Epiphany

Ideas can surface in one of two ways. One way is linear: your mind progresses in a direct fashion, one idea follows the next. The other way is more common among my pals: all of the ideas you have hit you at once & if the pattern is especially useful - Why, you've got yourself an epiphany.

In the old days, epiphany meant a manifestation of the divine (see more at m-w). I'm not making claims to the divine - but the series of events that have closed out 2005 come as close to that description as I may ever get.

The trip to Turkey was breathtaking - in both the literal & non-literal sense. Our journey was a pilgramage - to visit the tomb of Rumi and see the whirling dervishes on Shebi Arus.

It's difficult to track down the information to accompany the story of our trip. There were tourist bits, that's accounted for in the pictures I've got up now on Flickr. To see the set, go here.
I haven't had access to a computer to put up the rest of the photos - The Semahane in which we turned is represented in the photos linked to in the above paragraph, but not pictures of us turning - There are no pictures of Rumi's Tomb or the other items in the Rumi Museum - nothing from the Sema held in a giant stadium that was full both of the evenings we attended, yet anyway.

I've also not had time to post the details... which mosaic in the Hagia Sophia is Jesus the Pantocrator, which is Saint John Chrysostom. There is a kickin' Wiki entry tho that can fix my error here.

Unfortunately, I still don't have time, so this post will have to suffice. I hope to share my thoughts soon - for cryin' out loud.