The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality or Dancing Water and sometimes equated with the Philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it for two main reasons: either they sought the gift of immortality for its own sake, or they desired to spend as much time as possible practicing alchemy. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create life. It is related to the myths of Enoch, Thoth, and Hermes Trismegistus, all of whom in various tales are said to have drunk "the white drops" (liquid gold) and thus achieved immortality. It is also associated with the Qur'an's Al Khidr ('The Green Man'), and is mentioned in one of the Nag Hammadi texts.^[1] The philosophers stone, in Latin lapis philosophorum, is a legendary substance that supposedly could turn inexpensive metals such as lead into gold (chrysopoeia in the Greek language) and/or create an elixir that would make humans younger, thus delaying death. ... A potion (from Latin potio, potionis, meaning beverage, potion, poison) is a drinkable medicine or poison. ... Immortality is the concept of existing for a potentially infinite or indeterminate length of time. ... For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2006-7-27, and may not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Enoch (from Hebrew: חֲנוֹךְ, Standard Tiberian meaning initiated, dedicated, disciplined; Greek: ενωχ, ; traditional English: Enoch) is a Hebrew name. ... , or , or [1] Thoth (Ramesseum, Luxor) Thoth, a Greek name derived from the Egyptian * (djih-how-tee) (written by Egyptians as ) was considered one of the most important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Qurān [1] (Arabic: ‎, literally the recitation; also called ‎ The Noble Qurān; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and Al-Quran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... Al-Khadir (right) and Dhul-Qarnayn, here referring to Alexander the Great, marvel at the sight of a salted fish that comes back to life when touched by the Water of Life. ... The town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt Nag Hammâdi (Arabic نجع حمادي; transliterated: Naj Hammādi) (26°03′N 32°15′E), is a town in the middle of Egypt, called Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor with some 30,000 citizens. ...

History

No such potion has ever been discovered though alchemists in ancient China, India, and the West spent a great deal of time and effort on it. An elixir can be referred to as the 'Quintessence of life', by the reference to the 4 main elements consisting of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. The 5th element is said to be unknown; some have dubbed it to be the elixir. China is the worlds oldest continuous major civilization, with written records dating back about 3,500 years and with 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization. ...

China

In Ancient China, various emperors sought for the fabled elixir with various results. In the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang sent Taoist alchemist Xu Fu with 500 boys and 500 girls to the eastern seas to find the elixir, but he never came back (legend has it that he found Japan instead). The ancient Chinese believed that ingesting long-lasting precious substances such as jade, cinnabar or hematite would confer some of that longevity on the person who consumed them. Gold was considered particularly potent, as it was a non-tarnishing precious metal; the idea of potable or drinkable gold is found in China by the end of the third century BC. The most famous Chinese alchemical book, the Tan Chin Yao Ch’eh ("Great Secrets of Alchemy," dating from approximately 650 AD), discusses in detail the creation of elixirs for immortality (mercury, sulfur, and the salts of mercury and arsenic are prominent) as well as those for curing certain diseases and the fabrication of precious stones. An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. ... The Qin Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chin Chao) (221 BCE - 206 BCE) was preceded by the Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. ... The monarch known now as Qin Shi Huang (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chin Shih-huang) (November / December 260 BCE – September 10, 210 BCE), personal name Ying Zheng, was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 247 BC to 221 BCE (officially still under the Zhou Dynasty), and then... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Xu Fu Xu Fu (Chinese: 徐福) was a court sorceror in Qin Dynasty China. ... A selection of antique, hand-crafted Chinese jade (jadeite) buttons Unworked Jade An ornamental stone, jade is applied to two different rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals. ... Cinnabar, sometimes written cinnabarite, is a name applied to red mercury(II) sulfide (HgS), or native vermilion, the common ore of mercury. ... Hematite (AE) or haematite (BE) is the mineral form of Iron(III) oxide, (Fe2O3), one of several iron oxides. ... General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...

Many of these substances, far from contributing to longevity, were actively toxic. Jiajing Emperor in the Ming Dynasty died from ingesting a lethal dosage of mercury in the supposed "Elixir of Life" conjured by alchemists. British historian Joseph Needham compiled a list of Chinese emperors whose death was likely due to elixir poisoning. Chinese interest in alchemy and the elixir of life declined in proportion to the rise of Buddhism, which claimed to have alternate routes to immortality. The Jiajing Emperor (September 16, 1507–January 23, 1567) was the 11th emperor of China (Ming dynasty) between 1521-1567. ... For other uses, see Ming. ... General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery Atomic mass 200. ... Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion and a philosophy. ...

India

The Vedas (sacred scriptures of India) also contain vague references to a connection between gold and long life. Alexander the Great invaded India in 325 BC and it is possible that Indians acquired the idea from the Greeks, but it is unlikely - since the Vedas pre-date Alexander by centuries ("ambrosia," the name of the Greek "food of the gods," means "no death"). It is also possible that it came to China from India - since the earliest mention was in Indian texts. However, the elixir of immortality was not of great interest in India because Hinduism, the primary Indian religion, claimed to have alternate routes to immortality. The Indian elixirs were generally remedies for specific diseases or, at the most, to promote longevity. ^[2] Veda redirects here. ... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ... In ancient mythology, Ambrosia (Greek ) is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the gods. ...

