Once again we find Dorothy and Toto
on the road. Carrying her suitcase, Dorothy crosses a small bridge that spans a
gulch as the next scene opens. But an unusual wagon sits in the small ravine
and intrigued she reads the words emblazoned on its side:
PROFESSOR
MARVEL
ACCLAIMED
BY
The
CROWNED HEADS OF EUROPE
The correlation between the wagon’s
advertisement and the crowned figures found in the Rosarium is difficult to
ignore. As with the previous image, this woodcut adds another element to the
royal couple. The crowned-couple continue to hold mirror images as they offer
their flowers with opposing hands. But now they have immersed partially into a
hexagonal vessel. In his interpretation of the Rosarium series, Adam McLean
asserts this image represents the beginning of the seeker’s 7-stage effort to
attain alchemy’s first goal – the acquisition of the White Stone.
A similar initiation can be seen in
Dorothy’s tale. Not only has Dorothy taken to the road once again but this time
she carries basket as well as her suitcase. Smaller than the basket that
temporarily held Toto prisoner, Dorothy’s container will, nevertheless, become
a near-constant accessory as her journey progresses. While the basket Miss
Gulch used may represent the Pali canon laws aimed at the good of the
community, or sangha, Dorothy’s smaller basket could signify a different set of
laws designed to help the individual.
At this point in the spiritual
seeker’s journey it is likely that she is neither schooled in the philosophy or
metaphysics of any spiritual discipline nor is she likely to be a rote-master
of any teachings, Buddhist or otherwise. Buddha is not mentioned in the movie
and it appears Dorothy’s basket, if it is to follow the Theravadic symbolism,
must be applied to another line of perennial philosophy’s teachings.
While Christianity is noted in the
previous scene, mention is made in this part of Dorothy’s journey of Egyptian
‘priests’. The bearer of this reference is a man Dorothy and Toto discover as
they descend into the gulch. Dressed in fancy yet worn clothing, the stranger
appears innocuous as he roasts his dinner over an open campfire. In order to
uphold the claims painted on his wagon the man professes to read minds.
Guessing wrongly as to Dorothy’s mission, the amateur psychic finally deduces
that she is running away. It is clear to the audience that no matter his artful
claims, Professor Marvel is hardly a master at his craft.
But Dorothy gives him her full trust
and follows after the charlatan as he invites her to enter his gypsy wagon.
Inside, the center of focus is a crystal ball. The counterfeiter continues his
theatrics, lighting a candle and placing a turban on his head. Maintaining the
authenticity of the crystal ball, he presents the ball as being “…used by the
Priests of Isis and Osiris in the days of the Pharaohs of Egypt.” [1]
While Buddhism is a great source of
wisdom for perennial philosophy in the East, in the West the religion of
ancient Egypt heads the list of contributors. The myth of its famed god and
goddess, Osiris and Isis, is seen as one of the first hero journeys in recorded
history. In the ancient myth, Osiris is killed by his younger brother Set, who
tricks his brother into entering a sarcophagus that fits his frame perfectly. Seventy-two
attendants rush in, “clamp the lid, wrap iron bands around it and throw it into
the Nile”[2] The journey down the river Nile ends in Syria
where a tree grows around the washed-ashore sarcophagus.
In the journey to find her deceased
husband, Isis comes to the place in Syria where the tree has grown and is now
used as a majestic pillar in the king’s palace. As Isis sits by a well within
the palace, she is invited to nurse the newborn prince. Isis not only nurses
the boy from her little finger but she also recites charms. As she lays him in
the fireplace each night as a way to burn off his mortality she takes on the
form of a swallow. One night the prince’s mother discovers this scene.
Screaming when she sees her son in the fire, she breaks the spell and the
goddess returns to her nursemaid form. Yet Isis explains her situation with
such lucidity that the king releases her of wrongdoing and gives her the pillar
that houses Osiris.
