Emerging Archetypal Themes: Taurus, Dame Ragnall & “What Women Want”.

Taurus

Late April through mid - May is the season of Taurus, the time when the Feminine Spirit of Life comes into full blossom.  The promise of harvest colors the blossoms. The primal spark of Aries’ heavenly Fire is incarnated in the beauty and blossoming and sensuality of Taurus’ Earth, just as the Earth takes the returning Sun’s energy and turns it into Life!  What is ready for life now comes to life.  Taurus is the most earthy astrological sign, and it wants to build, to manifest according to Cosmic Law, for the Earth is our foundation.  Taurus is concerned with values as well, so Taurus inspires us to manifest what we really value. When we don’t know our values, we can’t really know what our heart’s true desire is.  

Taurus, being a fixed earth sign, can become very materialistic when our values are those of the patriarchy, and not of the Spirit.  Without a deep connection to our inner life, money, power and possessions consume our attention while our souls languish.  Then it is often through love that we come to reclaim ourselves.  Venus/Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, Sex, Beauty and Wisdom, is the archetypal energy that underlies Taurus.  That means that Taurus thrives on love, beauty, sacred sexuality and wholeness.

In Venus’ Taurean home, we find out what we really value: love, beauty, creativity, kindness, family, cooperation and truth.  'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. (John Keats).   We will soon take a look at a story about a man who is given the opportunity to discover what women—and feminine spirit—want and who takes this Taurus lesson to heart.

The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell

In Celtic myth and legend, the King, who represents the masculine ideals and values of the country, must marry the feminine embodiment of his Land, Lady Sovereignty.  This union brings life and fertility to the land and to the people.   Often Lady Sovereignty tests the man who would be King, by appearing as a hideous old Hag whom the man must accept and love despite her ugliness.  For a society this means accepting the laws and cycles of Mother Earth, the land itself, for we are part of the Earth’s ecosystem whether we admit it or not.   For an individual, this means accepting feminine consciousness as equal to and helpful for collective rational masculine consciousness.  This means accepting the information those unacceptable feelings and intuitions and instincts give us and acting on them, even if they go against the rules of our society.   If we are brave enough, this can mean giving Sovereignty to the Earth and her laws; it can mean giving sovereignty to the promptings of the soul, which holds the spark of divinity and creativity within each of us; and it can mean giving sovereignty to our feminine, imaginal consciousness, which ‘reads’ the world.  And last but not least, it can mean finally giving back sovereignty to women.

There is a medieval Arthurian tale about the need to bring back the power of feminine sovereignty to collective consciousness. When a culture or an individual has repressed feminine Spirit for too long, life itself insists on a rebalancing of energies.   This tale shows us what must be done.  It is called The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell.

 

Once King Arthur was out hunting and soon outpaced his friends.  He brought down a stag and as he was dressing his kill, a giant knight accosted him and gave him a riddle to solve.  The riddle was this:  what do women want?  Arthur had a year to find out the answer or his life was forfeit to this giant knight.

Arthur’s nephew Gawain offered to help him search for the answer.  And so they both headed off into the world, seeking answers to this riddle.  Although they filled two books with answers, Arthur knew instinctively that they didn’t have the right one yet.  So he rode into the forest to meditate.

There he saw the most loathsome Hag riding toward him, who greeted him with this advice: ‘If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, I can tell you the answer to your riddle.  But the price is my marriage to Gawain.’  And even though she was such an ugly hag, Gawain agreed to marry her to save Arthur’s life.

Well, after giving the giant all the other answers he had gathered, Arthur was forced to give him the answer that the Hag, Dame Ragnell, gave him.  What women desire most of men is to have the Sovereignty!  And so Arthur escaped death. 

But then Gawain had to marry the Hag! That night in bed, Dame Ragnell entreated him to at least kiss her, despite her ugliness.  Gawain gathered his courage and said he’d do more than kiss her, he would love her.  And when he turned to her, Dame Ragnell was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

But Ragnell’s beauty would not hold.  She could be beautiful for only half the day.  So did Gawain want her beautiful by day and ugly in bed, or ugly by day and beautiful for him alone?  And Gawain, because he did love her, told her that it was her decision to make.  Which of course was the only right answer!  And so the curse was broken, and Ragnell could be beautiful both day and night because Gawain had given her the Sovereignty.

What Women Want

Our Aries movie theme was the Male Hero and we will continue discussing emerging masculine archetypal themes in our Taurus movie, What Women Want.  In Oz, the Great and Powerful, our hero Oscar the Wizard had to face the three aspects of his ‘anima’ – his inner feminine soul – and make a conscious choice for the Good.  In facing down his witchy, greedy, self-absorbed shadow anima (Evanora), and his enraged, betrayed ‘trying to get along with everyone’ anima (Theodora), he learned to accept and love his inner goodness, his inner magic, his soul, his wise anima Glinda. 

