Dervishes of Kurdistan (Disappearing World season 1, episode 8) (1974)
Title
Dervishes of Kurdistan (Disappearing World season 1, episode 8) (1974)
Subject
Qādirīyah--Iran
Dervishes--Iran
Sufism--Iran
Kurds--Social life and customs
URL
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Description
Season 1 episode 8 of television series "Disappearing World"
Content description from WorldCat.org
(https://www.worldcat.org/title/dervishes-of-kurdistan/oclc/865199401):
The village of Baiveh, in Iran's rugged mountain frontier with Iraq, is home to a group of Kurds who belong to the Quadiri dervishes, a mystical cult of Islam. This program examines the role that religion plays in their daily lives - through ceremonies like the Zikr, in which the dervishes work themselves into an ecstatic trance, able then to endure electric shocks and pass skewers through their flesh without apparently hurting themselves. The dervish tribesmen claim fantastic powers for their leader, the 27-year old Sheikh Hossein - for him, they will skewer their faces, slash their bodies, lick white-hot spoons, and eat glass. Since religious power goes hand in hand with political power in traditional Kurdish society, the sheikh is both spiritual and temporal leader. And as Hossein claims a personal link with God, his religious authority is paramount - only by his authority can a dervish aspire to communion with God.
Ephemera: none available
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Content description from WorldCat.org
(https://www.worldcat.org/title/dervishes-of-kurdistan/oclc/865199401):
The village of Baiveh, in Iran's rugged mountain frontier with Iraq, is home to a group of Kurds who belong to the Quadiri dervishes, a mystical cult of Islam. This program examines the role that religion plays in their daily lives - through ceremonies like the Zikr, in which the dervishes work themselves into an ecstatic trance, able then to endure electric shocks and pass skewers through their flesh without apparently hurting themselves. The dervish tribesmen claim fantastic powers for their leader, the 27-year old Sheikh Hossein - for him, they will skewer their faces, slash their bodies, lick white-hot spoons, and eat glass. Since religious power goes hand in hand with political power in traditional Kurdish society, the sheikh is both spiritual and temporal leader. And as Hossein claims a personal link with God, his religious authority is paramount - only by his authority can a dervish aspire to communion with God.
Ephemera: none available
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Original Format
TV broadcast recorded off air by JWK: Betamax tape
Creator
John Sheppard (narrator)
Brian Moser (producer)
Brian Trueman (translator)
Andre Singer (anthropologist)
Ali Bulookbashi (anthropologist)
Publisher
Granada Television
Date
1974 October 4
Citation
“Dervishes of Kurdistan (Disappearing World season 1, episode 8) (1974),” Cross-Cultural Dance Resources Collections, accessed April 26, 2024, https://ccdrcollections.omeka.net/items/show/37.