Samsara is proud to present, as the first international jewellery brand in the world, a complete set of 12 Chinese Zodiac animals as an ingenious locker system for our magnificent bracelets. We have designed 12 beautiful golden animal lockers with care and respect for each individual Zodiac animal’s unique symbolic meaning.
The Chinese Zodiac
Based on the Lunar Calendar the Chinese Zodiac represents a cyclical concept of time as it follows a 12-year cycle. Each year is assigned to one of 12 Animals, so that the Animal Signs of the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig appear every twelve years.
The origin of the Chinese Zodiac
Various sources indicate that the Chinese Zodiac dates back a few thousand years.
There are many ancient legends as to how the 12 Animal Signs came to represent the Zodiac.
According to an old legend, Buddha invited all the Animals to join him for a banquet on New Year’s Day. However, only 12 Animals turned up. In gratitude to these Animals, Buddha named a year after each of them.
The order of their arrival determined the order of the Zodiac Animals, and is described in the popular
legend of ”The Great Animal Race”. One day the 12 Animals quarrelled about who would be the head of the Zodiac Cycle. In order to fairly resolve the conflict, the gods decided to hold a swimming race across a river. Since the Rat was the worst swimmer of them all, he hitched a ride on the back of the good-natured Ox. When the Ox, who was in the lead, reached the other side of the river, the clever Rat quickly leapt to the shore as the first one. Therefore the Rat became the first Animal of the Zodiac, followed by the Ox.
Due to the heavy current of the river the powerful Tiger was able to come in third.
The fourth Animal to cross the river was the Rabbit, who jumped from stone to stone. Half way through there were no more stones, but the lucky Rabbit managed to grab on to a floating log, that brought him ashore.
The resourceful Dragon was first tasked with creating rain for the creatures on earth and was delayed in the race. Then on his way to the shore he spotted the Rabbit clinging on to a log in the water. With a puff of breath he helped the Rabbit reach the shore. Due to the delays the Dragon arrived fifth place.
Right afterwards the sound of a galloping Horse was heard. The cool-headed Snake had been hiding on the hoof of the Horse, and at his sudden appearance the Horse was startled and fell back. So the Snake came ashore as the sixth Animal and the graceful Horse in seventh place.