The importance of purifying fire in
this ancient myth provides a link to this point in Dorothy’s journey. Warming
his supper over an open fire, Professor Marvel is the only Kansas character
connected with this central ingredient found in myth, religion and fairy tales.
Yet fire is also central in the Rosarium text as it depicts the nature of the
famed Philosopher’s Stone. The father of Western alchemy, Hermes Trismegistus,
is given credit for the Rosarium quote, “Stone is fire…”[3] and fire continues to be used in
key episodes that follow in Dorothy’s tale.
Although fire has purifying
tendencies, those beginning the alchemical process are cautioned to start with
a “soft fire.”[4] Taking fire and using it only
for utilitarian purposes, as Professor Marvel is doing, may be interpreted as
symbolizing the alchemical soft fire. The Rosarium also credits Hermes’‘Fourth
Book of Treatises’ and counsels that alchemists “repel the vice of arrogancy
…[and] become virtuous and honest.”[5] Although he could represent
alchemy’s keeper of the fire, Professor Marvel fails in upholding this
important requirement of alchemy and its secrets.
The professor’s chicanery continues
as he directs Dorothy to close her eyes. Following his direction with absolute
trust, the girl fails to see the imposter rifle through her basket. Examining a
photo that is soon replaced in its basket-home, the pseudo-fortuneteller asks
Dorothy to open her eyes once again. As he simply relates objects he has just
reviewed, the professor’s ability to accurately describe her Kansas home is a
thing of wonder in Dorothy’s gullible perception.
Yet the same sense of wonder eludes
her deceiver. Like Uncle Henry, Professor Marvel does not live up to his name.
Life appears rather boring and predictable. But in enthusiastically asking
Dorothy if she knows any crowned heads of Europe a different, a more
childlike aspect of the charlatan emerges. One of the main characteristics of
an alchemist, or anyone deliberately undertaking the journey of perennial
philosophy, is an open mind and questioning spirit. The true alchemist searches
the most mundane and commonplace in their world and discovers the wonder at its
depth.
That Professor Marvel generally
holds no sense of wonder is evident in his treatment of his campfire. The ‘gift
of the gods’, fire is reduced to nothing more than a utilitarian purpose in the
eyes of the pseudo-conjurer. The same holds true for the lowly draft-horse
Professor Marvel addresses at scene’s end. But it is in the horse’s name, Sylvester,
that esoteric possibilities can be seen as just out of reach.
Western perennial philosophy
suffered a period of near-cessation during the centuries following the fall of
the Roman Empire in fifth century AD. Yet Roman law also dealt harshly with the
esoteric philosophy as it outlawed centuries-old Eleusinian Mystery
initiations. These ceremonies, important for thousands of followers of Isis and
the religious conviction of symbolic death and rebirth, became clandestine
during the Empire’s final centuries while a rise of orthodox Christianity took
hold during this same period. But even the teachings of Christian theologist
Augustine, heavily influenced by neoplatonic philosophy, suffered when the
Roman Empire fell to conquerors from northern Europe.
Yet while the Western Roman Empire
suffered a stunted period of cultural progress, the Eastern Empire continued to
flower in arts, science and culture. The eastern Empire, also known as the
Byzatine Empire, had its capital in Constantinople. In the ten centuries
following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine gained,
lost and regained northern Africa, Italy and western areas of the
Mediterranean. Although given scarce credit by many non-historians, this empire
would later become the all-important link between western Europe and its
all-but-lost connection to the earlier wisdom of Greece and Egypt.
Before the crusades had obliterated
Muslim communities, Arabic communities of the Byzantine empire sat next to
their Christian neighbors in peace. Especially in Spain, the Arabic influence
flourished and studies long dead in other parts of Europe found students from
other lands eager to learn this new knowledge.
