Historical data elixir of eternal life. Is there an elixir of immortality and an elixir of youth? Is there eternal life? Alchemists and the elixir of immortality
Any person who has reached the heights of power begins to feel himself, if not God, then a demigod and is very upset that he, like mere mortals, has a mortal body that hurts, creaks and ache in old age, like an ordinary commoner.
How many of them have been leaders of peoples throughout human history who dreamed that they would get the “elixir of youth” and would “bloom” forever.
According to legend, Genghis Khan, in his old age, learned that a scientist had made an "elixir of immortality", and ordered him to be delivered to him. When the scientist was brought, he told him to drink the proposed elixir, he drank. After that, he ordered the scientist to be killed with the words: "Now let's check if he became immortal."
Many Chinese emperors created teams of officials, sent them to Taoist monks with the aim that they learn the secret of immortality. Then these monks worked in the secret laboratories of the emperors, conjuring over a potion, delaying the moment of their own death.
In Europe, learned alchemists were not only looking for the secret of obtaining gold from shit, but also looking for elixirs of youth or immortality.
A lot of charlatans hovered around the rulers who tried to adventurously earn their living - fooling the heads of the rulers of the world.
Russia is no exception, the problems of rejuvenation worried the leader of all peoples, Stalin and his successors.
In the thirties of the last century, numerous reports began to appear in the USSR about the longevity of the highlanders, that the mountain air of the Caucasus and the special local food contribute to health and longevity. Stalin himself also spoke about the long life of Georgians, who wanted to emphasize that his reign would not end soon.
The President of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR Oleksandr Bogomolets took up the issues of longevity. In 1937, Bogomolets founded a center for the study of the phenomenon of longevity at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. One expedition after another began to be sent to the republics of Transcaucasia.
It turned out that the aksakals in the Caucasus have a very advanced age. Some of them claimed to be 120 and even 130 years old. In cemeteries, gerontologists found graves on which it was written that a person resting in a grave lived for 245 and even 300 years.
Stalin confidently awaited the results of the study from Academician Bogomoltsev, but he was unable to prolong his own life, dying at the age of 65 in 1946.
Already after the death of Stalin, among gerontologists (the science of old age), there were common sense that the long-term highlanders were nothing more than senile coquetry. All the people who declared themselves centenarians did not have any documents confirming their longevity.
In the Caucasus, it is an honor to be an aksakal, so the highlanders added years to themselves, sometimes not even intentionally; they began to believe in their own invented stories.
As in a joke:
At the appointment of a sex therapist, an old man of seventy complains that he cannot often have sexual intercourse.
The sexologist examined his manhood and says that everything is fine with you, and the decrease in sexual activity is age-related. Then the old man says: "And my neighbor, who is eighty years old, claims that every day he changes women in bed."
The sexologist says, "Now show your tongue." Looks over him. And he continues: “The language is in working condition, what prevents you from saying the same as your neighbor says?”
Sometimes, instead of prolonging life, it was possible for aging people to increase sexual activity by injecting them with a substance from the testes of a person or animals. There was stimulation of sexual activity. These experiments led to sad results: a person first felt good - young, then grew old and died dramatically.
Misunderstanding that a person lives in accordance with the genetic program, the change of which is still under the control of the Higher Reason, and led to the emergence of the science of old age - gerontology.
Can a person's life be extended?
The answer is unequivocal - it is possible by changing the genetic program of a person.
Is it necessary to do? A question that will worry our descendants.
In the meantime, within the framework of the existing genetic program, you can rejuvenate your body, and there are no secrets here: you need to lead an active lifestyle.
An active person feels younger and lives longer.
Active mental activity especially stimulates the increase in life expectancy.
Regular sexual activity, without overstrain, also stimulates the work of the organs of the whole organism and increases the tone of an elderly person.
The body (genetic program) reacts to the fact that a person is active in the sexual sphere in old age: if a person can still do this, then it is too early for him to die - let him reproduce.
Whom the human genetic program does not like is idlers, therefore, no matter how a rich idler is treated, no matter what rubbish he takes to improve his well-being, tone up or prolong life, his own genetic program tries to send him to the coffin as soon as possible, since he no longer not needed by God or people.
Regarding young people.
An active, regular sex life is good. But, when the whole meaning of a person's life is in sexual entertainment, and constant artificial stimulation of sexual activity occurs, this does not lead to life expectancy, but to premature aging of the body. Sports (physical exercises) should be done by the whole body, and not just the genitals.
Brains should work not only in the direction: how to get more buzz from sex again, but also engage in other mental activities.
But the worst thing is the stimulation of sexual activity with the help of Viagra or other chemicals.
Fewer pills in your life, moderation in everything, a moderate balanced diet, regular exercise, an active mental life and avoiding drugs, drinking and smoking.
