Ounces of OnionsEver wonder what the Oz meant in the fairy tale? It is the symbol of ounces. Remember your Home EC! So now you may ask what does ounces mean? The wizard was Wiz of dime bags? What does this fairy tale have to do with me? And what is with the onions?
In 1896 a certain William Jennings Bryan ran against McKinley in the Democratic Primary saying these words,"Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their [i.e. the bankers'] demand for a gold standard by saying to them: 'You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.'". Are the ounces or weight of the dilemma becoming more clear. Have you guessed what the yellow brick road is? Bryan ran and lost then, in 1900, and finally in 1908 he called it quits. But not before in 1900 did Frank Baum write his Wizard of Oz story. Bryan's face was that of the Cowardly Lion, the politician that means well but does not have the courage to persevere. Well that is what he thinks at least.
Here is a quote from Alistair McConnachie,
Oz is short for ounce, the measure for gold and silver.
Dorothy, hailing from Kansas, represents the commoner.
The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker, rusted as solid as the factories shut down in the 1893 depression. The Scarecrow is the farmer who apparently doesn’t have the wit to understand his situation or his political interests. The Cowardly Lion is Bryan himself; who had a loud roar but little political power.
The Good Witches represent the magical potential of the people of the North and the South.
After vanquishing the Wicked Witch of the East (the Eastern bankers) Dorothy frees The Munchkins (the little people). With the witch's silver slippers (the silver standard), Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard) to the Emerald City (Washington), where they meet the Wizard (the President), who appears powerful, but is ultimately revealed as an illusion; the real Wizard being just a little man who pulls levers behind a curtain.
This can be interpreted in two ways: Either, the President himself is really just a little man who pulls levers to sustain an illusion of power, or, the real power of the President rests with the little men behind the curtains who pull the levers and create the illusion.
When the real Wizard is exposed, the now enlightened Scarecrow denounces him. Dorothy drowns the Wicked Witch of the West (the West Coast elite); the water being an allegory for the Midwest drought. The real Wizard flies away in a hot-air balloon, the Scarecrow is left to govern the Emerald City, the Tin Woodsman rules the West, and the Cowardly Lion returns to the forest where he becomes King of the Beasts after vanquishing a giant spider which was devouring the animals in the forest. Dorothy's silver slippers were changed to ruby in the 1939 film.So if the wizard is only a man behind the curtain in the capital building and your local hero is a coward and all your adults in the community are living in deficit thinking; who then is left to save the day? The child of course. The lost child in ever one of us. This little girl gives the ability to return the faith to the masses. If a little girl can do it, so can you! All your lost innocence can rise again and reclaim your life. The self guided brain, the heart, and the courage to act in your life will be returned to you by your lost innocence. She calls for you to stand up firm and be resolute to your own voice, aspirations, and choices. No longer shall you be only a Munchkin to the self oppression of the so called rulers of house, family, community, nation, or world. Dorothy teaches you to outcast or integrate the Zarthustra 'Thou Shalt" Dragon of Nietzche.
Now to the onions. The first layer of this fairy tale was to create more money to wrestle the control from the east coast bankers and give it back to the farmers and factory worker by putting the country on the silver standard. To get people out to vote, for the power is in the people. The little people. The second layer is the classical psychological punch of the ancient story of the hero.
Four Witches, yes in the original fairy tale there was four. One per the direction of the compass. Now find it hard some times to rationalize that the mother who comforts them when they are sick and takes them to the park on sunny days is the same women that yells at them for only trying to breathe. Fairy tales break down complex personalities into several different characters to compartmentalize them. The Witch of the East is the terrible side of the mother who has changed. The east represents the beginning, the place that each day starts from. This marks the period in the mother's life that she is ready for change. It also marks the little ascendance of the child to help heal the mother. The Good witch of the North, Gwendolyn, is the memories of the good heart in the mother that is dead now. The North represents death and staleness. The Witch of the North gives hope and confidence in the mother to the child to save her. But they are only shades of the past. The death of the East and North are ego deaths to outdated personalities. Like Arthur in England, the cream shall rise. All that was good and healthy in the two witches will remain, all that is not will be lost. But the interesting thing about this fairy tale is, that all the witches are dead. For Dorothy's mother is dead and she is being raised by her Aunt. So this is a particular tale of a young child resolving a love hate relationship with her departed mother. The fever of puberty has come upon her like a tornado. How to be a woman is spinning out of control in her mind. If she can reconcile the memory of her mother she can reconcile her future as a healthy woman. Aunty Em is the healthy adult role model that is ever so important in the formative years of adulthood. When she focuses on this image of Aunty Em she is then finally able to cast out the evil side of her mother as she throws water on the wicked witch of the west. Water is the symbol of the subconscious. She casts the witch back into the whole of the mind. No longer separate and misunderstood but healed. Only to rise again when the kingdom of the mind needs to be rescued from its apathy or self destruction. Dorothy has killed the potential in her life to be as unhealthy and lost as her mother.
Now her Father. Well, he is the never good enough guy stuck in the power of the witches. Husbands of what is called Borderline mother, as is described in the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, is the passive male who finds it rude to stand up against any one because it might offend them. When they do they lash out like the turmoil of the sea. In the fairy tales they are not mentioned because they are emotional vacant most of the time. But real loving when they are around. They are usually lost in some trade and away on business all the time. But in this story, the father is broken down into four characters as well. The Lion, the Tin man, the Scarecrow, and the Wizard. The lion is the well meaning father who wants to stand up to the mother, but lacks the courage. The Tin man, is the one who has lost the heart to care. The Scarecrow is the one who feels he is not intelligent enough. The Wizard is the one who is authoritative when the mother calls him to be with he children or community but is nothing without the control of their broom that will beat him if he does not listen to the mother. It is for the child to free the broom.
Doe this look like the face of the Cowardly Lion?
Another layer of this onion is: free ourselves, we free our communities. Then Nation. We heal the child in the father, we heal the mother. But it is for us children of the light to do so. The Cabbalaist of ancient Jewish scholars believe it is for us the sons and daughters of Eve to heal the father of the Old Testament, Jehovah. For he can heal his mother Sophia, for only then higher wisdom can become a truth in all of us. Could our presidents and leaders be only scared lost children. Can they save their parents?
From Bluebeard, Cinderella, Snow White, for the lost child in every woman stranded in the forest to the Grail Stories and the hero's quest of the fairy tale; there is a story for every one and the problems they have encountered trying to embark on their journey to adulthood. To reach Maslows Self Actualization. For as Dorothy found out, the power to go home is always within you. Lift that stone, there I am, said Christ. So if a little girl can save the world and Christ is in the stone, is their power in you as well. Of course silly!
These lectures in this series are gravitated towards this goal. To help you interpret the stories and peel them back to discover the many layers of the onion in them and yourself. Then play it forward to your children. For Once upon a time is some of the most beautiful words ever uttered. Never has there ever been any thing more magical, the life within you.
Next , lectures available!
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Lord of The Rings: An adventure for the Yuppie who has lost their way
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