Rumi's Urs
with Juliet Rabia Gentile
December 17, 2016
The Urs (“wedding”) is the celebration of passing from this life to the next, which constitutes finally being with the Beloved, the Divine. December 17th, 1273 CE, Mevlana Jalāl ad-Dīn Rumi passed to his “wedding” and we celebrate him as a Sufi teacher and mystic. Scholar Aflaki says Rumi’s “mourners were of all creeds, and of various nations; Jews and Christians, Turks, Romans, and Arabians were among them. Each recited sacred passages, according to their several usages, from the Law, the Psalms, or the Gospel.”
Registration begins at 2:30pm and the schedule is:
3pm – Rumi Poetry and Storytelling
4pm – Tea and treats
4:30-5:30pm – Movement and whirling instruction with chanting
5:30pm – Abode Prayers
6pm – Traditional Turkish Dinner with an Abode twist
7:30pm – Sema with Juliet Rabia Gentile and friends.
The Sufi poet Rumi originated the practice of Sema, also known as whirling, in 13th century Turkey. Sema means to listen to the voice of the Divine and this moving meditation allows one to tune out the demands of the world and hear the ecstatic call of the heart.
Through body-centered movement, breathing exercises, vocalizations, as well as drumming, we will focus on awakening our spiritual heart, clearing energetic blockages in the body and becoming a channel of divine energy. These practices have been transmitted through a lineage of Halveti-Jerrahi Sufi masters originating in 17th century Istanbul.