Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true
About five minutes into the 1939 film, Dorothy our herione sings the famous song "Over the Rainbow". She has been trying to get the attention of her aunt & uncle. She has been wanting to tell them a worrying story about her little dog Toto. But this is the time of the Great Depression in America - and times were hard and no one has time to listen to a child's concerns and she is told to get out from under their feet and find someplace - where their isn't into any trouble.
Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto? says Dorothy. There must be. It's not a place you can get to by a boat, or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain."
Wizard of Oz
And so the song begins & also Dorothy's adventure - for very soon after an angry Tornado sweeps toward the family farm - Dorothy falls & bangs her head - and slips into a kind of dream. The little house is ripped from its foundations and swept away - to the distant realm of Oz - crushing & killing the Wicked Witch of the East of this place, as it comes into land!
And there she meets the munckins & Glinda the Good Witch who soon arrives - for as we all know by now - no heroine sets off on such an adventure without a helper! She tells Dorothy she must go to see the wizard who lives at the Emerald City. But how on earth will she find her way?
It's always best to start at the beginning – Glinda tells her - and all you do is follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Along the way Dorothy and Toto meet the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion (all aspects of her inner self) and they become friends - and look out for one another - and help each other find what they most need - the treasure of you like - but not the kind that glitters. In the end - it will turn out not to be so much about the destinatiom - but about what happens on te way.
There are so many ways to interpret the symbolism of the Yellow Brick Road - some say it relates to the gold standard, and to the politics of the day. Some say the Emerald City is a symbol of prosperity. But the author L. Frank Baum denied all such comparisons. He was influenced by European fairy -tales and wanted to write along such lines. It may well be that in some ways his story reflects the struggles of the day - yet the notion of Oz - of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is transcendent of time and place.
And the beauty and power of a good story - one that draws upon the deep well of archetypal imagery and theme - is that it is good to go - as it were - whenever the need arises - like right now in spring 2020!
The Rainbow has universal symbolic appeal - representing as it does - the individuation of the self - as Carl Jung might say - the ultimate goal of the mauration process.
Children of the world have been keen to bring this symbol to our attention just now - with their own colourful paintings and drawings. They have stuck them in their windows the world over - for all to see and to be uplifted by.
Be safe - they say - stay home - support the NHS. In Italy they have added the reassuring,
"Andrà tutto bene" Everything will be Ok.
And the beauty and power of a good story - one that draws upon the deep well of archetypal imagery and theme - is that it is good to go - as it were - whenever the need arises - like right now in spring 2020!
The Rainbow has universal symbolic appeal - representing as it does - the individuation of the self - as Carl Jung might say - the ultimate goal of the mauration process.
Children of the world have been keen to bring this symbol to our attention just now - with their own colourful paintings and drawings. They have stuck them in their windows the world over - for all to see and to be uplifted by.
Be safe - they say - stay home - support the NHS. In Italy they have added the reassuring,
"Andrà tutto bene" Everything will be Ok.
 |  |  |
Setting off on the yellow brick road - the solar path toward consciousness - towards individuation is inevitable of course for all - but oh it seems too soon – too soon for these dear, sweet souls to live in such uncertainty - and yet children have always had to do it - when times were hard. Many are really afraid – afraid of what we are all afraid of – of losing some one we love - and yet even, in the midst of this - they are guiding & leading us on to a place beyond the crisis - over the rainbow -maybe, like Dorothy & her motley crew of friends - all skipping along with Toto snapping at their heels - like the Fool's dog in the Tarot. Is he trying to alert the young boy to the danger ahead we might ask? Is he trying to get him to turn back - stay safe? Or is he encouraging his master to go on - never mind if he jumps off the cliff so to speak - perhaps he might just fly! As we all might do!
In the end it's Toto who drags back the curtain revealing the Scary Wizard to be just a kind old man, with gifts & wisdom to share – and showing us, like the children are doing with their rainbows – just what we have been searching for.
It may have taken a Tornado- or a virus!!! It may have ripped the house from under our feet - carried it through a swirling storm to another land - just so we might discover what we already had , the Courage of the Lion - the Straw Man’s Brain and the Tin Man’s beating heart, strong and full of love.
It may have taken a Tornado- or a virus!!! It may have ripped the house from under our feet - carried it through a swirling storm to another land - just so we might discover what we already had , the Courage of the Lion - the Straw Man’s Brain and the Tin Man’s beating heart, strong and full of love.
This is the promise the children are holding out for us - they are still believing - bless them all - in the transformative power of dreams.
The song is an invocation - says Shunyamurtu in his talk about the esoteric meaning of Wizard of Oz and the overriding message of the story he says is,
The song is an invocation - says Shunyamurtu in his talk about the esoteric meaning of Wizard of Oz and the overriding message of the story he says is,
To dare to dream the highest possible dream - because whatever you dream will become your reality.
So, we say thank you to our children, to the story & the song for reminding us of these things - right now when we are paradoxically so far from home. Let's hope we reap the benefits of experience - like Dorothy and bring it all back with us when it’s time to return.
Glinda: You've always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn't you tell her before?
Glinda: She wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.
Scarecrow: What have you learned, Dorothy?
Dorothy: Well, I—I think that it, that — if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?
Glinda: That's all it is!
Scarecrow: But that's so easy! I should've thought of it for you -
Tin Man: I should have felt it in my heart -
Glinda: No, she had to find it out for herself. Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds!
just close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself,
'There's no place like home, there's no place like home...'
Much Love
Anne Maria
x x x
Anne Maria
x x x
