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December 2009 
The Dance of the New Moon: a Riddle
Posted on Jan 3rd, 2009
by 
Janet
Janet
The Dance of the New Moon
A Sufi Tale
There was once a seeker who had heard of a Dervish monastery hidden somewhere deep in the Caucasus mountains, where certain secrets were kept in trust for those few people who found their way to the sanctuary and proved themselves worthy. Having heard, he set his heart on finding this monastery and acquiring the treasure that it held.
After a long a perilous search lasting many months the seeker, whose name was Yorge, found himself in front of a pair of large iron bound doors set into the wall surrounding a convent built on the saddleback between two peaks. There was an old copper bell hanging beside the door, Yorge reached out and rang it.
A short while later the doors swung slowly open, and Yorge's gaze was met by the smiling eyes of an old man. Or at least at first glance the man appeared to be old, with white hair and beard, but this outward sign of age was contradicted by a quality of vital energy that emanated from the man like subtle perfume.
"Good afternoon." The old man said. "I am Brother Sohs. How may I be of service to you?"
Yorge explained that he had come to petition for admission to the fraternity of this monastery.
"You are blessed young sir." Brother Sohs replied with a smile. "Two days hence is the Hilal al Akbar, the first new moon of Spring. It is at this time that we test new applicants for admission to our mysteries."
The old man led Yorge into the monastery and took him to a small, but clean and surprisingly comfortable cell. He instructed Yorge to await the evening meal in meditation, and with a smile and a nod, departed.
At the hour of sunset the old man returned with two bowls of rice and vegetables. Brother Sohs invited Yorge out onto a terrace to relax and eat while watching the beautiful mountain sunset. After their meal, the old man said, "Tomorrow you will spend your day in meditation and fasting as preparation for your challenge." "During your time of testing you must speak to no one save me and you may as no questions, even of me, about your test. I will meet you again to break our fast in two day's time and give you your instructions."
On the morning of the second day Brother Sohs arrived with food at Yorge's cell door. They ate in silence, the old man beckoned Yorge to follow him.
They went to a low building that was separated from the main body of the monastery called a Semakhanah or "house of attention".
Yorge was led in and Brother Sohs motioned him to sit. The room was exceptional size, and in its center was a large octagonal space lowered three feet into the floor. In the lowered area was a group of people, men and women; each dressed in a long white shirt and pants with a sash tied about their waists. Each was standing in a different pose and all of them appeared to be perfectly still. There were several other people sitting around the periphery of the octagon, each of them watching the individuals standing in their poses. Though the room was silent and all of the occupants were motionless there was an electric feeling to the air that was quite stimulating, like a strong cup of Turkish coffee on a cold morning.
After a time Brother Sohs motioned Yorge to stand and accompany him from the building.
The old man offered Yorge a seat under a tree and then sat beside him. "What you have just seen," Brother Sohs said, "was the Dance of the New Moon." "This is your trial. Every day for the next twenty-eight days you will spend one hour in the Semakhanah observing the dance. You may attend any time after you break your fast in the morning until tenth hour of the day, you may not attend after sundown. You may not ask questions or discuss what you have seen with any other of the people attending. At the end of the twenty-eight days I will ask you to explain to me the meaning of the Dance. If you can answer the riddle of the Dance you will be accepted into our Brotherhood and initiated into our teachings. May your endeavor be blessed by The Real."
With these words the old man stood up with remarkable energy and walked away.
The next morning Yorge returned to the Semakhanah and spent an hour watching the group of men and women standing, kneeling, sitting or laying in various postures.
He began to wonder why this was called a dance, as the participants were obviously not moving. Yorge also wondered why there was such a palpable feeling of kinetic energy in the room. After the allotted hour, Yorge returned to his cell to ponder what he had seen.
Day after day Yorge returned to the hall, but try as he might, he was unable to penetrate the mystery of the Dance.
He examined each of the dancers individually, trying to see a pattern. Each dancer was in a different posture from day to day but there seemed to be no sense to how they changed. No two dancers were ever in the same posture on any given day, but certain postures seemed to be held by different dancers on different days.
Yorge counted the number of dancers, there were twenty-eight, fourteen men and fourteen women. But other than the obvious symmetries, he could not see the pattern.
