The Whirling Dervishes, founded in 1273 by Rumi, a Persian poet and theologian, whirl as an act of meditation and as a means of achieving spiritual enlightenment. The sama, as the whirling ceremony is known, represents a mystical journey to seek truth, love, and oneness with God. A Sikke, the hat worn by the Dervishes (or Semazens), symbolizes not a closeness to God but a tombstone signifying the death of one’s ego.