Pink Floyd: 'The Dark Side Of The Moon' synchronized with 'The Wizard of Oz'

CATEGORY: MUSIC, MOVIES; WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

The Dark Side Of The Moon album cover. [Image from the Wikipedia 'The Dark Side of the Moon' page; "Dark Side of the Moon",[a] licensed under fair use via Wikipedia.]



Dark Side of the Rainbow – also known as Dark Side of Oz or The Wizard of Floyd – refers to the pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd album The Dark Side Of The Moon with the visual portion of the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. This produces moments where the film and the album appear to correspond with each other. The name, "Dark Side of the Rainbow", comes from a combination of the album title, the album cover (shown at left), and the film's song "Over the Rainbow."[b] In the YouTube videos at the links listed below, individual songs from The Dark Side Of The Moon are paired (i.e., synchronized) to certain scenes from The Wizard of Oz.



Regarding the appearance of possible anti-Semitism on this blog, please see the 'Disclaimers' section near the bottom of this page.


The Wizard of Oz - Tornado scene / The Dark Side Of The Moon - On The Run

The above left screencap shows workers on Dorothy's farm escorting Dorothy's Auntie Em and Uncle Henry into an underground shelter, as the tornado approaches the farm. At above right, Dorothy, lying unconscious in her house after her head has been struck by a blowing window sash, dreams that the wind of the storm is causing objects, such as the uprooted tree shown, to fly past her bedroom window.



The Wizard of Oz - Dorothy arrives in Munchkinland / The Dark Side Of The Moon - Money

The above left screencap shows Dorothy, shortly after she has first walked out of the door of her house, after the house has fallen into Munchkinland. The lyrics of Money (e.g., "Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash") point to the concept of greed, indicating that the Munchkins themselves represent some group of greedy persons. Some of the Munchkins are shown in the above right screencap.



The Wizard of Oz - Dorothy and the Witches in Munchkinland / The Dark Side Of The Moon - Us And Them

The above left screencap shows the Wicked Witch of the West confronting Dorothy in Munchkinland, while she is accompanied by the Good Witch of the North. As is explained in the analysis of The Wizard of Oz on this blog, the ground level of Munchkinland lies in circles 4 and 7 of Dante's Inferno (Hell). The above right screencap shows Dorothy's position at about a quarter of a minute into her journey down the yellow brick road.



The Wizard of Oz - Dorothy meets the Scarecrow / The Dark Side Of The Moon - Brain Damage and Eclipse

In this video, when things start out, the Scarecrow is near the edge of the field he's supposed to be watching over (above left), instead of somewhere out deeper in the field, suggesting that he has intentionally been placed here (near a crossroads) so that Dorothy will 'happen' to run into him. This in turn suggests that there's some kind of deception (of Dorothy) going on, as if she's being 'set up' in some way. The verse heard twice at the beginning of Brain Damage's vocals is, "The lunatic is on the grass." This verse suggests that Dorothy is a lunatic, with "on the grass" indicating that at some point while near the field, she becomes high due to the effect of breathing in airborne pollen from the tall grass growing there. A close-up of Dorothy is shown at above right.



The Wizard of Oz - Arrival at Emerald City / The Dark Side Of The Moon - Time and The Great Gig In The Sky

The screencap at left shows both Dorothy and the Lion lying down in the poppy field. As described in the analysis of The Wizard of Oz, the fact that Dorothy and the Lion are here lying down, indicates that these two have committed blasphemy.



The Wizard of Oz - Attack of the flying monkeys / The Dark Side Of The Moon - Us And Them

Shown at above left, the monkeys chase Dorothy. The part of the Us and Them lyrics that say, "Black (black, black, black)/And blue (blue, blue)/And who knows which is which and who is who", are heard not long before the part of the video in which the Wicked Witch of the West, wearing black, comes face-to-face with Dorothy, who is wearing blue (above right). The part of these lyrics that say, "And who knows which is which, and who is who", could be imagined as saying, "And who knows which is witch, and who is who", suggesting that Dorothy herself could be the metaphorical witch here.


