Legends

Without cable, I'm making do with DVD's, Flash cartoons, and Youtube. One show I've rediscovered is "Mahabharat", which is the 80's Indian treatment of the saga "Mahabharata". I greatly enjoyed reading this Indian epic and am glad to see the show is available on Youtube. This show has gotten its fair share of grief for being so cheesy and dated. Maybe it's dated now, but back in the 80's, this was probably the height of quality in India. Bollywood has gotten big over the last few years, and efforts like this series are laughed at now, but I doubt they were mocked back in the day. Meanwhile, I'm watching this series again (as I missed the beginning the last time I watched it), and while I'm snickering at the SFX, I'm recalling the truths of another age, and recalling how important debts, oaths, and karma were to the people of the "Mahabharata". I also believe I should borrow the epic from the library and read it again.
It is my understanding that we are our actions, and "Mahabharat" really lays bare this and other realities. A king has great power, but he is also bound by his responsibilities to his nation and his subjects. The greatest king is a good servant to his people. I heard that somewhere, and the kings of India return to this point several times during the story. Obligation and duty are constantly revisited. I'm astounded again and again by this epic. It is most unfortunate that, so far, nobody's thought to create a trilogy in the colours of LOTR to bring this saga to life. Honestly, this epic deserves better than what the Chopras tried to do with it.
My second topic for discussion probably does not seem to have anything to do with legends. Be patient. I'll start making sense soon. First off, "Do as thou wilt" is a good book. The author neither glossed over nor smeared Crowley's reputation (it would be hard to smear the man's reputation more than he already did himself). I applaud the author and recommend this book highly. Aleister Crowley himself, I wouldn't recommend for a second. When I first opened "Do as thou wilt", I wondered if the whispers about Crowley were true or if they were just part of the miasma he had woven over his life. Part of me actually thought that he had been a boring fellow and had just woven some major whoppers to build himself up in society.
Granted, he had done that, big time. After I came to the end of the book, I came to the conclusion that Crowley had been pretty pitiful. He went out of his way to earn the title of notorious, but I do not believe that he was worthy of the title of Satanist. The closest he got to the 'dark side' was when he met up with L. Ron Hubbard, but the latter didn't seem impressed by him. Opportunist? Yes. Swindler? Absolutely. Hedonist? Without a doubt. But not a Satanist. Not a wizard. Even the alchemists of the past had more determination than Crowley did. At this point, I could get into a major tangent by discussing his potential future life, but I'll keep that for my own diary.
In a way, though, Crowley has become a legend. Probably not the legend he wanted to become, but he's still discussed, and that's fame ... of a sort. BYE.