When one gets involved in a character study, especially if an author or historian, one often forgets that these famous people get dissected and discussed by other people who are not within your immediate circle of friends.
I learned that lesson tonight when I read a blog which included references to Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Before I became somewhat immersed, and believe me, I know only a little in comparison to what authors and historians who have written tons of material on the subject know, I wondered how other people felt about these characters who I was just beginning to know.
The fact that I knew nothing about them at all is probably what has made my experiences so interesting and satisfying to me. Because as I now read other people's comments, I realize that my feelings were at least untainted by outside opinion.
Louis XIV has fascinated me since I was able to realize his own genuine feelings when events happend to him. He satisfied something inside me that is truly unique in undergoing an experience that one is simply waiting to happen. His joy and his fears let me know how happy he was as a child when parading down the street for what is called his majority. The child in him pleased me so much.
I will say that when I underwent a similar childhood experience in Alexander, there was an entirely different reaction in him. Alexander was a lonely boy who needed his horse as a friend, and his pleasure was in having the horse, but the sorrow was in realizing how alone he truly had been. I felt his loneliness as well as his happiness to have a best friend then.
His victory in handling the horse so well was almost as satisfying as having his father commend him for it. His father's approval was very important to him when so young and so desiring of following in his footsteps.
I sometimes question whether it is wise to write these events out, since they are so personal and private. Yet they make a caricature in history into someone who is truly a human being, a person, and it is important to make a reader who is truly interested in the person aware of it.
In the movie that Roberto Rossellini made of Louis XIV's effort to take control of his court so that he was acknowledged as the real King, and not a figure head, he made Louis XIV appear to be a bit of a buffoon at the end of the film. I understand why it is that Roberto Rossellini took license with history in his drama, but I respect Louis XIV far better than Roberto had obviously.
Likewise, I became so disgusted with so many people making fun of Alexander as some peculiar sort that I decided to write my own novel to show how and why he became the kind of person who is depicted in history as a madman. Other far worse phrases than that came out when Oliver Stone made his film so I realized that Alexander is perceived differently according to the author.
I was very determined to know the truth when I set out to find if my spirit guide was telling me the truth about having been Alexander, and I demanded a lot from myself. Little did I know that more and more would come without my even seeking it. Once it breaks through, it comes when apparently it is necessary for me to know something. It has helped me many times to get through this period in my life.
I truly do not question my guides but I did not want to be fooled into something just for my ego. I wanted both entities to live up to my good opinion of myself. I have learned a lot and have had to realize that the times make the man or woman. Environment is everything.
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