| Frank Baum put hidden symbols in his book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. As a Theosophist, Baum believed in a literal afterlife. Dorothy’s journey in the land of Oz symbolized man’s journey through the afterlife to rebirth.
Theosophists wrote about a “golden path” that led through the blue sky to heaven. It was a path of virtue.
This path of virtue was inspired by ancient sources. The Book of the Dead described literal fields of yellow wheat and a golden boat that the deceased rides across celestial oceans. 2 The person who takes this path must emulate the gods. |
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“O you who open a path and open up roads for the perfected
souls in the House of Osiris, open a path for him, open up
roads for the soul of Ani in company with you.” 3“The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining
ever brighter till the full of day. But the way of the wicked is
like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them
stumble.” (Proverbs 4:18-19)
Resurrection is compared to the sun’s victory over darkness as it rises in the morning. Dorothy traveled from the east to the west, like the sun, in preparation of her resurrection. “The heavenly journey of the individual is an analogy to the voyage of the sun on the divine path.” 4
Birds Fly Over The Rainbow
Dorothy’s journey through the blue heavens also is compared to the waters of chaos. In the book, Scarecrow falls in a river and is saved by a stork.
“So the big bird flew into the air and over the water till she
came to where the Scarecrow was perched upon his pole.
Then the Stork with her great claws grabbed the Scarecrow
by the arm and carried him up into the air and back to the
bank, where Dorothy and the Lion and Tin Woodman and
Toto were sitting” (91-92)
In Egyptian mythology, Thoth saves mankind from the waters of chaos, and is symbolized by a blue bird, Ibis. He represents the order of the universe and arts. Dorothy’s victory through the land of Oz takes her to a less chaotic state. In the film, she sings:
“Somewhere over the rainbow,
blue birds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh why can’t
I? ” 5
How Bout Them Apples
In the film, trees along the way come to life and try to stop Dorothy’s progression on the golden path by throwing apples at her. This recalls the mythological apples of Hesperides that Hercules had to gather. A great dragon guarded the apples. Atlas tried to stop Hercules in his journey by offering to help if he would hold up the earth for a while. Theosophists taught this story as an example of how vice could be achieved, and how we could continue life’s journey.
The founder of Theosophy, Blatavsky, said: “The golden apples carried away by
Heracles are not, as some think in Libya; they are in the Hyperborean
Atlantis.” 6
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© Benjamin Blankenbehler 2012 Get “Hidden Symbols In The Wizard Of Oz”! |
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Sources:
^ “The Golden Path,” Theosophical Path Magazine, ed. Katherine Tingley, July 1929,
vol. 36 no.7, p. 365
^ see Maspero, Egyptian archeology, 321
^ Faulkner, The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going …, 30
^ Herman Kees, Totenglauben and Jenseitsverstellungen der alten Agypter…,
(Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1956), 291
^ “The Wizard of Oz” by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, dir. by Victor Fleming, 1939
^ Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine II, 770
