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.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 6: The Good Witch is 'using' Dorothy to advance herself

CATEGORY: MOVIES

Top left: The 'Good' Witch of the North escorts Dorothy (wearing blue) up the platform structure that is built into the pool in Munchkinland. The Witch is here giving the impression that she is helping Dorothy ascend to the fourth terrace of Dante's Purgatory (with ground level representing the first terrace). Top right: The Good Witch stands with Dorothy on the fourth terrace, for all the Munchkins to see, as if the Witch's guidance has led Dorothy to achieve some sort of progress. Above left: As Dorthy gets ready to descend back down the platform structure, the view of it that is shown now gives the appearance of having six levels (including ground level) instead of four. Above right: As Dorothy gets into a horse-drawn carriage, after descending the platform steps to ground level, the Witch stands alone on the top platform.

The final state of the situation shown above depicts Dorothy in the fifth circle of Dante's Hell, where the wrathful and the sullen are punished (with the top of the platform structure being the vestibule in this context). Here, in the swampy waters of the river Styx, the wrathful fight each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water. Within the foregoing context, ground level in Munchkinland now represents the fifth circle of Dante's Hell. What must be the case is that over the period of time during the sequence of events taking place in Munchkinland, there is a 'shift' at some point in time during this period, whereby there is, effectively, movement from the fourth circle of Hell (which we recall from part 2 is represented by ground level in Muchkinland upon Dorothy's arrival there), to the fifth circle. Note that within the context of Dorothy now occupying the fifth circle, the water in the pool now represents the river Styx.

Whereas the 'Good' Witch has left Dorothy in the fifth circle of Hell, she herself now occupies the Sixth Sphere of Dante's Paradiso (Paradise). In the Paradiso, Paradise is depicted as a series of concentric spheres surrounding the Earth, consisting of the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, the Primum Mobile and finally, the Empyrean. The events in Paradiso take place following those of Purgatorio. Allegorically, the Paradiso depicts the soul's ascent to God.[a]

The sixth sphere of Paradise is the sphere of Jupiter, wherein reside the Just Rulers. The planet Jupiter is traditionally associated with the king of the gods, so Dante makes this planet the home of the rulers who displayed justice.[a] However, what is being depicted in The Wizard of Oz, by the 'Good' Witch being in sphere 6 of Paradise, is the Witch's desire to be a 'God-like' ruler over some kind of evil kingdom. The real-world correspondence to this evil kingdom, will be discussed later in this analysis.

In light of what is said above about the 'Good' Witch occupying Paradise, we see that the movement among the platforms depicted in the scenes shown in the above screencaps, indicates that the Witch first uses Dorothy to help her get to the Fourth Sphere of Paradise, then, as suggested by their subsequent position, the two of them have moved together to the top level, with this representing the Sixth Sphere of Paradise for the Witch, but the vestibule at the entrance to Hell for Dorothy; then, Dorothy descends back down the platforms, representing successive levels of Hell, such that she ends up in the fifth circle of Hell as described above.


a. Wikipedia, 'Paradiso (Dante)'. Web, n.d. URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradiso_(Dante).


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 5: The descent of Dorothy's kundalini

CATEGORY: MOVIES

Chakra, also spelled Cakra, Sanskrit C̣akra, ("wheel"), are any of a number of psychic-energy centres of the body, prominent in the occult physiological practices of certain forms of Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. The chakras are conceived of as focal points where psychic forces and bodily functions merge with and interact with each other. Among the supposed 88,000 chakras in the human body, six major ones located roughly along the spinal cord and another one located just above the crown of the skull are of principal importance. Each of these seven chakras is associated with a specific color, shape, sense organ, natural element, deity, and mantra (monosyllabic prayer formula). The most important of these are the lowest chakra (muladhara), located at the base of the spine, and the highest (sahasrara), at the top of the head. The muladhara encircles a mysterious divine potency (kundalini, described below) that the individual attempts, by Yogic techniques, to raise from chakra to chakra until it reaches the sahasrara (at the top of the head) and self-illumination results.[a]

Kundalini is, in some Tantric (esoteric) forms of Yoga, the cosmic energy that is believed to lie within everyone, pictured as a coiled serpent lying at the base of the spine. Through a series of techniques that combine prescribed postures, gestures, and breathing exercises, the practitioner brings the kundalini up along the spine to his head. On the way the kundalini passes through six imagined centers, or cakras, as indicated above. When the kundalini arrives at the seventh cakra, at the top of the head,[b] self-illumination results (as stated above).

Ajna chakra is located slightly below sahasrara, at a position directly behind the center of the forehead. It is linked to the pineal gland. The pineal gland regulates sleep cycles via melatonin production, and may also produce dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogenic compound. Most of what we see in the movie is a dream Dorothy experiences, beginning soon after she falls unconscious during the tornado, due to her head being hit by a window sash. The effect of excess dimethyltryptamine production on her brain causes her to have a 'psychedelic' (i.e., hallucinogenic) experience, which consists of her dream as we see it. For although Dorothy's kundalini begins in her muladhara chakra, at the base of her spine, at the beginning of the movie, her kundalini rises rapidly to her ajna chakra at the moment she is knocked unconscious. Then, once the dream starts, with Dorothy arriving in Munchkinland, her kundalini begins to move downward through her other chakras, and continues to do so during her journey down the yellow brick road, as symbolized by the characters she meets (the Scarecrow, etc.), and by certain other events and actions.

When the kundalini is flowing upward, as it normally does, ajna chakra signifies the end of duality, the characteristic of being dual (e.g. male and female, light and dark, etc.). However, since Dorothy's kundalini is flowing downward (during her dream), her kundalini's being at ajna chakra signifies the beginning of her becoming dual, symbolizing the beginning of duality in Woman.

The next chakra below ajna is the vishuddha (throat) chakra. Singing stimulates the throat chakra. Recall that Dorothy and the various characters she meets, for example, the Scarecrow, sing. (The screencap at left is from the scene in which Dorothy sings along with the Scarecrow).


The next chakra down is anahata, the heart chakra. Recall that the Tin Man, the next person Dorothy meets after the Scarecrow, doesn't have a heart. The next chakra is manipura, which is located in the area of the solar plexus. This chakra is associated with courage, which is something the Lion is lacking. The final two chakras are swadisthana and muladhara, the latter being located at the base of the spine, which is where the kundalini normally begins.


a. 'chakra'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 05 Sep. 2015. URL = http://www.britannica.com/topic/chakra.
b. 'kundalini'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 05 Sep. 2015. URL = http://www.britannica.com/topic/kundalini.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 4: Depiction of Dante's Purgatory in the movie

CATEGORY: MOVIES



Above left: Map of Purgatory.[a] Above right: Dorothy in Munchkinland.


Purgatorio (Italian for Purgatory) is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno, and preceding the Paradiso. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of Dante up the Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, except for the last four cantos at which point Beatrice takes over as Dante's guide. In the poem, Purgatory is depicted as a mountain consisting of a bottom section (Ante-Purgatory), seven levels of suffering and spiritual growth (associated with the seven deadly sins), and finally the Earthly Paradise at the top. Allegorically, the poem represents the Christian life, and in describing the climb Dante discusses the nature of sin, examples of vice and virtue, and moral issues in politics and in the Church. The poem outlines a theory that all sin arises from love – either perverted love directed towards others' harm, or deficient love, or the disordered love of good things.

Having survived the depths of Hell (described in the Inferno), Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom, to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The mountain is an island, the only land in the Southern Hemisphere. Dante describes Hell as existing underneath Jerusalem, created by the impact of Satan's fall. Mount Purgatory, on exactly the opposite side of the world, was created by a displacement of rock, caused by the same event.

Dante and Virgil first travel through Ante-Purgatory. Then, from the gate of Purgatory, Virgil guides Dante through its seven terraces. As stated above, these correspond to the seven deadly sins. The classification of sin here is more psychological than that of the Inferno, being based on motives, rather than actions. The core of the classification is based on love: the first three terraces of Purgatory relate to perverted love directed towards actual harm of others, the fourth terrace relates to deficient love (i.e. sloth or acedia), and the last three terraces relate to excessive or disordered love of good things.[b]

The first terrace relates to pride, it is where proud souls purge their sin. As indicated in the right-hand screencap above, this is the terrace Dorthy inhabits when she begins to wander around Muchkinland after just having arrived there. Recall from part 2 of this analysis that we said Dorothy is the allegorical Dante, and Toto represents Virgil, Dante's guide.

