This circle dance is a sacred round with deep meaning.
Danced consciously, it summarizes the path of the disciple and fills his soul with poetry.
Memories of the 1930s: Paneurhythmia in Rila
Then [after sunrise] we would head back down to the camp, where we would do the breathing and gymnastic exercises, and finally we would dance the Paneurhythmia in a vast meadow near the third lake. Hundreds of brothers and sisters danced in a large circle, and in the center was the orchestra, and the Master whose presence inspired us.
There are still times, nowadays, that I feel transported to Rila as soon as I hear the first notes of the Paneurhythmia. I see the mountain tops reflected in the pure lakes, the blue sky with great eagles circling, and all of a sudden the same breeze comes to visit me.
From Master Peter Deunov, Elements of Autobiography 2, chap. XIII
Movements are a symbolic language
Very few know the art of awakening others to an intelligent life, full of beauty and springtime, by touching the most sublime being who lives deep within the human soul.
Body and facial movements are a clear, an eloquent, and powerful language for those who know how to read them. They are a letter that we constantly write to the visible and invisible worlds. They are secret signs by means of which we establish contact with all reasonable or unreasonable beings in nature. They are expressions of our intellect and our heart, and it is through them that we have the possibility of creating or destroying our future.
The difference between a white magician and a black magician is that the movements made by the black magician diminish the peace of people, extinguish their thoughts, confuse their ideas and take their minds away from the sources of life; whereas the movements of the white magician are filled with purity, harmony, serenity, gentleness, they are sincere and beautiful, they give us life, they enlighten us and deliver us from the chains of the lower nature. Eventually there will exist a school in which by means of movements and music, humans will learn how to renew themselves and be reborn physically and morally. Paneurhythmia is one of these methods.
Izvor Collection No. 223 – Chap VIII
An initiatic dance
Master Peter Deunov also created a kind of rhythmic dance: the Paneurhythmia, the music of which he composed and indicated the moves. It is danced in the open air, in the morning, throughout spring and summer. The brothers and sisters move in couples in a large circle. All the movements in Paneurhythmia, while very simple, are of great plastic beauty. They correspond to a very deep science of the psychic structure of beings and the laws of acoustics. It is worthwhile to know the meaning of these moves, to understand how they connect us with the harmonious forces and currents of nature. Even without knowing their meaning, one feels their beneficial action, one is appeased and strengthened.
Izvor Collection (special edition) – Tribute to Master Peter Deunov
To be in harmony with the most beneficial rhythms of the universe
“Everything in the universe is rhythm,” says Master Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov, “and the human being himself belongs to this great cosmic rhythm. Whether perceptibly or not, all his biological or psychic functions obey the laws of rhythm. With the way of living, with his thoughts, feelings and actions, he comes more or less into harmony with the universal rhythm. Music and dance are only attempts to regain or maintain this universal rhythm. That is why every culture attributes to music and dance a divine origin.
In creating Paneurhythmia, Master Peter Deunov gave us the methods that allow us to be in harmony with the most beneficial rhythms of the universe, because only an Initiate can discover the moves and sounds that correspond to these rhythms. If we go deeper into these moves and sounds, we will discover principles, rules that have their correspondences in one’ s psychic life. Therefore, you should consider Paneurhythmia as an educational method: to dance Paneurhythmia is to learn how to adapt your thoughts, feelings and actions to the most harmonious rhythms of nature.”