Commentary on the synchronization of The Dark Side Of The Moon with The Wizard of Oz
The most popular idea regarding the synchronization (or 'sync') of The Dark Side Of The Moon with The Wizard of Oz, is that the album is to be played through in its entirety, from its beginning, during continuous play of the movie, from at (or close to) its beginning, and that all of the points of synchronization between the album's music, and the movie, are thus obtained. Instead, however, as indicated by the above listing, individual songs from the album are meant to be paired with certain scenes from the movie, selecting the songs from the album in an order other than that in which they appear on the album, as necessary. (Note that during continuous play of the album with the movie, there occur certain similarities with the above listing, for example, Money plays during the scene in Munchkinland).


Many people who dispute the validity of the Dark Side of the Rainbow sync point to The Dark Side Of The Moon engineer Alan Parsons' statements on the issue. In an interview with John Harris of Rolling Stone, Parsons answered a question asked by Harris, about the idea of pairing the album with the film:

Harris: What's your opinion of the long-standing myth about The Dark Side Of The Moon being a secret soundtrack to The Wizard Of Oz?

Parsons: It was an American radio guy who pointed it out to me. It's such a non-starter, a complete load of eyewash. I tried it for the first time about two years ago. One of my fiancee's kids had a copy of the video, and I thought I'd see what it was all about. I was very disappointed. The only thing I noticed was that the line "balanced on the biggest wave" came up when Dorothy was kind of tightrope walking along a fence. One of the things any audio professional will tell you is that the scope for the drift between the video and the record is enormous; it could be anything up to twenty seconds by the time the record's finished. And anyway, if you play any record with the sound turned down on the TV, you'll find things that work.[c]

In his statements, Parsons is referring to concurrent, continuous play of the album and the movie, straight through, both from (at or near) their respective beginnings - he is denying this particular form of the sync.[d] But, again, what we are supposed to do is take scenes from the movie, and match them up with songs from the album 'out of order' as necessary. The drift mentioned by Parsons doesn't come into play significantly, when only short sequences from the film are taken, one at a time, and matched up with individual songs from the album.


a. Cover art for the album The Dark Side Of The Moon by the artist Pink Floyd: by Hipgnosis and George Hardie. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, Harvest / Capitol, or the graphic artist(s). Designed by Storm Thorgerson, drawn by George Hardie.
b. Wikipedia, 'Dark Side of the Rainbow'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dark_Side_of_the_Rainbow.
c. Harris, John (March 12, 2003). ""Dark Side" at 30: Alan Parsons." Rolling Stone. Web. URL = http://web.archive.org/web/20070713182118/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937469/dark_side_at_30_alan_parsons.
d. One 'caveat' to this is that during continuous playing of the album with the movie, both straight through, there occur certain correspondences with the above listing; for example, Money plays during part of the scene in Munchkinland.

All song lyrics in this post are believed to be used in accordance with the U.S. Copyright Fair Use Act (Title 17, U.S. Code).

The Wizard of Oz - Analysis of the Movie - part 1: Introduction

CATEGORY: MOVIES; WARNING: THIS ANALYSIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

[Image at left from the Wikipedia 'The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)' page; "WIZARD OF OZ ORIGINAL POSTER 1939", public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.]












Welcome to the analysis of The Wizard of Oz. Buttons at the bottom of each post enable navigation through the parts of the analysis. Regarding the appearance of possible anti-Semitism on this blog, please see the 'Disclaimers' section near the bottom of this page.

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical comedy-drama fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and is the most well-known and commercially successful adaptation based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy. It co-stars Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley. Notable for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score and unusual characters, over the years it has become an icon of American popular culture.[a]





Above left: The Wicked Witch of the West has a long, hook nose; Jews are often caricatured as having this type of nose, so the Wicked Witch represents a Jew who is evil. Also note that her skin is green; in Europe and the U.S., green is sometimes associated with death, sickness, or the Devil. Green can also symbolize envy.[b] Above right: The Wicked Witch in flight. Her broom handle is here placed such that it is reminiscent of a phallus; this symbolizes that the evil Jew the Witch represents has male sex characteristics, in addition to female sex characteristics. She is a female pseudohermaphrodite. Pseudohermaphroditism is a condition in which the individual has a single chromosomal and gonadal sex but combines features of both sexes in the external genitalia, causing doubt as to the true sex.[c]







Top left: The Scarecrow's nose has a prominent dark brown color, and thus, he represents some group of persons who are brown nosers of evil Jews. Top right: The Tin Man's nose is long, and could be taken to have a smudge of something on the end of it; this 'something' represents stool, and thus, the Tin Man represents a brown nosing Jew. Above left: The Cowardly Lion's nose is large, and therefore, he represents a cowardly Jew. Also, his 'mane' makes him appear like he has girl's hair, suggesting that he is gay. Above right: All three of Dorothy's 'friends' are, in fact, evil, and are deceiving her during the group's journey.


a. Wikipedia, 'The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film).
b. Wikipedia, 'Green'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green.
c. 'pseudohermaphroditism'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 26 Sep. 2015. URL = http://www.britannica.com/science/pseudohermaphroditism.

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 12: Wrapping up: The movie's underlying message

CATEGORY: MOVIES

Above: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, - Conquest, War, Famine & Death, an 1887 painting by Victor Vasnetsov. The Lamb is visible at the top.[a] The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the last book of the New Testament of the bible, called the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John the Evangelist, in chapter 6 verses 1-8 (i.e., 6:1-8). The chapter tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God, or Lion of Judah, opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses. Although some interpretations differ, in most accounts, the four riders are seen as symbolizing Conquest, War, Famine, and Death, respectively. The Christian apocalyptic vision is that the four horsemen are to set a divine apocalypse upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment.

The fourth horseman is named Death. Known as "the pale rider", of all the riders, he is the only one to whom the text itself explicitly gives a name. Unlike the other three, he is not described carrying a weapon or other object, instead he is followed by Hades (the resting place of the dead). However, illustrations commonly depict him carrying a scythe (like the Grim Reaper), sword, or other implement. The color of Death's horse is written as khlōros (χλωρός) in the original Koine Greek, which can mean either green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid. The color is often translated as "pale", though "ashen", "pale green", and "yellowish green" are other possible interpretations.[b]

Note that the colors of the four horses correspond to the four colors of alchemy, except that the 'pale horse', which in alchemical terms should be yellowish, would here correspond to a 'putrefied'/'corrupted' citrinitas, with its green representing putrefaction. As observed in part 7 of the analysis, the citrinitas is the alchemical stage in which the chemical wedding, between man and woman, takes place. Without the chemical wedding, the citrinitas will be incomplete, and thus, there can be no true rubedo (the last of the four alchemical stages, in which wholeness is attained).

Since the color yellow is associated with the citrinitas, the events that take place during Dorothy's journey along the yellow brick road symbolize, in part, the corruption of this stage of the alchemical process. This corruption is foretold in Munchkinland: recall that we observed that the 'Good' Witch of the North leads Dorothy to believe, that she can achieve the rubedo without going through the citrinitas stage.

Dorothy has begun her journey down the yellow brick road.


The basic connection between the four horsemen of the apocalypse and The Wizard of Oz, is that the movie is apocalyptic in the sense that, as discussed earlier, the movie-makers were predicting that there would come a time in America, when a general atmosphere of indifference, greed, and violence would make it possible for Dorothy, and thus the American populace, to be led to a scenario incorporating lust, heresy, and treachery, by evil hermaphroditic Jews and other parties (certain evil high-ranking Freemasons, etc.). As we observed, these parties are seeking to establish a 'utopia' in southern Indiana.

The underlying message of The Wizard of Oz is that part of achieving this paradise, consists of tricking one or more generations of young American women, into believing that their (i.e., each woman's) own personal state of bliss, i.e., rubedo, can be achieved without the chemical wedding/citrinitas; or in other words, without the involvement of individual men in the conception and rearing of psychologically healthy children. The evil parties have planted this false notion in each woman's unconscious, in part via manipulation of women's archetypes, for example by causing, deep within every woman's psyche, confusion between the Incarnation and the virgin birth of Jesus on the one hand, and the Immaculate Conception on the other. As discussed in part 10 of this analysis, Carl Jung tells us that while such archetypes correspond to certain religious concepts, they are at the same time universal. All of this operates at an unconscious level, i.e., the women being taken advantage of by the evil conspirators, don't consciously realize that their innate archetypes are being manipulated.

