The Howagoas – A Figure of Alpine Mythology and Folk Tradition

One particularly cunning figure that has survived through the ages in the Austrian and Bavarian Alps is the Howagoas. It is an established part of Perchten tradition and can nowadays also sometimes be seen at Krampus processions.

The Howagoas is a kind of boundary-crosser. This is why, in some regions, it also wears chamois horns. Chamois are natural boundary-crossers: they move along impossibly steep slopes high up in the mountains. In shamanic traditions, mountains are regarded as connecting points between the worlds. The chamois is sacred to the Mountain Mother.

The Howagoas is a figure that loosens dogmas and breaks up rigid structures. It brings fun, cunning, and mischief into the otherwise rather serious world of the Perchten. With it comes a sense of playfulness that enriches the tradition. For this reason, much like the Hans Wurscht of the Pinzgauer Tresterer Tradition, the Howagoas can also be understood as a carnival figure.

The Howagoas reminds us of wildness and simplicity. It has a trickster-like quality, even though it is not a trickster in the classical sense.

In a way, the Howagoas is the black sheep, the one that does not fit in with the rest, yet still has an important role and purpose to fulfill—and simply gets on with it.

In modern interpretations shaped by a black-and-white view of good and evil, and detached from an animistic understanding of the world, the Howagoas is often portrayed as a demon or demonic figure of terror. But upon closer examination, it quickly becomes apparent that it is much more a figure of mischief and playful disruption: a being that breaks open rigid structures, helps us see things from a different perspective, and broadens our view so that we can look beyond the limits of our usual way of thinking.

The goat (goas) itself is headstrong and wilful. This spirit expands our horizons in a playful way.

The Howagoas also reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously and to laugh at ourselves from time to time. It represents a zest for life and encourages us to accept things as they come, without immediately judging them or becoming frustrated when things do not turn out as we had imagined. Ultimately, it guides us back towards a primal sense of trust in life.

The Howagoas in Folk Tradition

In traditional celebrations, the Howagoas usually appears as a huge goat. Two people are inside the costume: one forms the rear of the animal, including its hind legs, while the other operates the front, controlling the forelegs and the head.

You never know when it might suddenly and unexpectedly swing its hindquarters around or try to nip at someone with its mouth.

The Howagoas is led on a leash. The person guiding it often appears as a kind of forest man or Wild Man.

One possible mythological interpretation connects this archetype to the Celtic All-Father, Dagda, the god of the cauldron and mace. In the course of what could be understood as religious campaigns of distortion, this figure was degraded into the Todamandl, also known as the Tattermann. The term Todamandl roughly refers to an old, frail man. In other words, an attempt was made to turn the All-Father into a feeble old man.

Nevertheless, this distortion can be unravelled relatively easily, and time and again, we find the original forces concealed behind the altered image.

It therefore makes sense that the Howagoas is led by a forest man. On a metaphorical level, it is the All-Father himself holding the leash.

And yes: the boundary-crosser, the black sheep, the white chamois, the Howagoas, and the trickster are all, in their own way, embodiments of the humour of the Great Spirit.

And yes, the Great Spirit has a wonderful, sometimes rather macabre sense of humour—as most of us have probably experienced for ourselves many times in our own lives.

Structures created by human beings are continually broken open and transformed by the Great Spirit. After all, change is the only constant!

The Howagoas and Shamanic Practice

When we work shamanically with the spirit of the Howagoas, we gain access to many different layers of meaning and experience.

Shamanic practice and the shamanic worldview are themselves highly dynamic. It is precisely this capacity for change that has allowed shamanic traditions to survive since the Palaeolithic era. Although there is a framework, everything within it remains flexible, creative, and adaptable.

It is a kind of structured chaos.

This dynamic capacity for change is equally important in our individual lives. The Howagoas reminds us to look beyond the limits of our usual perspective, to reconnect with our innate wildness and simplicity, and to enjoy life.

It reminds us to live in the present moment, to recognise that we do not need to control or judge everything, and to approach life with a certain lightness of being.

Perhaps this is where its deeper purpose lies: reminding us that we do not always have to take everything seriously, that change is an essential part of life, and that behind what appears to be chaos, there may sometimes be a wisdom that the rational mind alone cannot grasp.

Perhaps there is also something like a greater plan at work—and for sure we can learn to trust in it. Howagoas with you!