Stepping Stones

Behind the Curtain - Trusting Your Inner Wizard

In one of the most important scenes in the Oz story, Toto draws back the curtain in the throne room of the Great and Powerful Oz and reveals the magician that has created the illusion of the Wizard. Suddenly Dorothy sees clearly that the Wizard she placed all her hopes and confidence in is an illusion, and she must learn to navigate the next stages of her journey from her inner wisdom and knowing. We see Dorothy’s disappointment as the illusion of the wizard is revealed, and perhaps we can relate to moments when we have been let down or disappointed by those that we trusted to guide us, to support us, or to keep us safe or protected in life. But in the wake of her disappointment comes the opportunity to step more authentically into her own life story. Rather than give her power away to the Wizard outside of her, she begins to activate the Wizard inside of her. In the process she relinquishes her childhood identity as Dorothy the Small and Meek, and begins to walk as Dorothy the Strong and Wise.

Dorothy’s experience reminds us that as we grow in our spiritual awareness, we will have to bring our outer life into harmony with our inner knowing. More and more we will have to navigate life using our inner wisdom together with the knowledge we have gained along our journey. We will learn to look beyond what we see in front of us and to search for the deeper meaning and truth in the experiences we are having in life. We will discover that we must reclaim our power by trusting the wisdom and guidance that comes from within, rather than naively entrusting our precious life journey to the directions or expectations of others. As we enter this stage of our spiritual growth, we must begin to live our lives from the guidance of our soul, our Inner Wizard, knowing that each of us has a unique purpose and that every experience we have in the journey of life is part of the process of unfolding into our most authentic self.

Weekly Stepping Stones

Where do you allow yourself to give your power away to others? Have you placed a parent, family member, boss, friend, teacher or spiritual leader in the role of the Wizard? What illusions in your life continue to steal your power or keep you feeling small? What is your Soul, your Inner Wizard, wanting you to become aware of right now? If you saw yourself from the loving perspective of your soul, complete this empowerment sentence using the wisdom of your Inner Wizard: I am (NAME), the ________________ and __________________.