The centerpiece of the cem is the semah – a ritual dance performed by men and women, who whirl and spin together in circular patterns, while the pir plays and sings an Alevi poem or prayer. While in the past, musahips may have shared virtually everything, these days they are less likely to do so.
An alternative (and less accepted) explanation for the name "Alevi" is that it comes from "flame."

He wanted to give him something special, which would remind him of home. “It says, ‘Our Haj is here,’” Deniz says.

Estimates from different sources range considerably – from around 10 per cent to as much as 40 per cent of the total population – but recent figures suggest Alevis number in the region of 20 to 25 million. The pir prays over them, and when the sheep stop moving around and stand peacefully, they are then led outside and sacrificed. The top of the mountain is said to be the burial site of a military leader (perhaps Khwarizmshah Jalaluddin) from lands to the east, who managed to escape the onslaught of the Mongol hordes and find refuge in Dersim. Though many of the beliefs and practices of the two groups are very similar, the Bektashi are distinctly descended from the spiritual lineage of the great mystic, Haci Bektash.

As the singing begins, the cem evi fills with emotion.
Acts of kindness and generosity are truly spiritual acts, through which Alevis connect to the divine. During the 1400’s, much of eastern Turkey and northwestern Persia was ruled by a Sunni tribal federation known as the White Sheep Turkomans. Some say that if this shepherd, whose name was Haydar, struck a tree with his staff in the middle of winter, fresh green leaves would sprout on its bare branches; if he touched the frozen ground with his staff, fresh green grass would emerge from the snow. Often, each dancer holds one hand over his or her heart, while extending the other to the heavens.

Bektashis, however, are predominantly urban, and formally claim that membership is open to any Muslim. The Ottomans assumed that all Alevi Kurds were affiliated with the enemy armies of the Kizilbash, and unleashed brutal reprisals against them. Erdoğan’s base of support is among mainstream Sunni Muslims, the majority of whom consider Alevi beliefs to be so heterodox as to be heretical, and thus he is unlikely to take an inclusive stance. Belhasan climbed up into the mountains, to the place that now bears his name, brought down a sackful of snow, and carried it all the way to Erzincan. Since Armenian traditions had merged into Alevism centuries earlier, the Armenians remaining in Dersim were easily absorbed into Alevism. The rendering of the song is a true art, as the pir’s goal is to evoke a genuine and intense emotional response within the congregation. The last two categories constitute the largest Alevi groups. Alevi Kurds joined with the Kizilbash, partly because Alevism was much closer to heterodox Sufism than it was to orthodox Sunnism; also, times were tough, economically speaking, and the Kizilbash paid.

In this way, it validates the Alevis’ disregard for the Haj, while elevating their own ziyarets to Mecca-like status. According to Dilsah Deniz, the sacred contract that joins the men is, ideally, “completed with their spouses;” the perfect musahip relationship, thus, actually includes four people. When he sings a dirge at a funeral, he says, the song is not really intended to benefit the dead person, but is instead meant for the living.

And the same month, a mob attacked a cemevi in Istanbul and attempted to set it on fire.