As I am writing this paper, I am transcended into memories of my childhood as I am climbing, for the second time already, the highest mountain of Albania; Mount Tomor. Now when I say climbing I mean mainly being in the back of a pick up truck with at least 5 other members of my family as we are covering us faces from the dirt of the unpaved roads. Why is an 8 year old going through all of this you may ask? This journey is part of a pilgrimage that occurs every year and it symbolizes the virtues of Bektashism. Maybe you have never heard of it before or maybe you indeed have, but Bektashism is the religion that I once belonged to when I was growing up in Tirana, Albania. It is a sect of the Islamic religion that derived from the Ottoman Empire,
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In the book “The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers” by Edward Schieffelin the Kaluli and their unseen world strikes a large contrast when initially compared with more Western religions such as Islam or in my case Bektashism. However, when analyzing some of the traditions they carry I was able to find striking similarities in their search for spiritual guidance. A medium amongst the Kaluli is a man who is married to the unseen world. He provides knowledge and access to the invisible, the unseen world. This unseen world serves as one of the main beliefs of the Kaluli people, their parallel spirits thrive there thus connection with the unseen world means a spiritual connection with another version of oneself, whether animal or plant form. Mediums, thus, serve as a spiritual bridge that guide their people in understanding this unseen world, either contacting the dead or entering this world to discover why different phenomenon are happening to the physical world. Preforming the same function as a spiritual guide in Bektashism is the baba. The babe is head of the teqqe, who have gone through initiation and progressed through the spiritual path to the Reality. A baba is qualified to give spiritual guidance, they posses spiritual knowledge and a …show more content…
I believe the liberal connotations of the Bektashi order compared to other Islamic movements, along with its suppression following the dictatorship, left in hand more of a social identity amongst Albanians rather than a strict following of its doctrines. I no longer seek to religion for explanations of the unordinary, but rather use my personal interpretation and rather secular beliefs to make sense of it. The Kuran is a large doctrine that Bektashism follows, granted with many added amendments, but a text that limits my ability on where and what to believe in. I found reason not to believe on the interpretation of the baba, although mostly charismatic men who attempted to simplify the complicated questions in life. I engaged with them in conversations about soccer games, my family went to teqqes but rarely to pray, more to have coffee with the baba and talk about our community. I wanted a personal adaptation of beliefs; one not led by spiritual guides, but steered by my own attempt at becoming my own spiritual guide in understanding the unseen. I started to de-spiritualize the role of the baba, viewed them largely as other members of the
In the book “The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers” by Edward Schieffelin the Kaluli and their unseen world strikes a large contrast when initially compared with more Western religions such as Islam or in my case Bektashism. However, when analyzing some of the traditions they carry I was able to find striking similarities in their search for spiritual guidance. A medium amongst the Kaluli is a man who is married to the unseen world. He provides knowledge and access to the invisible, the unseen world. This unseen world serves as one of the main beliefs of the Kaluli people, their parallel spirits thrive there thus connection with the unseen world means a spiritual connection with another version of oneself, whether animal or plant form. Mediums, thus, serve as a spiritual bridge that guide their people in understanding this unseen world, either contacting the dead or entering this world to discover why different phenomenon are happening to the physical world. Preforming the same function as a spiritual guide in Bektashism is the baba. The babe is head of the teqqe, who have gone through initiation and progressed through the spiritual path to the Reality. A baba is qualified to give spiritual guidance, they posses spiritual knowledge and a …show more content…
I believe the liberal connotations of the Bektashi order compared to other Islamic movements, along with its suppression following the dictatorship, left in hand more of a social identity amongst Albanians rather than a strict following of its doctrines. I no longer seek to religion for explanations of the unordinary, but rather use my personal interpretation and rather secular beliefs to make sense of it. The Kuran is a large doctrine that Bektashism follows, granted with many added amendments, but a text that limits my ability on where and what to believe in. I found reason not to believe on the interpretation of the baba, although mostly charismatic men who attempted to simplify the complicated questions in life. I engaged with them in conversations about soccer games, my family went to teqqes but rarely to pray, more to have coffee with the baba and talk about our community. I wanted a personal adaptation of beliefs; one not led by spiritual guides, but steered by my own attempt at becoming my own spiritual guide in understanding the unseen. I started to de-spiritualize the role of the baba, viewed them largely as other members of the