In Nancy Meyer’s funny and poignant movie,What Women Want, our hero Nick is immediately described by his ex-wife as a ‘man’s man’, a ‘charmer’ and a ‘momma’s boy’, along with other choice comments.  Where Oscar was a father’s son, whose uncaring ambition came from a negative relationship with his father, Nick’s character was shaped by his Las Vegas showgirl mother.  He was the pet of the showgirls, and the unconscious apprentice of ‘gangster’ male role models (like many men raised on the Soprano’s and other glamorized mafia role models.)  In short, he was the modern American male, whose mother adored the Rat Pack like we did the Beatles.  Nick still lived his life to a Frank Sinatra soundtrack.  The first thing we find out about him is that he is a charming playboy, who seduces women just for the fun of it.  He knows he can.  And so he does.  He’s been trained to take power.

Nick is climbing the corporate ladder as a hot-shot advertising executive, cunning at crafting ads to entice the male ego.  But times have changed—and now most of the advertising money is being spent on women, and unfortunately, Nick doesn’t have a clue about what women want—beyond wanting him.  To win a share of the women’s market, Nick’s boss, Dan, passes him over for a promotion and hires Darcy McGuire, the top woman in her field, to be Creative Director.

The whole atmosphere of this ad agency shouts MALE.  The women are there to be of service or try to just fit in.  So when Darcy starts off her first meeting with a collegial style, asking everyone to come up with ideas for a selection of women’s products, she is offering them an alternative feminine model, where people share information and cooperate (‘5 heads are better than 1.’).  She is bringing a very feminine style of working together to a very masculine agency.   And like Dame Ragnell, she is perceived as ugly.  For you see, rumor has it Darcy is a real man-eater, and Nick’s heard ‘Darcy McGuire is a birch on wheels.’

But Darcy has great legs and Nick decides to take her on.  Like Gawain, Nick is a Son of the Mother, a great lover of women, who thinks he is being charming when he is acting like a spoiled child.  The blessing is that he’s soon going to learn what he’s really like and he’s going to change.

Nick might not know how to care about anyone except himself, but he is creative and playful, probably learned at his mother’s knee.  Nick goes home determined to figure out how to sell these products. He puts on Sinatra and dances but he gets stuck in a male view of women, because that’s what Sinatra was all about.  Nick’s feminine feeling side is shaped by Hollywood and Vegas and those tastes cater to men.  He even realizes he has to change the music.  So he roots through his daughter’s suitcase (she’s visiting while her mom is on her honeymoon) and puts on Alanis Morisette’s “I’m a Bitch”. 

The interesting thing about Nick is that he knows how to use his feminine imagination in service to his masculine needs.  But he doesn’t know how to listen to his real feminine feeling side.  His feminine consciousness is also a Father’s Daughter—at the service of patriarchy.  Like Arthur and Gawain and all true Sons of the Mother, Nick is blessed with an opportunity at redemption.   He has to deal with three women at once: his neglected daughter Alex, who refuses to call him dad, his new boss Darcy and Lola, a waitress he’s been trying to seduce for months.   Nick is going to have an awakening that forces him to come up against his own ugly side as he implements his manipulative plan to bring Darcy down, to seduce Lola and to continue to ignore his daughter’s need for a real father.

  So, here’s Nick, drinking and singing with Alanis, painting his nails, using face cream, waxing his legs (“Women are crazy.  Why would they do this more than once!?”), blow drying his hair.  Fate comes in and takes over – he slips on bath beads, falls into a full tub of water, his hair dryer goes flying and he is electrocuted. (A great symbol of a Uranus awakening!)

When Nick wakes up, he can hear women’s thoughts. At first he thinks he’s crazy, then it drives him crazy. He hears what women think of him (sexy!) and his usual routine (he’s such a pig!).  He tries to reverse whatever gave him this power, but he can’t.  He even goes to a therapist, and when he proves to her that he’s not crazy but that he can hear her thoughts, she tells him that he has a great gift.  She says that ‘the world can be yours, because if you know what women want, you can rule the world’.  ‘You’re the luckiest man in the world!’  So much for the integrity of psychiatry! 

So of course, at first Nick uses this new power to trip up and control things with Darcy and Lola.  He uses this gift for his own purposes, which is what patriarchy does with all our feelings and insights.  It uses them for its own purposes, not for the real purpose of understanding and compassion.  This is why Arthur is confronted by the giant knight.  His society has neglected the feminine aspects of life and so the powers of life fight back.  Only if Arthur recognizes and honors the power of Feminine Spirit will he escape death and destruction.  And just like Arthur and Gawain, who accepted the challenge for Arthur, Nick has to face the selfishness of his life by confronting his Dame Ragnell and allow her the sovereignty, before he can see her beauty.

Like Oscar and his China Doll, Nick immediately has sympathy for a broken and sad young woman in the office whose thoughts circle around suicide.  As with many men, their protective side comes online when a woman is hurt.  At first he just notices her thoughts, but it helps him to notice the other women in the office.  And as he begins to hear the women’s thoughts, their fears, their worries and their hopes, Nick becomes their cheerleader and supporter, adding his male understanding to their relationship problems.  He becomes a positive masculine support.  Nick finds out that he actually enjoys hanging with the women, a good behavior he learned from his time with his mom and her showgirl friends.

