The Occult Meaning of The Wizard of Oz

[...oneLove]

The Occult Meaning of The Wizard of Oz


Path to Illumination

If you’ve never read or watched The Wizard of Oz or need your memory refreshed, here’s a quick sum-up of the movie:

The film follows 12-year-old farmgirl Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) who lives on a Kansas farm with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, but dreams of a better place “somewhere over the rainbow.” After being struck unconscious during a tornado by a window which has come loose from its frame, Dorothy dreams that she, her dog Toto and the farmhouse are transported to the magical Land of Oz. There, the Good Witch of the North, Glinda (Billie Burke), advises Dorothy to follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald City and meet the Wizard of Oz, who can return her to Kansas. During her journey, she meets a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley) and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), who join her, hoping to receive what they lack themselves (a brain, a heart and courage, respectively). All of this is done while also trying to avoid the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) and her attempt to get her sister’s ruby slippers from Dorothy, who received them from Glinda.

The said above, the entire story of the Wizard of Oz is an allegorical tale of the soul’s path to illumination – the Yellow Brick Road. In Buddhism (an important part of Theosophical teachings) the same concept is referred to as the “Golden Path”.

The story starts with Dorothy Gale living in Kansas, which symbolizes the material world, the physical plane where each one of us starts our spiritual journey. Dorothy feels an urge to “go over the rainbow”, to reach the ethereal realm and follow the path to illumination. She has basically “passed the Nadir” by demonstrating the urge to seek a higher truth.

Dorothy is then brought to Oz by a giant cyclone spiraling upward, representing the cycles of karma, the cycle of errors and lessons learned. It also represents the theosophical belief in reincarnation, the round of physical births and deaths of a soul until it is fit to become divine. It is also interesting to note that the Yellow Brick Road of Oz begins as an outwardly expanding spiral. In occult symbolism, this spiral represents the evolving self, the soul ascending from matter into the spirit world.


The spiraly beginning of the spiritual path

Here’s an explanation of the spiral as an occult symbol:

“Spiral: The path of a point (generally plane) which moves round an axis while continually approaching it or receding from it; also often used for a helix, which is generated by compounding a circular motion with one in a straight line. The spiral form is an apt illustration of the course of evolution, which brings motion round towards the same point, yet without repetition.

The serpent, and the figures 8 and , denoting the ogdoad and infinity, stand for spiral cyclic motion. The course of fohat in space is spiral, and spirit descends into matter in spiral courses. Repeating the process by which a helix is derived form a circle produces a vortex. The complicated spirals of cosmic evolution bring the motion back to the point from which it started at the birth of a great cosmic age.”
-The Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary

Before undertaking her journey, Dorothy is given the “silver shoes”, which represent the “silver cord” of Mystery Schools (Dorothy was wearing ruby slippers in the movie due to a last minute change by the director, who thought that the color ruby looked better against the Yellow Brick Road). In occult schools, the silver cord is considered to be the link between our material and spiritual selves.

“In Theosophy, one’s physical body and one’s Astral body are connected through a “silver cord”, a mythical link inspired by a passage in the Bible that speaks of a return from a spiritual quest. ‘Or ever the silver cord be loosed, says the book of Ecclesiastes, ‘then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it’.

In Frank Baum’s own writing, the silver cord of Astral travel would inspire the silver shoes that bestow special powers upon the one who wears them”
-Evan I. Schwartz, Finding OZ: How L.Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story

During her journey along the Yellow Brick road, Dorothy encounters Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion who are respectively searching for a brain, a heart and courage. Those odd characters embody the qualities needed by the initiates in order to complete their quest for illumination. Baum was probably inspired by these words from Miss Blavatsky:

“There is no danger that dauntless courage cannot conquer, there is not trial that a spotless purity cannot pass through; there is no difficulty a strong intellect cannot surmount”
- H.P. Blavatsky

After surmounting many obstacles, the party finally reaches Emerald city in order to meet The Wizard.

