Year of the Dragon

In Chinese tradition, each year is dedicated to a specific animal. The Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Rat, Boar, Rabbit, Dog, Rooster, Ox, Tiger, Snake, and Ram are the twelve animals that are part of this tradition. In 2012, the Dragon is welcomed back after the 2011 year of the Rabbit. Each of these animals are thought to bestow their characteristics to the people born in their year.

While the Year of the Rabbit was characterized by calm and tranquility, the Year of the Dragon will be marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity. The Rabbit imbues people with a sense of cautious optimism, but people respond to the spirit of the Dragon with energy, vitality and unbridled enthusiasm, often throwing all caution to the wind.

This Chinese New Year 2012 ushers in the Water Dragon. Water exerts a calming influence on the Dragon’s innate fire. Water Dragons are more open to other people’s opinions than other Dragons which gives them the ability to channel their personal charisma into real leadership qualities.

Famous celebrities born in under the Dragon include John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Al Pacino, Marlene Dietrich and Matt Dillon. The Dragon’s lucky color is yellow.

The Dragon and Wealth

Dragon years are lucky for anyone thinking of starting a business or initiating a new project of any sort because money is easier to come by for everyone, whether it’s earned, borrowed or received as a gift. Consequently we can expect the economic downturn to ease up a bit in the coming year. Fortunes can be made but they can also be lost: Keep in mind like all good things, the Year of the Dragon will come to an end and you will be held accountable for unreasonable extravagances.

The evenings dinner will comprise of traditional Chinese New Year (Lucky) foods and drinks.  We will serve hot tea and sake and rice wine - feel free to bring your own favorite beverage if you wish.  We have limited seating - please reserve your seat early.  Event begins at 7pm.  Devlan will giving mini IChing readings to our guests as time allows.  25% of the evenings proceeds will go the Save Zanskar Fund to help feed and clothing the children of the village. 



The evenings movie is "Journey from Zanskar"

The Dalai Lama has instructed two monks from Zanskar’s Stongde Monastery to do everything in their power to insure that the Buddhist roots of Zanskari culture are preserved through education. The monks are building a school to educate the children from surrounding villages in their own language, culture, history, and religion. Presently, the government school teaches none of those subjects, and is closed most of the year. The nearby private school also doesn’t teach those subjects and is additionally unaffordable for the area’s poor families. At Stongde, along with indigenous traditions, the children will be educated in the best Western curricula.

The monks are racing against the clock. While they complete the school they are also placing local children in other schools and monasteries in the city of Manali and beyond. This requires walking over a 17,500 foot pass. One such journey with 17 children aged 4-12 comprises the plot line of the film.

JOURNEY FROM ZANSKAR tells the heroic, remarkable tale of these monks and children: The monks carefully select the brightest, most capable children in meetings with the poorest of the poor families. The kids then must separate from fathers and mothers, grandparents and friends. At the last minute, one grandmother refuses to let her beloved granddaughter leave. The monks lead the children on foot and horseback on an arduous and dangerous five day trek. At less than 300 vertical feet from the pass the trek runs into crisis - the yaks and horses can’t navigate the deep snow. Rather than risk anyone dying, the monks insist on turning back. Forlorn and dejected, one man snowblind, the whole party returns wearily all the way back to the starting point in Padum. The monks learn how an adult man died trying to cross the pass the day after their own attempt.

Undaunted, the monks resort to a fallback plan. Renting buses and vans, the group travels on closed roads over even higher passes, first to Leh, then to Manali. Success! They make it. They bask in the lush greenery and warm, humid air. Tsultim, 12, stares in wonder at his first ever vision of monkeys. To further their education and accent their accomplishment, all the children are later brought to Dharamsala to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama.