Give Me Back My Ruby Slippers

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s first official “act” in Oz was a murder - the death of the Wicked Witch of the East. Apparently, this witch “dies” when you enter the subconscious, or dreaming mind.

Dorothy’s next crime is to steal the witch’s ruby slippers. These slippers are the “bone of contention” throughout the film, with the Wicked Witch of the West always persuing Dorothy, desiring their magical power:

Give me back my slippers.
I’m the only one that knows how to use them,
They’re of no use to you!
Give them back to me, Give them back!

Note it’s “give them BACK to me”, implying that she and her sister could be the same old girl. The Witch of the West is the subconscious version of the Witch of the East, exactly like Scarecrow is the subconscious version of Hunk, and the Wizard is the subconscious version of Professor Marvel.

Which means the Witch is the subconscious version of one Miss Elvira Gulch.

The Gulch’s own “half the county” and are deathly afraid of little dogs, which are themselves powerful subconscious resonators. Toto is Dorothy’s subconscious, and Miss Gulch wants to have it “destroyed”. Elvira has the force of the law and propriety on her side, and to me she represents the “Powers That Be” - the self-righteous yet corrupt persons and institutions that we dare not go against because of their mighty power of the law, and the threat of violence.

We can’t go against the law, Dorothy. --Aunty Em

If Miss Gulch represents the Powers That Be, then the Witch of the West represents my subconscious “belief” in them. They are one and the SAME THING. The only difference is that “one is even worse than the other one”. My subconscious, being very much like Toto, is easily trained, mostly through repetitive presentation of symbols and ideas:

 “Capitalism gives us all an equal chance to get rich, Communism wants to enslave us; Christianity and Judaism are good, Islam is scary; Killing for American political interests is heroic, resisting those political interests is terrorism; Sex is mostly vile, gay sex immeasurably more so.”

We all know the general memes and we see how artfully they are placed into our nearly defenseless subconscious by a thousand different methods beginning almost immediately after birth. I have an extremely well trained subconscious, I woefully admit.

So I know who the Witch is, but what are the ruby slippers, and why are they so important to her?

Keep tight inside of them. They’re magic must be very powerful, or she wouldn’t want them so badly. --Glinda

Dorothy doesn’t actually know she wears ruby slippers until she enters Oz. Which means the conscious mind cannot even know they are there. Only the subconscious can see them, much less use them.

“I’m the only one that knows how to use them, They’re of no use to you!”

Considering that the slippers grant Dorothy's every wish, I’ll muse that perhaps the ruby slippers represent my personal power of reality creation. My “God-like production”, if you will. This is the creative power that Jung called the Id, and this power is accessed only through the subconscious, dreaming mind. Hmmm. No wonder the Witch wants them so badly!

I’ve been lead to believe that my personal power of creation is a team effort - that I “co-create” my reality, though "co-destroy" would be more accurate. But what if that’s not exactly true? What if the consensus reality is an illusion? What if we, each and every one of us, wear a pair of ruby slippers?

What if you could control everyone else’s slippers, make them dance to your tune? Even convince them that have no slippers. Why, you could control the world.

The Witch of the East (conscious, military power) and the Witch of the West (subconscious, religious power).

Dorothy eventually overcomes both witches. She recruits her friends from the top of the Chakra on down: the Scarecrow, or brain; the Tin Man, or heart; and the Lion, or will. It’s a team effort, after all.

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“Well, my pretty, I can cause accidents, too!”

October 13, 2010, was a big day for the witch. Our latest mediated “accident” are the 33 Chilean miners, all rescued safely, thanks to the prayers of the current wearer of the ruby slippers. Given the heavy handed resurrection symbolism surrounding the event, it makes me wonder. The Catholic church slippers are looking a bit tarnished these days, and this event has certainly helped polish them up a bit.

 Jesus was supposedly 33 when he was crucified, and the miner's mountain began to resemble the Great Pyramid with those slanting shafts burrowing into the "king's chamber".  The Phoenix was a popular symbol of both Egyptian and early Christian resurrection, and the "Phoenix car" reminds me of the Ka of the Pharaohs, escaping the underworld. Add in that October 13 is a Masonic holy day, being the day of dissolution of the Knights Templar, and well... let’s just say my spider sense is tingling.

Defying grim predictions about how they would fare after two months trapped underground, many of the Chilean miners came bounding out of their rescue capsule on Wednesday as pictures of energy and health, able not only to walk, but, in one case, to leap around, hug everyone in sight and lead cheers. -NYT

Uh, yea. And notice they all took a vow of secrecy about their underground ordeal. Now we have the Secret Society of Chilean Miners?

Well, true story or not, the Chilean miners win the Pope some ruby slipper points with his base. But for me... not so fast, Witchy Poo. I may have just become conscious of my own ruby slippers, and I’m not giving them up so easily. I’m not giving them back.