The Wizard of Oz as Spiritual Allegory

September 4, 2008

The Kingdom of Oz Is Within You..

What's special about The Wizard? Obviously, the story appeals to a

wide spectrum of people of all ages and has continued to do so

for a good long while. It takes more than just a good fairy tale to

achieve this popularity.

There's more here than meets the eye. Almost everyone is familiar

with the outlines of the tale. That fact alone attests to the

universal-dare I say " mythical " -nature of the story.

The story begins when Dorothy, a little Kansas girl, is carried

away by a cyclone.

She soon arrives in another world altogether-the magical fairyland

of Oz. So far, this sounds like an allegory of death and

transfiguration.

The tale then follows the classic lines of the archetypal hero myth

as outlined some years ago by Joseph Campbell: She receives help

from

a goddess-like being (the Good Witch of the North), meets several

companions, and finally defeats the Wicked Witch of the West. At

last,

she returns to Kansas with a wisdom she did not possess before she

left. This new knowledge is represented in the movie in a rather

watered-down form as " There's no place like home. " Of course, both

the book and the movie stress that you already possess whatever

your heart desires-be it a brain, a heart, courage, or a trip back

home-it's " right in your own backyard. " This sounds an awfully lot

like the doctrine of the mystics of several religions that you are

already spiritually fulfilled; you just have to open your eyes and

realize it.

Tat tvam asi- " You are it. "

Never let those ruby slippers off your feet " really means " Never let

go of your inner spiritual essence. "

In Secrets of the Yellow Brick Road: A Map for the Modern Spiritual

Journey, one applies Jungian concepts to

the book and describes Dorothy's trip down the yellow brick road as

a spiritual journey toward individuation.

Her " outer world " is Kansas, and her " inner world " is Oz. Dorothy's

task is to resolve the duality between the

Wizard and the Witch, Kundalini's Shiva and shakti...

The Wizard of Oz , is applying detailed esoteric allegories, such

as relating the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion to the three friends of

Job.

The Hebrew words for the tree of life, otz chaim, otz could be

spelled as Oz. Lemuria is often refered to as the Land of OZ

It would be easy to say that Dorothy and her companions are

allegories of the four elements, or the four cardinal virtues.

The number four occurs in the story more than once;

for example, there are four countries or sections of Oz,

Munchkinland being one of the four.

We can also look at The Wizard of Oz with a Masonic lens. Wisdom,

Strength, and Beauty are said to be the " three grand pillars of

Masonry. "

On the yellow brick road each of us meets Beauty, Strength, and

Wisdom on their inner journey.

After all, it is no big stretch to say that the Scarecrow

represents Wisdom because of his

desire for a brain, the Tin Woodman Beauty because of his wish for

a heart, and the Lion Strength for even more obvious reasons.

We could further point out that the witches of the East and West-the

horizontal axis, the material plane-are evil, while the witches of

North and South-the vertical axis or spiritual dimension-are good.

In the book, Dorothy begins in the east and travels to the center,

thence west, then back to the center, then south to consult the good

witch there. It is noteworthy that she does not visit the north,

the place of darkness.

Well Tin man and dorothy bring your book , I 've got a brain to

catch...

Love Paula

September 4, 2008

Paula,

Have you read my book before i even finished it!!!!!

Julie--- On Thu, 9/4/08, alayafire <ari.reza wrote:

alayafire <ari.reza The Wizard of Oz as Spiritual Allegory Date: Thursday, September 4, 2008, 3:33 PM

The Kingdom of Oz Is Within You..What's special about The Wizard? Obviously, the story appeals to a wide spectrum of people of all ages and has continued to do sofor a good long while. It takes more than just a good fairy tale to achieve this popularity. There's more here than meets the eye. Almost everyone is familiar with the outlines of the tale. That fact alone attests to theuniversal-dare I say "mythical"-nature of the story.The story begins when Dorothy, a little Kansas girl, is carried away by a cyclone. She soon arrives in another world altogether-the magical fairyland of Oz. So far, this sounds like an allegory of death and transfiguration. The tale then follows the classic lines of the archetypal hero myth as outlined some years ago by Joseph Campbell: She receives help from a goddess-like being (the Good Witch of the North), meets several companions, and finally

defeats the Wicked Witch of the West. At last,she returns to Kansas with a wisdom she did not possess before she left. This new knowledge is represented in the movie in a rather watered-down form as "There's no place like home." Of course, both the book and the movie stress that you already possess whateveryour heart desires-be it a brain, a heart, courage, or a trip back home-it's "right in your own backyard." This sounds an awfully lot like the doctrine of the mystics of several religions that you are already spiritually fulfilled; you just have to open your eyes and realize it. Tat tvam asi-"You are it."Never let those ruby slippers off your feet" really means "Never let go of your inner spiritual essence."In Secrets of the Yellow Brick Road: A Map for the Modern Spiritual Journey, one applies Jungian concepts tothe book and describes Dorothy's trip down the yellow brick road as

a spiritual journey toward individuation.Her "outer world" is Kansas, and her "inner world" is Oz. Dorothy's task is to resolve the duality between the Wizard and the Witch, Kundalini's Shiva and shakti...The Wizard of Oz , is applying detailed esoteric allegories, such as relating the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion to the three friends of Job. The Hebrew words for the tree of life, otz chaim, otz could be spelled as Oz. Lemuria is often refered to as the Land of OZIt would be easy to say that Dorothy and her companions are allegories of the four elements, or the four cardinal virtues.The number four occurs in the story more than once;for example, there are four countries or sections of Oz, Munchkinland being one of the four. We can also look at The Wizard of Oz with a Masonic lens. Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty are said to be the "three grand pillars of Masonry."On the

