Women Called to the Path of Rumi: The Way of the Whirling Dervish

The beauty and mystery of the Whirling Dervishes have
captured the mythic imagination of the Western world for
centuries. Rumi, the great Sufi saint of 13th-century Turkey, taught
both male and female students this whirling dance, but in the
centuries after his death, women were excluded from participation. Not
until the late 1970s, when Shaikh Suleyman Dede brought the turn
ritual to America, was this practice again opened to women. Women
Called to the Path of Rumi is the first English-language book of its
kind. It:

* outlines the history of the women who have followed this
way since Rumi's time.

* illuminates the transmission of this work from Turkey to
America

* highlights the first 20 years of the order's life in a new
country and culture

* describes the viewpoint of the participant rather than the
observer


At the heart of the book are personal interviews with more than two
dozen American initiates-- from adolescents to wise eldersÑmany of
whom have practiced on this path for over 15 years. The brilliant
illustrations and photographs present dynamic images of women turning
in Sema (the formal Mevlevi ritual) and whirling spontaneously in
Zikr, the Sufi gathering of prayer and music. Quatrains of Rumi from
many modern translators are interspersed throughout the text.