It is well known that L, Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz books for his children. What is not known so well is that Baum, himself was interested in spirituality. In fact, he was a Theosophist.1 [1] It is probable that his spiritual beliefs colored his creation of The Wizard of Oz and its characters.
Theosophist View of Oz
In the San Francisco Religion and Spirituality Alternative Religions Examiner article called “The Theosophical foundations of L. Frank. Baum’s Wizard of Oz”, Wayne Purdin writes that “The spiritual symbolism was infused into the story from the author’s profound understanding of Theosophy…. an allegorical tale of the soul’s journey along a spiritual path.” And according to “The Editor’s Musings” from The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer on January 25, 1990, Theosophists believe in all the major religious teachers, Christ, Mohammed and Buddha and so Baum created the Tin Man as the compassionate Christ figure; the Scarecrow representing the wisdom of Buddha and the strength and bravery of Mohammed is represented through the Cowardly Lion.
Jesse Stewart in the book Secrets of the Yellowbrick Road, published in 1991 says the “Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow represent Dorothy’s threefold soul; feeling, will and thinking”. Jesse then says in theosophy this is called the threefold flame.
It appears that the story, even in its movie form transcends the beliefs of one religion and becomes a universal story for many other spiritual groups from Christians to Buddhists, New Age Spiritualism and even Atheists. It is ironic then that the movie itself only has one direct reference to religion: That is when Aunty Em says she is too Christian to tell Miss Gulch what she really feels about her.
Atheist's View of Oz
But in fact, it is that very quote that some atheists use to plead their case that the story is really an atheist one. According to an article in the Helium Website entitled "Reflections: Atheism in the Wizard of Oz" by Robert Klabunde, when Dorothy goes to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry to prevent Toto from being destroyed, they do nothing about it. The failure of these upright Christians to save Toto is the catalyst to Dorothy’s journey to find answers to her problems in non-Christian and irreligious ways; including trusting in witches.
New Age Views in Oz
In her book Spiritual Alchemy, Carolyn Myss sees the Wicked Witch as the embodiment of Dorothy’s fears. The Wizard, she says “… represents the false gurus who pretend to be spiritual masters but who haven’t even mastered themselves.” Then she contends that Dorothy throwing water on the Wicked Witch symbolizes her purification of the negative things in her life.
In the book The Wizard of Oz Code published in July 2010, author Mich Hancock says that the Wicked Witch is our ego; constantly trying to take control of the situation as we travel down the Yellow Brick Road which is our third chakra, as we near 2012 where the world will change as we know it, as it did for Dorothy. But, she says going to Oz allows us to see things from the higher perspective of our soul and thereby making it through the bad times to come.
Buddhist View of Oz
According to the online article "Nonduality and The Wizard of Oz", the story also includes many Buddhist tenants. It is stated in that article that the main reason that Buddhists study Buddhism is to escape samsara, or the place of great suffering. Dorothy’s whole purpose is to escape the suffering she feels living on the farm in Kansas, and that prompts her to sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. The Wicked Witch, he says, mainly tried to inflict fear in Dorothy and her companions. Fear is one of the main things that block self knowledge, which the Buddhists seek.
In the Buddhist view, the Wizard, representing the Guru helps the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion realize the qualities they have within them, which they had not realized on their own. He said it is only their ignorance of the way things truly are that kept them from realizing these things.
Then when Dorothy finally wakes up, which is akin to becoming enlightened, we see she has gone through an inner journey, she realizes that “there’s no place like home”; meaning she had the knowledge of awakening within her the whole time and she simply had to go on the journey along her spiritual path in order to realize it.
The website Wizardofmysteries also talks of the Wizard as the Guru, stating that before her travel to Oz, she meets her guru in the form of Professor Marvel and it is he who sent her back home to Auntie Em, which sets up her getting knocked out and making the journey in the first place.
Buddhism has many various Buddhas. Three of the most common are Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion, which represents the Tin Man, Manjushri, the Buddha of wisdom who represents the Scarecrow ; wisdom and compassion are the two most important parts of Buddhist spiritual practice and Vajrapani, the Buddha representing courage. He protects the practitioner from negative forces along the path to enlightenment.
Christian View of Oz
In his sermon "Christian Themes in the Wizard of Oz", dated 6/29/97, Christian teacher Richard Riss stated “I believe that one of the reasons for the enduring popularity (of the movie) is it’s rich in spiritual truths”.
“One truth is the powerlessness of evil in the presence of good”. Riss says this can be seen when Glinda and the Wicked Witch meet in Munchkinland and Glinda tells her “Oh, rubbish! You have no power here. Be gone before someone drops a house on you”. And the Wicked Witch leaves in fear.
Satan works by inspiring fear and that is how the Wicked Witch worked, by causing as much fear in all the main characters as she could. But the Wicked Witch for all her threatening caused no real harm. This is just like Satan can cause no real harm because “God has ultimate sovereign control”.
“The Wizard” Riss says “portrays some aspects of God’s character. He is awesome and unapproachable. Also it shows the characteristic of omniscience when he says “The Great Oz knows why you have come and has every intention of granting your requests”. And He grants the deepest desire of our hearts. When we see the Wizard as he truly is, we see him as kind, gentle and willing to grant the requests of Dorothy and her friends.
Jewish View of Oz
Rabbi Daniel Bouskilo in his article “Wonder within the Wizard of Oz” found on the website Torah.com said he had a spiritual revelation while watching the movie.
He said that the Jewish mysteries say that when we invoke prayer to God, two types of kavannnah or concentration are necessary; one is from the heart and the other is from the mind. These are represented by the Tin Man and the Scarecrow.
He goes on to say when we seek to synchronize our hearts and minds to “create a meaningful encounter with the Divine”, we need courage to face our fears and insecurities in order to come into God’s presence.
Dorothy’s ultimate desire is to go home is a theme in Jewish prayers and practices as the Jewish people often recognize their homelessness and knowing “there is no place like home” long to and pray to return to the Holy Land
So the story of the Wizard of Oz touches the hearts of so many because it is able to reach us on a spiritual level, no matter what spiritual tradition we follow.
[1] From an article called “Notable Theosophist Frank. L. Baum” by John Alego
Laurie McLaughlin - My life has been an evolution of dreams - As a teenager, growing up in Cleveland, Ohio I decided what I wanted to do more than anything ...
