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Daniel C. Orey
mathmatician, reviews, photographs, U.S.A. / Brazil
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"These angels are from an end of the year assembly when I showed up at a school where I am doing research here in Ouro Preto." Photograph by Daniel Orey, 9 December 2005. He keeps a blog of travels and photographs here: www.csus.edu/indiv/o/oreyd/diary and here
| I am an ethnomathematician. I enjoy studying the patterns in the world around me.
Art forms influenced by geometry are particularly fascinating, and whenever I have the
opportunity to observe examples of sacred geometry in particular, I am greatly enchanted.
This is what has occurred recently through a project designed to bring people together to
share in a sacred tool that is both ancient and modern at the same time.
I had first heard of the labyrinth from an interview on National Public Radio, with Lauren
Artress, cannon for special ministries at Grace Cathedral. I had a chance to visit the
labyrinth a few weeks later on a trip I made to San Francisco to obtain visas for a trip
to Brazil.
The labyrinth (approximately 10.5 meters in diameter) is a design on a carpet (inside the |
cathedral), in stone (outside), or hand-painted on canvas (as in Sacramento).
The pattern used is a replica of the labyrinth found embedded in the floor at Chartres
Cathedral, France. In Sacramento the symbols of other religions are placed about the
outside of the labyrinth - there is a small cross, a small angel, a Menorah, a Hindu
goddess, a small Buddha, some crystals, and always many, many candles and flowers.
The feeling of ecumenism is profound...
There is something else that occurs after a number of walks. On the first visit,
I was preoccupied with staying on the path, and easily distracted. After a few more
tries, I came to see that by letting go, by focusing on my own footsteps, I could enjoy
the people around me. One easily bumps into other people - sometimes we wait, sometimes
we take turns letting someone else pass - there is the gentle smile, the quiet gesture.
At other times you quickly pass someone - each person is in their own place, pace, and
space - as it were. There is no right or wrong, here. Some can be extremely impatient,
and need to get to the center as soon as they can, others walk equally slow, breathing
very carefully with each step. One senior citizen became confused and upon reentering, was
helped by her daughter. At another time, there was a blind woman who walked arm in arm
with a partner. In Sacramento, there is the woman who at each turn silently raises her
hands in praise, in a fashion one might see in an evangelical church. One cannot help
but feel a sense of unconditional love, energy, or healing and the letting go happening
around you...
Excerpt from Arts Dialogue, June 1999, pages 14 - 15
Mevlana: The Whirling Dervishes of Turkey
review by
Daniel C. Orey, Sacramento, California.
It was with anticipation that my partner and I enjoyed, along with
approximately 1300 other patrons of the Worldstage Series, the recent
performance of the Mevlana - the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey. A newspaper
review mentioned that many people who attended their performances were moved
by the religious ritual. Kabir Helminski was an extremely talented narrator
and translator of much of the poetry, verses and ceremonies. He explained
that the ceremony was a ´refreshment of the living soul´ for those
performing it, and by all accounts, it was not only the dancers who left
refreshed.
The evening began with a brief recitation of poetry from Rumi, after which
the themes of the music and choral portions were shared with the audience.
The music and the ritual of whirling are true aspects of the mystical branch
of Islam, Sufism, and are based on the teaching and writings of the
philosopher-poet Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) and of the Qur'án. Rumi
taught that dance, music and poetry can be avenues to a state of
transcendence, and can actually be channels of Divine Grace. The dance as
performed here by the Mevlevi, seeks a liberation of the soul, and
symbolizes a trip to heaven.
The evening was much more than an opportunity to witness an exotic religious
rite or custom. It instead became a glimpse into another culture and belief
system. The instruments reverberated with a universality of tune and beat of
the drum. The Mevlevi Ensemble consisted of an orchestra of 13 members, and
used Turkish versions of the violin, lute, flute and drum. The ensemble
employed eight singers, who sang in unison. The most impressive of these
singers, Kani Karaca, besides being one of the two drummers, was also blind.
About half way through the 40 minute non-stop musical performance of the
first half, he suddenly burst into song, with what the local newspaper
critic referred to as, ´such vehement force, breaking the regularity of the
music with a free-ranging melody of his own, that sounded like
improvisation´. His phrasing and feeling was reminiscent of Spanish flamenco
singers, with the intensity of African American gospel singing.
In the second half, as part of the ceremony, Karaca delivered an equally
forceful solo. Without understanding the words, one easily felt their spirit
and power, as they were delivered with true force and might. But this time,
his voice could almost have been a Gregorian chant. He was chanting words
from the Qur'an, and they were listed in the program as "Qur'an Reciter".
His were extremely moving recitations, which transformed the audience.
The second half of the program began with the quiet, reverent entrance of
the two leaders, who placed red lamb skins at the far side of the stage. The
ensemble, wearing black outer garments, lined up at the far side and bowed
reverently to the leaders, who acknowledged them with equal bowing, before
moving around the stage in a counter clockwise motion. The frequent bowing
in respect to each other symbolized the acknowledgement of the soul in each
person. After removing the outer black garments, the men bowed to the floor
and stood in unison, and then bowed reverently, as each of the nine
dervishes began to whirl with ritualistic fervor. The whirling demonstrated
a certain "unity in diversity" that this friend of the Faith greatly
admired. Each dancer, although wearing the same clothing and dancing in the
same fashion, managed to exhibit a certain individuality - a slightly
different speed, angle of the head or upraised hand - which was beautiful
and both individual and uniform all at the same time.
We were equally moved by the spiritual sensuousness of the ritual. Although
a very masculine event, one cannot help but notice the feminine quality of
the movements at the beginning of each of the four whirling sessions, and of
the actual ´robes´ themselves. Both the sensual and spiritual aspect of this
ritual lends a certain beauty - not existing in either Europe or North
America - that exhibits a definite transformative appeal to the observer.
At the end of intermission and as part of the introduction and explanation
of the ceremony, Kabir Helminski asked that we refrain from applause at the
end of the evening. It was deeply moving to see the curtain slowly close as
the house lights came up, and the audience leave in a quiet and altered
state, deep in reflection, and in respect for the ceremony...
Excerpt from Arts Dialogue, June 1997, pages 4 - 5
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- Article: Interacting with Sacred Geometry: the Labyrinth, Arts Dialogue, June 1999
- Review: Mevlana, the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey, Arts Dialogue,
June 1997
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Arts Dialogue, Dintel 20, NL 7333 MC, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
email: bafa@bahai-library.com
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