Day after day Yorge came and watched the dancers, and each day the dancers remained in seeming stillness. Other than the intense feeling of energy in the room, there was just a group of people in a seemingly random grouping of positions.
Yorge became more confused daily. As much as he tried to penetrate to the meaning of the dance, all he had for his effort was frustration.
Finally the last day came and went.
Yorge's mind was in a panic, his thoughts ran through every teaching he had ever received hoping that something would help make the meaning of this so called dance become clear. He even began to wonder if this were some sort of trick that the members of this brotherhood played on seekers so that they would not be overwhelmed with new members. Sleep escaped him that night.
The next morning, Brother Sohs appeared at the door of Yorge's cell with a pot of tea and two cups.
"Come sit with me young Sir, and enjoy the morning." The old man requested.
Yorge accompanied Brother Sohs to the monastery garden with no little trepidation, dreading the moment when the question would be asked.
Brother Sohs gestured for Yorge to be seated on a bench under a magnificent mulberry tree, and pouring two cups of tea, asked "Young sir, have you penetrated the mystery of the dance?
(with thanks to Mushtaq for sharing such a great riddle)
Access: Public
Not yet Janet, but perhaps after tomorrow.
Intriguing Janet, I have not heard this one. Could go a number of different ways…the dance could be a way of purification, expression or union.
I will look forward to more in the morning too.
OMG Janet I love this blog post and I love riddles. If you have seen my previous blogs I mentioned that I am delving deeper into Sufism this year. So this is a welcome sign.
I am going to make an initial guess for now and maybe I will come back to post another answer to the riddle. I think those postures are “letters of the alphabet” and if he jotted them down he would have known the meaning or the mystery of the dance.
salaam,
Samme
Google rank three, impressive.
I like Samme idea but more information will be required.
Dance of the Moon and Stars
Thanks for stopping by Carla, Jordan, Samme & Larry:-)
Interesting guesses and nice vid.
I Can’t Dance but will figure it out.
I await your answer:-)
Remember Janet, the story is a legominism. It contains everything needed to resolve its question.
Sometimes though, prior knowledge gets in the way. As you saw the other evening, Steph was able to see something profoundly important in the story that had been missed by everyone, and most people would say she doesn’t have a “spiritual” bone in her body :-)
Mushtaq
M~
I seem to recall your suggestion of using the Enneagram to solve it, and therefore something from the outside needing to come in. that was the best reason to bring it here for more input.
The Enneagram…what mystery…I have my Facets of Unity book sitting right here…but I think the Enneagram of Holy Ideas is far to complicated for this riddle. My next guess is that the dance is for the activation of the Lataif, or the centers of perception, blossoming Joy, Strength, Confidence, Peace, and Loving-kindness. I have blogged on two so far. I started with the Red and then went for the White. My own personal lil inquiry blogs of sorts. I know that the octagon has significance but I can’t recall exactly why but I believe its related to the nature of exploring truth. And its like A. H. Almaas says, “the truth is our very nature.”
Interesting Jordan. Thanks so much for linking to your blog posts! I enjoyed them both very much. Activation definitely worth dancing for:-)
Hmmm….been thinking about this one since yesterday. It’s obviously not a logical answer. There has to be some answer that sounds like “the finger pointing at the moon”. Or something that is so exquisitely PRESENT that it trumps all the logical-mind answers that we would come up with. But I have no idea what that “present” answer would be. I don’t think there’s one answer. If someone says there’s only one answer, wouldn’t that be limited to one of the silent postures? And look at all the Postures, changing daily. It’s obviously Enlightenment. But what would the correct “answer” be? I haven’t a clue!!
I’ve been hangin’ on that path myself, Kathy. Trying to trump logic:-)
Since the dance takes place in the “house of attention” I keep thinking it must be something to do with those snapshot moments, or individual steps in the dance, as being the point of attention over and over. But what about the palpable energy?
Thanks for stopping by to point at the moon with me.
i can only say
that i would and do spend my time playing with and noting that energy
i would have skipped the humans entirely
unless in following the energy i noted differences in it that matched poses
however personally i don’t always need to match things up
sometimes i’m just able to be
i suppose now i’ve broken some expectation of how to observe
OOPS
:P
oooooo it is interesting to note what the new moon means to the sufi
I had hoped to gain insight from the Stillness Dance I took part in yesterday, but our practice was way more elementary than these Sufi adepts. At one moment the insight We are not dancing, God is dancing came to the surface. This truism seems to be observing from the sidelines with Yorge and the other seekers. I am enjoying all the comments and new people who have emerged to submerge into this riddle.
