Since the previous post ended with a kiss, it is only fitting that this post continues with a reflection on the kiss. While some criticize the use of such a device because they deem it a cheap and over-used literary trick, I side with those who say that such a device is a traditional symbol in telling the story of a heroic journey.
Unlike the mark of Cain that cursed him on his journey, a mark placed by the hero’s mentor is meant to tell the world that this person has been blessed and is in essence, off limits.
That doesn’t mean that the hero is not going to be challenged or even tempted and tormented by evil-doers, it is basically a warning to the evil-doer to tread very carefully.
Dorothy, like most of us, is not aware that she has been blessed with a special kiss that becomes a mark on her forehead. However, she can’t help but feel fortified by this kiss. Her fears might not have been kissed away, but she has not been paralyzed. She’s willing to take that first step on the yellow brick road.
Oz movie fans are familiar with the scene of Dorothy stepping foot on the yellow brick road. It is an iconic moment. But, how many of us stop and think about how and why the yellow brick road began right then and there where Dorothy landed?
Is it a coincidence? Or does it simply mean that there is a similar place in all four of the sections of Oz?
Lancelot, of Round Table fame, encouraged his fellow knights to embark on a journey. In this case the journey was to start at the edge of a deep-dark forest. Today there would have been a specific starting point where all travelers were expected to enter the forest.
That’s not what Lancelot had in mind. He told the knights that each of the knights was to enter the forest at that place meant for him and him alone. In other words, we all need to begin our journey at out starting point, not where anyone else starts their journey.
Dorothy was starting her journey where her unique journey was meant to begin. It was no coincidence that Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road was where it was.
All too often we don’t follow our Yellow Brick Road.