yellow brick road each of us meets Beauty, Strength, and Wisdom on their inner journey.After all, it is no big stretch to say that the Scarecrow represents Wisdom because of hisdesire for a brain, the Tin Woodman Beauty because of his wish for a heart, and the Lion Strength for even more obvious reasons.We could further point out that the witches of the East and West-the horizontal axis, the material plane-are evil, while the witches of North and South-the vertical axis or spiritual dimension-are good. In the book, Dorothy begins in the east and travels to the center, thence west, then back to the center, then south to consult the good witch there. It is noteworthy that she does not visit the north, the place of darkness.Well Tin man and dorothy bring your book , I 've got a brain to catch...Love Paula

September 4, 2008

Cool Paula, most of the fairy tails do have spiritual meaning within

them. I wonder why they had the wicked witch from the north and the

good witch from the south. It looks like someone (who ever wrote the

story) got something backwards there. In actuality the north is the

positive charge/light and the south is the negative charge/dark. And

the east is the sunrise (= +) direction and the west is the sunset

(= -). Hehe! was the write someone from the dark side? Do you see or

know any reason why it would be switched?

Linda

, " alayafire "

<ari.reza wrote:

>

> The Kingdom of Oz Is Within You..

>

> What's special about The Wizard? Obviously, the story appeals to a

> wide spectrum of people of all ages and has continued to do so

> for a good long while. It takes more than just a good fairy tale

to

> achieve this popularity.

> There's more here than meets the eye. Almost everyone is familiar

> with the outlines of the tale. That fact alone attests to the

> universal-dare I say " mythical " -nature of the story.

>

> The story begins when Dorothy, a little Kansas girl, is carried

> away by a cyclone.

> She soon arrives in another world altogether-the magical fairyland

> of Oz. So far, this sounds like an allegory of death and

> transfiguration.

> The tale then follows the classic lines of the archetypal hero myth

> as outlined some years ago by Joseph Campbell: She receives help

> from

> a goddess-like being (the Good Witch of the North), meets several

> companions, and finally defeats the Wicked Witch of the West. At

> last,

> she returns to Kansas with a wisdom she did not possess before she

> left. This new knowledge is represented in the movie in a rather

> watered-down form as " There's no place like home. " Of course, both

> the book and the movie stress that you already possess whatever

> your heart desires-be it a brain, a heart, courage, or a trip back

> home-it's " right in your own backyard. " This sounds an awfully lot

> like the doctrine of the mystics of several religions that you are

> already spiritually fulfilled; you just have to open your eyes and

> realize it.

> Tat tvam asi- " You are it. "

>

> Never let those ruby slippers off your feet " really means " Never

let

> go of your inner spiritual essence. "

> In Secrets of the Yellow Brick Road: A Map for the Modern

Spiritual

> Journey, one applies Jungian concepts to

> the book and describes Dorothy's trip down the yellow brick road

as

> a spiritual journey toward individuation.

> Her " outer world " is Kansas, and her " inner world " is Oz.

Dorothy's

> task is to resolve the duality between the

> Wizard and the Witch, Kundalini's Shiva and shakti...

>

> The Wizard of Oz , is applying detailed esoteric allegories, such

> as relating the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion to the three friends

of

> Job.

> The Hebrew words for the tree of life, otz chaim, otz could be

> spelled as Oz. Lemuria is often refered to as the Land of OZ

>

> It would be easy to say that Dorothy and her companions are

> allegories of the four elements, or the four cardinal virtues.

> The number four occurs in the story more than once;

> for example, there are four countries or sections of Oz,

> Munchkinland being one of the four.

>

> We can also look at The Wizard of Oz with a Masonic lens. Wisdom,

> Strength, and Beauty are said to be the " three grand pillars of

> Masonry. "

> On the yellow brick road each of us meets Beauty, Strength, and

> Wisdom on their inner journey.

> After all, it is no big stretch to say that the Scarecrow

> represents Wisdom because of his

> desire for a brain, the Tin Woodman Beauty because of his wish for

> a heart, and the Lion Strength for even more obvious reasons.

> We could further point out that the witches of the East and West-

the

> horizontal axis, the material plane-are evil, while the witches of

> North and South-the vertical axis or spiritual dimension-are good.

> In the book, Dorothy begins in the east and travels to the center,

> thence west, then back to the center, then south to consult the

good

> witch there. It is noteworthy that she does not visit the north,

> the place of darkness.

>

> Well Tin man and dorothy bring your book , I 've got a brain to

> catch...

> Love Paula

>

September 4, 2008

Hey dorothy ,I wrote it because of you and tin man lol

love scarecrow x

, Julie

<jewelport wrote:

>

> Paula,

> Have you read my book before i even finished it!!!!!

>

> Julie

>

> --- On Thu, 9/4/08, alayafire <ari.reza wrote:

>

> alayafire <ari.reza

> The Wizard of Oz as

Spiritual Allegory

>

> Thursday, September 4, 2008, 3:33 PM