The Wicked Witch of the West
Here’s an excerpt from The Good Wiccan Guide – Part One: Introduction and Popular Mythology.
The most famous bad witch of all is arguably the Wicked Witch of the West. Her equally wicked sister, the Wicked Witch of the East (who was in charge of Munchkin land) is sadly and tragically killed off by Dorothy before we ever get to really know her.
There are literary theories that state the Frank Baum used the character of the Wicked Witch was a symbol of enslavement. Remember that she had Winkie soldiers who were thrilled when she was ‘washed away.’ And she also had Flying Monkeys were magically beholden to her which ended at her death.
Once we were a free people,
living happily in the great forest,
flying from tree to tree,
eating nuts and fruit
and doing just as we pleased
without calling anybody master…Head Monkey from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
I say that the Wicked Witch part of the OZ story is a morality lesson in learning to release resentments before they make you angry at the world.
When we look at the The Wicked Witch of the West non-dualistically, she is actually very likable lady. The author, Gregory Maguire, obviously felt the same. Unfortunately the story that he wrote, Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, relied on more dualistic thinking and made Glinda the Good Witch of the South a bad person.
This year, let’s try not to lump thinks in good or bad columns exclusively. Yes, there will be things that will appear bad or dark, but realize that within each of those things can be a spark of light or life. And conversely, even ‘goodness’ has the potential to rot or spoil eventually, in order to bring about more new life. the key to dealing with the dark stuff is to release the resentments. Instead of jumping straight into, “Who killed my sister? Was it you?” Start with, “A house dropped straight out of the sky? Is everybody else okay? How on earth did this happen?” Perhaps if the Wicked Witch had taken a few deep and mindful breaths and let go of thoughts of resentment and the ‘assuming persecution position,’ somewhere along the way, she might have become a little bit less wicked.
I always feel sorry
~anand sahaja
