Tibetan New Year 2025: Celebrating the Serpent’s Wisdom and Renewal

Tibetan Losar 2025: Year of the Wood Snake

Celebrating Tibetan New Year with Spirituality, Culture, and Dance

Join us for a morning of cultural immersion as we celebrate Tibetan Losar, the Tibetan New Year, marking the Year of the Wood Snake. This special event at the Jacques Marchais Museum will offer a blend of traditional Tibetan practices and hands-on activities to welcome in the new year with hope, health, and prosperity.

The celebration will be led by Dr. Chock Tenzin Monlam, an expert in Tibetan traditions and spirituality.

Program:

9:00 - 10:00 AM:

FIVE PRANAYAMAS

For Physical and Mental Health

Let us learn the five pranayamas for a healthy and happy year 2025! Dr. Chok will discuss topics such as breathing mechanisms;

natural breathing patterns; what prana is; types of pranas and where pranas are located location and their functions; the direct relationship between body postures and pranas; what pranayama is; and then learn benefits and practice each of the five pranayamas.

10:00 - 10:15 AM: Tea & Tibetan Cookies

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM SANG SÖL ; HOISTING PRAYER FLAGS

Celebrating Losar: Tibetan New Year

Dr Chok will briefly explain what sang söl (incense offering ceremony) and meaning of the prayer flags.

Writing Participant's; Names on Prayer Flags

Third day of the Tibetan Losar is celebrated with incense offering and hosting prayer flags. A beautiful tradition of Tibetan Losar is writing the names of friends and loved ones on the prayer flags. These prayer flags carry prayers for health, peace, and prosperity as they flutter in the wind. Each participant will have the opportunity to write their name on a prayer flag, which will later be hoisted in the museum’s garden.

Hoisting the Prayer Flags

Once all names are written, we will gather to hoist the prayer flags outside, allowing them to carry our noble intentions into the world. This symbolizes the spread of peace, happiness, good fortune and blessings for the year ahead.

Sang Söl: Incense Offering Ceremony

Dr. Chok will do the sang söl prayer rites. Experience the Tibetan incense offering ceremony, a sacred ritual meant to purify the space and offer prayers for a prosperous new year.

As we step from the Year of the Wood Dragon into the Year of the Wood Snake, we invite you to join us in celebrating Tibetan Losar, a time of renewal, reflection, and spiritual prosperity. This sacred transition marks not only the turning of the lunar calendar but also an opportunity to align ourselves with the wisdom, resilience, and transformation symbolized by the Wood Snake.

Through ancient rituals, prayer flag offerings, and traditional Tibetan practices, we gather to cleanse the past, set intentions for the future, and welcome the new year with open hearts. Join us for a morning of culture, mindfulness, and community as we embrace the blessings of Losar together.

This event is free and open to the public, made possible by the Department of Cultural Affairs as part of the larger program, Global Resonance: Voices for Unity in a Contemporary Society. Due to space constraints, tickets are required for RSVP.

A $12 donation is suggested to support the purchase of prayer flags. These flags, inscribed with blessings and the names of loved ones, will be available for participants to either install at the museum or take home for personal display.