The Melâmiyoons - The Sectarian Rites of the Much Loving Persian Dervishes-Spiritual Exercises-Hasheesh -The Occult 291-329 Title-page THE MEVLEVEE SHEIKH OF PERA, CONSTANTINOPLE BERRAK, THE ANIMAL ON WHICH THE PROPHET VISITED THE HULOOLIEH, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL ORDERS OF THE V vii viii AN ABDAL MARABOOT, OR HOLY MAN, IN A CRAZED STATE MEVLEVEE DERVISHES UNDERGOING PENITENCE 55 56 57 64 77 83 104 GHAZEE HASSAN BABA, AN ABDAL OR SANTON OF TRIPOLI, BARBARY. A WANDERING KALENDEREE DERVISH A BEKTASH DERVISH INHALING HASHEESH. 220 224 231 242 310 THE DERVISHES. CHAPTER I. THE earliest form, or principle, of Religion is connected with an intuitive conviction in the mind of man of the possession of a soul or spirit, independent of his body, or corporeal existence. The soul is believed to survive the body, and refers to a superior Spirit, creative and providential in its character. A more perfect knowledge and communion with this greater Spirit, or God, is the object of man's continuous aspirations. The senses (or faculties) of man are possessed in common with other animals. These are all intimately connected with his intellectual faculty, so much so that, when they do not exist, as in childhood and advanced age, or are enfeebled by accidental causes, as in idiocy, it is seriously affected The reasoning faculty, and that of speech, seem to be those which distinguish man from ordinary animal nature, and yet both of these are possessed, in a greater and less degree, by most animals. It is supposed that the brain is the seat of the "intellectual faculty," and its operations are explained by its connexion with the nervous system and the other senses, such as hearing, seeing, and the touch. The size of the brain does not increase the reasoning faculty, nor that of the body the other ordinary faculties. Man, thus, in his most degraded and least intellectual condition, in his most barbarous state, seems to have B an "intuitive conviction" of the possession of a soul, and of a future existence after the death of his body. It seems not to be dependent upon mental culture, nor upon a knowledge of the greatness of this God, 'and the magnitude of His power and works. Does this perception extend to any other of His creatures, vegetable or animal, or is it restricted entirely to man ?* I believe that the idea is always limited to the fact that there is a God, and that the belief in a plurality of Gods is a matter of pure imagination, dependent upon the varied convictions and wants of man in the several parts of the world. Just as the soul of man thus leads him to believe in the existence of God, so does it likewise impress him with a conviction of the greatness of the Deity, and, in his helplessness, to supplicate Him in the hour of need, of suffering, and of danger. This, therefore, is the original means of communicating with the Creator on the part of the creature. Divine providences are not restricted to man only, but are experienced throughout all creation. The same laws of nature which affect him in this life extend also to all living beings, and the question may be again repeated, whether inanimate as well as animate creation, the vegetable as well as animal, have any perception of this fact? Leaving the idea of the unity of the Deity, it is found that man has endeavoured to give to this simple conviction a place and a form. On the former there seems to be a belief in common among all men, that the Creator of all things exists far beyond the conceptions of the senses, and invisible to the ordinary senses; whilst the imagination ascribes to Him innumerable forms, all dependent upon the imagination and the fancied wants of ordinary life. With some He is all benevolence, with others avenging; whilst some believe that all His providences are unchangeable, and therefore constitute what is called destiny and fate, others regard them as merciful, and adapted to the needs of those who implore His compassion. Whilst He is considered omni* Vide Psalm cl. 6, and others. |