The Föhn, Samhain, and The Moon — The Willow Path Tarot

When I was around 24 years old, I went to work at a resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. This is the Alps, an absolutely beautiful country that I still dream about returning to for a visit someday. The picturesque town is surrounded by snowcapped mountains, crisscrossed with trails that would take years to explore. It’s the kind of place where you can’t help but become a hiker to take in all the natural splendor.

A view of Garmisch, Germany. Photo by Joshua Kettle on Unsplash

One fall day I found myself out for a stroll in the mountains with my girlfriend who knew a thing or two about all things German. She explained to me a type of wind that blows through the Alps called the Föhn. It is a warm wind that blows down off the high peaks and reportedly effects people in the strangest ways. There are many stories and legends about the wild happenings precipitated by the Föhn.

While I won’t get into the details about what transpired that day in the mountains out of a respect for privacy, let’s just say my experience of the Föhn was delightful. Looking back, that day feels surreal, out of place and time. It feels like that mountainside may have been in a far off magical land, like the wind was a portal to another realm. Fantastic memories of that day still pop into my mind whenever I feel a warm autumn wind and make me smile.

A trail near Garmisch, Germany. Photo by Saaaaaarah 📸 on Unsplash

The dream-like aspect to these memories is part of the mystique of the Föhn. When it blows around you, reality changes form. It distorts and shifts. It reveals its true nature. It is only our human senses that make reality into when it appears to be on a daily basis. When those senses are altered by the Föhn, we see that reality can be many things, that there is barely anything holding it together.

Many people report that the Föhn makes them feels ill, brings headaches and migraines, and causes anxiety and depression. There are even medications sold over the counter for Föhn sickness. Could this be because we can’t handle this revelation of the insubstantial nature of reality? We want things to be solid and follow predictable rules. When our illusions of substance and form dissolve, it is a normal reaction to feel sick.

I think the people who enjoy the Föhn, who revel in its creepy caresses, are the ones who already know that reality is tenuous at best. This world is just one manifestation of a plethora of possibilities. When this suspicion is confirmed, it feels like a homecoming. Finally, the world is making sense in the fact that it isn’t pretending to be practical, logical, and solid. You can reach out and touch the amorphous and fluid nature of different possibilities. There is elation at this revelation.

The Föhn is associated in my mind with Scorpio season and Samhain. They (the witches, I suppose) say now is the time of year when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. The Föhn also thins that divide, I think. You can reach over to the other side and contact the dead, your ancestors, the spirit world. You can be transported to another dimension of reality and travel outside of the physical realm.

This idea of crossing a divide between what can be seen and what else can be experienced beyond the five senses is very appealing to most witchy people, like myself. Therefore, Samhain holds a special place in the wheel of the year. It’s a time to look forward to and immerse yourself in when it arrives. It’s a time to celebrate being a witch and let your witch flag fly high.

More normie people find this delight in death and decay a bit morbid and strange. I guess that is another reason why people fear witches. If you can celebrate death, there is something off about you. My opinion is that celebrating all aspects of the cycle of life is healthy and important. We can’t ignore the fact that all good things pass, that time changes everything, that we all die in the end. Celebrating Samhain and Scorpio season with joy and taking back the power to experience the full spectrum of our human experience, is a witch’s prerogative.

When I was thinking about writing this blog post, I wanted to also include an association with the tarot. Immediately The Moon card jumped out at me. Of course! The Moon and the Föhn have many of the same attributes: mystery, illusion, and imagination. Being under a full moon or caught in the Föhn both can bring bewilderment, disorientation, and otherworldly perception. They are definitely kindred spirits, fascinating natural forces we can observe.

The Moon often brings fear along with it for many people. The things we see in the moonlight are often strange and don’t make sense. This can be disconcerting and keep people inside at night. The Föhn too can make people feel ill. People don’t want to experience a break with reality. Also, our bodies are sensitive, responding negatively to too much light in the middle of the night, or big changes in atmospheric pressure and the number of ions in the air. We perceive all these differences as a threat, or at least, as a bit of a fright. Things are out of the ordinary.

Photo by Autumn Mott Rodeheaver on Unsplash

I don’t think we have a Föhn wind in Vermont. There are many places around the world where this type of warm mountain breeze blows, but not here where I live. Still, there is a certain type of creepy wind that blows here in the autumn and I always get the Föhn feeling. It’s a thrill and a chill at the same time.

The wind kicks up the leaves, rustling eerily through the branches, causing creeks and groans from the trees. It inspires me to look around for fairies or portals into other realms. I want to twirl in it, moving with the wind. It makes me smile to know that reality is faltering just a little bit so I can feel connected to a magic that is ancient and eternal.

I hope you have the chance this Scorpio season to connect with the other side, to reach through the veil, to be transported to another dimension. Go outside on a windy day and see what blows your way. Stay up late and walk in the moonlight. Set intentions with the Scorpio New Moon on November 1st that you will open to the nebulous and shifting nature of reality. Do not be afraid of what surprises you may find.