When the movie The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, it was already well known to four generations of children who had read the original series of books by Frank L. Baum. The iconic songs and imagery of this MGM classic have inspired subsequent adaptations in books, plays, and movies, suggesting that this story still contains relevant issues for our time.
Since Dorothy’s experience in Oz resembles a dream, we will use Jung’s method of dream analysis to understand the meanings of this myth. We will identify the archetypal motifs embodied in the characters of this story as they set out on their journey to Oz with particular attention paid to the orphan archetype and positive and negative aspects of the mother archetype. Seminar participants will be asked to share dreams, active imaginations, or creative work that relates to an image or character in this story in order to deepen our understanding of these archetypes (see assignment below).
Assignment: Identify a character or symbol in the movie that resonates with you. Then engage this character (or object) by doing an active imagination or some kind of creative work: write a poem about it, create a dance or a piece of art based on this character. Please email a photo of your work to drjcreekmore@comcast.net one week before we meet.
