Jem (Alevism)

The central Alevi communal worship service is called a cem (Turkish: Cem or Âyîn-i Cem, meaning amass, gather-together, congregation or assembly meeting), which is performed in special houses called as Cem Evi. Alevis believe that the Jem has its roots in an original worship and teaching meeting of forty spiritual individuals Kirklar Majlisi (Turkish: Kırklar Meclisi) led by Ali. It takes place in a Cem Evi

The ceremony's supposed prototype is the Prophet Muhammad's nocturnal ascent into heaven, where he beheld a gathering of forty saints (Kırklar Meclisi), and the Divine Reality made manifest in their leader, Ali.

A family of ritual dances reminiscent of the Sama ceremony of the whirling dervishes characterized by turning and swirling, is an inseparable part of any Cem. Samāh is performed by men and women together, to the accompaniment of the bağlama. The dances symbolize (for example) the revolution of the planets around the Sun (by man and woman turning in circles), and the putting off of one’s self and uniting with Allah.

The Rite of Integration (görgü cemi) is a complex ritual occasion in which a variety of tasks are allotted to incumbents bound together by extrafamilial brotherhood (Müsahiplik), who undertake a dramatization of unity and integration under the direction of the spiritual leader (dede).

There are twelve services (Turkish: oniki hizmet) performed by attendees of the Cem:

Some servants of the cem ceremony originally come from Zoroastrianism. The Zoroastrian counterparts are Zaotar, Atrevakhsh, Aberet, Sraoshavarez and Fraberetar.

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