“The Adventures of Pinocchio. Story of a Puppet” is a fairy tale first published in 1883 and written by journalist Carlo Lorenzini (known as Carlo Collodi). The story, famous worldwide and much loved by children, hides numerous esoteric symbols related to the spiritual awakening journey of human beings, the one that – in fact – allows a “wooden puppet” to become a “real boy”.
We should read and reread this wonderful fairy tale because it contains fundamental messages for inner evolution. Meanwhile, let me tell you about the main esoteric symbols:
Pinocchio
The name Pinocchio refers to the pineal gland which, according to esoteric traditions, symbolizes the third eye, the one that allows transcendent vision and guides the initiatory path towards enlightenment.
Geppetto
The creator of Pinocchio, he shapes him from a wooden log, creating a puppet that is – precisely – an allegory of a being unaware of its divine nature, that is, a “sleeping” being. There is, in the figure of Geppetto, a strong connection with the Platonic Demiurge. The word “demiurge” derives from Greek and means “craftsman”, and represents, in Platonic philosophy, an almost divine entity capable of creating imperfect beings and therefore subject to the turmoil deriving from the illusions of material life. Not by chance, Geppetto’s house is full of clocks that serve to measure one of the greatest illusions of physical reality: time.
The Great Architect
The Great Architect is the One to whom Geppetto turns so that a glimmer of light, a vital breath, may be infused into the inanimate puppet he created. Therefore, the Great Architect is God.
The Blue Fairy
The Blue Fairy is the representation of Divine Wisdom and is the essential element for Pinocchio’s transformation into a boy. It is she who descends to Earth to infuse the divine spark in Pinocchio, and it is she who tells Pinocchio that his desire to become a boy will come true only if he knows how to deserve it. Human beings are in fact endowed with free will and it is through its exercise that one can grow and reach spiritual awakening. Pinocchio’s first step is the one that leads him to school, which represents Knowledge. The Blue Fairy is always present beside Pinocchio and helps him in the most difficult moments. Sometimes we do not perceive the divine presence beside us, but we can be certain that we are never alone.
The Talking Cricket
The Talking Cricket is the conscience, that inner voice that shows us the right path, that suggests ethical choices. That voice which, just like Pinocchio, sometimes we too do not want to listen to. At the end of the fairy tale, when Pinocchio’s enlightenment process is complete, the Talking Cricket receives from the Blue Fairy a badge in gold which, according to alchemical tradition, represents the highest point of the inner journey.
The Cat and the Fox
They are the temptations and, in a certain sense, represent our most fragile and corruptible part. It is they who show Pinocchio the way to easy success. Despite the warnings of the Talking Cricket, Pinocchio follows these two characters only to discover that the price to pay for following the wrong path is very high: he cannot see his father, his creator, again, and all the money only enriches Fire-Eater, who has become his owner as in a sort of sale of the soul. Fire-Eater in fact represents “mammon”, that is, the force that governs the dynamics of this world. Having realized the illusory nature of that success thanks to the Talking Cricket, Pinocchio decides to escape, but finds himself locked in a cage. It is only the intervention of the Blue Fairy that allows him to free himself. His will to improve therefore sets in motion a “higher” mechanism.
Lampwick
Lampwick is the boy who invites him to accompany him to the Land of Toys and who evidently represents Lucifer, that is, the one who tries to lead Pinocchio away from the right path, that of school, which would allow him to know the “masters”, those who can guide him spiritually and start him on the initiatory path.
The Land of Toys
It is a “place” without school or laws, therefore a place devoid of Knowledge and ethics, which is why it is inhabited only by children, that is, symbolically by souls not yet evolved. The Land of Toys is therefore the representation of a life characterized by ignorance, not in the sense of lack of culture, but in the sense of indifference towards a search and inner growth; a place where the only goal is the satisfaction of the lowest needs of one’s existence. The coachman, who has the task of watching over, encourages this modus vivendi because he knows that this is the way to create “slaves” and in fact the boys who follow him are transformed into donkeys, a symbolic representation of the most bestial and instinctive part of the human soul.
The Whale
The final part of the fairy tale in which Pinocchio is swallowed by the whale is strongly inspired by the myth of Jonah, the prophet who was precisely swallowed by the whale. The belly of the large cetacean represents the awareness of inner darkness, the apex of the final phase of the initiatory path, and the escape towards the exit from its belly represents enlightenment.
What is the moral of the fairy tale?
The fairy tale of Pinocchio teaches us that enlightenment is achieved with will, with the ability to defeat our weakest and most instinctive part, with the choice therefore of the most difficult path: that of constant inner improvement.
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“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”
Matthew 7:13-14