As Nick begins to pay attention to what the women in his life really think about him, he tries to change his ways, because he really likes them.  When he hears Alex’s friends’ thoughts badmouthing him as a father, he charmingly offers them what they want.  When he tells Alex he’ll take her shopping for a prom dress, he hears how she wants to take advantage of him, and he offers to buy her the extras without her asking.   When he finally seduces Lola, her less than enthusiastic thoughts about his love-making challenge his sense of manhood, and he outdoes himself in the love-making department.  When he ‘listens in’ on Darcy’s thoughts about an ad campaign, he steals her ideas and improves on them.  He uses his knowledge and improves on it, which is what masculine consciousness is good at.  But Nick is still lying to everyone about his ability, and he goes back and forth between selfishness and understanding with all the women in his life.

As Nick begins to understand how women feel, he does discover what women want.  Women want men who will love them for who they are, not for who men want them to be.  Women don’t want to be seen as ugly because we’re smart, and accomplished and beautiful and whole.  He hears Darcy’s insecurities and begins to understand how hard it is for women to just be ourselves, because women often pay the price, like Darcy whose husband was jealous of her, “for just being me.”   

Although he steals the idea from Darcy, he comes up with a great ad campaign for Nike with her.  He tells her, ‘women worry all the time about everything.’  He imagines the road as a place where a woman can be herself, where nobody judges her, where there are no games to play.  At that moment of true intimacy with Darcy, neither of them can tell who thought of the right answer for the ad.  It was a shared answer.  Nick is learning to love.

Nick falls in love with Darcy, with his daughter Alex and ultimately with himself.  As soon as Nick takes self-ownership of his feelings, he loses his ability to hear women’s thoughts.  And because he has grown up and become a whole man, he still goes to rescue the young office girl Erin, thinking she’s going to commit suicide.  When he finds her, he offers her the job she always wanted.  When he finds his daughter at the prom crying in the bathroom, he offers his love and takes her home.  And when he confesses his nefarious plans to Darcy he accepts her firing him, because he has learned to give the women in his life sovereignty.  And he finds out that when women have the sovereignty, love reigns.  In the end, he is rescued by his Beloved and wins back his daughter’s love.  

He has found the most beautiful within himself and in Darcy and Alex.  And like Sir Gawain, once the spell is broken, he discovers the great Joy that comes from love.  

From the Bard's Grove,

Cathy   

Stories of the Earth: Beltane Fires

Happy Beltane!

BELTANE FIRES

                                 Earth Mother - Elana Gibeault

 

          The Celts considered Beltane, or May Eve, the beginning of summer and it is still celebrated with the building of bonfires on hillsides.  Beltane is the time in the Wheel of the Year when "sweet desire weds wild delight."   It is the season when the first glorious burst of Springtime causes our hearts to rejoice in life and love.  Our passion is born anew at Beltane.  We engage in the wild flow of life, regardless of our age.  Our blood pumps through our veins with renewed strength, our hearts open to delight and we become one with the blossoming Earth.

          It is in the 'lusty month of May' that our imaginations take flight with hope.  Perhaps this year. . . !  And so, we dance around the Maypole, weaving the energies of life and love, hope and expectation for the coming year.  We weave the feminine and masculine energies of Life and are renewed.  Amidst the flowering shrubs and birdsong, we too engage in the dance of light and life, calling forth ever greater light and deeper and fuller life.  The bonfires of Beltane give us back the light of hope, and when we jump through and over them, the fires cleanse us of any lingering winter darkness, and bring us luck and fertility.

          There are also many traditions that during Beltane, the veils between the worlds open and the Faerie Folk come out to dance and give their blessings.  Perhaps this belief contains a memory of a time when priestesses and shamans celebrated the opening of the veils between the worlds and the powers of the Earth took on form and walked amongst humans. . .

          Two women sat together as the darkness slowly dissolved the light.  In the twilight hour, the glowing green of new grass and tender new buds turned silvery-grey, while birds darting overhead through the stark tree branches brought flashes of bright color to the growing dark.  To the sounds of animals settling in for the night, the women sat there, breathing in the scent of Spring.  Behind them rose the Faerie Hill.

          As darkness filled the wooded valley, and silence spread her silken wings, the women, alone of all the creatures there, kept watch; one with her eyes closed, the other with hers opened.  They sat there, enfolded in the sweet-smelling darkness, awaiting moonrise. 

          In the darkness, the Mother sat remembering.  Sinking into the silence of the night, she sank down into the silence of her heart.  The painful memories took shape like a dense, gray fog in her mind, only to shred and blow away with the coming of Joy.  For lo!  her daughter, who had been lost, was found again!  The memory and the joy flew through her like a burst of lightning, which broke into myriad pieces and created a universe of stars in the darkness behind her eyes.

          As for the Maiden, she sat in the growing darkness, sharpening her eyes on the shadowy shapes gathering around her.  As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, her ears attuned themselves to the night.  The quiet rustlings of the night forest gave way to the quicksilver melody of a stream leaping and tumbling on the forest floor, while nightingales sang from over on the other side of the rounded hill.   Looking at her mother, the daughter knew a moment of wonder.  Something she thought lost forever was found again.   At peace, she shifted her gaze to the starry heavens.  The pressure of the light was building on her skin, and she looked to the East for the rising of the Moon.

