For those who have watched The
Wizard of Oz multiple times, little surprise is left in how Dorothy’s journey
coordinates with the alchemist’s process. The very next scene introduces three
farmhands who will morph into representatives of alchemy’s three elements – a
lion as animalis, a man made out of tin as mineralis, and a strawman, or
scarecrow, as vegetalis. Along with many other descriptions the Rosarium text
describes the Philosopher’s Stone as being “of an Animal, of a Vegetable, and
of a Mineral nature”[1] Yet the seeker is far from making those three
things one. Dorothy feels misunderstood as the farmhands offer advice. And so
the spiritual seeker, early in life, cannot understand the elements that form
his world.
As the three farmhands link the
philosophical movie with the Rosarium’s first woodcut so the introduction of
Dorothy’s Auntie Em and Uncle Henry ties the movie to the second woodcut.
Although certainly not garbed in royal attire as the Rosarium figures,
nevertheless the married couple provides an outward manifestation of Dorothy’s
inner feminine and masculine forces. McLean notes the distance between the two
woodcut figures stating these archetypal polarities “must be brought into a new
relationship.” But how to join the sun and the moon, the two symbols the royal
gentleman and lady stand upon? What type of experiences is needed to bring
union?
More attention is placed on the
woodcut image itself when some of the woodcuts, like this second, have no
captions found in the text. So we are left to meditate on the alchemical image,
advice given those who viewed them in 1550. While few dispute McLean’s
interpretation of the figures representing the masculine and feminine
archetypal polarities of the alchemist’s soul, the mystery of the proffered
flowers and left hands clasped by the figures is wide open to interpretation.
In his commentary of the Rosarium
woodcuts McLean allows Jung’s interpretation of these symbols to do the
speaking. Jung notes how the figures give their outstretched left hands for the
other to grasp. Left, meaning sinister, is seen as “the dark or unconscious
side of their being.” And although their right hands extend long-branched
flowers, the hands are kept at a distance.
Other symbols are also interpreted
by McLean. He writes the woodcut’s star and the bird descending from it
indicates a “higher spiritual realm” set out to help the alchemist. Such help
may take the form of new perceptions, dreams or a sign that the seeker is on
the right path.
Dorothy’s sign comes at the end of
the farmyard scene when she spots a rainbow. Much has been written regarding
the ensuing song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Most critics agree that
the hope Judy Garland portrays while singing Dorothy’s ballad easily makes it
one of the most influential songs of the 20th century. Few can come
away not believing that an answer will be found to one’s deepest desire. And
just as the rainbow provides a bridge between the realms of spirit and matter,
so the branch proffered by the bird in the woodcut may indicate a similar bridge.
While the symbol of a rainbow is
quite commonplace in the telling of fairy tales, myths and other means of
telling the story, the creators of the celluloid Dorothy took liberties with
Baum’s original book and sprinkled their version with a strong dose of esoteric
symbolism also. We noted the well-known use of the road in the opening scene as
signifying the journey ahead of Dorothy. But esoteric symbols are also needed
to help explain the process of gaining one’s spiritual dreams.
Before Dorothy’s dreams can come
true she must face tests and take on strengthening experiences. Her first
danger comes from falling into a small pen filled with hogs. She emerges not
only unharmed but also spotless. Not a single speck of mud can be found on her
dress. Although this is regarded as a cinematic blooper and the fault of an
oversight by the film’s director, it is difficult to believe that any one of
the many talented directors connected with the film classic did not catch and
correct this mistake..
One of the greatest aids for the
alchemist was to pay close attention and question even the most mundane. And
such an obvious anomaly arouses the attention of the curious, alchemist or no.
It is as if the film’s creators were telling those in the audience to sit up
and note this encounter. But of what significance could hogs and an unspoiled
dress have to do with a covert message?
In the decades following The Wizard
of Oz many movies and books seem to be tipping their hats to the 1939 film as
they also begin their stories with encounters involving hogs or the hog family.