Surrounded by artifices and special effects, the Wizard comes across as cruel, rude and unwise. The Wizard is in fact a stand-in for the personal God of the Christians and the Jews, the oppressive figure used by conventional religions to keep the masses in spiritual darkness: Jehova or Yahwe. It is later discovered that the Wizard is a humbug, a charlatan, who scares people into worshipping his Wizard. He surely could not help the characters complete their quest. If you read literature of Mystery schools, this point of view towards Christianity is constantly expressed.


Oh no you didn’t, Wizard

After all is said and done, the brains, the heart and the courage needed to complete Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman and Lion’s quests were found within each one of them. Mystery Schools have always taught their students that one must rely on oneself to obtain salvation. Throughout the story Dorothy’s dog Toto represents her “inner voice”; her intuition. Here’s a description of Toto taken from the Theosophical Society’s website:

“Toto represents the inner, intuitive, instinctual, most animal-like part of us. Throughout the movie, Dorothy has conversations with Toto, or her inner intuitive self. The lesson here is to listen to the Toto within. In this movie, Toto was never wrong. When he barks at the scarecrow, Dorothy tries to ignore him: “Don’t be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don’t talk.” But scarecrows do talk in Oz. Toto also barks at the little man behind the curtain. It is he who realizes the Wizard is a fraud. At the Gale Farm and again at the castle, the Witch tries to put Toto into a basket. What is shadow will try to block or contain the intuitive. In both cases, Toto jumps out of the basket and escapes. Our intuitive voice can be ignored, but not contained.

In the last scene, Toto chases after a cat, causing Dorothy to chase after him and hence miss her balloon ride. This is what leads to Dorothy’s ultimate transformation, to the discovery of her inner powers. The balloon ride is representative of traditional religion, with a skinny-legged wizard promising a trip to the Divine. Toto was right to force Dorothy out of the balloon, otherwise she might never have found her magic. This is a call for us to listen to our intuition, our gut feelings, those momentary bits of imagination that appear seemingly out of nowhere.”

As stated above, the fake Wizard invites Dorothy into his balloon to go back to Kansas, her final destination. She however follows Toto (her intuition) and gets out of the balloon, which represents the empty promises of organized religions. This leads to her ultimate revelation and, with the help of the Good Witch of the North (her divine guide), she finally understands: everything she ever wanted could be found “in her own backyard”.

In order to obtain illumination Dorothy had to vanquish the wicked witches of the East and the West – who were forming an evil horizontal axis: the material world. She was wise in listening to the advice of the good witches of the North and South – the vertical axis: the spiritual dimension.


The Good Witch of the North, representing Dorothy’s “divine spark”

At the end of the story, Dorothy wakes up in Kansas: she has successfully combined her physical and spiritual life. She is now comfortable being herself again and, despite her family not really believing the details of her quest (the ignorant profane), she can finally say “There is no place like home”.

NOTES: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is probably the most dissociative song ever written and is often played in movies during violent or traumatizing events (see the movie Face-Off). The strange effect produced, where the violence doesn’t seem real anymore, is exactly how dissociation works on mind-control victims. We may also speculate that the scene where Dorothy falls asleep in a poppy field is a reference to the use of heroin to relax and manipulate the victims of mind-control. Also consider the snow falling from the sky that awakens Dorothy from her slumber. Could this be a reference to cocaine?


Does this represent heroin?

In Conclusion:

Allegorical stories transmitting spiritual truths have existed since man’s beginnings. These simple yet extremely profound stories have been found in all civilizations: Celtic, Indian, Persian, Aztec, Greek, Egyptian and others. Consciously or not, Frank Baum created a classical allegory which, in the same vein as Homer’s Odyssey, entertains the masses and also contains mystical messages that can be understood by the “awakened”.