          The silvery shaft of light, flung down from the heavens, cut through the trees to fall on the Faerie Hill.  Now, the sound of moonlight falling on a Faerie Hill is indescribable; it’s as if the most delicate bells are set ringing by the most delectable breezes of Spring.  Both Mother and Maiden let the sound wash over them like a waterfall before they turned to look at each other with identical smiles.  So it began!

       The music of the light and of the night wove strange melodies, tossed by the playful winds high above the forest, only to sink down through the unfurling leaves to dance on the new green grass of the hill behind them.  Mother and Maiden stood in reverence to greet the Moon Mother as her light flowed through the forest and shone upon them in blessing.  When the Moon rose above the trees, they turned toward the Faerie Hill.   And waited.

       As they waited, they added their voices to the wind's melody.  There in the glowing dark, Nature’s song called out through the veils to the Invisible Powers, to the Shining Ones.  The song deepened and swelled, and with arms outstretched to send the call forth, the two women watched as the veils between the worlds began to fray and shred like mist dissolving in the morning light.

          The Faerie Hill appeared to split open from within, and light poured out of the rift, brighter than the moonbeams that danced through the dark forest.  A hidden Sun shone forth from the other side of the veil, and as the two women watched, it took shape as a Tree, a great shining Tree of crystal light, with its roots sunk in the Faerie Hill and its branches reaching to the heavens.

          The Tree glimmered with all the colors of the rainbow as the winds of the Otherworld blew through its branches.  Yet as the music of the faerie bells drifted down to the women, the mother thought that she heard another sound.  Tuning her ears to the silence within her, she heard the deep note of a drumbeat, sustained and hidden beneath the enchantment of the bells.

          With each drumbeat, the great Tree put forth leaves of silver and of gold, until a great canopy of brilliant light hung overhead.  And then, as if the Tree could no longer contain the very fullness of the light within itself, a flash of lightning shot out from it into our world, and a fire flared up among the dead limbs the women had gathered together.

          Now the women tended the fire and watched the Tree.  The drumbeat became the sound of thunder in the night sky, and the fire burned with the brightness of the Tree.  As the women watched and listened, they both grew still as they felt a Presence approaching.  Through the rift, flying on strong breezes, came flocks of different birds; small wrens and robins, brilliantly colored parrots, white swans and stately egrets, fierce hawks and majestic eagles.  All the birds of the air came as the vanguard of the Mighty One who followed, Lord of the Air, Guardian of the Dawn, He who gives the breath of life to all living beings.

          With Him came One who wore the light of Heaven upon her face.  The stars formed themselves into a cloak around her, and her eyes where dark with the wisdom of the Universe.  As these two passed through the veils, the women saw justice tempered with mercy on the Lord of Life’s face and felt safe; when the Queen of Heaven looked down upon them, they knew the face of Love and were content.  Then these two Mighty Ones passed on into the woods.

          Next passed One who took the form of a mounting green wave, foam-crested and shimmering in watery blue-greens, and with Him flowed the music of all the waters which sing upon the Earth.  Within the waters, the women saw the wildness of ocean waves, the rolling flow of rivers, the silence of a hidden forest pool, the roaring of sleek waterfalls, and the bubbling up of springs.  As this Mighty Presence passed by, the women were engulfed by the wave, and emerging, were washed clean by its joyful life.

          With a laugh, shaking out their hair, the women went to tend the fire.  As they watched the flames lick at the wood, they felt a trembling underfoot.  Turning, they saw a gnarled, gnome-like being pulling his leg out of the dark soil of the Faerie Hill at the point where the rift emerged from the Earth.  Their laughter bubbled up once again like a spring-fed well, coming out of their deep joy and delight.  For the Being was clothed in browns and greens, and brought to mind the damp coolness and musty smells of fertile earth and forest tracks.  He turned to them with a deep-throated laugh, and reaching down into the hole, began pulling up a wealth of gemstones and metal objects, each one a creation of rare and astonishing beauty.  The Master Craftsman looked at the beauty he had created, and then lifting his arms, he gave a whistle. Soon the women heard the noise of many feet, and saw a procession of men, women and children come through the trees and one by one accept one of the Master's creations.  When He had given away all his store, the procession continued on into the forest, the gifts of the Master Craftsman held with reverence and honor at heart and breast.

 

Queen of Earth -- Elana Gibeault    

          When the women turned back to the rift, they stared in wonder and delight, for there by the ragged veils came One who brought with Her the green livingness of the Earth.  Dressed in a glorious robe of green, She carried within herself the forms of all the countless lives that grow upon the Earth.  The Mother saw trees the size of towers in forests long forgotten, and the flowering blossoms of trees that would soon bear sweet fruits.  The Maiden saw soft dark moss growing over stones, and the secret life which moved the growth of corn and reeds, of root and stalk.  As the Queen of Earth passed by, She handed each woman a seed, and blew her breath upon their brows in blessing.

          All this while the fire burned on and the thunder rumbled overhead, and the breezes, carrying moisture from the brook, swirled around the eddies of the flames, and teardrops fell onto the burning wood.  The women stood watching the fire sizzle and crackle.  And then a great and gentle Spirit stood over them, wrapping them both in sorrow and pity and in endurance.  With the Sorrowful Mother came hope and the wisdom that understands that life grows through suffering and sacrifice.  A sudden breath of wind stirred the fire, and it blazed up to the sound of thunder until it seemed to consume the whole world. 

