ST. FRANCIS & RUMI: WEST MEETS EAST

Friday Event: Concert 8 PM: An Evening of Poetry & Music featuring Doug von Koss

          The Canticle of the Sun and other poetry of St. Francis &

          The spiritual poetry of the Persian Mystic Rumi

An evening with Doug von Koss and Friends exploring the music and poetry of these two towering figures in spirituality. This celebration of song and poetry opens our weekend of exploration of the lives and spiritual practices of Francis of Assisi, and Rumi, Sufi poet of love. The lives of these two 13th century men overlapped—and there is even a myth of their meeting. Both shared a capacity for praise and celebration, and for humor and delight. Their importance, even today, transcends national and ethnic borders.

Francis, certainly the best known of Christian saints, founded the Franciscan Order, and is known for his embrace of poverty, his commitment to creation, and to nonviolence. His Canticle to Brother Sun is known throughout the world. In 1219 Francis went on a pilgrimage of non-violence to Egypt. Crossing the battle lines between the Sultan and Crusaders in Damietta, he was received by the Sultan Melek-el-Kamel.Mawlana Jalal-ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian, was born in Afghanistan and died in Turkey. His poetry has been widely translated into many of the world’s languages. The English interpretations of Rumi’s poetry by Coleman Barks have sold more than a half million copies worldwide, and he is one of the most widely read poets in the United States today. After Rumi’s death, his followers founded the Mevlevi Order, popularly known as the “Whirling Dervishes,” who perform their worship in the form of dance and music ceremony called the sema. 

Doug von Koss is the Artistic Director of THE NOAH PROJECT, a men’s ritual performance group in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through a magical blend of chant, movement, poetry and ritual, Doug weaves a spell that encompasses the ecstatic, the sacred and the wise fool. He draws from many of the world’s religious traditions to create a glorious mosaic that is a celebration of the human spirit. www.dougvonkoss.com

Saturday: 10 AM – 5 PM: A Day of Chanting, Turning & Learning

10:00-12:30 ST. FRANCIS--David Steadman, Presenter David Steadman, Ph.D.: art historian, with a special interest in St. Francis. Educated at Harvard, Berkeley, and Princeton, David was an art museum director for thirty years. After taking early retirement David attended the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and now serves as a deacon at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Sebastopol.  

12:30-1:30 LUNCH  Featuring Persian delicacies 

1:30-4:00 RUMI--Mariam Baker, Presenter Mariam Baker, teacher and member of the Mevlevi Order, Mariam was described by her Sufi mentor as a spiritual midwife and energy weaver. She is a deeply experienced adept and teacher of many aspects of the Sufi path, dance, song, healing and poetry. She is the author of Women as Divine, and The Feminine Face of Islam.  

4:00-5:00 Labyrinth Walk--Music provided by Devi and Allaudin Matheiu

Order tickets

Tickets available at the door for each event

Friday evening concert: $15 General Admission

                                        $20 Premium Seating

Saturday Event: $30 includes lunch

Event Special: $40 includes Friday evening and all Saturday events

Event Special: (premium seating): $45.00 includes Friday evening and all Saturday events

Friday, November 2, 2007 at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 3, 2007 10 AM-5 PM

Church of the Incarnation    Directions

Mariam Baker is a deeply experienced adept and teacher of many aspects of the Sufi path, dance, song, healing and poetry. She is a senior teacher inthe Mevlevi Order of the whirling dervishes of Turkey, and is a seniorteacher and center leader for the Mevlevi Order of America, facilitatingclasses internationally in the great whirling dance—the practice ofturn—and other meditative practices in the tradition of Mevlana JelaluddinRumi. 

Mariam is also an active member of the Sufi Ruhaniat International andleader of the Dances of Universal Peace since 1974. She is the formerdirector of Theater Of Healing and author of “Woman As Divine, Tales OfThe Goddess,” published in 1981, one of the first books illuminating the Sacred Feminine.

Devi Matheiu, well-known singer and teacher of Medieval and contemporary music and composer and pianist W. A. (Allaudin ) Mathieu often join Shira Kammen to form the trio Ephemeros, a contemporary music ensemble that presents early music alongside new compositions. Ephemeros has performed and recorded song settings of poetry by Hildegard, Rumi, Hafiz, and Mary Oliver. For recordings, visit www.coldmountainmusic.com.