I am with Elisa, “Follow the Energy”. I do not believe that there are any red herrings, each significant clue is important to the metaphor.
In stillness I will be busy today and hope for insight.
Janet, if someone nails the solution, please hold back for a while to let the conversation continue???? !!
elisa~ I wanted to just play with the energy too, but it seems to me that all the elements are there for a reason. of course that could just be me trying to apply meaning;-)
here’s what I found on the new moon:
A disciple is like a new moon,
in reality no different than the full moon:
its apparent imperfection is a sign of gradual increase.
Night by night the new moon gives a lesson in gradualness:
with deliberation it says, “O hasty one,
only step by step can one ascend to the roof.”
A skillful cook lets the pot boil slowly;
the stew boiled in a mad hurry is of no use.
-Mawlana Rumi RA
carla~ I’m with you on the no red herrings. it’s a matter of proper seeing. how wonderful that you were in a Stillness Dance.
I will gladly let the mystery be for awhile as I’m enjoying the comments too.
I don’t think there can be a clever or logical answer. I think it has to be a spiritual answer. That is just my opinion.
In awakening in the night,
under the light of the new moon
I pay attention to nature.
I have reveled for 28 days,
with 28 dances
all a dervish,
all a mystery,
of love display.
thanks for your opinion mimi. you could be right:-)
beautiful poetry jordan:-)
I love riddles! Now this has got me into thinking mode though I feel the answer will not be revealed by hard thinking. I will return to this once more!
I’ll watch for your return Mila, and I hope that Mushtaq will stop back with some more wisdom.
Not getting lost in the mind…just following the energy…that’s what dance is to me..for the sufi adept? thanks J, great blog & discussion.
I like that def of dancing, Kim! twirling off into the next movement…..:-)
oh! - can i be the next movement here? this is a great thread, thank you Janet!
i’m guessing that all enlightenment and possibly intention too start with stillness.
now that i spoke up here, i might just have to wait for the next new moon to be still.
oh dear did i speak too soon?
shirl! I am moved that you bless us with your presence. you can be in stillness or in song or dance, as long as you “BE” on the journey with me:-)
Janet, fascinating, fantastic, I love this.
What synchronicity, speaking of the moon as metaphor. I am reading a book (Amy Mindell, 1995) where the author refers to the Japanese saying
No matter how one tries,
it is impossible to grasp the moon’s reflection
seen on the surface of a pond.
She is attempting to explain the spiritual background of ones practice when you do therapy with someone. How what you think, believe, your values, compassion, humour all show through and the client senses where you are coming from without being told. These are called metaskills and if you are unaware of them it can “undermine the techniques you use” and if you are aware it can amplify them.
Then yesterday I had a tarot reading and the woman told me to learn about the moon’s cycles; new through to full and that would give me greater spiritual insight into my own growth.
I am wondering if the sufi dance is similar to the moon cycle and each dancer represents a different phase in the dance/moon and in their own spirituality, and the energetic connections between the different dancers creates the energy in the room. If we could capture the energy of the moon we would have quite a powerful energy because the moon creates the tides and water is a powerful force and our bodies are 75% water so if we link into the energy of the moon ….. If you are aware of the energy you can capture in the dance then energy can be harnessed …… and if you are unaware then energy is stagnated or dispersed.
This flow of thought could just go on forever.
You people are just awesome. love it. love you for stretching me.
Jenny
Hi Jenny~ I think we’re meeting for the first time :-)
Thanks for coming along and putting your energy into the mysterious dance of the moon. I have an appreciation for your interpretation.
The New Moon is the opposite of the Full Moon, where the Full Moon is bright and full, the New Moon is dark and hidden. The lunar cycle is 28 days and each dancer could represent a single day. Each day is different from the other, although a day isn’t much different than any other day. They are all similar yet unique.
As each new day dawns the old days do not die. Only our perceptions of them change. It is very much like a dance. Each month the 28 dancers go through their moves in a beautiful choreography.