If your activity is stimulated by the beauty of a woman, nature, a work of art or a thirst for knowledge, the desire to start a family and raise children or reach any heights in your career, you are young.
If you cannot raise your vitality without resorting to medication, drinking, smoking, coffee or drugs, then you are old and it is time for you to buy funeral supplies, actively pray to the Gods and prepare for a better life in the afterlife.
Alchemy is a game like cards, Where it is possible, by inflaming a person, To cheat him.
Ben Johnson. Alchemist
Speaking about the search for this stone, they usually recall the mysterious art of alchemy. Alchemy today is considered by many to be a primitive form of chemistry, but it was something more, as it extended far beyond proto-chemistry into the realm of mystical and occult knowledge. As astrology studied the dependence of human life on the stars, so alchemy explored the connection of man with earthly nature, combining chemistry and magic. Alchemists used chemistry as a metaphor for human relationships, as astrologers use stars. The ancient Greeks, Chinese and Indians used to refer to alchemy as the Art or, speaking of the main task of alchemy, change or transmutation in the broadest sense: these are chemical transformations capable of turning ordinary metals into gold, a precious metal highly valued for its color and ability not to rust, even after hundreds of years in the ground. Transmutation also involved physiological changes from disease to health: alchemists believed they could use the stone to create an elixir that could turn dead tissue into living flesh. For the Chinese and Indians, transmutation also meant the transition from the earthly state to the spiritual world.
The idea of the elixir of immortality belongs to the Chinese Taoists, who, among other things, were looking for ways to achieve immortality. Founded in the 6th century BC by the sage Lao Tzu, this combination of religion, philosophy, magic and primitive science gave impetus to all areas of practical chemistry: sophisticated methods for preserving dead bodies (an example of this is the tomb of a woman in Ma Wandui with a sealed chamber sealed with kaolin clay); rigor in the execution of procedures and measurements; the use of a variety of devices, furnaces, forges, vessels for reactions and distillation; and, of course, the belief that the elixir could somehow stop aging - the search for it began around the 4th century BC. It was believed that the strongest form of such a substance should be a solution containing a metal resistant to corrosion, "drinkable gold", then it was believed that the immutability of this noble metal should be transferred to the person who drank it.
One scientist gave more than 1000 names for the elixir, where gold was far from the only ingredient. For example, in The Great Secrets of Alchemy by Song Qimiao (581-673 AD), formulas based on the use of mercury, sulfur, and arsenic are described. According to the English historian Joseph Needham, it is possible that some Chinese emperors even died as a result of poisoning with such "elixirs of immortality." Hundreds of years later, the failure of the Chinese alchemists became apparent, as they strictly adhered to their only goal - finding the elixir of immortality, unlike their Western counterparts, who, along with this, sought to discover a way to obtain gold. It is believed that this was one of the reasons why Chinese alchemy did not achieve any significant results compared to European; another reason is that the Chinese adopted Buddhism, which offered a safer path to immortality.
Western alchemy originated in antiquity, during the heyday of classical Greek civilization, from around the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) until the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra in 30 BC. Bolos of Mend, a Hellenized Egyptian who lived in the Nile Delta in the 1st century BC, wrote a book On Nature and Mystery, which contained secret recipes for the preparation of gold and silver. Most of these recipes ended brief description transmutation: "One entity will be found in another entity, one entity will prevail over another entity, one entity will subdue another entity."
In Alexandria of Egypt, early alchemy flourished thanks to the centuries of experience of craftsmen in forging and working gold, which is vividly illustrated by the stunning gold artifacts preserved in the tombs of the pharaohs. It was on the basis of this experience that a discussion arose among the philosophers of those days about how the original metals could be transformed into gold. In the Stockholm and Leiden papyri, which date back to the 3rd century AD, it is described how, using a mixture of sulfates, salts and alum of iron, to give false gold the appearance of real gold. According to the works of Zosima Panopolitansky, who lived in the 3rd century AD, it can be assumed that alchemical theory concentrated on the invention of a tincture that could cause instantaneous transmutation, and it came to be called the philosopher's stone.
Later, the main focus of alchemy turns to a complex set of semi-religious and quasi-magical ideas - from astrology with alchemy to numerology and other occult sciences - which, apparently, arose in Mosaic Egypt under the influence of belief in the god Thoth. They are called the "hermetic corpus" or "hermetics", after the Greek counterpart of Thoth - Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice Greatest). Other components of the Hermetic originate from the Kabbalah, the Jewish teaching about the secret, mystical interpretation of the Old Testament.
Only a select few have been able to glimpse into the magical world described in the hermetic. Nicholas Flamel, one of those who had access to "hermetic art", appears in the first Harry Potter book. Flamel really lived in the XIV century and is said to have created the Philosopher's Stone. According to Lawrence Principe of Johns Hopkins University, an expert on alchemy, "thanks to the Harry Potter books, millions of readers were introduced to the legendary character of the history of chemistry. Otherwise, people probably would never have known about him."
