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The elixir of life, from Arabic: الإكسير, also known as the elixir of immortality or Dancing Water or Persian: Aab-e-Hayaat آب حیات 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. 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]

History

No such potion has ever been discovered though alchemists in ancient China, India, and the Western world spent a great deal of time and effort on it. An elixir can be referred to as the 'Quintessence of life' or by other names – quintessence being reference to the five elements of Chinese alchemical philosophy or a theorized fifth element in European alchemy. In other cultures, alchemical philosophy would deem less or more elements (four in most of Europe, thirty-six in India).

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.

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.

It has been anecdotally suggested that Laozi, the founder of Daoism stated that tea is one of the ingredients to the elixir of life. In fact, the fermented tea-based Kombucha was originally known in Chinese as "The Tea of Immortality".

India

AMRIT or AMRUT has been described in the hindu scriptures which are the oldest compiled source of information known to humanity. Anybody who consumes even a tiniest portion of amrut has been described to gain immortality. The legend goes that, at the very early times when the inception of the world had just taken place, some demons had gained strength. This was seen as a threat to many other gods who feared for their lives. So the these gods(including indra-the god of rain, vayu-the god of wind, agni-the god of fire)went to seek advice and help from vishnu(the preserver),bhrama(the creator)& shiva(the destroyer). They suggested that amrut could only be gained from the samudra manthan(or the churning of ocean) for the ocean in its depths hid mysterious and secret objects. Vishnu agreed to take the form of a turtle on whose shell a huge mountain was placed.

Qith the help of a mighty and long serpent the churning process was started at the surface of the ocean. The gods pulled the serpent from one side which had coiled itself around the mountain. The demons pulled it from the other side.(the churning process required immense strength and hence the demons were persuaded to do the job- they agreed but in return for a portion of amrut). Finally with the combined effort of the gods and demons, amrut emerged from the depths of the ocean. All the gods were offered the drink but the gods managed to trick the demons who later didn't manage to get any part of the holy drink.

The oldest Indian writings, the Vedas (Hindu sacred scriptures), contain the same hints of alchemy that are found in evidence from ancient China, namely vague references to a connection between gold and long life. Mercury, which was so vital to alchemy everywhere, is first mentioned in the 4th to 3rd century BC Arthashastra, about the same time it is encountered in China and in the West. Evidence of the idea of transmuting base metals to gold appears in 2nd to 5th century AD Buddhist texts, about the same time as in the West. Since Alexander the Great had invaded India in 325 BC, leaving a Greek state (Gandhara) that long endured, the possibility exists that the Indians acquired the idea from the Greeks, but it could have been the other way around.^[2]

It is also possible that the alchemy of medicine and immortality came to India from China, or vice versa; in any case, gold making appears to have been a minor concern, and medicine the major concern, of both cultures. But the elixir of immortality was of little importance in India (which had other avenues to immortality). The Indian elixirs were mineral remedies for specific diseases or, at the most, to promote long life.^[2]

It is also known to Sikhs as Amrit, the Nectar of Immortality (see Amrit Sanskar).

Middle East

The term elixir is derived from the Arabic الإكسير Al-Ikseer, which itself may have come from the Persian Aab-e-Hayaat آب حیات. This was due to the efforts of Arab and Persian alchemists in the medieval Near East in finding an elixir of life. Though they never found it, they contributed to advances in Arabic medicine.

Europe

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.

In April 2008, a group of young scientists demonstrated, in a Portuguese program of television (RTP - Abciência, Elixir of immortality), that it is possible to immortalize yeast cells. Thanks to the expression of "immortality genes" by biomolecules that exist in a vegetable extract, they had proved that they can hinder the death of yeast in fatal conditions of stress. ^{[citation needed]}

100% of dead yeast cells
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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, Philosopher's stone, 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"). The Scots and the Irish adopted the name for their "liquid gold": the Gaelic name for whiskey is uisge beatha, or water of life.

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.

Footnotes

^ Turner, John D. (transl.). The Interpretation of Knowledge. Retrieved 4 May 2006.
^ ^a ^b "Alchemy". Retrieved 4 May 2006.

References

Heart of the Earth: The Elixir of life, second novel in the trilogy by Richard Anderson
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

[1] Turner, John D. (transl.). The Interpretation of Knowledge. Retrieved 4 May 2006.

[Alchemy-2] "Alchemy". Retrieved 4 May 2006.

