Drums pounded hard as a circle of men, their shoulder-length hair whirling through the air, spun their heads in a trance. In the middle of the circle, other men pierced their heads with knives and drove skewers in their mouths as hundreds of others chanted, "Muhammad the savior will wash off the heart's stain and show the righteous path." They were members of the Sufi branch of Islam, celebrating their return to the Iraqi city of Mosul after the overthrow of Islamic State. They were performing t

Bliss Nights Sufi Dancing and Kirtan in Encinitas. | UpBeat Drum Circles