Edinburgh Mevlevi Tekke

  Suleyman Hayati Dede in his house in Konya in the 1970s, presenting David Bellak with a Destar - the  tall, camel coloured ceremonial headpiece  wound around the base with green silk ribbon, signifying the role of 'Postneshin Shaikh' - permitted to sit on the red sheepskin 'post' during the traditional Mevlevi whirling ceremony. The red sheepskin symbolises both the place of Hazreti Mevlana Rumi himself, and also the "place of burning". as Rumi said - "I was raw, I was cooked, I was burned!"

Tues 19th January was the annual memorial for the passing of Shaikh Suleyman 'Hayati' Loras of Konya. To honour him in this time of Covid isolation, we invited people who can play an instrument or sing, however imperfectly, to choose a piece of music or a song which touches their heart and to play it on the evening of the Urs for Suleyman Dede. We received the lovely photo above from Karim Payton in Hawaii, of Suleyman Dede arriving in Honolulu International Airport in 1976. To the right below Dede is the late Yaksan Valdez, who was Dede's representative in Hawaii and who started a Mevlevi community there which has continued to the present. Come to the Circle of Mevlana. And see the joy which is there. See that there, is the remedy To a thousand kinds of dark sufferings. You won’t find there, The tale of slander and hypocrisy, But there, will be sound of drum, ney, and kanun. If you are a seeker, Fall down upon the ground in prostration. That you may see What kind of mood t