          Looking up with a new rarified sight, they saw they were surrounded by countless forms of exotic grace and beauty, swaying to the music that floated on the night breezes that swept across the boundary of the worlds.  And before they had time to wonder where all those Shining Folk had come from, they were swept away in a wild dance.  All through the night they danced around the magical Tree, weaving strands of energy and light into patterns which echoed their dancing steps.  The light seemed to come from the Shining Ones themselves, as if each individual created a part of the pattern of the whole.  And then, far into the night, the Mother looked into the eyes of her dancing partner, and saw her fate written there. 

          But it was to the Maiden that the Shining Ones now turned their gazes.  In the sudden silence, the Queen of Earth stepped into the circle and, taking the Maiden by the hand, brought her to stand in the center of their magic circle.  And spreading her arms over the girl, She bestowed the blessings of the growing green upon her in a shower of emerald crystals.  Next, the Queen of Heaven laid her starry robe around the girl's shoulders, and kissed her on the lips.  And finally, the Dark Queen came to bind the Maiden's hands, for sorrow is ever a companion on the Way. 

          Fading now into the background, the Shining Ones beheld their chosen Queen of May.  And with solemn and stately steps, they wove the strands of life and love, of fertility and death, of light and darkness around her.  They bestowed upon her the blessings of the Other Worlds.

          Then once again the Tree stood forth, growing in both this world and in all the others.  The drumbeat called to the thunder, and soon small clouds gathered in the grayness before dawn.  Under the light of the Tree, the grass grew greener and the air grew fresher, as the breezes of dawn swept through the glade.  The ghostly dancers silently faded into the morning mists, until only the mother and daughter waited, feeling the heat of the rising Sun reflected in the fire at their feet.  The Moon, having travelled the heavens throughout the night, sent her last rays soaring high upon the leaves of the Tree in that Otherworld, so that the lights of both blended, the silver and the gold.  And the music of that blending sent a shiver of delight and a sweetness flaming through the forms of the Earth, so that all was renewed and reborn.

          As the sweet delight of that music swept through the women, the Sun rose.  A golden shaft of light speared the heart of the fire, re-awakening the glowing embers to life.  The daughter fed the fire and smiled to herself, for she understood the fire and its need.  And reaching down, she placed the Earth Mother's seed in the midst of the flames.  Then she looked up to see her mother smiling down at her.  A moment more and she found herself in her mother's arms.  She was kissed with great love and tenderness, and then her mother turned away from her, swiftly stepping into the rift, which was slowly closing in the light of the new day.  The last of the Shining Ones had slipped through the glowing rift already, and her mother had chosen to follow him.

          Yet still her mother held the veils opened, as a shadowy form slipped around her body and ran to the foot of the Faerie Hill.  The Maiden cast one last loving look at her mother, then saw her body dissolve in the crystal light of the Tree.  And then the Tree and the light were gone. With a crack of thunder, the hillside closed.

          Now the Maiden looked at the form standing silent and still on the hillside.  The dark silhouette of a man, strong and broad-shouldered, looked back at her.  The Sun's beams moved up well-shaped legs and torso, until his dark eyes and strong face were lit with a golden glow.  In his eyes, she read a love of the Earth and of growing things, a desire to defend the lands that he loved, and the will to hunt down all that was hurtful to that life.  And as she looked deeper, she saw herself as he saw her, and knew that she was loved and desired.

          With stately steps, he came to her, and taking her hand in his, he kissed her.  And then he gave a glad shout!  And as his shout rang out through the morning air, the Maiden and the Man walked hand and hand into the forest.  Where she walked, the Maiden left behind a trail of flowers - blue forget-me-nots, red anemones and purple pansies.  With the Man came the animals of that place - the stag, the fox, the wolf, the bear.  Soon their laughter floated through the moist morning air, smelling of sweet desire and wild delight!

          While thunder rolled to the beat of the drum, clouds swept in to cover the morning Sun. Soft rains fell like music on delicate leaves and drowned in rich, dark soil.  And the drops quenched the fires of Beltane, so they might water the seeds both Mother and Maiden had set in the heart of the fire.  And the Faerie Hill grew green with life.

Emerging Archetypal Themes: Aries, The Male Hero & Oz, The Great and Powerful

            As we arrive back at Aries again, it is time to talk about the male hero.  Last year in Aries, I discussed two movies about female heroines in The Hunger Games and Whale Rider.  Both our heroines, Katniss and Paikea, are great examples of emerging female leaders.  And that leads us to the question: who are the new male leaders?

            Aries is the scout of the zodiac, searching out the new and untried, leading the way for the rest of the tribe.  Since Aries is the sign that begins at the Spring Equinox, it marks a new beginning, a new season of life.

            That’s what a hero symbolizes too.  A hero arises out of the tribal unit of collective consciousness to correct an imbalance, heal out-worn beliefs and initiate new fertility and ideas, all to bring new energy and life back to the group.  Today, we see this happening all over the world: people taking a stand to correct the imbalances in Western society.  The archetypal hero’s journey was described by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book, Hero with a Thousand Faces.  