The Wizard of Oz’s great success confirms America’s (and the Western world’s) real spiritual dogma. Written during the 1890’s, when most Americans were conservative Christians, Baum’s story anticipated the population’s progressive abandonment of traditional religions and the embrace of a new form of spirituality. Today’s New Age movements are gaining many adepts and, even if most of them are total shams, they all claim to be inspired by Theosophy. Could such tales have contributed to the spectacular decline of Christianity in the past decades while other movements continue to gain momentum?



...oneLove

[Broken Yogi]

Are you aware of the political context of Baum's original novel, and the controversies about gold at the time he was writing? Baum himself denied that there was anything more than a "modern children's fair tale" to the book, but in the musical stage adapation for adults he wrote in many references to the contemporary political scene. It seems pretty clear that the metaphorical aspects of the story are meant to address the political, economic and cultural crises of turn of the century America. That there are universal aspects to the story which go beyond his intentions is just how literature works. I don't think he intended his story as a criticism of Christianity or religion, even if it can be applied to that. He just created a universal story that can be adapted to all kinds of human problems, including that of religion.

Of course, part of the economic-political messaging within the story is about how men have made gold into a God (the name "Oz" is thought to be derived from the standard "oz" abbreviation for an ounce of gold, which is how it is sold in the marketplace). At the time, WIlliam Jennings Bryan was the major populist political figure in the midwest, and his famous saying was that mankind was being "crucified on a cross of gold". So there's a relationship to the idea of "false religion" in the story, but it's not Christianity that is being targeted as the false religion, it's big money economics, wall street, etc., as opposed to the homey values of small town America and humble Christian faith.

[Elias]

Baum became a Theosophist around age 40, before he wrote The Wizard of Oz. So there may be something to what you say.

That said, he was in favor of exterminating the American Indians, which makes him a poor choice for a New Age prophet.

There is also an odor of naive Darwinism about him -- the veritiable stink of eugenics --

The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are. History would forget these latter despicable beings, and speak, in latter ages of the glory of these grand Kings of forest and plain that Cooper loved to heroize. We cannot honestly regret their extermination, but we at least do justice to the manly characteristics possessed, according to their lights and education, by the early Redskins of America.

~E

[...oneLove]

Baum became a Theosophist around age 40, before he wrote The Wizard of Oz. So there may be something to what you say.

That said, he was in favor of exterminating the American Indians, which makes him a poor choice for a New Age prophet.

There is also an odor of naive Darwinism about him -- the veritiable stink of eugenics --

The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are. History would forget these latter despicable beings, and speak, in latter ages of the glory of these grand Kings of forest and plain that Cooper loved to heroize. We cannot honestly regret their extermination, but we at least do justice to the manly characteristics possessed, according to their lights and education, by the early Redskins of America.

~E

I knew Baum had become a Theosophist, but had no idea until reading your post that he promoted the genocide of Native Americans. After the (first) Wounded Knee massacre in 1890, Native Americans were the targets of the editorials he wrote for his paper (the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer). more...

“The peculiar policy of the government in employing so weak and vacillating a person as General Miles to look after the uneasy Indians, has resulted in a terrible loss of blood to our soldiers, and a battle which, at best, is a disgrace to the war department.
There has been plenty of time for prompt and decisive measures, the employment of which would have prevented this disaster.
The PIONEER has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians.
Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one or more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.
In this lies safety for our settlers and the soldiers who are under incompetent commands.
Otherwise, we may expect future years to be as full of trouble with the redskins as those have been in the past.
An eastern contemporary, with a grain of wisdom in its wit, says that 'when the whites win a fight, it is a victory, and when the Indians win it, it is a massacre."

Upon hearing of the death of the Sioux Chief Sitting Bull, Baum wrote an editorial for the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer:

Sitting Bull, the most renown Sioux of modern history, is dead. He was a chief but without kingly lineage - he arose from a lowly position to the great medicine man of his time by virtue of his shrewdness and daring.
The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce bloody wars for their possession lingered last in the bosom of Sitting Bull.
With his fall the nobility of the redskin is extinguished.
And what few that are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them...