Collectively, I sense the group is getting warmer. Yesterday I was anything but still. Now to the dentist to have the offending tooth removed. I will dance my pose of the New Moon in the Dentist’s Chair for ease.
Hi Mark~ thanks for dancing by with your part of the choreography. I like the notion that together we all make the whole. Unique in one sense, but similar in others. Or as the saying goes, exactly the same but completely different:-)
Carla~ please have the dentist take a picture of your pose. I would love to see it.
Beautiful story. The New Moon. We don’t see it from our perspective, yet it is there.
A quess: the dance we’re looking at is what we are. The energy the life. We seem to be frozen in time in the different reflections at any given day, but the light is eternal and the change is constant in its cycles. Look beyond the forms and see that we have a relationship to the sun reflecting all thedifferent aspects of the same light inan evergoing dance.
Lucienne~ though I still don’t have the answer myself, I think you’ve got something there with the looking at self. Thanks for adding your perspective.
Janet, I’m still grokking the riddle. I’ve posted your blog to the Collective Wisdom Group/Pod in a thread about Spiritual Wisdom, others in our community can now pitch in on the Riddle or just find another link to this Collective Wisdom.
Here is the permalink to the URL pointing back to your blog.
Thanks for giving me permission to crosspost to the:
Collective Wisdom: The Library of Community Threads
Thanks Larry:-) The riddle is worthy of many considerations. I hope you’ll be kind enough to share yours at some point.
I think he needs to stop trying to figure it out mathematically, logically, with his eyes, brain. That there is nothing to figure out. There just a bunch of people standing there. Someone gave it name -Dance of the New Moon, it could have been called “Searching for Turtles” or any combo.
There is no dance
The so called dance means nothing
it only gives oneself a glimpse into realizing there is no meaning and we need to rid ourselves of trying to find meaning where there is none. It is an exercise in futility.
Anyway, that is just my opinion. which also meaningless in the end.
Everything doesn’t have to mean Something.
The body postures signifies the phases of the moon. The moon is always full we only see its phases. Love is always here we see only its shadow. Joy is always here but we reason it away.
dancing to the full moon,
Samme
<smile> I have had that thought as well Mimi. You might enjoy my q&r for today which is about that very thing.
hey Samme- thanks for stopping back. I enjoy that perspective of seen vs unseen.
dance on!
Yep it is! (I read it)
more later………off to dr. appt.
What is the observer, our Yorge, is the new moon, watching, what? Sun? Earth?
Reading the story, I wonder at the significance of watching for one hour only, and never after sundown. What is happening in the house of attention all those other hours, and after sundown?
It was years of moon watching before I really understood that the day of the New Moon is the day that the moon travels along the celestial dome with the Sun. That is why we don’t see it. Not only is its dark side to us, it is sharing the sky with the blindingly bright sun.
That energy. The old man has it. the dancers have it. Does Yorge have it?
He feels it, he comments on it. The energy is it, but he thinks it is something THEY have. and He doesn’t notice that he does.
I have been watching the moon since last new moon. I saw it very new crescent, on Dec 29. The metaphor of the moon and her position re Earth and Sun has tickled me. The moon and the sun have a thing going on. At new moon, the Moon and the Sun are together in the sky, getting it on. We feel the energy of their union, but we can’t see anything. It is as if our parents closed and locked the bedroom door.
At full moon, the Moon is opposite the Sun and the earth is between them. They are still charged up, flirting like mad, but we, the kids, can see it all played out in the open, and we are right in the middle, soaking up the energy of Love these two have for one another.
This has nothing to do with the riddle, but it seems a timely moment to share my daydreams.
First: for those still interested in exploring a bit deeper, Mushtaq posted some context on our shared blog Hidden in Plain Sight. Feel free to visit and see the vids of Sufi movements containing clues.
Now Carla: I love what you have pointed out about the romance of the sun and moon, sometimes out in view and sometimes hidden. I too have wondered why the dance may not be viewed during the night.
I have explored the clues at the other blog with pleasure and finally I remember something this riddle was jogging for me: Felicita Goodman Shamanic trance postures: Cuyamungue Institute . The thread that runs here is that Ahmet Yesevi founded a mystical order of Sufis that expressed many Shamanic elements.
