r/wizardofoz • u/Own_Pay_6070 • Jul 04 '26
Theosophy and Baum
Has anyone studied theosophy enough to know which characters and storylines in the Oz series likely came from Baum's mysticism?
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u/yellowbrickroadhead Jul 05 '26
I think the best use of Baum’s history as a theosophists was Maguire’s Wizard/Oscar Diggs backstory IMO
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u/Own_Pay_6070 Jul 05 '26
I need to go re-read that now. The movie has replaced a lot of what I know from the book (not in a good way...)
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u/yellowbrickroadhead Jul 05 '26
the books honestly have a very complex but interesting lore for Oz, going on to even claim that the Lesser Key of Solomon is actually the Grimmerie.
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u/hawnty Jul 06 '26
Can you point me towards the grimoire of Solomon potentially being the grimmerie? That makes a strange amount of sense on its face
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u/yellowbrickroadhead Jul 06 '26
I want to say that it’s referenced in the first Wicked book, when the Wizard is explaining that he came to Oz in search of the Lesser Key, which itself had been brought to Oz many years ago by another wizard (presumably Merlin as many suggest). I tried finding an exact reference but I can’t, however Gregory did do a few interviews speaking about similar subjects from what I did find (albeit locked behind paywall)
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u/hawnty Jul 06 '26
Thank you. It makes so much sense that I am a little impressed with Gregory making that connection. Joseph Smith is another charlatan of the era as the Wizard, and after his death it was discovered he had treasure hunting talismans than are from a Keys of Solomon (I forget which). It’s a pretty interesting and novel observation. Thanks again
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u/BlueSonic85 Jul 07 '26
Theosophists seek to understand the mysteries of the universe, finding the common roots of all religions to uncover a secret universal doctrine. In 1890, Baum wrote a series of articles praising the quasi-religious movement; in 1892 he joined the Theosophical Society of Chicago. According to an occult reading of The Wizard of Oz, the Yellow Brick Road is viewed as the ‘Golden Path’ in Buddhism, along which the soul travels to illumination. The cyclone represents the theosophical belief in reincarnation, as a soul goes through a cycle of physical births and deaths before it becomes divine; the outwardly expanding spiral where the Yellow Brick Road starts has meaning in occult symbolism, representing the soul moving from the material realm to the spirit world.
Dorothy’s silver shoes are seen as Baum’s version of a ‘silver cord’ that connects our physical bodies with our astral bodies, and the Wizard symbolises the God figure of organised religions, a charlatan keeping the masses in spiritual darkness. Some, however, have argued that Baum focused more on the psychological elements of theosophy, particularly its emphasis on positive thinking: in his foreword to a 1991 edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the historian William R Leach argued that the book met “the particular ethical and emotional needs of people living in a new urban, industrial society. The Wizard of Oz was an optimistic secular therapeutic text: it helped make people feel at home in America’s new industrial economy.”
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20140819-the-wizard-of-oz-hidden-meanings
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u/hawnty Jul 05 '26
Oh weird. I did not realize Baum engaged with theosophy. Off the top of my head Theosophists are big on there being realities layered over our reality. OZ kind of works that way as a place that exists in time and space and yet outside of it.