After reading the editorial, Hubbard then told the audience:

That was act one – the great Wizard silencing nature.

Ironically, Native American Genocide Advocate L. Frank Baum - married kin of a civil rights activist. Baum married Maud Gage, a daughter of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a famous women's suffrage and radical feminist activist who learned much from American Indian women.

...oneLove

[Broken Yogi]

Baum became a Theosophist around age 40, before he wrote The Wizard of Oz. So there may be something to what you say.

That said, he was in favor of exterminating the American Indians, which makes him a poor choice for a New Age prophet.

There is also an odor of naive Darwinism about him -- the veritiable stink of eugenics --

The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are. History would forget these latter despicable beings, and speak, in latter ages of the glory of these grand Kings of forest and plain that Cooper loved to heroize. We cannot honestly regret their extermination, but we at least do justice to the manly characteristics possessed, according to their lights and education, by the early Redskins of America.

~E

I didn't know Baum had become a Theosophist. But it would fit in with his racial fantasies. One thing that always turned my off about Blavatsky's writings was the obsession with race and Aryanism and fantasies of some kind of racial superiority among select groups. All of it very creepy and not terribly spiritual in my book.

Is there any sign of Baum's Theosophical views in the Wizard story?

[...oneLove]

Is there any sign of Baum's Theosophical views in the Wizard story?

Posted by "Turt" on one of Google's discussion Groups; "Retrospective: Wizard of Oz, The (1939)". The The Wizard of Oz incorporates many Theosophical ideas. For example, according to an analysis on the Theosophy Society's site:

"Toto represents the inner, intuitive, instinctual, most animal-like
part of us. Throughout the movie, Dorothy has conversations with Toto,
or her inner intuitive self. The lesson here is to listen to the Toto
within. In this movie, Toto was never wrong. When he barks at the
scarecrow, Dorothy tries to ignore him: "Don't be silly, Toto.
Scarecrows don't talk." But scarecrows do talk in Oz. Toto also barks
at the little man behind the curtain. It is he who realizes the Wizard
is a fraud. At the Gale Farm and again at the castle, the Witch tries
to put Toto into a basket. What is shadow will try to block or contain
the intuitive. In both cases, Toto jumps out of the basket and
escapes. Our intuitive voice can be ignored, but not contained.

In the last scene, Toto chases after a cat, causing Dorothy to chase
after him and hence miss her balloon ride. This is what leads to
Dorothy's ultimate transformation, to the discovery of her inner
powers. The balloon ride is representative of traditional religion,
with a skinny-legged wizard promising a trip to the Divine. Toto was
right to force Dorothy out of the balloon. Otherwise she might never
have found her magic. This is a call for us to listen to our
intuitions, our gut feelings, those momentary bits of imagination that
appear seemingly out of nowhere."

As a result of this incorporation of Theosophical ideals, The Wizard
of Oz contains many incidents that cast ordinary religion in a
negative light. A few of the highlights will be presented here.

The role of the Wizard of Oz as a stand-in for the Christian God is
almost too clear. As they try to bull their way in to see the Wizard,
the dialogue is incisive and humorous, reminiscent of the famous
parody _Kissing Hank's Ass_, but also of the anecdotes told in many
cultures about city slickers and country wisdom, for Dorothy is the
untainted heart of the heartland brought to the Big City. When the
gatekeeper announces that no one ever sees the Wizard, Dorothy
responds in her usual Wise-Innocent/down-n-direct country way with the
ultimate riposte to arguments about Divine Hiddenness: then how do you
know he really exists? Later they find that the Wizard is a fraud, an
obvious comment on the reality of God, and that it is their
experiences and growth that have made them meritable humans, not grace
from Beyond, just as atheists often argue. Yet in this critique
something more may be found. The Witch is evil, but unlike the Wizard,
her power is real. Unlike Good, evil has reality and must be fought by
actions, not words. This too atheists often argue, for while the
Divine does not exist, we confront a world where great evils, from
evironmental pollution to genetic manipulation to nuclear weapons,
make real the possible destruction of our planet.

