Lungta- Tibetan ConceptConcept"Bearer of Fortune"

The Wind Horse

At the center of every Tibetan prayer flag, a white horse gallops through the sky with the wish-fulfilling jewel on its back. The word means "wind horse." Travelers string these flags across mountain passes, between rooftops, along the approaches to monasteries and stupas. The cloths come in five colors, one for each element, and the wind passing through them carries the printed prayers outward. New flags go up on Tibetan New Year and before difficult journeys. As they fade and fray in the mountain weather, their blessings are already dispersed. The old ones are replaced, never taken down in anger or discarded carelessly.

Rising and Falling

Beyond the flag, lungta names a force every Tibetan carries. When it runs high, efforts succeed and health holds. When it drops, even good intentions meet obstacles. Generosity raises it. Broken commitments drain it.

When a person's lungta has fallen, they burn sang: juniper and other fragrant branches whose smoke rises in thick white columns from hilltops at dawn. The smoke feeds the wind horse. New prayer flags go up. In Tibetan astrology, lungta is one of the factors calculated before an important undertaking, and a practitioner may be told to wait for a more auspicious day before setting out on a journey.