While in Turkey watch a traditional Sema, a whirling dervishes ceremony. Incorporating dance, symbolic attire, and music, the performance symbolizes the mystic cycle to reach perfection and is recognized on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Established in the 13th century, the Sufi Mevlevi Order and its whirling dervishes are renowned symbols of Turkish culture. Watch the ritual—a tradition from the former Ottoman Empire—representing the journey man takes on his spiritual ascent through love as he finds truth, maturity, and perfection. He then returns able to love and be of service to all of creation.

Admire the cultural ritual as the dervish with his hat, representing the tombstone of his ego, and white gown, signifying the ego's shroud, is spiritually born to the truth. The removal of a black cloak symbolizes advancing to spiritual maturity through the stages of the Sema. At several points during the ceremony, the dervish holds his arms crosswise to testify to God's unity.