Dorothy.



The evil parties have also worked together to cause the corruption of the Holy Spirit, as symbolized in our movie by the fact that Dorothy and the Lion have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the evil parties have conspired to prevent the second coming of Christ, since it was by the Holy Spirit that Jesus was conceived in his mother Mary's womb.

It is only when a modern-day messiah arrives, and initiates the process whereby society's course is to be corrected, that an apocalypse will be prevented. As indicated in the analysis of The Shining on the Can Analyze Kubrick blog, director Stanley Kubrick predicted that this messiah will be a trailing edge baby boomer, i.e., he will be an American born between the years 1956 and 1964. Also indcated there was that filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was born in 1963. From Carl Jung's Answer to Job: "But God...wants to become man, and for that purpose he has chosen, through the Holy [Spirit], the creaturely man filled with darkness— the natural man who is tainted with original sin and who learnt the divine arts and sciences from the fallen angels. The guilty man is eminently suitable and is therefore chosen to become the vessel for the continuing incarnation, not the guiltless one who holds aloof from the world and refuses to pay his tribute to life, for in him the dark God would find no room."[c]


a. Image from the Wikipedia 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' page, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
b. Wikipedia, 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse.
c. Jung, C. G. "Answer to Job" in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 11. Princeton University Press, 1969. Kindle Edition. pp. 98-99.

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 11: Details of Dorothy's (and our) path through Hell

CATEGORY: MOVIES

The general idea behind Dorothy's movement deeper into Hell in The Wizard of Oz, is that it predicts our own such movement. The makers of The Wizard of Oz were predicting that there would come a time in America, when a general atmosphere of indifference (the vestibule), greed (circle 4), and violence (circle 7), would eventually lead to our ending up in circle 2 (lust), circle 6 (heresy), and circle 9 (treachery), respectively. Indifference includes indifferent parenting; this no doubt has an effect upon Dorothy, who is meant to represent some subset of the group that could be thought of as 'American young women'. In fact, part of the aforementioned prediction was that Dorothy's 'descendants', i.e., subsequent generations of American women, under the 'guidance' of radical feminists, would lead us deeper into Hell. Since Dorothy herself is being led on by her evil companions (the Scarecrow, who brown noses evil Jews, the Tin Man, a brown nosing Jew, and the Lion, a cowardly Jew), it is ultimately not only radical feminists, but also evil Jews, who are responsible for our current societal situation.

In the below, the circles of Hell are described in detail. Information is taken from Wikipedia.[a]

1) Vestibule (Indifference) to Circle 2 (Lust): As indicated in part 2 of the analysis, when Dorothy first arrives in Munchkinland (see screencap at left), she is standing in the vestibule (as well as in circles 4 and 7). To review: In terms of Inferno, before entering Hell completely (i.e., while in the vestibule), Dante and his guide see the Uncommitted (i.e., the Indifferent), souls of people who in life did nothing, neither for good nor evil. These souls are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron, their punishment to eternally pursue a banner (i.e. self interest) while pursued by wasps and hornets that continually sting them as maggots and other such insects drink their blood and tears. This symbolizes the sting of their conscience and the repugnance of sin. This can also be seen as a reflection of the spiritual stagnation they lived in.


The first circle of Hell is called Limbo. In the theology of the Catholic Church, Limbo (Latin limbus, edge or boundary, referring to the "edge" of Hell) is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned.[b]

In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. As mentioned earlier, lust can take any form such as the lust for knowledge, the lust for sex or the lust for power.

Depiction of Circle 3 (Gluttony): Note that some of the Munchkins are obese (above left screencap). In Inferno, the gluttons are forced to lie in a vile slush produced by ceaseless foul, icy rain. It must be the case that the snow that falls while Dorothy and her friends are in the poppy field (above right screencap), indicates movement through circle 3.

