Nepal. Several major rivers have their source in the Tibetan Plateau . The atmosphere is severely dry nine months of the year, and average annual snowfall is only 18 inches, due to the rain shadow effect whereby mountain ranges prevent moisture from the ocean from reaching the plateaus. Western passes receive small amounts of fresh snow each year but remain traversable all year round. Low temperatures are prevalent throughout these western regions, where bleak desolation is unrelieved by any vegetation beyond the size of low bushes, and where wind sweeps unchecked across vast expanses of arid plain. The Indian monsoon exerts some influence on eastern Tibet. Northern Tibet is subject to high temperatures in the summer and intense cold in the winter. Cultural Tibet consists of several regions. These include Amdo (A mdo) in the northeast, which is under the administration as part of the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan.
W h e n we are taking ourselves too seriously, the Trickster part of our personalities may pop up to bring back needed perspective. 77 T H E W R I T E R ' S JOURNEY ~ T H I R D EDITION Christopher Vogler D R A M A T I C F U N C T I O N : C O M I C RELIEF In drama, Tricksters serve all these psychological functions, plus the dramatic function of comic relief. Unrelieved tension, suspense, and conflict can be emotion ally exhausting, and in even the heaviest drama an audience's interest is revived by moments of laughter. An old rule of drama points out the need for balance: Make 'em cry a lot; let 'em laugh a little. Tricksters may be servants or Allies working for the hero or Shadow, or they may be independent agents with their own skewed agendas. T h e Tricksters of mythology provide many examples of the workings of this archetype
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