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That Bitch, yeah the Wicked one

  
 
archim3des
22:10 / 27.09.05
I'm right now in the process of finishing up reading "Wicked; the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West", and I'm totally in love with this book.

One thing that really caught my eye/ear/thingy was what the wizard said about how he got to Oz. More specifically, "Madame Blavatsky located it in her crystal ball, and I made the appropriate sacrifices and-arrangements- to travel here 40 years ago."

That, for me, raised a lot of funstuff for me to through around my head. Not really familiar with the particulars of HPB's Theosophy, what sort of spirts/demons/angels/devas/wombats could be dregged out of that system to be bypothetically involved with that? Is that something HPB's system would have allowed for?

On a related note, 1860 was the year HPB returned from her 'vagabond years' and in late 1861/early 1862 she gave birth to a deformed baby she named Yuri, who died five years later. After her childbirth, as google would tell me, she came under a nervous breakdown, which she described as suffering under a dual personality.

In regards to it she was quoted "When awake and myself, I remembered well who I was in my second capacity, and what I had been and was doing. When someone else, i.e., the personage I became, I know I had no idea of who was H. P. Blavatsky! I was in another far-off country, a total different individuality from myself, and had no connection at all with my actual life."

Turns out Baum and his wife were raised episcopalians, but later in life became theosophists. Now I really want to read the other Oz books by Baum.
 
 
archim3des
23:13 / 27.09.05
To clarify my post, I wanted to restate the real question behind it.

What sort of Theosophical entities would you invoke to actually get to Oz, dealing with the actual characters beyond a simply allegorical level. It would seem a really enjoyable place to go.

I've never read the books, and only seen the movies, The Wizard of Oz and the Return to Oz, which in both she is accompanied by an animal, Toto in the Wizard and a talking chicken in the Return. Perhaps an animal guide is called for?
 
 
Colonel Kadmon
23:39 / 27.09.05
I know nothing about Oz - but this is a great thread. I had no idea about ol' Frank being a Theosophist.

Does it really mention Blavatsky in the book? Does that mean whoever made TWoO may have been a Theosophist too? (Was it MGM?)

More please.
 
 
Aertho
00:22 / 28.09.05
Odd.

I've for some time used Wizard of Oz to describe basic magicks, but I thought it was result of simplification of the narrative that held these attributes. Like if you tumble any stone long enough, you'll get a smooth ball. The story of the 1930s film is a basic Hero's journey, but it also somewhat describes the Kundalini, and the Four Beasts of the Throne.

We start with Dorothy is nothingness - black and white mundane Kansas. Which is then set to chaos as the Twister arrives - exposing the basic sense of survival of Muladhara.

From there we enter Munchkinland, Svadisthana - where the strong, magical witches tower over the weak masses of fearful Munchkinlanders. Personal strength is uncovered, and the ego as well.

Along the way,, the Yellow Brick Road becomes Manipura - Dorothy meets Scarecrow, The Tin Man, and The Lion. Together they are the disparate facets of the persona, where each facet realizes its strengths and weakness. Scarecrow corresponds to the faculty of analysis, Tin Man to compassion, The Lion to volition, and Dorothy - the vessel by which the story is told - is manifestation.

The Emerald City is where all facets are strengthened and renewed, and bow to the majesty of the bolstered volition - resulting in the realization of the soul - the sum total which is greater than its separated facets. Here, The Emerald City corresponds to Anahata.

The Castle of the Wicked Witch is the trial of the soul, the place where its strength is given to accomplish its deed. They face their weaknesses and cross an abyss to defeat their shadow - and soul becomes spirit. The Witch screams her end from Vishuddha. With the threat of the Witch destroyed, Dorothy and the Oz Squad become reknown and rumored.

The Throneroom of The Wizard is where the secrets of the world are laid bare. Toto, the impetus of change and growth in the story, pulls back the curtain and shows the man pulling the strings and levers and microphones. The Oz squad become the seer, and witness the truth of the Wizard, and the truth of themselves in Ajna.

Lastly, Glinda arrives in Oz to give the abandoned Dorrothy the ultimate truth: she has the power within herself, but she had to learn it - giving foolish validity to the entirety of the adventure. The Oz Squad is given appropriate positions in Oz, and all is made right. She closes her eyes and imagines Kansas in the void of her mind. Sahasrana.
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
07:50 / 28.09.05
What sort of Theosophical entities would you invoke to actually get to Oz

I'm no expert on Theosophy by any means, but from what I do know of Madame Blavatsky, she didn't really go about making sacrifices to entities in order to send people to Oz. I suspect a degree of literary license, incorporating the name of a famous occultist for a ring of vague authenticity. Like how Crowley was inexplicably represented as a cheeky wee Scotsman in a few issues of Hellblazer.
 
 
trouser the trouserian
07:55 / 28.09.05
The Wizard of Oz as Spiritual Allegory
Articles on Oz from Theosophists
Crowley on Frank Baum

Then of course, there's Liber Oz, written some 41 years after Frank Baum's original.
 
 
archim3des
20:21 / 28.09.05
I see what you mean Gypsy, and as far as a I can find, Baum was a rank and file theosophist, never having met HPB, or any of the Society's other luminaries, but whether it did happen isn't really the point. Could it have happened?
 
 
Lord Morgue
12:55 / 13.10.05
Phillip José Farmer's "A Barnstormer in Oz" is also a good read- the hero is able to provide scientific explanations for most of the "magic" he sees, except for the Scarecrow. He admits to being completely stumped there, especially considering the old fellow has at some stage or another replaced every part of his body with fresh straw and cloth...
 
  
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