The Quest of the Broomstick offers a negative comment on the sociality
of traditional religious belief. Dorothy and her partners seek out the
Broomstick so that they can enjoy the selfish benefits of the Wizard's
Power and go home, get brains, a heart or courage, just as many
religious believers exhibit same the marked self-centeredness,
pursuing religion so they can get rich, live forever, or heal some
percieved problem in their lives. But then the Four Questers take the
next step, give up their self-centered ways and learn that their
belief is a fraud and that the answer is in themselves. This ability
to define our own lives and beliefs through personal growth and
struggle is a common atheist belief in the West (also a core belief of
Theosophy).

Dorothy's first stop on the Yellow Brick Road is an apple orchard. As
she gambols into the orchard with the Scarecrow on her arm, the viewer
is treated to a brief glimpse of the Wicked Witch of the West behind a
tree, the Serpent watching the new Adam and the new Eve enter. The
Apple Orchard is an obvious stand-in for Eden, and here the story
offers us its improvement on the Christian Myth of the Fall. Instead
of biting the apple and dooming the human race, the trees themselves
prevent Dorothy from getting their fruit when she plucks one. Later
on, Evil itself prevents the Fall, for the Witch appears and drives
them from Eden with her fire (another reversal of the Eden myth, where
the Lord sets a fire to prevent anyone from entering) before Dorothy
can eat the Apple. Thus, in the movie's retelling of the Eden tale,
Dorothy, not the Serpent, comes out on top and there is no nihilistic
belief in original sin or condemnation of what is human in favor of a
false Divinity.

A number of key anti-religious motifs illuminate the movie. Take
authority, an important aspect of religions like Christianity and
Islam: it has no power over Dorothy. She ignores the Law to save Toto.
The Munchkin leaders recognize her power, Glinda terms her an equal at
first, and of course she arrives by slaying another authority figure,
the Wicked Witch of the East. She cows the King of the Forest. In Oz
she is fawned over and the Wizard cannot say "no" to her. The Witch
imprisons her but ultimately Dorothy destroys her. Dorothy's innocence
and humanity defeats them all. Unlike organized Christianity, which
regards human nature as basically evil, a wild dog which must be
whipped out to kennel, Dorothy regards others as basically good,
always trusting and loving others, and receives love and trust in
return. In concert with others, she overcomes evil and experiences
growth. This is a deeply humanistic philosophy.

Pantheism, a core belief of Theosophy, is deeply woven into The Wizard
of Oz. For example, Glinda appears as a pantheist Overspirit who has
power in all places in the land of Oz (Munchkinland, the poppy field,
the city of Oz). Dorothy, who has no parents, appears as the
autochthonic Child of the Oversoul, sent into the world to find
itself. Naturally atheists who reject pantheism will reject this
aspect of the movie. Nevertheless, a case can be made that The Wizard
of Oz, with its strongly anti-religious themes, its emphasis on faith
in self, personal growth, achievement and human experience and common
sense over faith in God, grace, predetermination, and divine wisdom,
should be in the collection of every atheist."

For what it's worth.

...oneLove

[Elias]

I didn't know Baum had become a Theosophist. But it would fit in with his racial fantasies. One thing that always turned my off about Blavatsky's writings was the obsession with race and Aryanism and fantasies of some kind of racial superiority among select groups. All of it very creepy and not terribly spiritual in my book.

Is there any sign of Baum's Theosophical views in the Wizard story?

Not that I can tell. But there is definitely a foreshadowing of Adidam in the Munchkinland section.

And one of the Lollipop Kids looks exactly like Saniel!

~E