Whirling Dervish Earrings

We step back 700 years to ancient Persia…to the world’s greatest poets…Rumi, Shams, Hafiz. We listen to their words rise and fall, words swing and twirl, air moves, light catches, consciousness soars. These earrings are glistening in 14K yellow gold.

The earrings, like poetry, have many folds, many surfaces. Each fold catches the light. Each fold possesses many meanings. The earrings glitter in golden light as you move and as your observer moves. The light reflects the light, twirls, and swirls. The earrings are pure magic.

The Soul of Rumi

Twenty years ago I was in a book store cashing out when the sales lady said, “I have a book for you.” I was surprised. She said, “It’s an uncorrected proof, The Soul of Rumi by Colman Banks. Based on what you buy I think you’ll like it. It’s a gift.” She went on to say, “We book sellers get these pre-proofs all the time, asking for our comments.” It was early August 2001. The letter inside said “Please respond by August 30^th, 2001 Harper Collins, San Francisco. What no one realized at that moment in a week the world would be turned upside down. Rumi was the world’s greatest Sufi poet. He was born in the thirteenth century in Afghanistan. September 11 was coming right up, if Rumi had been here for 9/11, what would he have said? What would Rumi have written? What deep philosophy about peace and tranquility would have been woven into his poetry that would have followed the earth-rocking events of 9/11.

I found Rumi’s writing intense, focused on the human condition, focused on the affairs of the heart. He was about longing and devotion, life, love, eternity and forgiveness. Rumi wrote about peace and tolerance, something the world most importantly needs right now.

Rumi and the Sufi Dance

Whirling Dervish and Sufi dance ceremonies were started as a form of meditation by Rumi, the famous Sufi mystic poet in the 13^th century. Sufi music and dance recreates the flow of the universe in its revolution, vibration, rhythm, and harmony. Our Sufi earrings are an ecstatic expression of the whirl or spin of life. They flow, they twirl, and flair out, catching golden light. They twinkle and shine on the ear lobe. What will Sufi earrings do for you? They define your space, they will catch the light and energy of the universe as you move through your day, they will keep you centered in dazzling golden light.

They sweep and swirl, glisten and twirl, they catch the light in a mystical way. They are the flow of the universe at your ears, in golden light.

You can see the wild, ecstatic dance moves and the altered state of meditative consciousness in this drawing.

The flow of the fabric, the twirl is part of what creates the stability for the Sufi dance.

Curious, yes, but if the practice has lasted 700 years, there’s got to be a lot going for it.