The Encyclopedia of World Religions

398 S Rosicrucianism

Rumi: A Treasury of Wisdom from the Poet of the Soul: A New Translation (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000); Shems Friedlander, Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes, music by Nezih Uzel, foreword by Annemarie Schimmel (New York: Parabola Books, 2003); Annemarie Schimmel, Rumi’s World: The Life and Work of the Great Sufi Poet (Boston: Shambhala, 2001). Russia, religion in Religion in Russia and the former Soviet Union. E ASTERN O RTHODOX C HRISTI ANITY was formally introduced into Russia and accepted by the Principality of Kiev, then the major Russian state, in 988 C . E . Since then, religion in Russia has been chiefly associated with the Russian Orthodox church, still the traditional faith of the great majority of the population. This church was intimately connected with the state in the days of the czars, and for most people Russia and Orthodoxy were one and the same thing. The church has long been noted for its lengthy but beautiful LITURGY , rich musi cal heritage, onion-domed churches, and colorful painted icons (pictures of J ESUS and the SAINTS ). It also has a tradition of deep spirituality, center ing around identification with the suffering and RESURRECTION of C HRIST and the ideal of the “fool for Christ,” or saint indifferent to the outward cir cumstances of life. At the same time, the predomi nance of Russian Orthodoxy in czarist times often led to persecution of Jews and other non-Ortho dox minorities. With the Communist revolution of 1917, ATHE ISM was officially imposed on Russia and, in prin ciple, religion was left to wither away as a pre modern, outmoded institution. In practice, how ever, the situation was more complex: The Com munist Party and the state sometimes viciously attacked and persecuted religion and sometimes (especially during World War II) befriended it in order to rally the loyalty of both believers and nonbelievers and present a favorable image to the outside world. At all times, however, the gover nance of religious bodies, especially the Russian Orthodox church, was closely controlled, and

Rosicrucianism From Latin for “rosy cross,” a collective label for teachings and groups that developed in the tradition of European ALCHEMY and OCCULTISM . The Rosicrucian name began with the publication in 1614 of a booklet called Fama Fraternitatis (Fame of the Fraternity), presenting the legend of a certain Christian Rosenkreutz who had sought for wisdom in the East and brought it back to his native Germany. The book claimed that a secret fraternity was based on his teach ings. Although most seekers were unable to find the group, several orders, including modern ones, teaching esoteric lore have taken the name. Rumi (1207–1273) very influential Sufi (Muslim mystic) Rumi’s full name is Jalal al-Din Rumi. His followers call him Mawlana, “our master.” His poems in Persian are masterpieces, and his religious insight was the ultimate inspiration for an order in S UFISM often called Whirling Dervishes. Rumi, the son of a teacher of theology, was born in what is now Afghanistan. For political reasons his family moved to a town called Konya, now in Turkey. In 1244 he met a mystic named Shams al-Din, and his life changed completely. After the meeting, various events in daily living would evoke in him a profound sense of love. He expressed this sense spontaneously in poetry. Eventually followers made two collections of his poems, named the Divan-i Shams and the Math navi. According to those who know Persian, trans lations do not begin to capture the beautiful lan guage of these books. They celebrate love and the loss of oneself in the beloved, the rebirth that fol lows death, and prayer as communication with the ultimate beloved, God. After Rumi’s death his son organized his fol lowers into a Sufi order. It is technically known as the Mevlevi order, but members of the order are sometimes called Whirling Dervishes. They do a slow, twirling dance. In the process, they lose themselves in the experience of God.

Further reading: Philip Dunn, Manuela Dunn Mascetti, and R. A. Nicholson, The Illustrated