What I appreciate about this riddle is that it is informing and inspiring me to explore stillness in more ways that the classic “sitting” pose.
Now to errands. No answer yet.
And here is a thought: a powerful teaching is accessed through this riddle’s answer, but is it something we “already know” or something that will bump some or all of us to an new level of awareness, inquiry?
The answer is found within all of us, we must continue to work on diving deeper in our own self-exploration and dance to contribute to the group dance so that others may discover the beauty of constant shifting movements. Until the new moon…When we come in contact with the certain qualities of the spirit we discover a truth and a knowledgability inherent to our souls capacity for the expression of life, vitality, love, and mystery.
That being said, I offer another quote to stir the senses into a dance and a dervish.
The body is outward, the spirit hidden; the body is like the sleeve,
the spirit the hand.
Then intellect is more hidden than spirit: The senses perceive the
spirit more quickly
You see a movement, you know there is life. But you do not know
it is filled with intellect….
The spirit of prophetic revelation is beyond the intellect; coming
from the Unseen, it belongs to that side.
William Chittick
The Sufi Path of Love, p 41
Carla~ thank you so much for sharing that link! Very interesting connection you make there. The more it goes on and I continue contemplation, I’ve run through every symbolic interpretation I can think of. In the end, I don’t see how one specific interpretation could be “right”. It would be subjective. I’ve been guided to believe that the meaning is objective, and therefore must pertain to math or physics.
Jordan- that’s a beautiful quote. May it inspire the answer to become known in us:-)
Great blog and group contributions – like a dance.
“I praise the dance, for it frees people
from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community.
I praise the dance, which demands everything:
health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.
Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people,
who are in constant danger of becoming all brain, will, or feeling.
Dancing demands a whole person,
one who is firmly anchored in the center of his life,
who is not obsessed by lust for people and things
and the demon of isolation in his own ego.
Dancing demands a freed person,
one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers.
I praise the dance.
O man, learn to dance,
or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you.”
~ Saint Augustine
KES~ Thanks so much for stopping by, and for the poem. I think you’re onto something there. In order to find the meaning of the dance, you must become Yorge and be one with the tableau. Or, get into the dance as it were.
Janet,
This story keeps intriguing me, because it reminds me so much of a dream I had a copple of years ago. I was in a theatre watching and suddenly the roof was gone and thus the theatre became one with the sky and the universe and all of a sudden I became the actress, the play as well as the stage and there was a kind of eagle sun with which I hadsome sort of mutual reflective communication.
So contemplating this story I somehow keep connecting it to that dream and came tot he following trail of thought.
Octagonal space, nr 8 - harmony, initiation into innermost secrets of men, symbol of intelligent order underlying the universe. The whole story is probaly full of symbols and so is the dance, an expression of knowledge.
However I’m doubting if it is vital at Yorge’s stage to solve that. I still think the dance is what we are. It must represent some law of natural order and intelligence. But that is what we are One with. We are the patterns. He watches, there is no movement. I feel a link between those. Can he get attuned to that stillness and to that place within him that reveils natural order and harmony. Every pose carries a hidden meaning, but since we are One with Life and thus the patterns, the meaning will be reveiled as well as expressed as we are the pose, we are the dance, the dancers as well as that which is danced.
I did glance at the clues you mentioned in the other blog, but that only confused me more because then my mind started trying to figure out the movements, while I have a stronger resonation with the dream.
Did you find an answer yet?
LUV, I played with the numbers too, the 14 men and 14 women. or 28. Either number play ( I am ot way into numerology so hem of my skirting this)
yeilds 10, which is ONE.
Masculine and feminine dancing into ONe. That is just part of it. Within the Octagon.8=infinity. Feeding energy. Tapping into Life force with this dance of stillness. I think it can describe a whole cosmology were every bit parsed, but it still comes down to ONE>
I am falling asleep, barely coherent. Dreaming. New Moon. for 28 days till the next new moon, but don’t watch at night or after the 10th hour 10 am in our time?
Back here as promised and responding to the call of the riddle! Who is the dancer and the observer? Both can mingle, get integrated. So the dance becomes just one, more powerful, magical, eternal dance of the spirit… That’s what my inner voice told me as I write.
