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Life Arts    H4'ed 4/28/15

The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy as Metaphor for Bottom Up Power?

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In the theosophical interpretation of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy begins by living in Kansas, which in the movie is black and white, or, more appropriately, shades of grey.

This interpretation is not meant to negate the banking interpretation regarding the gold standard. The beauty of myth is that it can speak several things being presented through one story line.

My personal opinion is that the author of the "Wizard" was very much aware of this two-layered interpretation. I would also add that Baum stated that the story erupted out of the blue. Since Glinda the Good is seen as Intuitive Wisdom, then who wrote the Wizard? Glinda or Baum?

Are they two? Are the banking and spiritual interpretation at odds with one another, or is this the result of our divisive language and inability to understand the connective language of metaphor?

Kansas is a very flat state and speaks mythically to what mystics refer to as "non-dual reality." Being a Theosophist, Baum would have been right on top of this.

Kansas is Heaven, the Place of Peace, non-dual as reflected in the shades of gray (black and white).

When Dorothy (Dor-Thea, Gift of God) gets knocked unconscious by a tornado, she finds herself in Oz, which is bright and colorful. This state contrasts with Kansas. Yep, Dorothy went from black and white to a multi-colored rainbow.

It is important to realize that Dorothy's shoes in Oz were actually silver in the book and not ruby. Silver in a Theosophist's mind is non-duality. They use the term non-duality due to the same insight behind the "E Pluribus Unim" motto. What is many is one and what is one is many.

Variety is unity.

The first act of Dorothy was to land her Kansas house on top of the Witch of the East. So, Dorothy says she didn't mean it and then apologizes!

"Yea, right Dorothy, you didn't mean to!" sing the Munchkins.

The East is the direction of sunrise, or, metaphorically speaking, the place of birth. This signifies that she does not want to reincarnate again and now wants to get back to Kansas (Heaven, non-duality as in the black and white at the beginning and end). In fact, She spends her whole time in Oz wanting to get back to Kansas while in Kansas She wanted to get back to "somewhere over the rainbow!"

Sometimes we're just never satisfied. Geeze, Dorothy, one moment you're wanting to go over the rainbow then when you get there, you scream, "get me the hell out of here! These Munchkins are getting on my nerves!"

How many of us are in that boat? "Be careful what you ask for 'sweetie" says Glinda the Good. "You just might get it!"

Dorothy in Oz is told by Munchkins that the Wizard can help her get back home. They instruct her to follow the yellow brick road, the land of gold as per that interpretation. (Yes, friends, the Wizard of the Day is none other than the Koch Brothers!!!! And we call these mythologies a lie?)

Dorothy thus goes to the Emerald City to get the Wizard to send her home. On the way to meet the Wizard, she comes across the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowardly lion. The scarecrow represents Dorothy's intelligence. He thinks he is stupid due to lacking a brain. The tin-man reflects her empathic heart, which he thinks he does not have. Yet, he cries over something that died and winds up needing oil to help the places where he is rusting.

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Burl Hall is a retired counselor who is living in a Senior Citizen Housing apartment. Burl has one book to his credit, titled "Sophia's Web: A Passionate Call to Heal our Wounded Nature." For more information, search the book on Amazon. (more...)
 
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