It was in the boundary area of
Christian/Muslim influence that a poor young man from rural France began a
dedicated education that would eventually lead him to the halls of Emperor
Otto. Schooled early on in Barcelona in the shadow of Arabic learning
institutions, the gifted Gerbert of Aurillac (c.940-1003) caught the attention
of Emperor Otto I. Starting with the position of tutor to Otto II, Gerbert rose
in rank and went to Reims in northern France to finish his education. As later
instructor at the cathedral school Gerbert shared mathematics and other Arabic
studies. By the year 999AD Archbishop Gerbert of Aurillac was made Pope
Sylvester II, a post appointed him by Emperor Otto. Although pope for less than
three years, Sylvester II, considered ‘the most learned man in Europe’[6] helped the Christian world started a new
millennium.
Excelling in little known
studies, Gerbert taught the mathematics of harmonics in Reims and is credited
later with helping to ‘introduce Arabic numerals to the West’.[7]
With the attainment of remarkable knowledge in mathematics, Gerbert also
excelled in astronomy. He is credited with writing a manual for the
newly-introduced astrolabe, a contrivance allowing its’ user the rare ability
to tell time from the position of stars and planets. Astronomy so enthralled
Gerber that he spent a great deal of time and energy drawing models of the
universe on horsehides. He would later use these models as barter to acquire
rare manuscripts.
Gerbert’s use of horsehide as canvas for his models of the universe is
noteworthy as this drastic-utilitarian use of horses held the only means
Gerbert had to increase ownership of important manuscripts. Yet it is highly
unlikely that Professor Marvel would know the significance of horses in this
pope’s life as Sylvester II, although highly-intelligent ,was not very
influential in the papal line. However, his reputation during and immediately
after his meteoric rise from rural poverty to pope led to speculations “that
Arabian alchemists had taught him forbidden arts.” [8]
Sylvester’s high intelligence and Arabic influence may have been strong
contributions in the naming of the professor’s unassuming draft-horse. If the
draft horse is to live up to achievements of the pope who shares his moniker, a
much further process must take place.
In the Rosarium series, the process
remains at its beginnings as the royal couple continue to proffer
single-blossomed flowers in the fourth woodcut. But now the couple descends
into a water-filled hexagonal vessel. McLean interprets this as “the realm of
the unconscious” and points out that the vessel could be a repetition of the
first woodcut’s “Mercurial Fountain”[9]
The water of this process is given many attributes in the Rosarium text, most
notably, “It is the water which killeth and reviveth. It is the water which
burneth and maketh hot.”[10]
Whether mercury or water, immersion in liquid remains central in
twelve of the next fourteen woodcuts and may indicate alchemy’s Mercury of the
Soul to represent one of the most important ingredients of the journey.
There is no water to be found at
this point in Dorothy’s story, simply a dried up gully. But water found in
other stories often takes the form of a journey’s mode of transportation as in
traveling the river Nile or Odysseus’ sea journey. Dorothy’s journey, however,
is on a man-made road. Roads began replacing water travel in depicting the
mythic journey even before the time of Chaucer. In land-locked Kansas travel
along a road seems an obvious choice.
Yet Dorothy is anything but certain
she wants to continue her journey after receiving disturbing news from
Professor Marvel’s crystal ball reading. After impressing the gullible Dorothy
by underhanded means, the professor continues his wily ways and begins to weave
a story using his crystal as a viewing chamber. A ‘careworn’ woman is described
and Dorothy identifies her Auntie Em. The professor contrives that the woman is
falling onto her bed after clutching her heart. No more is learned of Auntie
Em’s health as the faker announces the crystal has darkened, leaving the rest
of the story to Dorothy’s imagination.
Dorothy’s concern for the well-being
of her beloved aunt overrides her desire to continue her journey to faraway
places. This reversal could be seen as a correlation between Dorothy’s story
and the partial submersion into the Rosarium vessel. While the following
woodcuts depict the couple’s full submersion, the partial submersion found in
woodcut four may represent hesitancy. And indeed, at this point in
an individual’s spiritual journey, the pull of familiar societal beliefs tugs
just as strongly as curiosity of new and undiscovered lands.