2) Circle 4 (Greed) to Circle 6 (Heresy): As mentioned earlier in the analysis, those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly, who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The vast amount of greenery in Munchkinland (see screencap at left) represents the color of American paper currency, indicating that the Munchkins, who represent evil hermaphroditic Jews, are greedy.


To get from the fourth circle to the sixth circle, Dorothy would have to pass through circle 5, where Anger is punished. In Inferno's fifth circle, in the swampy waters of the river Styx, the wrathful fight each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water. Anger, and thus circle 5, is being portrayed in The Wizard of Oz in the scene in which several Munchkins insist to their Mayor, that the Wicked Witch of the East be officially declared dead; see the screencap with caption below.

In the scene captured at left, some of the Munchkins are speaking in angry tones of voices, and have angry expressions on their faces. Note that the Munchkin dressed in purple, is facing the Mayor in a threatening manner.


In the sixth circle, Heretics (those who commit heresy) are punished. Heresy is a theological doctrine or system rejected as false by ecclesiastical authority.[c] Recall from earlier in the analysis, that the current Papacy is corrupt. Thus, our current situation is that the Church authority itself consists of heretics.

3) Circle 7 (Violence) to Circle 9 (Treachery): In addition to beginning her journey in the vestibule and circle 4, Dorothy also begins in circle 7, where the violent are punished. We've already discussed the three rings in circle 7: the outer ring houses the violent against people and property, suicides and profligates occupy the middle ring, and the inner ring is inhabited by blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers. As previously indicated, Dorothy and the Lion are blasphemers. Also, as indicated in part 1 of the analysis, the Lion's 'mane' makes him appear like he has girl's hair, and this added to the fact that he has a ribbon in his hair, indicates that he represents a gay person. Therefore, he represents a sodomite.


To travel from circle 7 to circle 9, Dorothy has to go through circle 8, in which the fraudulent – those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil – are punished. This circle, called Malebolge ("Evil Pockets"), is divided into ten Bolgie, or ditches of stone, with bridges spanning the ditches. In Inferno, in the first Bolgia, panderers and seducers (pimps and prostitutes, respectively) march in separate lines in opposite directions, whipped by demons (here Dante makes reference to a recent traffic rule developed for the Jubilee year of 1300 in Rome: keep to the right). The below screencap with caption explains how this is depicted in The Wizard of Oz.

In the part of the action in Munchkinland shown at left, the men in yellow are marching to the left, and just below the rightward pointing white arrow are a group of people, many of whom are women, skipping and prancing to the right (click image to enlarge). The men in yellow represent pimps, and the women moving in the other direction, prostitutes.

In the ninth circle, treachery is punished. The traitors are distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent (circle 8) in that their acts involve betraying a special relationship of some kind. There are four concentric zones (or "rounds") of traitors. These rounds correspond, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of liege lords. In contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery, the traitors are frozen in a lake of ice known as Cocytus (meaning "the river of wailing"), with each group encased in ice to progressively greater depths. Recall that when Dorothy and the Scarecrow first encounter the Tin Man, he's 'frozen' into position (see screencap at left).

In Inferno, in the very center of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is Satan. As observed in part 2 of the analysis, the Emerald Palace itself represents Dante's Hell, and the floor level there lies in circle 9. This is the circle of Hell that Dorothy and her companions are standing in when they see the evil face, flames, and smoke inside the palace (above left screencap), during their second visit to it near the end of the movie. Note the shiny black platform structure under the face and flames, extending above floor level. It consists of five platforms, so we can take the top level as representing circle 6 of Dante's Paradise, which, as discussed earlier in the analysis with regard to the 'Good' Witch, indicates rulership over an evil kingdom. Here, however, it is not the witch, but instead, the entity represented by the face, who is to rule over this kingdom. (If we take the face as representing that of Satan, we see that in this scenario, he is no longer encased in ice in circle 9 of Hell.) The face, fire, and smoke are all generated using machines by a normal-looking middle-aged man (above right screencap) who resembles Professor Marvel, the fortune teller from earlier in the movie. Once the Wizard has been exposed, he admits to being a humbug.


a. Wikipedia, 'Inferno (Dante)'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante).
b. Wikipedia, 'Limbo'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo.
c. 'heresy'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 3 Oct. 2015. URL = http://www.britannica.com/topic/heresy.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 10: The holy spirit; Jungian interpretation of religion

CATEGORY: MOVIES

The Holy Spirit in Christianity
For the large majority of Christians, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity: the "Triune God" manifested as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; each person itself being God.