        The hero’s journey also describes how a person brings his ego into a more balanced state with his spiritual Self.  When we get stuck in old ego-patterns of behavior, there is no new psychological growth.  Our lives are also stuck and become lifeless. That’s when we find ourselves being called to the task of individuation, what Carl Jung described as a process of psychological integration, having for its goal the development of the individual personality.  In general, it is the process by which individual beings are formed, as a being distinct from the general level of psychological awareness.  For a man, this entails meeting his shadow and more importantly, working with his anima, the feminine aspect of his soul.

            One of the messages of our Aries’ movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful is that when there is an imbalance within the individual psyche or in the collective, nature itself works to correct it and bring it into balance. The great imbalance of the patriarchy is its disregard of Feminine Spirit and women.  Unfortunately, men have been taught this lesson too well and often still do not honor and respect women and the gifts of feminine Spirit.  Another message is that when you believe in someone or something, anything is possible.  These are two lessons our hero needs to learn.

            Our less-than-heroic hero, Oscar Diggs or Oz as he styles himself, sets out on his own hero’s journey to rectify that imbalance within himself.   Oscar has to face his anima and integrate the feminine aspects of his psyche: his sensuality, his imagination and intuition, his ability to connect and love.  He does this by facing his dis-connection, his rage, his need to be powerful in all the wrong ways.   This is the new and real hero’s journey that men have to go on now. 

            Oscar (James Franco) is an egotistical small-time carnival magician with a great thirst for power and glory.  He uses women and men without a thought about their feelings. He treats his helper Frank (Zach Braff) like a servant, refusing to consider him a friend.  He treats women even worse; he makes them feel special by giving them a cheap music box that he says belonged to his grandmother, a powerful warrioress.  He lies to and charms women into thinking they’re special without committing to them and their needs.  He uses them.

        Oscar relates to his ‘warrioress’ grandmother when it comes to women—his emotions are at war.  He wants to play the romantic hero, but in truth he doesn’t have what it takes to be that hero.  Since he uses his heroic, magical persona to have his way with women, it begins to crack when he is brought face to face with the truth.  Then he runs away. 

This don Juan attitude speaks to a need in Oscar that he won’t acknowledge—he needs to feel loved and appreciated by all the women he seduces. But it’s never enough and so he has to go on to another conquest.  But it's also because he has a tender heart and doesn't know how to express it like a man.  He can't admit that he hurts people's feelings, because he doesn't want to feel bad. So he'd rather ignore it. He’s an emotional cripple, just like the young crippled girl who believes that he is a real miracle worker and can heal her.   

Oscar is caught off-guard by her desperate plea and doesn’t know what to do.  He is confronted with his own inadequacy and lies for a moment.  But even then he can’t admit it to himself: he berates his helper Frank for not getting him out of the situation sooner. Oscar’s attitude is:  I’m not responsible to handle my own issues—it’s up to someone else to take care of those unpleasant situations for me.  Is there anyone out there who has experienced this attitude in the men in their lives?  Don’t feel bad guys!  That’s what patriarchy wanted to teach you.  That you were entitled.  But now that you know that’s what they brainwashed you into believing, it’s time to let that paradigm go and find a different story, one where we are responsible for ourselves, our people and our world.

           He doesn’t want to bear the responsibility of his own life, even when there is someone special who does love and appreciate him.  Annie is an old friend who he really cares about.  She comes to Oscar to tell him that someone has asked her to marry him.  She wants Oscar to commit to her as it is obvious she has committed to him, but in a truthful moment, Oscar realizes that he’s not good enough for her.   He doesn’t believe in himself.

            Annie does though.  She tells him that he can be a good man if he wants to be.  But he tells her that he doesn’t want to be a good man, he wants to be a great man.  Someone special and important.  Someone who doesn’t have the time to commit to love.  Love is work, and Oscar would rather lie and scheme than do the hard work of loving someone.  What he thinks he wants is power, money and glory.  Sounds like good solid patriarchal values to me!

            So of course, it all comes back on him.  The father of one of the carnival girls discovers that Oz has seduced his daughter and goes after him.  As Oz makes his escape in his hot-air balloon, he turns to find a tornado sweeping through the countryside and is swept away into it!  His past has caught up with him. 

           A Tornado are mighty forces of nature, swirling winds that can devastate and destroy in seconds.  In the Bible they’re called a whirlwind, which is a vehicle of divinity.  This spiraling energy symbolizes a descent and ascent, a vehicle for carrying souls to another dimension. 

            And that’s exactly what it does to Oscar.  Let me backtrack for a moment and mention the beautiful production values of this film and also how well it weaves the old Wizard of Oz imagery into itself.  Just as Dorothy and Toto are whirled away to the Land of Oz by another tornado, Oscar must consciously face this divine manifestation of destruction.  He proclaims in terror, “I can change! I promise to change!”  When he is finally released by the tornado, he gratefully says, ‘Thank you’, so we see that he does have a generous heart buried beneath his self-satisfied persona.

            And isn’t it interesting that he gets whirled away to the Land of Oz.  His own private domain.  This is the world of his unconscious, filled with wonder and beauty, magic and marvels.  And witches!  This is the story going on inside him.  He lives in his imagination. This is the land he gets tested in.

