Long before the Ottoman Empire began, Nithamiyeen mystics
gathered together to learn celestial truths through holiness, humility, and
privations. Over time, they codified their practices and beliefs, becoming the
dervish orders.
At
the siege of Constantinople in 1453, the dervish Ak Shemsu-d’Din prophesied to
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman’s victory over the city, and
personally led 77 dervishes into the battle. Their miracles protected many soldiers
from Constantinople’s magical defenses, helping the Ottoman armies overwhelm
the city’s defenders. After the victory,
Mehmed’s viziers puzzled over the fallen city full of magical wonders,
talismans, and holy relics. They couldn’t allow such powerful artifacts to be
looted, destroyed, or lost in the administrative confusion of the new capital. Remembering
the dervish’s wisdom and bravery, they tasked the dervishes to collect, and
guard the most dangerous artifacts.
Since
then, the dervishes of Constantinople use their mystic insight and their
devotion to protect the Ottoman Empire from the practitioners of Sihr.
Some
believe the dervishes’ repetitive recitation of “the Word” gives their breath
supernatural healing power, and bring sick or wounded loved ones to be breathed
upon to restore their health. Legends speak of dervishes
forcing two fighting armies to halt their war, learning cosmic secrets from
angels, instantly appearing at locations hundreds of miles away, and projecting
their consciousness out of their bodies.
More commonly, the Nithamiyeen faithful rely on dervishes for dream
interpretation, deliverance from curses, and finding stolen property. Most
Turks proclaim these abilities as miracles, while Guild magicians say the
dervishes’ mystic practices enhance their Magnetism. Although,
the Grand Mufti has authority over the dervish orders, he rarely exercises that
power, despite the distrust the clergy have for the dervishes’ heretical beliefs.
Dervishes
gather with other members of their order in monasteries called Tekkahs. Most
Tekkahs house 15- 30 dervishes, led by a sheikh. Some of their mystic
ceremonies are open to the public for a small donation toward the upkeep of the
Tekkah. Anyone, faithful or foreigner,
may watch, but the devotions, meditations, and lives of the dervishes in the
Tekka remain private. Constantinople
quarters many dervish orders, such as the Halvetiye, the Kadirye, the Naqshbandi and the Qadiriyya. The three most famous in the
city are the Mevlevi, the Bektashi, and the Rufa’i.
Mevlevi
Also
known as dancing dervishes, or spinning dervishes, members of the Mevlevi order
perform elaborate and vigorous ceremonial dances called “Sama” to reach a state
of religious ecstasy and sanctity. Fifteen or more dervishes chant and slowly
rotate on their left foot, their speed increasing as they spin, arms
outstretched and eyes closed, for a quarter of an hour with no fatigue or
dizziness. A small orchestra of dervishes playing flutes, zithers, drums, and
tambourines helps pull the dancing dervishes into their trance-like state.
Mevlevi
dervishes are easily recognized by their kulahs, tall brimless hats of undyed
camel hair, but they only wear their most famous article of clothing, the long
loose white skirts, during their ceremonies. Outside of their ceremonies and
services, Mevlevi dervishes wear, long dark robes.
Of
all the Dervish orders in Constantinople, the Mevlevi hold the most power, and
prestige. When a new Sultan takes the throne, a Mevlevi sheik girds his waist
with the sword of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Their historic
ranks include Grand Viziers and other members of the Ottoman government. Even
the Sultan’s father, Mahmud II, associated closely with the Mevlevi. Although
bound to poverty and charity, the endowments of the order’s lay members provide
the dervishes with the most impressive tekke’s in Constantinople.
Bektashi
From
their inception, the janissaries were closely associated with the Bektashi
order. The sheik Hadji Bektash gave a special blessing on the group of young
boys who became the first janissaries before their training began. Many janissaries
worshiped with or joined the Bektashi. After the destruction of the
janissaries, orchestrated by Sultan Mahmud II, Mahmud turned Bektashi Tekkes
over to the other dervish orders, ordered its three leading sheiks executed for
treason, and exiled their dervishes.
Under the reforms of Tanzimât, the order slowly renewed practice in the
Ottoman Empire. Considering their vilified status in society, it’s fortunate
Bektashi dervishes prefer study and contemplation to ecstatic displays of
zeal.
Bektashi
dervishes wear clothes rich in symbolic meanings. They cover their heads with a dome-shaped cap
made of white felt with four grooves, called a Taj. The grooves (called Doors)
represent the four stages of spiritual life according to the Order’s teachings.
Three more grooves further divide the Doors.
Beneath
their cloak, dervishes wear a vest bearing 12 stripes, a rope around the waist
with three knots tying the dervish to truth, honesty, and chastity, and a belt
made of wool from the sheep sacrificed at the dervishes’ initiation.
Rufa’i
The
ceremonies performed by the Rufa’i order shock the uninitiated. The Rufa’i dervishes
(known in Europe as”Howling Dervishes”) shed their outer garments and reach a
state of violent bliss by kneeling, stamping their feet, and chanting. Their
chanting grows into shouts as the dervishes stab, and cut their flesh with
knives, and touch red-hot metal instruments, all while in this state of
intoxicating bliss. At any other time, these wounds are horrifying if not
fatal, but during the ceremony the dervishes feel no pain and barely bleed.
Knives, swords, spears, and axes adorn the walls of Rufa’i Tekkes to be used in
their ceremonies. The dervishes call these implements “roses”.
After the
last Rufa’i dervish falls in exhaustion, their sheik rubs his saliva and breathes
on their wounds. Rumor says all their wounds and scars fade within a day. Despite
the Rufa’i order’s popularity with impoverished Ottoman citizens, the
Nithamiyeen clergy suspect the taint of dark magic in their practices and try
to quietly shut down their public displays.
Rufa’i
dervishes wear a cap similar to that worn by the Bektashi order, and little
else during their violent ceremonies. The eight grooves in the cap represent
eight sins the dervish left behind. Their cloaks and outer clothing can be of
any color, but bordered in green cloth. Most wear black.
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