The New Testament includes over 90 references to the Holy Spirit. The sacredness of the Holy Spirit is affirmed in all three Synoptic Gospels which proclaim blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin.[a]

In the bible's Gospel of John, chapter 20, verses 20-23, a correspondence is drawn between breath, and the Holy Spirit:

20. [T]hen the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
22. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
23. "If you received the sins of any, they are forgiven them. ..."
[New Revised Standard Version; emphasis not in original.]


The Holy Spirit in Judaism
In the Hebrew Bible, the word ruach (also ruwach) (Hebrew: רוּחַ) is generally used to mean wind, breath, mind, spirit.[b] For example, it is used as part of the expression meaning "and the spirit of God" (וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים) in Gen. 1:2: "Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters." An example of its being used to mean "breath" appears in Gen. 7:15: "And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life." Taking "spirit of God" to be the same as 'holy spirit', all of the foregoing, taken together, implies that Judaism considers there to be a connection between breath and holy spirit.

Above left: Both Dorothy (with her hand on her forehead) and the Lion (with his hands over his abdomen) experience labored breathing, after running across the poppy field. Due to the association between the Christian Holy Spirit, and breath, Dorothy running out of breath here represents corruption of, and blasphemy against, the Christian Holy Spirit, which, as indicated above, is one of the three persons of the Holy Trinity, each of which is God. Since the Lion represents a (cowardly) Jew, his running out of breath indicates corruption of the Jewish holy spirit. Above right: Recall from earlier in the analysis that in Dante's Inferno, blasphemers are seen lying down, in the ninth circle of Hell. Dorothy and the Lion are seen lying down in the poppy field (the Lion can be taken to be in a position such that he is sitting - note his raised legs, bent at the knees - and lying); this confirms that these two have committed blasphemy.


Jungian Interpretation of Religion
In "Psychology and Religion", Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung maintains that "[Religious] dogma owes its continued existence and its form on the one hand to so-called "revealed" or immediate experiences of the "Gnosis" — for instance, the God-man, the Cross, the Virgin Birth, the Immaculate Conception, the Trinity, and so on, and on the other hand to the ceaseless collaboration of many minds over many centuries. It may not be quite clear why I call certain dogmas "immediate experiences", since in itself a dogma is the very thing that precludes immediate experience. Yet the Christian images I have mentioned are not peculiar to Christianity alone (although in Christianity they have undergone a development and intensification of meaning not to be found in any other religion). They occur just as often in pagan religions, and besides that they can reappear spontaneously in all sorts of variations as psychic phenomena, just as in the remote past they originated in visions, dreams, or trances. Ideas like these are never invented. They came into being before man had learned to use his mind purposively. Before man learned to produce thoughts, thoughts came to him."[c]

In accordance with the above, ideas such as the Virgin Birth and the Immaculate Conception are effectively archetypes, i.e., they are elements of the collective unconscious, and as such, are shared among all human beings. This fact will come into play later in the analysis.


a. Wikipedia, 'Holy Spirit in Christianity'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Spirit_in_Christianity.
b. Blue Letter Bible, "Lexicon :: Strong's H7307 - ruwach." Web, n.d. URL = https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7307&t=NIV.
c. Jung, C.G. "Psychology and Religion" in The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 11. Princeton University Press, 1969. para. 81.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 9: Clarification on where it is that Dorothy ends up

CATEGORY: MOVIES

In part 2 of this analysis, it was stated that in terms of Dante's Inferno, Dorothy starts out, upon her arrival in Muchkinland, in the vestibule at the entrance to Hell, and in circles 4 and 7 of Hell (as labeled in darker blue text in the screencap at left).



