As part of the cycle involving the “birth of humankind,” the Dervishes remove their emblems of death and begin to rotate on their own axis, spinning only on their left foot. They also revolve around the sheikh in the center of the circle. The circular pattern mimics the orbit of the planets around the sun; the motion of electrons, neutrons, and protons around the nucleus of the atom; and the circulation of blood cells back to the heart. Photo from Hodjapasha brochure.