This classic story is one of the most famous inspiring myths of alchemy. Flamel was born in 1330, apparently in Paris, he was from the lower class and became a clerk, a bookseller. The story goes that in a vivid vision an angel appeared to Flamel and gave him a book on the hermetic art, saying: "Read this book carefully, Nicholas. At first you will not understand anything from here, neither you nor anyone else. But one day you will see that no one else can see."
Later, a stranger came to his store, who urgently needed to sell one old book, as he was in desperate need of money. Flamel immediately recognized the copper-bound volume with strange engraved patterns and ancient language letters, like those shown to him by the angel. He was able to figure out that this book was written by Abraham the Jew. Flamel was familiar with the alchemical writings of his contemporaries and knew something about transmutations, but it still took him twenty-one years to decipher the mysteries of the hermetic corpus.
Since parts of the corpus were written in Hebrew, Flamel's wife Pernel suggested that he seek the advice of some Jewish rabbi who studies mystical Kabbalistic texts. Knowing that many Jews were forced to move from France to Spain, Flamel rushed there, to Santiagoda Compostella, along with pilgrims to the church of St. James, hoping to meet the right person along the way. Already on the way back, he met the Jewish sage Kanches, who was able to shed light on the secrets of this mysterious manuscript and gave Flamel a key with which he could decipher the entire contents of the book.
Flamel returned home to his wife, and after three years their efforts were crowned with success. Around noon on Monday, January 17, 1382, they converted half a pound of mercury into silver using the white philosopher's stone. Then at five o'clock in the afternoon on April 25, 1382, with the help of a red type of stone, they turned mercury into gold. Flamel and Pernel continued their work and received the stone several more times.
In the end, they began to say that Flamel managed to prepare the coveted elixir of immortality. However, this elixir does not appear to have helped him much, as he died in 1417 (or March 22, 1418, according to another source), at the age of eighty-seven or eighty-eight. Today, his tombstone is in the Musée Cluny, where it was moved from a Parisian grocer, where it was used as a cutting board.
However, some believe that Flamel staged his own funeral. This view is confirmed in the first Harry Potter book, where Flamel and his wife have a much happier fate, living to 665 and 658 years or so, leading a quiet life and doing pottery in Devon. How did they do it? Perhaps the answer is found in Flamel's most famous book, An Explanation of the Hieroglyphic Figures, or His Secret Book of the Blessed Stone Called the Stone of the Philosophers, where, with the help of various figures, allegedly carved on a crypt that Flamel acquired in a local parish, he encrypted the method of making stone. Like other alchemists, he kept the nature of the stone secret and spoke of his work only in the most vague and figurative terms, without giving clues as to what he was doing.
According to one theory, Flamel announced the creation of the stone to hide the real source of his wealth, which was acquired in dubious transactions. Some sources note that Flamel did indeed become a very wealthy man, so much so that he was able to found and finance fourteen hospitals, seven churches and three cathedrals in Paris alone and even more in Boulogne.
However, on closer examination Prinsipe found that Flamel's story was not supported by the facts. "In the world of alchemy, as in the world of magic, things often don't seem to be the way they are." The Flamel couple did live at that time, but modern historians have been unable to find evidence that they ever practiced alchemy, the first mention of their interest in the philosopher's stone appeared in 1500, long after their death. Flamel's most famous book, Hieroglyphic Figures, was published in 1612 and, as studies have shown, was written at the end of the 16th century. All other alchemical texts attributed to Flamel were created after his death.
"Archival documents show that Flamel's fortune was not as great as the stories make us believe, and it was born not through the transmutation of metals, but through a clever game on the Paris real estate exchange and was supplemented by a fortune that Pernel inherited from previous marriages," - Principe says. Nevertheless, after his death, the story of Flamel continued to acquire details and details. Early evidence speaks of its enormous wealth, and in the 18th century it was already about extending life, no doubt with the help of the philosopher's stone.
In 1712, a traveler met a "learned dervish from Asia Minor" who had recently seen the Flamels, healthy and strong, already over 375 years old, living in India. Half a century later, they end up at the Paris Opera. "This curious detail is also cited in the Harry Potter book, where Rowling calls Nicholas an opera lover and mentions his age as 665 years old (it was in 1995 or 1996)," says Principe.
Even though his practice of alchemy was questionable, not to mention the fact that he allegedly found the philosopher's stone, Flamel's work had a great influence on famous 17th-century alchemists such as Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton. Newton had a copy of Flamel's work and wrote a seven-page review entitled "Nicholas Flamel's Explanation of the Hieroglyphic Figures, Year 1399" in an attempt to show the real ancient alchemy, of which modern understanding has been distorted.
