The solar-calendar anniversary of Jalaluddin Rumi’s death on December 17, 1273, celebrated as his ‘Wedding Night’ (Sheb-i Arus) with the Divine Beloved. In Konya, the Mevlevi dervishes perform the Sema ceremony, the sacred whirling that Rumi originated as a form of moving meditation and active prayer. For Rumi, death was not an ending but a union: ‘On the day I die, when my coffin is being taken out, do not imagine that I have any pain at leaving this world.’ The ceremony in Konya draws tens of thousands annually.