Although the Wizard of Oz is wildly perceived as an innocent children’s fairy tale, it is almost impossible not to attribute to Dorothy’s quest a symbolic meaning. Like all great stories, the characters and the symbols of the Wizard of Oz can be given a second layer of interpretation, which can vary depending on the reader’s perception. Many analysis appeared throughout the years describing the story as being an “atheist manifesto” while others saw in it as a promotion of populism. It is however by understanding the author’s philosophical background and beliefs that one can truly grasp the story’s true meaning.
L. Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz was a member of the Theosophical Society, which is an organization based on occult research and the comparative study religions. Baum had a deep understanding of Theosophy and, consciously or not, made of Wizard of Oz an allegory of Theosophic teachings.
The story starts with Dorothy Gale living in Kansas, which symbolizes the material world, the physical plane where each one of us starts our spiritual journey. Dorothy feels an urge to “go over the rainbow”, to reach the ethereal world an follow the path to illumination. She has basically “passed the Nadir” by demonstrating the urge of seeking a higher truth.
Dorothy is then brought to Oz by a giant cyclone spiraling upward, representing the cycles of karma, the cycle of errors and lessons learned. It also represents the theosophical belief of reincarnation, the round of physical births and deaths of a soul until it is fit to become divine. It is also interesting to note that the Yellow Brick Road of Oz begins as an outwardly expanding spiral. In occult symbolism, this spiral represents the evolving self, the soul ascending from matter into the spirit world.
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