The second terrace of Purgatory is where the envious purge their sin.[b]

Above left: Recall that the Wicked Witch of the West has green skin. As mentioned in part 1 of the analysis, green can symbolize envy (there is a saying, "green with envy"). Since the Wicked Witch flies overhead, she is physically above the land inhabited by Dorothy. The point is that the Witch is being depicted as being in terrace 2 of Purgatory (where the envious reside), which is one level above terrace 1. Above right: The Wicked Witch envies Dorothy for her ruby slippers.


a. Image from the Wikipedia 'Purgatorio' page; Purgatory Plan by Anthony Dekker, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
b. Wikipedia, 'Purgatorio'. Web, n.d. URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purgatorio.


    

Wizard of Oz analysis - part 3: The Munchkins represent evil hermaphroditic Jews

CATEGORY: MOVIES

Above left: Dorothy and the Munchkins. Note the mayor's large pocket watch. Above right: Part of the greenery in Munchkinland.


As already observed, the sin of greed is punished in circle 4 of Dante's Hell. Since this is one of the circles in which Munchkinland is located, the indication is that the Munchkins themselves represent some group of greedy persons.

Note in the left-hand screencap above, that the Mayor of Munchkinland wears green clothing; this links him to the green of Emerald City, which is where Satan resides (as observed in part 2, part of Emerald city is in the 9th circle of Hell); this suggests that the mayor is an emissary of Satan. Also, the fact that the Mayor wears a large pocket watch, suggests some sort of 'time for money' arrangement, and therefore, some kind of Faustian bargain. In fact, since the Mayor is an emissary of Satan, the indication is that he represents Mephistopheles from Goethe's Faust.

If the word Munchkin is broken down by its syllables, the words 'munch kin' are obtained. According to the online MacMillan Dictionary, the word 'munch' means "to eat something using your teeth and jaws in a noisy way", and the word 'kin' means "all the people in your family." If we take "family" here as 'extended family', i.e., the family of Man, then going by these definitions, the Munchins are people who 'eat' other people, i.e., they are metaphorical cannibals.

The reason the Munchkins are so short is because they suffer from a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). According to the National Institutes of Health, both boys and girls with CAH will be tall as children but much shorter than normal as adults.[a] Symptoms of CAH can also include hermaphroditism. In a National Institutes of Health study, the most common cause of ambiguous genitalia in newborn patients was congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-OH deficiency.[b] According to the National Adrenal Diseases Foundation, "Non-classical CAH is among the most common genetic disorders, with Ashkenazi Jews having the highest prevalence."[c]

Today Ashkenazim constitute more than 80 percent of all the Jews in the world, vastly outnumbering Sephardic Jews.[d]

Even those suffering from non-classical CAH will be taller than normal as children and shorter than normal as adults.[e]

Non-classical CAH is a mild variant of one of the common causes of female pseudohermaphroditism.[f] As observed in part 1 of the analysis, 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.[g]

The implication of all of the above is that the Munchkins represent evil greedy hermaphroditic Jews.


a. National Institutes of Health Medline Plus Congenital adrenal hyperplasia page.
d. Zdravković D, Milenković T, Sedlecki K, Guć-Sćekić M, Rajić V, Banićević M. Causes of ambiguous external genitalia in neonates. [Abstract] Srp Arh Celok Lek. 2001 Mar-Apr; 129(3-4): 57-60.
c. National Adrenal Diseases Foundation Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) page.
d. 'Ashkenazi'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 14 Sep. 2015. URL = http://www.britannica.com/topic/Ashkenazi.
e. Witchel, S.F. and Azziz, R. Nonclassic Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. [Article] Int J Pediatr Endocrinol. 2010; 2010: 625105.
f. Kukreti, P., Kandpal, M., Jiloha, R.C. Mistaken gender identity in non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia. [Article] Indian J Psychiatry. 2014 Apr-Jun; 56(2): 182–184.
g. 'pseudohermaphroditism'. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 26 Sep. 2015. URL = http://www.britannica.com/science/pseudohermaphroditism.