            When he finally comes down to earth, he leaves behind Oscar and becomes Oz, the great and powerful. He arrives in a magnificent land of colorful flowers and magical beasts. Unfortunately, he reverts to his old programing as soon as he meets his first witch, Theodora the Good (Mila Kunis).  When she mistakes him for a long—awaited redeemer, he lies about being the wizard and sets out to seduce her.  And oh, is she lovely!  She really believes that he is the great wizard that the old king, who was killed by the wicked witch, predicted would come and save the land of Oz.  The old king symbolizes the old value system.  Perhaps he symbolizes Oscar’s father, who was a farmer—farmers know the laws of nature better than most.  But Oscar long ago rejected his father’s simple life, preferring the dream of riches and glory to hard work.

            Psychologically, there is a feminine consciousness that works with patriarchy to keep it in power.  Because patriarchy refuses to give power to the feminine components of the psyche, it gets twisted and turns into the negative mother complex—the old stereotype of the witch who destroys life rather than gives birth to it.  There is a very strong negative mother complex at work in our world today because of this disregard for Feminine Spirit—the consciousness of the soul.  A negative mother complex ensures that we don’t feel secure, or loved or worthy of a good life.  And so we strive ever harder to achieve the power we think we need to get that good life.  That’s the patriarchal lie we all live in.

            Theodora and Oz set out for the Emerald City—surely a symbol of the Self, green and glowing with life.  On the way Oz rescues a cute little flying monkey named Finley, who swears he will serve Oz forever.  Puffed up with his own importance, Oz treats Finley just as he treated Frank—as a servant. 

            At the Emerald City, Theodora brings Oz to the throne room, telling him that he’ll be King, with her as his Queen.  Oz doesn’t have the courage to challenge her assumptions of his love and devotion, just as he did with all his other women.  He lets them think what they will, though it’s not his truth.  In the throne room, he meets Theodora’s sister, Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who was the old King’s advisor, and as we soon learn, his murderer.  She has blamed the king’s daughter, Glinda (Michelle Williams), for his death and seeks to kill her and take power in Oz.

           Evanora symbolizes this negative feminine power that wants to take all power to itself, as a mirror reflection of patriarchy’s will to domination and power.  So here is Oz, confronted with his power-hungry negative feminine energy—an energy that will pay him off with all the gold in Oz if he will kill off her enemy—Glinda the good witch, daughter of the King and the living image of Annie!   Before he meets Glinda, Oz is seduced by the prospect of being King of Oz.  He is willing to take the word of Evanora because Theodora also naively believes her sister’s lies about Glinda, who is, after all, the Good Witch.

           Men in the grip of the negative mother complex often get seduced by power and money into giving up being good.  They think that money will buy them love, but it never does.  So they go for power and glory instead. 

            Theodora is the balance point between the goodness of Glinda and the evil of Evanora.  She wants to believe Oz loves her and will make her his Queen and she wants to believe that he will convince Glinda to change her ways and repent.  She says she only wants peace.  But peace at what cost?  Theodora symbolizes the naïve feminine energy in men, the need to tell lies to keep the peace, the attempt to cover over the rage and despair that the negative mother fills them with.  Theodora represents the wanting to be good without doing what needs to be done to actually be good.   You can see this in Oscar when he seduces his ladies—he really thinks he’s treating them well, even when he lies to them and leaves them heartbroken.  

            The change begins in Oz when he sets off with Findley to destroy Glinda and comes upon the ruins of the Teapot Village, destroyed by the flying monkeys of the Wicked Witch.  There Oz saves the crippled little China Girl.  She is the mirror image of the crippled girl who believed that Oz could heal her.  China Girl is a wonderful character, full of spunk and emotions and courage.  But her legs are broken—she has not standpoint.  As an image of Oz’s anima, she represents his tender emotional life which was probably crippled in childhood.  She is the goodness and courage he can’t recognize in himself.  But he is very tender with her and glues her legs back on.  Her healing begins his transformation.  He wants to send her back to the Emerald City while he and Finley go to destroy Glinda’s power, but she insists and manipulates him into taking her along.

            When Oz finally meets up with Glinda, he realizes that she is the good witch, the power of love and life.  With great compassion, she tells him “I’ve waited so long to meet you.”  When a man finally connects with his positive anima, he connects with his soul.  She has waited to be recognized and validated.  And now he begins to see and trust her, even though he still doesn’t believe or trust in himself.

             When Evanora sees Oz befriend Glinda in her crystal ball, she realizes she has lost her power over him and sends her troops to kill them.  When Theodora sees them in the ball, she understands that Oz never really loved her.  Evanora seduces her into accepting a magical apple that shrivels her heart and turns her into the caricature of the green-skinned evil witch that patriarchy offers us.  She becomes the Wicked Witch of the West!  Now the two sisters are united in their goal: they have to bring down Oz and Glinda if they want to rule the land of Oz.

             When Theodora turns into the green-skinned witch of male fantasy, it marks a turning point in Oscar’s psyche.  The feeling part of him which makes believe he’s good is finally exposed for what it is—a strong, selfish urge to have what he wants, no matter the cost.  This is the part of the anima which is contaminated by the shadow in men.  The will to power that is often disguised as the oh, so helpful and loving man, who says he wants peace but really wants what he wants when he wants it.