Later in the analysis, it was stated that the 'Good' Witch at one point leaves Dorothy circle 5 (as shown in the two screencaps below), but that ultimately, she ends up at a lower level than that at which she first started.

Above left: Dorothy descends from the top level of the gray platform structure, which in this scenario represents the vestibule of Hell (for Dorothy), toward circle 5. Above right: Dorothy gets into a horse-drawn carriage in circle 5.


The reader of this analysis will note that circle 5 is higher than circle 7. Does this mean that things have actually gotten better for Dorothy, at some point? No. It means that her ending up in circle 5 is to be taken as being below circle 4. In fact, as we will see, Dorothy ends up in three circles each of which is two levels lower than its corresponding starting place, i.e., she ends up in circles 2 (two levels lower than the vestibule), 6 (two levels below 4), and 9 (two levels below 7), the last of these by virtue of the fact that she ends up in the part of Emerald City that is in circle 9.

Circle 2 is where the lustful are punished. Lust is an emotion or feeling of intense desire in the body.[a] One form lust can take is the lust for sex. One of the people Dante sees in circle 2 of Hell is Semiramis, who has been associated with the Whore of Babylon. The Whore of Babylon, in turn, has been interpreted by many Protestant and non-Catholic churches to be the Catholic Church which is in union with the Pope. Dante equated the corruption and simony in the office of the Papacy with the Whore of Babylon, in Canto 19 of Inferno:

Di voi pastor s'accorse il Vangelista,
quando colei che siede sopra l'acque
puttaneggiar coi regi a lui fu vista...

Translated into English, the above reads, "Shepherds like you the Evangelist had in mind when he saw the one that sits upon the waters committing fornication with the kings."[b]

Miley Cyrus (dressed in red) 'playing a whore', as a reference to the Whore of Babylon. Some of these kinds of shows are put on not only to inform us that we are currently in circle 2 of Hell, where lust is punished, but also, to tell us that the current Papacy is corrupt. And, since it is heresy that is punished in circle 6, there being a corrupt Papacy indicates that we are currently in circle 6 of Hell as well.[c]



a. Wikipedia, 'Lust'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust.
b. Wikipedia, 'Whore of Babylon'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whore_of_Babylon.
c. Image from the Wikipedia Bangerz Tour page; Miley Cyrus performing in Vancouver 2014 2 (cropped) by Rob Sinclair, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 8: The Good Witch's wand helps locate New Jerusalem

CATEGORY: MOVIES



Above left and right: The star at the end of the Good Witch's wand is, in this closeup from the scene in Munchkinland, right next to Dorothy's new slippers. The continuous line of jewels between points 1 and 2 on the star suggests that a line is to be drawn between the two points.

Above left: Referring to the above map of North America while simultaneously drawing our lines on the wand's surface, it must be the case that other clues in The Wizard of Oz indicate that lines are to be drawn between 3 (Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii) and 4 (Jamestown, Virginia), and between 5 (Independence, Missouri) and 6 (central Mexico).[a] Above right: Finally, the line from 1 to 2 is to be moved to position 1' (near Palmer, Alaska) - 2' (near Cap-Haïtien, Haiti), yielding the intersection of all three lines, as shown on the map. Note that the lines drawn on the wand are parallel to their respective lines on the map. The makers of The Wizard of Oz were giving audiences clues as to exactly where it is that certain real-life evil conspiratorial parties (evil elite hermaphroditic Jews, certain high-ranking Mormons and Freemasons, highly placed radical feminists, certain Mennonites, the members of certain groups of North American native peoples, and possibly Rosicrucians and other parties), plan to locate the 'evil kingdom' mentioned earlier, i.e., their New Jerusalem, promised land, or whatever one wishes to call it - essentially, a utopia. On the map of North America, the lines appear to intersect in the state of Texas, but this is only because they are drawn on a flat map.[b] When drawn on a globe, the intersection is found to lie near Milltown, Indiana (see Google map here for precise location). This is the actual current planned location for the utopia, that the evil conspiratorial parties are seeking to establish and inhabit.