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-==Possible Recipes==
-Throughout the past two millenniums, countless recipes for the "Elixir of Life" have been written in books by well established and respected early chemists. While some are extremely complex and laced with symbolism, others are very simple.
-For the sake of your own research, or simply for entertainment value and historical recording of early chemistry/alchemy methods, here is one of the most popular methods of manufacturing both the "Elixir of Life" and the "[[Philosopher's Stone]]" which was said to convert lead to gold or silver.
-This is the preferred method used by the 3 main secret alchemy societies today: The [[Rosicruican Order]] (ROS) = dew, the [[Order of the Golden Dawn]], and the [[Order of the Morning Star]] (refers to Venus which rises just before the sun when the grass is wet with the most dew).
-From the book "[[The Secret Teachings of All Ages]]" comes a recipe which uses simply sea salt dissolved in morning dew and digested until a black powder precipitates, which is then calcined to become gray, and again dissolved in more dew and digested until it whitens, and melts on a hot silver plate like wax, and deliquesces when exposed to humid air or morning dew for several hours. It's then a white liquid called "The Philosophical Mercury" and is already able to be used for the perfect curing of a variety of diseases with unwavering success, and enhances the memory and thinking power of the mind, while also opening up the doors of psychic perception into the spirit world, allowing the alchemist to hear and see beings which can only be seen in the ultraviolet spectrum of light, and were labeled as "elemental spirits" by the alchemist.
-This white "virgin's milk", or "Philosophical Mercury" is also able to dissolve metals into a solution which will begin to putrefy and become black, just like organic living matter decomposing. After it becomes black, it goes through several impressive color changes labeled "the Peacock's Tail" by the alchemists, and ends as white or red depending on which metal is used.
-While most would assume gold must be used to make the red stone which can transmute lead to gold, and likewise silver for making the white stone, other alchemists seem to be describing antimony for gold and bismuth for silver (bismuth being heavier than lead).
-==Morning Dew water in early medince==
-There is a fascinating history of morning dew being used in early medicine by the alchemists. It was found to be remarkably medicinal, and was even used by the father of modern medicine and chemisty [[Paracelsus]].  His full birth name was Aureleous Phillipus Theophrastus Bombast von Hoenheim. Few people have contributed as much to humanity and have received such little recognition for it.
-There is also a book which can be found in many public libraries in the USA which contains a report on a man who lived to be well over 100 years of age and was active and youthful until the end, complete photos of him and his son. He collected morning dew and distilled it over 100 times before consuming it was an Elixir of Life. Yet by doing the distillations, he actually was weakening the dew which is why he obtained only mediocre results which is apparent when compared to the results of following the proper process of making the Elixir of Life from morning dew.
-The health benefits of drinking morning dew are undeniable, and even the [[Rosicrucian Order]] is named after dew. ROS means dew, CRUCIS means crucible or flask. This is why the proper symbol for the [[Rosicrucian Order]] is a picture of a rose flower with dew droplets on the petals.
-The Order of the [[Golden Dawn]] is a secret society which was formed by members of the Rosicrucian Order who split off to form their own group. The name was chosen because it represents their primary source or main ingredient for their [[Elixir of Life]] and [[Philosopher's Stone]] which can turn lead to gold.
-There is also another society called the [[Order of the Morning Star]], which refers to the planet [[Venus]] which shines like a bright star and rises only just before sunrise, which happens to be when morning dew is falling at it's highest levels.
-From the manuscripts of these secret societies, we find a recipe for an Elixir of Life which was believed to cure every disease and be a veritable [[panacea]], or 'cure all'. Dew was seen as the collector of moon light, and was represented by the metal silver. Sea salt was seen as he collector of sun light because over 80% of the earth is sea water exposed to the sun. By simply dissolving natural unprocessed [[sea salt]] in morning dew until it reaches it's saturation point and can hold no more, then digesting for a few weeks at 120°F (named by the alchemists the bath of Belneo Mary and abbreviated B.M.), a black powder forms and precipitates. The black powder is removed and dried, then heated until it turns gray. It is then placed in new morning dew water, and again heated for several weeks until it lightens further. After several cycles of these digestions and calcinations of the material, it becomes snow white. It can then be heated on a silver plate, and will melt like wax.
-It's important the dew be collected by simply placing a bag of ice in a glass pot for the first few hours before sunset. The dew can then be filtered, but must not be distilled and the container must then be placed in a well sealed glass bottle before the dew reaches 70 degrees F or room temperature. When it's warmed up, the precious vapors escape which are the secret spirit you are are after. The same is not true for the sea water because all of the energy is fixed in the salt crystals.
-In 1670 a man by the name of Nicolas Pierre Henri de Montfaucon infiltrated the Rosicrucian Order and was shown the room where they make the celebrated elixir. In the center of the room stood a quartz globe which appeared to be solid crystal to him. Arranged around the globe were several concave mirrors all positioned perfectly to focus the sunlight coming in through the surrounding windows directly onto the globe. He saw that a powder was being formed in the globe and he was told that this powder is what the alchemists used to strengthen their eyes so the elemental spirits will become visible to them.
-But what he didn't know was the globe was not solid, but was filled with raw dew water and sea salt which was undergoing fermentation, and the sunlight was being used as a natural source of continuous heat throughout the day. So he naively assumed the powder inside the globe was being formed by the sheer focusing power of the concave lenses alone.
-This elixir is a powerful medicine, and extremely potent. Only 5 drops per day would be prescribed to cure even the most wicked of disease, and also wonderfully improves the mental functioning. However, at those times the AIDS disease did not yet exist in the world because it did not come about until the American government created it during research for bioweaponry and the attempted genocide of the entire black race. So it is not yet known if it works to cure AIDS, but there is already an American patent from 1997 which claims to cures AIDS with one single injection of tetrasilver tetroxide (alchemists would call this a calx of silver). United States Patent #5676977 which can be located online for free.
-The alchemists also found that this white liquid is able to dissolve gold and silver like ice in warm water, if the metal be in thin leaf form. And once digested, the metal solution becomes blackened, then goes through color changes to end as a beautiful red if gold is used, or white if silver was used. By this method a stone is made which is able to perform the seemingly impossible feat of transmutation of lead to gold or silver.
-What is even more incredible is the fact this "stone" will begin to glow like a hot coal if made from gold and simply digested 7 times with the white dew/salt which dissolves it and putrefies it. And if made from silver, it begins to glow with a white fluorescent light.
-However, a few of the old texts indicate the alchemists did not mean gold and silver as we know them, but instead meant [[antimony]] for gold, and [[bismuth]] for silver. Some also wrote that both the white and red stones should be combined to produce the true completed Philosopher's Stone, which will glow with a distinct ruby red gleam instead of the soft 'hot coal' orange glow of the red stone when it's alone. This stone is also heavier than lead because it contains bismuth, and thus fits well with the descriptions written down by the [[alchemists]] for the past eight centuries.
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