Europe

More recently, French alchemist Nicholas Flamel was said to have discovered the elixir, and to have bestowed immortality on both himself and his wife Pernelle. The Comte de St. Germain, an 18th century nobleman of uncertain origin and mysterious capabilities, was also reputed to have the Elixir and to be several thousand years old. European recipes for elixir often called for it to be stored inside a clock, perhaps to indicate its ability to slow the effects of time on the user. It has been suggested that Perenelle Flamel be merged into this article or section. ... Perenelle Flamel was the wife of the famous 15th century alchemist Nicholas Flamel, who has since come to the fore in the popular fiction of J.K. Rowling. ... Count of St Germain by unknown artist The Count of St. ...

Names

The Elixir has had hundreds of names (one scholar of Chinese history reportedly found over 1,000 names for it.), including (among others) Amrit Ras or Amrita, Aab-i-Hayat, Maha Ras, Aab-Haiwan, Dancing Water, hasma-i-Kausar, Mansarover or the Pool of Nectar, and Soma Ras. The word elixir was not used until the 7th century A.D. and derives from the Arabic name for miracle substances, "al iksir." Some view it as a metaphor for the spirit of God (e.g. Jesus' reference to "the Water of Life" or "the Fountain of Life"). And of course the Scots and the Irish adopted the name for their "liquid gold": the Gaelic name for whisky is uisge beatha, or water of life. In Hindu mythology and Buddhist mythology, Amrita is the drink of the gods, which grants them immortality. ... Godescalc Lectionary, commemorating the Baptism of Charlemagnes son in Rome in 781 with an image of the Fountain of Life. ... “Scot” redirects here. ... Goidelic is one of two major divisions of modern-day Celtic languages (the other being Brythonic). ... Whisky, or whiskey, refers to a broad category of alcoholic beverages that are distilled from fermented grain mash and aged in wooden casks (generally oak). ... ...

Note: Aab-i-Hayat and Aab-i-Haiwan are Persian and both mean "water of life". "Chashma-i-Kausar" (not "hasma") is the "Fountain of Bounty", which Muslims believe to be located in Paradise. As for the Indian names, "Amrit Ras" means "immortality juice", "Maha Ras" means "great juice", and "Soma Ras" means "juice of Soma"; Soma was a psychoactive drug, by which the poets of the Vedas Veda received their visions, but the plant is not known any more. Later, Soma came to mean the moon. "Ras" later came to mean "sacred mood, which is experienced by listening to good poetry or music"; there are altogether nine of them. Mansarovar, the "mind lake" is the holy lake at the foot of Mt. Kailash in Tibet, close to the source of the Ganges. The Vedas are part of the Hindu Shruti; these religious scriptures form part of the core of the Brahminical and Vedic traditions within Hinduism and are the inspirational, metaphysical and mythological foundation for later Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra and even Bhakti forms of Hinduism. ... Lake Mansarovar is a fresh-water lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. ... Mount Kailash (officially: Kangrinboqê; Tibetan: Gang Rinpoche, གངས་རིན་པོཅཧེ་; Wylie: Gangs Rin-po-che; ZWPY: Kangrinboqê; Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Hindi कैलाश पर्वत, Kailāśā Parvata) is a peak in the Gangdisê mountains in China, the source of some of the longest rivers in Asia—the Indus River, the Sutlej River, a tributary of...

See also

• Alchemy
• Al Khidr
• Elixir
• Fountain of youth
• Philosopher's stone
• Rejuvenation (aging)
• Universal panacea
• Mfkzt
• Serge Voronoff

For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ... Al-Khadir (right) and Dhul-Qarnayn, here referring to Alexander the Great, marvel at the sight of a salted fish that comes back to life when touched by the Water of Life. ... Look up elixir in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Fountain of Youth by Lucas Cranach the Elder The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. ... The philosophers stone, in Latin lapis philosophorum, is a legendary substance that supposedly could turn inexpensive metals such as lead into gold (chrysopoeia in the Greek language) and/or create an elixir that would make humans younger, thus delaying death. ... Rejuvenation is the procedure of reversing the aging process, thus regaining youth. ... The universal panacea (PAN-ah-see-ah), one of the goals sought by many alchemists, was a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. ... MFKZT pronounced is a mythical substance depicted in many Egyptian hieroglyphics. ... Serge Voronoff (born close to the russian village of Voronov) (July 10, 1866 - September 1, 1951) was a Russian-born French physiologist and surgeon. ...

Footnotes

References

• Al-Khidr, The Green Man
• Alchemy and Daoism
• Naam or Word, Book Three: Amrit, Nectar or Water of Life
• Needham, J., Ping-Yu Ho, Gwei-Djen Lu. Science and Civilisation in China, Volume V, Part III. Cambridge at the University Press, 1976.
• Turner, John D. (transl.). The Interpretation of Knowledge