Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Poetry by The Irrational Sage...at the end

The true meaning of The Wizard of Oz leads us down allegorical possibilities of interpretation from the path to enlightenment, a struggle against the dark forces, or the Hero’s Journey. Some say the movie is talking of politics and the corrupt financial system, while others conclude that it is a CIA MK Ultra mind-control program.

What if it’s something even deeper?  What if each person sees the story (and in essence, all stories) through an ever-changing lens as they seek to discover who they really are?

Dorothy says, “oh, but I’m not a witch at all,” only to realize at the end as she taps her heels three times and finds the magic within that, indeed maybe she is?

Much of society associates the word “witch” with Halloween and negative things, supporting the spooky tales of history where the label of “witch” has been twisted in time to be something only in regards to evil magic or witchcraft, when often it was someone (usually a woman) who was an herbalist, a shaman, an energy healer, or someone, who, in some aspect, was connected with the elements of nature and how to work with them.

It’s interesting how those that write history seem to change the real meaning of stories, isn’t it? They play on our psyche and create blocks to finding our inner self and fully igniting the light within our soul. Symbolism and words imbued with energy that speaks to our fears as if wondering if we’ll ever be brave enough to knock…to meet the shadows.

People fear the unfamiliar, the unknown, what is not like them—it’s human nature and is why so many cling to the hive mind of a group consciousness inside what is familiar.

We don’t need to understand everyone, but to shame, wish harm, and cast out those not like us is to miss out on the differences that make things interesting, that make us human.  I’m not talking about those that need to be called out, the liars, thieves and murderers, as accountability is more important than ever, and harmful behaviors should not overlooked. Some things are easy to see through if you have eyes to see, but some things take a stronger embodied connection to feel beyond what the eyes can see.

I always related most to the Wicked Witch character and this was my Halloween costume as a kid.  I have a bony, pointy, nose like her, so I recall feeling a kindredness that there was someone else like me, someone else that had the same nose, a nose that lets itself be known in a world that saw this as a flaw.

You see, like me, she was misunderstood and the protruding bump on her nose meant she was instantly labeled…the cover of the book determined before anyone ever read the inside.

Later in life I read that the nose was a direct channel to the Divine. I mean, after all, each breath travels through the nostrils…spirit inspires, scents connect to sense, smells tell us if something is off and I decided I would like my witchy nose once and for all! (and for the record, no, I will not put a swab up my nose)

She couldn't hide that she was different, she just was (point being, I always tried to fit in, but I never did). She was “perceived” as wicked in The Wizard of Oz story, but wouldn't you be pissed, too, if someone dropped a house on your sister and then stole her most valuable possession that was meant to be passed on to you? (Was there a will or a trust, did Glinda even stop to consider this?)

And when people fear what they don't understand, it is no surprise she took comfort in her monkeys as her family, animal friendships, and guardian of them and her castle. She seems pretty sovereign if you ask me, she doesn’t hide behind a mask, she just is who she is and I like that.

There is a reason people with the ability to see and discern want to live more remotely and be left alone.  It’s certainly my current way of living.

Then there is the color, green. Without touching on the story as it is told in Wicked, this color can be that of envy OR a representation of the heart, the hearth, the earth. Green is symbolic of renewal, harmony with nature, a spiritual doorway as the hearth, or center of our body. Thus, painting of witches as evil or green with envy in fairytales is symbolically demonizing nature, just as we see happening so much now in the heightened censorship of herbal remedies and the old ways being brought back to life. Knowing the importance of color, it could else be representative of the embodied frequency of the heart chakra or energy center…. maybe she was a goddess of the forest protecting her sovereign domain or maybe she was just angry and sad that her sister died? And maybe the green represents her life showing Sage Wisdom from a lifetime of lessons and being misconceived as someone or something she wasn’t?

Why must we always believe the outer representation of what we are “told” represents a “negative” quality as truth? Assumptions always get us in trouble.

In contrast, Glinda always felt fake, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a pretty façade.  She had glamour, persuasion and was convincing with her wand and her bubbles, but, if you think about it, Glinda lied to Dorothy AND then drugged her by sending her into poppy fields followed by a little “snow”(cocaine sprinkling?), and there was definitely no informed consent… I wonder who she was working for?

Glinda knew the Wizard of Oz was a hoax and sent Dorothy there anyways, putting her in great danger. Dorothy supposedly conquered her "manufactured fear" of what Glinda told her to fear and returned home... but what if the reflection of the true shadow was hidden behind the one she believed was “good?"

If Glinda would lie to help Dorothy, does that morally make it OK? Did Glinda have an ulterior motive, or does she represent another “hidden” aspect of Dorothy’s subconscious?

Things aren't always as they seem. It is up to us to ask questions and figure it out before blindly following a yellow brick road painted in what appeared to be gold—when all Dorothy ever had to do from the beginning was just wake up.

The beauty is that the journey, no matter how ugly or pretty, is always helping us, and a dream is never just a dream. Curiosity, critical thinking and discernment will carry us on and just like in this story, sometimes we have to go through trials and tribulations to become more aware and conscious of the road we’ve chosen. The character’s, be it “perceived” hero or villain are often just that, perceptions…important earth angels here to help us expand our wisdom and capacity for compassion, even when our choices seem limited.