Note Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey’s opening scene of apes and
pig-looking tapirs. Or Harry Potter’s first viewing of another wizard’s powers
as a pig’s tail is fastened to a bully’s backside. Then there is the
prehistoric-sized warthog that is the first life-threatening creature faced by
the hero in Avatar. Yet the makers of Dorothy’s cinematic story may be
tipping their hats to pig symbolism found in ancient teachings and
philosophies.
Buddhism, as an important part of
perennial philosophy, joins other Eastern religions as major contributors of
esoteric symbolism. Before penning any of his Oz books, Baum studied Theosophy,
a 19th century religion dedicated to the study of Buddhism. One of
the major goals of this unorthodox Christian religion was to introduce the
teachings of the East, especially Tibetan Buddhism, into the West. Whether Baum
truly used his Oz books as avenues for covertly bringing Eastern teachings to
his loyal readers remains a mystery. Yet creators of the 1939 movie embellished
Baum’s storyline giving them innovative ways to add their own esoteric
symbolism.
There is no farmyard scene in the
Baum’s original book and no farm-hands. From the mind of one of the many
screenwriters and directors the idea emerged to have Dorothy fall off a fence
rail she is walking and risk serious injury from being in a small space with
large Duroc hogs. In Buddhism there are three sources of suffering, three
poisons,-anger, desire, and ignorance. A creature symbolizes each and ignorance
is represented by the pig.
The type of ignorance that concerns
Buddhism is not a lack of academic talents or a lack of common sense. Instead
the idea that a person does not know who they are and what is the basis of
their real nature - this is the Buddhist belief of an ignorance that causes
suffering in every human being. From a Buddhist storytelling viewpoint, Dorothy
escaping unharmed and her dress still clean may be interpreted that the young
girl is not seriously harmed by her lack of this knowledge.
But it is Dorothy’s animalis, her
farmhand-turned-lion, who does the rescuing. The farmhand, Zeke, shows no fear
as he immediately jumps into the hog pen and lifts Dorothy to safety. It is
only after the danger subsides and the two are both outside the pen that Zeke
breaks out in a cold sweat of fear. Only in his reviewing the past, in relying
on his memory, does the heroic farmhand suffer fear. Yet throughout the ages
another type of memory can bring liberation from fear and suffering. This
innate, liberating memory is discovered much later and in this early part of
the journey, it is clear that Zeke is unaware of the power inside him.
Initially on the spiritual journey, it is only a recollection of post-natal
memories that we hold. Buddhists, as well as others embracing the perennial
philosophy, view focus on such memories as adding to suffering as it reinforces
the sense of a separated self, indelibly encased within a body. Along with
Buddhist teachings, the Hindu teachings of 8th century Sanskrit writer,
Shankara, tells us “It is ignorance that causes us to identify ourselves with
the body, the ego, the senses, or anything that is not the Atman.” If
identification of oneself as body does not get challenged a short story would
result. The main character would get killed by symbolic hogs, pigs, warthogs,
or tapirs.
Typically we are unable to see
ourselves any further than our imagination will take us. Dorothy holds a strong
imagination and with the question ending her famous rainbow song “If happy
little bluebirds fly/ Beyond the rainbow/ Why, oh, why can’t I?” it becomes
clear sees herself as more than a body.
It is in the questioning, in
outside-the-box querying, that the perennial philosophy takes root. A
hermeneutic philosophy, it endorses looking at life with fresh eyes,
questioning the most obvious. Such open-minded questioning leads a person
further and further along the spiritual path. So when Dorothy sees her rainbow
and sings her song, she asks a simple yet profound question – if birds could
fly, why couldn’t she?
Dorothy has two of the major
ingredients needed to progress in the initial stages of the spiritual journey,
desire and an open mind. What she may not know at this point is that her desire
and questioning will bring her to places she hadn’t imagined or remembered. And
if she remains open and loyal to her heart’s desires she will be led to what
the perennial philosophers call the greatest goal – knowledge of Self.
