Whirling Dervish
Rotating mystic dancer
A whirling dervish is a member of the Mevlevi order of Sufi Muslims, known for their spinning dance as a form of meditation and worship.
The phrase has become figurative for anyone in constant, energetic motion: The kids were whirling dervishes at the birthday party.
The spinning appears frenzied to observers but is actually a controlled spiritual practice.
- sacred danceWorship through choreographed motion
- Turkish cultureHeritage of modern Anatolia
- spinningRevolving around an axis
- mysticismPursuit of divine union
- spiritual ecstasyOverwhelming sacred joy
turning · divine love · Sufism · dance · mystical union · sacred traditions · Rumi · mystical poetry · surrender · letting go · circular motion · spiritual journey · Persian poetry · Anatolia · Ottoman Empire · white robes · tall hat · Islamic art
Whirling Dervishstatue
Three-dimensional sculpted likeness
stone Buddha · stillness · stasis · standing stone · seated Buddha
Whirling DervishZen monk
Buddhist practitioner of meditation
hermit · anchorite · quietist · cloistered nun · cenobite
Whirling Dervishcouch potato
Habitual sedentary TV watcher
sloth · slug · slowpoke · stick-in-the-mud · lump
whirl, dervish, whirls, whirled, whirling, whirler, dervishes