Volume 8 , Issue 50

The Wizard of OZ

Do you remember the story of "The Wizard of Oz" and finding, identifying with characters in the story? Is... "The Wizard of Oz" a story of our search for our own identities as we follow that yellow brick road through our childhood to adulthood?

In an article that a friend sent me recently it mentioned, ?The psychologist Carl Jung said that we relate to stories because we identify with themes and characters,? Dr Bunch explains. ?And that those characters are all pieces inside our own soul. So the Lion is the warrior, the Scarecrow is the sage, and the Tin Man is the lover. And Dorothy?s heroic quest is to gather these parts within herself, so it?s actually a journey of psychological integration.?

The article went on to state, "The Wizard of Oz works because it tells the most complex, the most simple and the most universal story all at the same time. It?s about growing up and becoming whole. It?s about putting aside childish things (Kansas) and entering a world of danger and emotional responsibility (Oz). It is, says Salman Rushdie in his BFI The Wizard of Oz handbook, a film about ?how the weakness of grown-ups forces children to take control of their own destinies, and so, ironically, grow up themselves?."

So... Dorothy found her "Will" to fight for what is right from the Lion; She found her knowledge through the Sage of the Scarescrow; and her heart & love of humanity through the heart of the Tin Man. Oz is/was for us all... growing up, entering the adult world of "danger & resonsibility" -- finding ourselves -- taking control of our own destinies -- leaving childhood, growing up and becoming whole.

Where and Who did you find your Sage, Warrior & Heart? Was it fostered in your own Home, Community & The World?
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