            Meanwhile, while Glinda tells Oz, Finley and China Girl about her father, the king, the sisters send their army and flying monkeys to kill them. The negative, aggressive unconscious male energy tied to the witchy aspect of a man’s pyshce wants to do away with the truth and with goodness.  So Glinda has to use her magic to help them escape, since Oz doesn’t have any real magic.  The ego never does!   Glinda creates a fog to stop their enemies while they run away – because sometimes you just have to run away from bad feelings so they don’t overwhelm you.    

            When they finally get trapped on a cliff, Glinda once again must act.  And so she jumps!  And Findley and China Girl jump, which leaves Oz alone on the cliff—until he has no choice but to jump! The male ego has to learn to trust his true anima, his soul.  He has to take a leap of faith.  The three travelers find themselves wrapped in Glinda’s magic bubbles and go with her to her magical kingdom.  Oz still isn’t sure that he’s good enough to get through the magical barrier that guards her kingdom but when he succeeds, he begins to have more confidence in himself and his truth, even though it isn’t very good.  When a man finally accepts the possibility of goodness and strength in himself, he can admit the truth about himself.

             When all the people of Munchkinland hail Oz as the great wizard, he admits to Glinda that he really isn’t the wizard.  But she already knows that.  She tells him that he is weak, selfish, egotistical and a fibber, but he’s the wizard that came to her so he’ll have to do.  She tells him that he needs to inspire her people so that they’ll believe they can triumph in these desperate times.   When a man connects to his ‘good’ anima, he gets to see himself.  But he also learns to accept himself.  We all have to accept who and what we are before we can really make any changes in our lives.  Glinda names Oz as both liar and wizard, for he is both.

            Unfortunately, Glinda’s people are not soldiers and they are not allowed to kill.   The soul anima works through love and creativity, not through fighting and death.  They are just regular people who will fight the wicked witches for their freedom.  They represent the energy men have to gather and focus toward the task of becoming conscious.  There are tinkers who are inventors, farmers and townspeople and munchkins.  Not a formidable army. 

            And then Theodora breaks through the magical barrier and confronts Oz with what he’s done by his carelessness of her feelings—he’s turned her to the ‘dark side’.  When we start to become aware of who we are and what we’ve done, the dark feelings come and attack us.  This is when a man needs to develop compassion for himself and for his past deeds.  Men are just as twisted by patriarchal rules and goals as women are.  But they hide it better.

            And this is the moment when a man wants to run away instead of confronting these uncomfortable feelings.  Happily, little China Girl asks him what kind of wizard he’d like to be.  She tells him the old Wizard King would grant wishes if they were good and noble.  She tells him she’d ask for her family back.  And he has to admit he isn’t that kind of wizard.   He tells her there are no wizards where he comes from, but then tells her about Thomas Edison, a great inventor (though they should have used Tesla!) who creates magic with just a few simple things.  She tells him that he is a wizard like Edison, and her belief gives him the idea of how they can defeat the witchy sisters without killing anyone.

             This is the image of the new hero: the great innovator and inventor who can find ways to overcome violence and defeat it with ingenuity and love. 

              He uses his head and inspires Glinda’s people to create illusions which trick the evil sisters and their minions.  When Oz and Glinda’s army attacks the Emerald City, her magic tricks the evil monkeys into attacking their scarecrow army in the poppy fields and puts the beasts to sleep.  Using your head does that!  The monkey mind and brute force can be put to rest when we use our minds. 

              When Glinda is captured, the China Girl saves her magic wand from Evanora.  The magic wand symbolizes the ability to focus creativity and power. The China Girl sneaks it to her in the Emerald City where the evil sisters hold her captive.  It is Oscar’s innocent and determined feminine energy that works with his soul to defeat the evil sisters, the negative mother complex which makes him feel he isn’t good enough for love.   

             At the moment of the witches seeming triumph, Oz plays on everyone’s belief that he’s a trickster and a coward and makes the sisters think they’ve destroyed him.  He plays dead, which is often an appropriate action to take when overwhelmed with the last blast of the negative mother complex.  But then Oscar uses his illusions to terrify them into thinking he’s more powerful dead than alive.   When a man wants to connect with his soul, his anima, he has to break free of the forces that keep him loveless and insecure.  He has to step into his greatness through his goodness!  When he accepts and even uses his shadow side, he can defeat the negative feelings he has and banish them.

            Oz, the great and powerful, delivers a victory to the people of Oz and brings them their freedom.  This is the new hero’s gift to himself and his people.  Men cannot be truly free until they release themselves from the power of the negative feminine and chose to be good rather than powerful. 

            As in the old Wizard of Oz, Oscar gives each of his helpers a gift.  He gives the tinker a ‘thingamabob’ which fixes anything, because makers can always come up with solutions.  He gives the grumpy herald of Oz a smiley face, because happiness is more important than dignity.  And he gives Finley something he never gave anyone else—his friendship.  As for China Girl, he gives her a new family.  And he gives Glinda—but you’ll have to go see the movie for that!

             I hope men go see this movie.  They need to open up to their imaginations, because that’s where all the real action always takes place.

From the Bard’s Grove,

Cathy