Did the witch deserve to be harmed when all she wanted was her rightful property returned to her? Is Dorothy not the thief in the story, after all, she didn’t really need the shoes, just her belief in herself. She let the fear implanted in her mind by Glinda’s words guide her instead of listening to her own inner knowing and in turn, harmed another by her own choices. She obeyed the wizard blindly, despite all the smoke and mirrors being up front and center and she listened to an outer authority instead of authoring her own way.

I like the Wicked Witch for her fire, her conviction, her spark of calling out wrongdoings, for speaking what was truly on her mind and trusting in her psychic/intuitive abilities. She knows who she is and knowing thyself is what we are all here to do.

I can see how these archetypes relate to what has played out the last four years from 2020 to now, in 2024. People are guided by unwarranted fear implanted in their mind through media, entertainment and propaganda. Those that tell the truth are hated, while the pretty little liars behind the podiums and on the billboards are esteemed by the masses—because truth is never comfortable and never pretty, but it’s where we learn to grow when we are open to seeing it within ourselves and the outer world: as within, as without.

When Dorothy melted the Witch with water, was this symbolic of the alchemical process of purification, of expanded consciousness or overcoming the ego? Was it representative of Dorothy doing the shadow work and conquering her inner demons?

While living fully in ego leads to disconnection with spiritual and personal growth, the false gurus teaching a total ego death in their philosophy are essentially asking us to abandon something that is also inherently part of us, essential for individuation. Transmuting ego into greater consciousness brings gnosis, but one must first have the self-awareness of how the ego is showing up in their life and if it is fueled by unhealthy greed, desire or a drive for power (like the false Wizard) or has been integrated and embodied into the whole of being (like the real man behind the facade of the Wizard became in the end).

As shown in the story, I believe if we learn to work with the ego, integrate it, accept that this is what represents our personality, then it no longer becomes an unconscious limiting nag controlling us, but an ally and friend.

Everyone is seen as good (a hero) or bad (a villain) to someone in the story of their life, but it is in this labeling to define a person or experience where we can lose the greater meaning of the lesson, often showing up in disguise until we shift our lens later down the “yellow brick” road and find the real gold inside of us.

The story of The Wizard of Oz is about the elements, the forces of nature, of coming to know thyself, of life and death, of fear and love, discernment and deceit, and of breaking free from the influence of others to find our own path.

Appearances, roles, and characters playing out in the movie, as in real life, can often present to us a deeper truth that only we can discover by walking bravely down an unknown path. Dorothy found her home and it wasn’t a place in the material world, but a metaphysical place inside her heart and soul.

Like everything, there are people working with evil forces and people working with good, at least in the traditional sense. Mostly I think people do things unconsciously, lacking self-awareness or a willingness to do the inner work of self-contemplation to see the bigger picture playing out in both reality and metaphysically.

Sometimes people will hide who they really are behind a put-together façade only revealing their true nature later on after they have stolen your heart.

Sometimes people will be painted as the villain that have giant hearts full of love to give but have shut down from the pain, cruelty and ignorance of the world, as well as from being misunderstood.

Sometimes you can see right through people and it seems like the wolf-in-sheep’s clothing gets away with everything, but we don’t know the internal battle they may be fighting for each has their own karma and dharma to contend with in life and it’s not always for others to know.

Sometimes you can’t see the wolf in sheep’s clothing at all.

Remember, knowingly or unknowingly, everyone casts spells with their words and energy every day, so you must ask yourself, “am I a good witch or a bad witch?” …and are you following the road of your own choosing.

Your words wield magic and cast spells, do you write in cursive and have good things to tell? Do you hold your tongue and miss the chance to speak your mind? Do your bad intentions cast curses that are anything but sublime?

Everyone is a witch of some kind, daily rituals of coffee grinding and afternoon tea, purification routines when you brush your teeth, traditions in which we make meaning from our own culture…superstitions, and habits, or even oddities that draw us closer to each other.

Obviously, there are a million directions I could discuss, but in keeping it with The Wizard of Oz movie and the Wicked Witch, I think it’s always fun to consider the possibility of “what if things are not as they are being presented?”

I see that little girl in me so happy in the photo to be dressed up like the “wicked” witch and I now know she saw something that others couldn’t see. It’s like the reverse of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, she can see the good in what is being shown to us as evil, or as in modern day censorship – the truth tellers being slandered. She sees beauty where others only see ugliness.

She knew this time would come. She knew she’d be perceived as a villain at times for calling things out that others couldn’t see, and she bravely owned it and I thank her for this gift, this remembering, this wisdom that only the innocence of a child could bring, my inner-child, the embodiment of the shadow, making peace with the imperfection that comes with being human and accepting all parts in that wholeness, light and dark, for this goes beyond good and evil and into the deeper essence that lives inside the very making of a soul.

(Invisible Spells)

Stay curious,

~ Angela