Annie woke up thinking about the Wizard of Oz story this morning. It seems as the world continues to fall deeply into the spell of madness --- that we needed some lighter fare.
Boy, did we dial the wrong dream sequence. lol
The classic story of Oz has sometimes been referred to as a "classic" occult tale more aptly reflecting our "real" world. The rituals and occult nature of how our upper/lower Worlds operate are purportedly revealed right there in the Land of Oz.
QIM Tunes, as written by five autistic men contains references to "Oz." It was specifically written therein for us to "experience Oz." And they didn't mean Australia.
So, while searching the news this morning ... we stumbled upon a follow-up to the story from August that old us we may be re-entering an active "Oz" phase in this psychotic nation.
Insurance company denies claim on stolen Wizard of Oz slippers
Associated Press - MINNEAPOLIS -
Click your heels together and say, "There's no place like court!"
An insurance company said it won't pay a $1 million claim on one of the pairs of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. The slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids in August. They're one of four pairs of slippers Garland wore in the 1939 movie.
A lawsuit filed in Minneapolis by Essex Insurance said it won't pay the claim because the museum deactivated the burglar alarm and did not have video surveillance or working motion detectors.
Where's Toto when you *really* need him??
John Kelsh, executive director of the museum, said Friday that he had not seen the lawsuit. "I don't want to comment because I haven't seen the document," he said.
Pssssttttt .... look behind the curtain, Executive Director Kelsh!
Then, we found a musical of note:
...the Masonic Temple Theatre looks behind the curtain at the back story of that personification of nastiness, the Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz." This show defines the word, as it is so famously articulated by the good witch Glinda. It is POP-u-LUR.
Something 'Wicked' this way comes
Bewitching musical hits Washington
By Scott RosenbergExaminer Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 10:55 PM EST
...Stephen Schwartz's musical score isn't something you'll be humming on your way out of the theater. But that doesn't stop "Wicked" from being a worthwhile show.
...Adapted from Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name, "Wicked" tells the story leading up to "The Wizard of Oz." It explains why the Wicked Witch of the West is so wicked, and how all the fantastical creatures - flying monkeys, heartless tin men, cowardly lions and brainless scarecrows - came to exist in the land of Oz.
...you're introduced to Elphaba in her misunderstood, caring, pre-wicked days, where she shows compassion for the plight of the animals of Oz, who are quickly being changed from intelligent creatures that can speak into mindless beasts. You meet her wheelchair-bound sister, Nessarose, who is in line to run the Munchkin village, and get a formal introduction to the sugary-sweet Glinda.
From a review of the original book which was actually written over 10 years ago:
Wicked:
...the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
by Gregory Maguire
The book covers a lot of territory – from her birth and odd childhood, her days at boarding school & reluctant pairing with roommate Glinda, her loves and losses, her dysfunctional family relationships (she and the sister-soon-to-be-squished, for example, aren’t exactly the best of friends) to her ultimate destruction by that “Dorothy creature”. It also raises a lot of questions about perceptions of evil, discrimination and equality in societies, the rights and responsibilities - and decisions - of individuals when facing a corrupt government, and how the tragedies of an individual’s life can snowball to make her almost unrecognizable.
Excerpts from the Story:
The Root of Evil
From the crumpled bed the wife said, "I think today's the day. Look how low I've gone."
"Today? That would be like you, perverse and inconvenient," said her husband, teasing her, standing at the doorway and looking outward, over the lake, the fields, the forested slopes beyond. He could just make out the chimneys of Rush Margins, breakfast fires smoking.
"The worst possible moment for my ministry. Naturally."
The wife yawned. "There's not a lot of choice involved. From what I hear. Your body gets this big and it takes over — if you can't accommodate it, sweetheart, you just get out of its way. It's on a track of its own and nothing stops it now." She pushed herself up, trying to see over the rise of her belly. "I feel like a hostage to myself. Or to the baby."
"Exert some self-control." He came to her side and helped her sit up. "Think of it as a spiritual exercise. Custody of the senses. Bodily as well as ethical continence."
"Self-control?" She laughed, inching toward the edge of the bed. "I have no self left. I'm only a host for the parasite. Where's my self, anyway? Where'd I leave that tired old thing?"
"Think of me." His tone had changed; he meant this.
"Frex" — she headed him off — "when the volcano's ready there's no priest in the world can pray it quiet."
"What will my fellow ministers think?"
"Every day is a great crisis for our society." She was being flip, answering him in the terms men use. Dear thick thing, he didn't hear the irony in her voice.
"We stand at a crossroads. Idolatry looms. Traditional values in jeopardy. Truth under siege and virtue abandoned."
Oh Boy, friends ... ain't *that* the truth.
Curious notes:
Gregory Maguire fashioned the name of Elphaba (pronounced EL-fa-ba) from the initials ofthe author of The Wizard of Oz, Lyman Frank Baum-L-F-B-Elphaba.
Okay. blah blah blah. This does sound like a very interesting novel. However, understanding the psychology underlying the "wicked" does not make me more sympathetic to this character. She knows she's bad. She accepted her wickedness and she enjoys the power. Blat. Even Hannibal Lecter showed a modicum of compassion. Did it make you like him or want to release him from his chains? No. Why would the "Arts & Entertainment" culture attempt, at this time, to encourage sympathy for Wickedness, personified in the Wicked Witch of The West?
A 10-year-old novel has been transformed into a musical. And it seeps into consciousness. It's a strange and weird thing to me. I mean .. I understand the desire to dissect the anatomy of "evil" because in the character of Elphaba [The Witch] we come to understand certain aspects of ourselves. And the Wizard of Oz truly is a classic as far as a story that not only impressed generations ... but is indelibly stamped on our psyches. This story wants us to understand and forgive this feminine personification of wicked. Well, I don't want to. She knows what she is and she needs to release and replace the need for power over others. Put the shoes back where they belong and go home.
My own journey to being a more whole person did not really begin until I had to confront my own mother for not affording protection to us, as children, from a sometimes very emotionally ill father. The same went for some of my men friends who experienced trauma at the hands of ill mothers. They had to peel Father's pedestal back a bit and ask why they were not afforded protection in the same fashion. Man/woman - father/mother ... the traumas change hands, but the concept still applies. It just seems that as a "collective" ... our culture really needs to peel the Mom pedestal a bit further. Once that aspect is accomplished [confronting the ones who were supposed to protect us] it is easier to move forward as adults and place our today's into our own hands. Take our own responsibility for how we are now.
Somewhere along the way, we each have to assist in breaking the circular chains that perpetuate the massive victim state in which we all currently reside. However our own wounds are expressed .. be it addictions, lusts, perversions or prevarications and sometimes each are the same ... we all hold our own water bucket of healing. The key is to pour it over our own heads, Annie thinks. Once we can melt away our own stone walls, look honestly & painfully within .. then one more piece of linked chain breaks free.
.... if I only had a heart, a brain, the nerve ...
Ain't it all peculiar? ;o)
But if the truth makes love last longer
Why do lies make my love stronger
Ain't that peculiar
A peculiar ality
Ain't that peculiar baby
Peculiar as can be
I cried so much just like a child thats lost its home
Maybe baby you think these tears i cry are tears of joy
A child can cry so much until you do everything they say
But unlike a child my tears don't help me to get my way
I know love can last through years
But how can love last through tears
---Marvin Gaye---
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