dancing.

http://bluemoon.fem.jp/dancing/main_e/dancing_1e.html

Do you notice how this poem seems to describe Sufi dancing (if you are a bit familiar with the depth of it), not to mention that his style of poetry is very much like that of Rumi? It is perhaps no wonder then that Michael used to read Sufi poetry and performed his own version of twirls and whirls, though he had his own style, his own spin on it! ;) Couldn't resist that pun! (Info from Michael Jackson: Man Behind the Mirror written by Raamayan Ananda, a man I know from Vancouver, British Columbia. Check out his book at (http://manbehindthemirror.com/).

Next we will look at another interesting aspect...to be continued, tomorrow?

What kind of things do you notice in our world that whirl? What does the spinning symbolically represent to you?

Whirling Dervishes (like Rumi)

"Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love."(Rumi)

According to my book, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and the West by Daniel Ladinsky, "Love is the essence of Rumi, love became his very being, love is the impetus of all his poetry.".

According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi, "Rumi believed passionately in the use of music, poetry and dance as a path for reaching God. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. It was from these ideas that the practice of whirling Dervishes developed into a ritual form."

The spinning or whirling of dervishes are symbolic of their values of love and service, and was in fact an active meditation, a devotional act, often accompanied by singers and reciters of poetry and prayers.



Their dance was symbolic of abandoning their egos or personal desires and focusing instead on God, turning clockwise around the heart, spinning repeatedly in circles like planets, with right arm and hand extended facing up towards the sky, the left downwards towards the earth.

The clothing of the whirling dervish is symbolic: the hat represents the tombstone (or death) of the ego, the skirt (wide and white) to conceal the ego. Disrobing of the black cloak symbolizes being spiritually reborn to the truth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi_whirling)

Do you love to spin and twirl as you dance? Or did you as a child (as children naturally tend to do)? How does it or did it make you feel?

Due to computer issues, I have to cut this blog short…so will continue with a twist…pardon the pun! ;)