The familiar realm for Dorothy was
also familiar ground for much of the movie’s original viewing audience. The
cultural norm of Christianity with its stabilizing commandments and its
fundamental stance of belief in a savior providing the avenue of eternal salvation
would appeal to many movie-goers in American theaters in 1939. Looking to a
savior, whether an individual or a governing system, is typical of the earlier
stance in the journey of looking outside oneself for stability and happiness.
Perhaps at this wavering point the new journeyman believes the earlier betrayal
that seemed so unacceptable can now be swallowed and a return to a
predictable life would be the next best move.
Dorothy runs from the new world of
the professor and his unfamiliar ways choosing to return to the familiar realm
of Auntie Em. But before she crosses the bridge to retrace her road journey,
she bends down and speaks to Toto. Summarizing her predicament, Dorothy
reasons, “Oh what’ll I do? If we go home, they’ll send you to the Sheriff.
And if we don’t, Auntie Em may—well, she may die! I know what I’ll do—I’ll give
you to Hunk. He’ll watch out for you.”
This sound judgment by Dorothy is
not found in the final released version of the 1939 film, the only film version
available to its billions of viewers. These few seconds of edited dialogue
accumulated as more and more of the film's original 140-minute version was cut
away in the few weeks after the movie's first release. With more than forty
minutes of the movie taken out, retrievable through scripts found on the
Internet, one wonders why this entrancing movie suffered such drastic editing.
Although a few theories have surfaced to answer this mystery perhaps the
timing of the initial release provides the best answer.
Despite the tremendous pre-release
hype Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer provided across the country, fewer people attended
theaters during the last week of August, 1939 because more riveting
news came through home radios. The world had
been listening as to what Nazi Germany would do next in their
push toward war. That week radios broadcasted the alarming news that Germany
had invaded Poland. Lower attendance at the box office may have had nothing to
do with audiences enjoying the film or not. But the film’s producers made
decisions as if the quality of the film was the only factor.
What is lost in this scene as a
result of drastic editing can be deemed quite important. Dorothy finds
clarity as she makes the decision to return to her familiar surroundings.
Leaving Toto with the farmhand, Hunk, seems quite sensible. Hunk provided sound
advice earlier and may now be able to provide safe-keeping for Toto. Yet
Dorothy is still taking a chance. Whether Toto remains safe with Hunk or is
taken away by the Law, Dorothy is ready to relinquish ownership of her
cherished dog.
And so it could be for the spiritual
seeker during this first breaking away from the cultural norm of home. As
Dorothy decides to return to her familiar home, so the seeker may also find
this new process toward development too unsettling and choose to
return to a more predictable realm. Although the Rosarium states that their
process of development is “the universal way…easy and rare”, staying within the
cultural limits offers less of a challenge at this point of the journey.
Dorothy is choosing what the
alchemists describe “the second way” when she makes the decision to return to
the Gale homestead. Alchemists see this particualr way as “very hard and
laboursome.”[11]
There remains an artificiality in the way of the cultural norm and alchemists
see their art as “more natural.” Despite its universality, however, much care
is made to conceal the secret of alchemy’s way. Whether it is buried beneath
volumes of arcane symbolism or hidden within gibberish, such as spoken by
Professor Marvel as he spins off about Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and Marc
Anthony, gold nuggets of wisdom can still be unearthed with a little patience
and the eye or ear that takes nothing for granted.
This is a fortunate age where edited film scripts can still be retrieved. The
same retrievals can be found of once-lost books of many religions. Many view
the lost-books as new pathways of spiritual development, rare but easy.
However, the pull of the religion of birth may provide the seeker with a
stronger desire to belong than to discover. But a destiny, beyond
the particular yet artificial way, may decide the seeker’s future. And the
wisdom found within a simple tale may give us the direction needed to put this
new-found, yet ancient knowledge, to its best use.
[2] Joseph Campbell Transformations of
Myth Through Time p82
[3] The Rosary of the
Philosophers p111
[4] Ibid p15
[5] Ibid p24
[6] James Hannam God’s Philosophers p25
