When watching a Sufi whirling dervish spin, it may appear as though they are following something unseen, led by an invisible force that moves through every turn. Yet when one looks closer, one begins to realize that the dervish is not the one following. It is the world, and all who watch, that follow their orbit. Much like the Earth moving in its eternal orbit around the sun, the motion itself is only visible to the watcher. For those who dwell upon the Earth, there is no sense of movement, only stillness, unity, and harmony with the ground beneath them. It feels as though the Earth stands still, and the universe revolves around it. In the same way, the Sufi whirling dervish lives within the home of their own body, seeing it as a planet unto itself, a mirror of the vast universe and its orbiting planets. Seeing all of creation as interconnected, the Sufi philosophy lives within the whirling dervish, teaching that to be fully present within one’s body is to be in harmony with the orbit of the entire universe. As the Earth orbits, so too does…
Egypt’s First All-Women Sufi Whirling Dervishes Reclaim Women’s Place in Sufism
October 18, 2025