The knowledge, or remembrance of
Self, was a lifelong focal point Carl Jung’s work in psychoanalysis. Instead of
focusing exclusively on the neurosis of the psyche, Jung placed much energy
into the development of the whole psyche. He theorized this wholeness demanded
an integration of the feminine and masculine forces in each individual.
In Dorothy’s story the young girl’s
domineering Auntie Em represents Dorothy’s primary psychological realm while
the quieter Uncle Henry mirrors the girl’s secondary realm. Jung labeled these
realms the conscious and unconscious. Jung’s idea of the unconscious differs
from the view of Freud who labeled the unconscious as including only the
post-natal memories of a person. Jung’s definition of the unconscious included
not only the post-natal memories of the person but also the pre-natal and
memories from the collective unconscious as well. Jung believed the unconscious
must be explored and integrated with the conscious to attain wholeness within
the psyche. The renowned scientist also believed the unconscious realm is the
most influential.
Bringing the influential unconscious
into alignment with conscious desires is a process taking up most of the
woodcut storyline. At the beginning of the woodcut storyline the separate,
clothed figures indicate no integration between the conscious and unconscious
realms. Yet this is but the beginning of a long journey. Help for the
integration of these two forces is indicated in this early stage, however, as a
flower-holding dove reaching down from a star graces the Rosarium’s second
woodcut..
The star has now become a focal
point as the five stars from the previous woodcut have morphed into one.
Although six-pointed, the woodcut star is slightly different than the more
familiar six-pointed Star of David. While the Star of David is formed from the
joining of a triangle and its inversion, the alchemy star has no dissecting
horizontal line. Yet the three points above are mirrored with the three points
below. As McLean indicated in his commentary on the first woodcut, the
star indicates a “higher spiritual realm.”[2] This condensing of the five stars
from the first woodcut into a solitary star may be indicative of a more
concentrated guiding message.
To have a star with a lower points
mirroring its upper points reflects an axiom that lies at the heart of alchemy.
“As above / So below” is a foundational idea found in the famed esoteric
writing, the Emerald Stone. This writing is the best known of the mythological
Thoth of ancient Egypt.
Again emphasis is put on remembering
the divinity “from above” within the humanity “below”. Thoth’s teachings became
the cornerstone for alchemy and many believe the art began with the Egyptian
leader. By the time of the Renaissance the interweaving of such teachings
resulted in theories that a feminine and masculine ‘soul’, or force, is to be
found in every human.
Jung’s theory re: the integration of
the masculine and feminine forces received credibility in the mind of the
exacting scientist when he uncovered similar teachings in the writings of
alchemists. Although most alchemy writings concealed the true meanings of their
teachings, some writings, not meant for general viewing gave plain messages, at
least plain in today’s understanding of the human psyche. Richard White, a 16th
century alchemist wrote, “a girl has a masculine and a man a feminine soul.” [3] Finding historical evidence, Jung
reinforced his theories re: the anima and the animus, unconscious aspects of
the male psyche and female psyche respectively. Union of the two aspects would
lead to ‘the transcendent function of the psyche,’ the means in which “a man
can achieve his highest goal: the full realization of the potential of his
individual Self”.
Alchemists believed the journey went
further than acquisition of their famed Philosopher’s Stone, or the union of
the masculine and feminine forces within. The Rosarium woodcuts depict that
union in the 17th woodcut. Yet there are still four more woodcuts in
the series. Those remaining woodcuts depict the realm of the mystic according
to McLean. This could also be considered the realm of the unconscious
domination as will be explained in later chapters.
So the question arises, if the
unconscious is the most influential force within our psyche and it is the realm
we aim for during the spiritual journey, and if Uncle Henry represents
Dorothy’s unconscious or animus, why is he taking such a backseat to his wife
when it comes to controlling their livelihood? A clue resides in the creator’s
choice for naming Dorothy’s uncle. Yet it is a name her uncle has yet to own.
And as we will see in the next chapter owning one’s name is an integral part of
the spiritual journey.
[1] The Rosary of the Philosophers:
Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourcebooks No. 6 McLean, Adam 1981 p10
[2] Ibid p122
[3] Footnote p83 Jung v14
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