Online Essay on the wizard of oz allegories -- mythic symbolism and mnterpretation
Extract
Dorothy, Oz, and the yellow brick road are as much a part of our culture as sports, apple pie and home on the range. Taken as a simple children's story, is entertaining and original -- but it has a remarkable hold on adults as well. Within this tale, L. Frank Baum wove deep mythic and psychological insights that speak to a deep part of us that recognizes something familiar in Dorothy's adventure. Frank Baum used the mythic journey as the pattern for his story. Joseph Campbell described this model in The Hero with a Thousand Faces and later in the public television series, The Power of Myth. Baum had done substantial reading in folklore and knew the key elements and interpretation of the mythic path.
.
.
.
What is the initiatory journey and what are the stages?
The classic adventure of mythology starts in regular everyday life. The action begins when a problem presents itself. Customarily the problem is both personal and collective. Dorothy has a problem -- she is an orphan and does not have a sense of place on the farm. The allegory of the farm and by extension, the community or nation also has a problem -- it is in depression. We have depression of spirit and economic depression. The story has a small introduction and then the Call comes. The Call is when some event arrives to pull us out of ordinary life and into the lessons.
.
.
.
Does the seeker always take the initiatory journey alone?
.
.
.
The Return is one of the stages of the hero's adventure. What is important about Dorothy's return?
As soon as Dorothy is back in Kansas, she starts talking about her amazing experiences in Oz. 'You were there, and you, and you,' she says, pointing to the ranch hands played by the same actors. This moment lets us know that the archetypal allies are here with us all the time -- willing to help. The adventures don't really happen in another dimension, but right here at home. Right away Dorothy faces a test. Aunt Em, the voice of conforming reality says, 'Oh, you must have been dreaming, we dream the silliest things.' She means, hush up now, don't talk about this. Dorothy has to overcome this dismissal and says, 'Oh no, it was real.' She has to assert herself to hold onto the wonder. Everyone is yearning for the place over the rainbow. They need the wisdom and vitality won in the mythic realm. Returning adventurers must share the prize of vision, because it does not belong to them alone. They are under a moral mandate to give it away, because it belongs to the collective. The mythic journey changes everything. The process of initiation transforms seekers. They return matured, deepened, and illumined -- which brings the possibility of enlightenment to others.
