The Oz books and Theosophy
The Famous Novel Series and Its Religious Overtones
L. Frank Baum's novels of Oz have been popular for more than a century. Their religious inspiration comes from an esoteric eastern religion little known in the west.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum is a classic of children's literature. It has been adapted to the screen several times (most famously by MGM in 1939) and has inspired authors from Ray Bradbury to Salman Rushdie.
Political Allegory
Most critical interpretations of the book have argued that Oz is a political allegory referring to the Gold Standard vs. Free Silver issue that influenced the 1896 presidential election. The yellow brick road, in this interpretation is the gold standard while the silver shoes (ruby slippers in the movie) are the silver standard.
This theory has been popular since Henry M. Littlefield published "The Wizard of Oz: A Parable of Populism" in 1963.
But a more recent theory, put forth in David B. Parker's essay "Oz: L. Frank Baum's Theosophical Utopia" (1996) has focused on the religious interpretations of Baum's work.
Theosophy
Baum and his wife Maud Gage, became members of the Theosophical Society in 1897 at the urging of Frank's mother-in-law Matilda Joslyn Gage, a noted abolitionist, sufferagette, freethinker and activist.
Theosophy draws much of its philosophy from Hinduism and Buddhism and Parker argues that Theosophy's close relationship with eastern philosophy might explain the existence of the "dainty China country" (which does not appear in the film), a land where everything is made of china, even the ground and the people. The only church that ever appears in the series is in this place, and it is broken into tiny pieces by the Cowardly Lion by accident. Baum was a Methodist and an Episcopalian before he became a Theosophist.
Parker specifically points to four examples of how Baum's views as a Theosophist could have influenced his writing in Oz:
- Many early Theosophists were also feminists, and most major characters in Oz are female
- The Scarecrow adventures in search of brains he already has, which Parker sees as "theosophical reflections in Baum's anti-intellectualism"
- Theosophists believe in universal reincarnation, and some of Baum's characters "reincarnate" by changing identities, such as Tip, the main character of The Marvelous Land of Oz, who is transformed into Ozma by the end. Parker elaborates that the word "Ozma" is similar to "Atma", Theosophy's name for the Spirit, the highest form of human evolution.
- Colors were important to early Theosophists. An early Theosophist named Charles M. Leadbetter came up with a list of colors and their correspondence to astral bodies. In this system, yellow is "intellect", while emerald green is "versatility, ingenuity and resourcefulness". Parker explains that Dorothy follows the Yellow Brick Road (intellect) to the Emerald City and finds only a humbug (the Wizard), therefore "head-learning" alone is useles. Parker concludes by saying that only after demonstrating "versatility, ingenuity and resourcefulness applied unselfishly" does Glinda (in the book she is the Good Witch of the South) tell Dorothy that she has always had the power to go home.
