Interfaith Journeys
  • Home
  • Interfaith Journeys
  • Stella Reekie

Dancing in the Spirit

27/10/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Religion is often portrayed as formidable, serious and rather glum.  This weekend visitors to the Aberdeen Festival of Music were denied an altogether different experience of religion. The Whirling Dervishes Of Damascus were to have performed at the opening event but were denied entry into Britain for fear they might not return to Syria.  Although the Whirling Dervishes are internationally acclaimed and an amazing spectacle to see, their performance is essentially a  religious act.
 
It is thought that the whirling dance began with Rumi, a 13th cy. Sufi mystic and poet whose poetry is still popular today.  One story is that Rumi was walking in a marketplace when he heard in his heart the  words 'La Ilaha Ilallah', there is no God but God in time to the rhythmic hammering of the gold-beaters. Consumed by the love of God this chant filled his being and he began to turn round and round in ecstasy.  Over time this movement became formalised but its intention is to express love of God and  to lead to greater love and union with God.  It is an ecstatic experience which emphasises the importance of religious experience, something that institutional religion often considers suspect.

Islam is not the only religion to have its ecstatic dance. At a particular time in its history, when European Judaism was in disarray, Baal Shem Tov established a movement which emphasised devotion and the love of God, available to the most simple of souls .  This  love of God was expressed in joyful dancing and gratitude.  

While other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism have their own form of dance, religions have also been suspect of it, seeing it as being related to pagan rituals and fearing it would lead to immorality.

But dance is a way of opening to the Spirit, to the energy of the world, to the dance of the cosmos. It is a way of moving from the head to the body, listening to our own inner rhythm, beginning to move to our own drumbeat. It helps us focus on and listen to the present moment. It is a liberating experience to move, to feel the energy  within which is the energy of the world. It is joyful, freeing, and wholesome. Gabriel Roth sums it up so well when she says "We dance to fall in love with the spirit in all things" . Her question to us is " Do you have the discipline to be a free spirit?  Can you be free of all that binds and bends us into a shape of consciousness  that has nothing to do with who we are from moment to moment, from breath to breath? 

Well can you?  The Ignatian Spirituality Centre shows a way.

1 Comment
alat bantu sex pria wanita link
7/9/2019 03:35:59 pm

kami terima info anda lainkali yang lebih lengkap dong biar puas kaminya.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am  a Catholic nun, involved in interfaith relations for many decades.  For me this has been an exciting and sacred journey which I would like to share with others.

    Picture

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    RSS Feed

    Categories
    Religious Performances
    ​​

    All

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.