Lucienne~ Your response makes me think of the modernized version of Plato’s Cave story told by Jed McKenna in his book “Spiritual Enlightenment, the Damnedest Thing”. Sounds like a powerful dream.
Carla~ regarding the numbers, it was pointed out to me there are 4 “octaves” to the story, and if you divided up the days and the number of people by 4 you would also get 7. I’m trying NOT to go all numerological, because I can get really carried away with that stuff:-) You may be right though, about it coming down to ONE. Ultimately, WE must do the learning, gain the awareness & and discover the meaning.
Mila~ so happy you’re joining the dance. Thank you for sharing the song of your inner voice:-)
Are you saying the form of the story is one of the clues? Octave as in
western musical scale? just conversting here. And also going to tune
into old Yorge again, cause I am feeling some kinship there.
I dig 7.
That’s my understanding… I took that to mean the desire to find the monastery, the encounter with Brother Sohs, the days of observation, and the time of guessing the meaning - they are four distinct sections, or octaves, to the story. Problem is, then it starts going into the steps of process and it gets all Enneagram-ish, and I think it stays above that kind of detail.
7 rocks:-)
i’m occasionally looking into what this really means to the sufi rather than what i wish to romantically glean from it
here is a link of one
es, reading last night I felt the deliberateness of his seeking,
ringing the copper bell,the old man full of energy answering the big
gate
I even looked up Sohs name for a clue, only google trace is this story on the blogs ;oO
I am enneagram innocent,
where I am meeting Yorgy is in his anxiety. He goes to tea not knowing
that he knows the answer. Maybe I need to switch from naked coffee to
tea ??????
hahahaha suns up I gotta go.
Elisa~ I think you’ve hit a point there; it’s not about our individual romantic visions
Carla~ Regarding Brother Sohs, John had this to say on Hidden in Plain Sight:
“….perhaps a pun:
sows - place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth; introduce into an environment – often done traditionally on a lunar cycle
sews - fasten by sewing; create (clothes) with cloth – sewing could
also be interpreted as uniting two separate things. I believe the
creating of new clothes has been a metaphor for the transformation of the individual. In this context I am reminded of the legendary patchwork cloak of the sufi.”
I do not know whether this makes sense, since if the story is truly an ancient one, or one that originates in a language other than English, the play on words would not work. It does make me think though.
I can’t wait to see the answer!!
All i can say is, the new moon is THERE, but we can’t SEE IT…..
The dance maybe is THERE, but we can’t SEE IT…..
Hi Marin~ The beautiful thing about this riddle is that is yours to solve and when it comes to you, you will have the answer. Good luck and thanks for stopping by.
On Monday, we have another new moon, and this time some of us earthlings will see it as its shadow brushes across the disc of the sun. Solar eclipse at new moon, reveals the moon and the corona of the sun. I learned something about the energy Yorge notices. At 5 Rhythms Dance the other night, I occupied the witness space by choice, dancing the rhythms wave invisibly inside my kundalini core. At one point the energy moved so much that half the dancers in the room came to my corner to dance with me where I was sitting, in stillness, breathing, and feeling the energy dance inside. Astounding. I will let this new moon, and eclipse speak to me more about this riddle.
Oooh Carla, that sounds wonderful. Is 5 Rhythms Dane something like Gabrielle Roth’s stuff?
Please report back on your findings, and thanks for the heads up on the lunar news. I’ll be paying attention too as the clouds permit.
The dance is inside us all the time.
My interpretation would be that the dance, whilst appearing as mere stillness, is a dance in relation to who its aimed at. The dancers are dancing with the moon. As still as they appear to be to Yorge, they are spinning, the moon is spinning, the earth is tilting on its axis and the moon is revolving in constant orbit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RAM39fyoVM
Yorge is not taking into account the bigger picture. The dance of the moon (lunar orbit) is a fascinating process, one of which the dancers are conscious of in meditative stillness. 28 People in ardent concentration of such a phenomenon would emanate an intense energy, this explains the 'electric feeling' Yorge witnessed. Perhaps daily changing of positions is reflective of the daily changing position of the moon in relation to the earth:
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonphase/
See the above link points to the '8 phases', which could explain the symbolism of the octagon.