APPENDIX—HYPNOTISM AND THE DANCE AMONG THE DERVISHES
[From Brown’s Dervishes]
Hypnotism.—It is through the performance of the Zikr, by khalvet (pious retirement for purposes of deep devotion), by the Tevejjuh (or turning the face or mind devoutly toward God in prayer), by the Murakebeh (or fearful contemplation of God), the Tesarruf (or self-abandonment to pious reflection and inspiration), and the Tesavvuf (or mystical spiritualism), that the fervent Dervish reaches peculiar spiritual powers called Kuvveh i roohee batinee (a mystical, internal, spiritual power). The life or biography of every eminent sheikh or peer details innumerable evidences of this power exercised in a strange and peculiar manner. This exercise is called the Kuvveh Iradat, or the “Power of the Will,” and, as a theory, may be traced historically to the Divine Power—the soul of man being connected with the Divine Spirit—from which it emanates, and with which, through the means before mentioned, it commences. Some sheikhs are more celebrated than others for their peculiar and strange powers, and it is to their superiority that their reputation and reverence in the Mussulman world in general, and among Dervishes in particular, is to be attributed. With the supposition that the details given of them by their biographers, disciples, or successors are not invented, or even exaggerated, their powers are certainly very remarkable. Whilst among them an implicit belief in them is firmly sustained, sultans and princes have evidently doubted them, and, being alarmed with the influence the possessors acquired and sustained among the public generally, they have often shown a direful exercise of their own arbitrary will and power, which resulted in the untimely end of the unfortunate sheikh. Many, on the other hand, have survived the frequent exercise of their “spiritual powers,” and either because they acquired a power and influence over the minds of their temporal rulers, or whether they used them for their own private purposes, so as to conciliate the more religious or fanatic, they succeeded in reaching advanced ages and a peaceful end of their remarkable careers. When the ruler of the country has not cared to order the execution of the sheikh who declared himself possessed of these spiritual powers, he has simply exiled him from his capital or his territory, and permitted him freely to exercise his powers and renown in some less objectionable locality. These powers can only be acquired through the long instruction of a superior spiritual director, or Murshid, or As-hâb i Yekeen, for whom the disciples ever retain a most grateful remembrance and attachment.
Among the practices of these powers is the faculty of foreseeing coming events; of predicting their occurrence; of preserving individuals from the harm and evil which would otherwise certainly result for them; of assuring to one person success over the machinations of another, so that he may freely attack him and prevail over him; of restoring harmony of sentiment between those who would otherwise be relentless enemies; of knowing when others devised harm against themselves, and through certain spells of preserving themselves and causing harm to befall the evil minded, and even of causing the death of anyone against whom they wish to proceed. All this is done as well from a distance as when near.
In other parts of the world, and among other people, these attainments would have been attributed to sorcery and witchcraft; in modern times they would be ascribed to spiritism, or magnetic influences, either of the spirit or of the body; but to the instructed Dervish they all derive their origin in the spirit of the holy sheikh—the special gift of the great Spirit of God, which commences with the spirit of man, from which it directly emanated. The condition or disposition necessary for these effects is called the Hâl (state or frame), and is much the same as that required by the magnetized, and the object of his operation. The powers of the body are enfeebled by fasting and mental fatigue in prayer, and the imagination kept in a fervid state, fully impressed with the conviction that such powers are really possessed by the sheikh, and that he can readily exercise them over the willing mind and body of the disciple. How the sheikh can produce such strange results on a distant and unconscious person is left to the admiration and imagination of the faithful disciple, as an incentive to exertions in the same true path as that of his sheikh.
To exercise the power of the will, it is necessary to contract the thoughts suddenly upon the object designed to be affected so perfectly as to leave no room for the mind to dwell, possibly, upon any other. The mind must not doubt for an instant of the success of this effort, nor the possibility of failure; it must, in fact, be completely absorbed by the one sole idea of performing the determination strongly taken and firmly relied upon. The persons must, from time to time, practice this; and as they proceed, they will be able to see how much propinquity exists between themselves and the Hazret i Asmâ (God?) and how much they are capable of exercising this power.
As an example, the author of the Reshihât narrates the following:
In my youth, I was ever with our Lord Molânâ Sa’eed ed Deen Kâshgharee at Hereed. It happened that we, one day, walked out together and fell in with an assembly of the inhabitants of the place who were engaged in wrestling. To try our powers we agreed to aid with our “powers of the will” one of the wrestlers, so that the other should be overcome by him, and after doing so, to change our design in favor of the discomfited individual. So we stopped and, turning toward the parties, gave the full influence of our united wills to one, and immediately he was able to subdue his opponent. As the person we chose, each in turn, conquered the other, whichever we willed to prevail became the most powerful of the two, the power of our own wills was thus clearly manifested.
On another occasion two other persons possessed of these same powers fell in with an assembly of people at a place occupied by prize fighters. “To prevent any of the crowd from passing between and separating us we joined our hands together. Two persons were engaged fighting; one was a powerful man, while the other was a spare and weak person. The former readily overcame the latter; and seeing this I proposed to my companion to aid the weak one by the power of our wills. So he bade me aid him in the project, while he concentrated his powers upon the weaker person. Immediately a wonderful occurrence took place; the thin, spare man seized his giant-like opponent and threw him on the ground with surprising force. The crowd cried out with astonishment as he turned him over on his back and held him down with apparent ease. No one present except ourselves knew the cause. Seeing that my companion was much affected by the effort which he had made, I bade him remark how perfectly successful we had been, and adding that there was no longer any necessity for our remaining there, we walked away.” (Pages 129–132.)
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