| Dorothy literally died in the Wizard Of Oz. Like Dorothy said in the film, “But it wasn’t a dream, it was a place… this was a real, truly live place.” 1
The struggles and wonders in the land of Oz represented her journey toward rebirth. Author L. Frank Baum was a Theosophist who believed in rebirth. His book contains hidden references to his mystic beliefs about death and the afterlife. |
Symbol of the Tornado Symbol of Dorothy’s Cottage Symbolism of Yellow Brick Road Symbol of Munchkin Garden |
Small-Folk Of The Afterlife Garden
The land of the Munckins represents he post-death Garden of Eden. The ancient garden of paradise was found after death. It was one step in the dead’s journey, and took place at the temple.
Egypt was an oasis surrounded by desert or water, like the land of Oz. The garden temple of Philae, located on an island in the Nile, was use as an example of Egypt’s version of Adam and Eve. The water had to be crossed for Adam to unite with his love, Eve. He “arrived on the bank of the river and beheld the walls of the castle, but was unable to reach the island, for the water all around it was alive with crocodiles. As he stood lamenting his fate one of the dangerous monsters offered to convey him to the island… The lover was thus able to reach the prison of his mistress, and the guards suffered him to remain on the island…” 2
Celtic legends are similar. They believed in an “island of the amorous queen” which was “encompassed by ‘a great white rampart,’” like Egypt’s temple. It had a sacred fiery cat, a serpent-monster, and “a single apple tree… the tree of life.” The earliest inhabitants of this garden were “tiny… dwarfs or dwarfish people… The wee folk of the legends… From no other land or literature than the Egyptian can we explain the wee folk in the fairy mound or Sid.” 3
This is where we get Munchkins. They are part of the ritual that represents the journey to rebirth:
“Various episodes of the passage through the nether earth and over the waters to the upper paradise that were represented in the drama of the mysterious and detailed in the mythos have been reduced to mere allusions in the Ritual…” 3
Represent Childlike State
The Munchkins were small and childlike because Adam and Eve were in a childlike state in the garden. They were innocent like a child. But Dorothy’s innocence was lost when Dorothy became a killer. She killed the Wicked Witch:
“You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are grateful to you for having killed the wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage.’
Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she had killed the wicked Witch of the East?….
‘She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor.’” 4 (21-23)
Dorothy’s defeat of the Wicked Witch is similar to the woman Eve’s defeat of the evil serpent. The name Dorothy is of Greek origin, meaning “gift from God.” Like the Egyptian version of Eve, Dorothy destroyed the adversary of mankind.The three Munchkin leaders who ritualistically bow to Dorothy are all male. She arrives dressed in red like the morning sun. Dorothy was the light-bringer to the Munchkins like the ancient goddess Isis:
The book of The Nutcracker uses similar symbolism in a tale of a girl who saves a small man from enemies. |
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“Now Nutcracker, closely surrounded by enemies, was in great distress. He wished to spring over the ledge of the cupboard; but his legs were too short…
At that instant two sharpshooters seized him by his wooden cloak. “Oh, my poor Nutcracker!” cried Marie, and her shoe with great force into the thickest mass of the mice, right upon their king. In an instant all were scattered, and fled…” 6
© Benjamin Blankenbehler 2012
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Sources:
^All references to and quotes from the film: The Wizard of Oz dir. Victor Fleming, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939
^Karl Baedeker, Egypt and the Sudân: handbook for travellers, (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1908), 358
^Massey, Ancient Egypt – The Light of the World…, 372
^All references to and images from the book: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum, William Morrow and Company, 1900
^A. Piankoff, Livre des Quererts, BIFAO 42:5 (1944)
^Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, Carl Reinecke, Nutcracker and Mouseking a legend, (Lockwood, Brooks, 1876), 22, emphasis added
