I’m quite curious about altered states of conciousness - how different cultures throughout the world use methods of entering trances, mediations, etc.

We had gone to a theater in Cairo to see a performance of whirling dervishes, typically more common in Turkey, but Egypt has their fair share of them as well. The dervish will spin in a circle, sometimes quite fast, but never breaking the spin for around 45 minutes. It is a performance, but is also spirtual in nature. Some of the dervishes can go longer and faster, and it’s somewhat obvious (at least to me) which one are truly in altered states and which ones are in the state of performance. When he stops, he simply stops, walks off the stage. No swerving, no staggering. It’s unbelievable to watch.

I tracked down the head dervish, Mohamed Khalf, and we met the next day for coffee. I was so curious to hear exactly what was going on with his mind and body when he was in this spinning state. He told of how he leaves his body and goes into a deep mediative trance during the performance. He had been performing since he was 12 and came from a family of dervishes. He says during this time he feels as if he is with what he considers to be the divine.

Over the next few years, we grew to know him as friends and on the last trip to Egypt, he performed in front of the Great pyramids for us - something sort of illegal (he was escorted off the premises, in a gentle, but hilarious way).

We have dined with his family in his home in Cairo and consider him one of our closest friends in Cairo.