a. The specific locations of the endpoints of these lines and their point of intersection, as given above, have been obtained from part 7 of the James Michener analysis on this blog.
b. Map of North America from the Global Overlay Mapper suite at the 'mapability' website, URL = http://www.mapability.com/ei8ic/.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 7: Alchemy in the movie; Dorothy is being deceived

CATEGORY: MOVIES

Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose practitioners have, from antiquity, claimed it to be the precursor to profound powers. Alchemy differs significantly from modern science in its inclusion of Hermetic principles and practices related to mythology, magic, religion, and spirituality. It is recognized as a protoscience that contributed to the development of modern chemistry and medicine. Alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimental method, some of which are still in use today.[a] The main goal of the alchemists was the generation of the philosophers' stone.

The philosophers' stone (Latin: lapis philosophorum) is a legendary substance said to be capable of turning base metals such as lead into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. The philosophers' stone was the central symbol of the mystical terminology of alchemy, symbolizing perfection at its finest, enlightenment, and heavenly bliss. Efforts to discover the philosophers' stone were known as the Magnum Opus ("Great Work").[b] The Great Work consisted of four stages. Listed in order of completion, these four stages are:

1. Nigredo, a blackening or melanosis
2. Albedo, a whitening or leucosis
3. Citrinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis
4. Rubedo, a reddening, purpling, or iosis

Top left: When Dorothy lands in Munchkinland after the tornado, she is wearing black shoes. This represents the blackness of the nigredo, implying that Dorothy's own alchemical process has begun. The nigredo is associated with, among other things, chaos. The chaos of Dorothy's nigredo is represented by the tornado, and specifically, by its ending, when her house falls on The Wicked Witch of the East, who dies as a result. Top right: The red of the ruby slippers, while they are on the Wicked Witch of the East's feet, represents the fires of Hell. Above left: The silver worn by the 'Good' Witch represents the second stage of the Great Work, the albedo, which has been referred to by Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist Carl Jung as the "silver or moon condition."[c] Dorothy's albedo thus occurs when she first encounters the Good Witch. Above right: As a result of the Good Witch's magic, the ruby slippers have now been transferred from the Wicked Witch of the East's feet to Dorothy's. The red of the slippers now represents the rubedo, the final stage of the alchemical process. The Good Witch is, in fact, here deceiving Dorothy: She is giving Dorothy the impression that she (Dorothy) is to undergo some kind of process by which she will achieve enlightenment, immortality, and/or heavenly bliss (all of these being associated with the rubedo stage of alchemy), this process being portrayed as a 'shortcut' through the full alchemical process, i.e., one not incorporating the third stage, the citrinitas. But, the citrinitas is the stage in which the chemical wedding, between man and woman, takes place, and the chemical wedding is necessary to obtain the Philosophical Mercury, without which the rubedo cannot be achieved. Thus, the reality is that there is no such shortcut, and, in fact, Dorothy will actually end up in Hell, at an even deeper level than when she first started.

There's a more extensive hidden plot in The Wizard of Oz, besides just the fact that the 'Good' Witch is deceiving Dorothy. In fact, it's the case that most or all of the main characters are working against Dorothy. In this scenario, the Tin Man is working with the Good Witch, who wears a silver crown and jewelry, with tin being similar in color to silver. The Scarecrow and the Wicked Witch of the West are initially working together (note the similarity of their hats, as shown in the above two screencaps), with her setting him on fire later, at her castle, when she discovers that he has turned against her.

Above left: The Scarecrow is only feigning being afraid when he encounters the Witch, while traveling on the road with Dorothy and the Tin Man. Above right: The witch intentionally misses the Scarecrow with the fireball she throws at him in this scene, since she is working with him at this point.

As indicated above, the Wicked Witch actually does set the Scarecrow on fire at her castle, after she somehow discovers he has turned against her.



a. Wikipedia, 'Alchemy'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy.
b. Wikipedia, 'Philosopher's stone'. Web, n.d. URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophers_Stone.
c. Jung, C.G. The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Vol. 12. Princeton University Press, 1968. para. 334.