The desire to find a stone did not seem too dubious an undertaking in an era borderline for magic and science. The idea that metals consist of a set of elementary primary substances was then very popular, and this idea itself originates from ancient Greek philosophy and science. Empedocles and then Aristotle developed the theory that all things are made up of four elements - air, earth, water and fire. Thus, if the alchemist could find a way to change this mixture, then it is logical to expect that it would be possible to make one metal into another.
As Principe says, at the beginning of the modern era, alchemists tended to isolate different primary substances. Like any self-respecting scientist of antiquity, they noticed that Aristotle's recipes could not be repeated in their laboratory. The widespread idea that all metals consist of only two elementary primary substances, sulfur and mercury, in different proportions and different purity, arose around the 9th century, and only then * came to Europe.
However, by "sulfur" and "mercury" they did not mean the elements themselves, but their properties: "sulfur" was usually considered as the primary element of combustion and color, and it was believed that it was present in metals, since they change into an earth-like substance under the influence of fire. "Mercury", a metallic primordial substance, was attributed such properties as fusibility, malleability and brilliance. Thus, if you combine the yellow color of sulfur with the metallic luster of mercury, you get a yellow metal. With the right recipe, you can create gold.
As Flamel's story shows, there were two types of philosopher's stone, or perhaps two degrees of perfection: one for the transmutation of "imperfect" metals into silver - a white stone, and the other - for the creation of gold - a red stone, or "powder of transformation". In the first Harry Potter book, Voldemort is hunting for a stone that is red as blood.
Usually the elixir of immortality is described as a solution of a stone in wine, reviving the flowering of youth. How does he work? Just. In the words of Paracelsus (a Falstaffian character and a pioneer in chemistry, also known as Theophrastus Philipp Aurelius Bom-bastfon Hohenheim, 1493-1541): to his nature."
Immortality has long been an "obsession" of humanity - whoever was looking for it ... humanity wanted to believe that it was possible - that someone had already achieved it. Among these were the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who did not die, but sleeps in an underground hall to return one day - and his long beard is growing, Count Saint-Germain - a famous alchemist of the 18th century, whose servant claimed to be working for him " only "three hundred years ... alas, the circumstances of the death of Frederick are known: in the Third Crusade, the emperor fell off his horse while crossing the Selif River and choked in the water, and Count Saint-Germain himself let slip that his father was Prince Rakoczi II of Transylvania, who lived on at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries, the count died in 1784. Life, of course, is long - more than 90 years - but it clearly does not look like an "elixir of immortality" ...
Does it exist elixir of immortality and youth elixir?
However, one Chinese emperor tried to do without the elixir - he took it and ordered to consider himself immortal! And it was not customary to argue with the emperor, so when he nevertheless died due to natural causes, the subjects faced a dilemma: what is the priority - the sacred will of the emperor or the real state of affairs? They decided that after all, the first thing: the body of the emperor was put on the throne, dignitaries approached him with reports, listened to orders (there was always someone to determine the content of the orders) - and this continued until the decomposition of the corpse had gone far enough ...
But this, of course, is from a series of historical curiosities. But seriously ... according to the Bible, man was originally created immortal (and lost this state as a result of the fall) - and will again become so (those who deserve it) after the Resurrection of the dead at second coming Jesus Christ… neither state, of course, is inaccessible to scientific research (and "by definition" cannot be achieved here and now) - so let's see what we have today.
First we need to figure out why we die at all. As a rule - from diseases (heart attack, stroke, hypertension, etc.). But there are people with "iron health which remain vigorous until old age. They do not suffer in the last years of their lives from pain, the inability to do without outside help, etc., they die without much suffering - but they still die! Yes, and their long life is just a long old age - not a single 100-year-old centenarian looked like a 20-year-old boy on his half-century anniversary ... why is this happening?
The secret is "built into" the DNA molecule. Each of its sections encodes the synthesis of a particular protein - and only the terminal section does not do this ... why is it needed? In 1971, our compatriot A. Olovnikov suggested, and 15 years later, the English researcher G. Cook proved that this site, named telomere, encodes the age of the cell: with each division, it is shortened - when the "limit" is exhausted, the cell dies. True, there are cells in which this does not happen - sex, stem and cancer, in all three a special enzyme works - telomerase, it is he who "does not allow" telomeres to shorten.
In 1997, the gene responsible for the synthesis of telomerase was isolated in the USA (University of Colorado), and in 1998, researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas (USA) built it into cells where it usually does not work (skin, vascular epithelium) - immortal these cells, however, did not become, but their life lengthened by one and a half times. Enthusiasts - even among scientists - started talking about an immortality pill that could be created in the next 50 years (maybe even 10) ... hooray!
But do not rush to rejoice. Remember, we said in which cells telomerase works under normal conditions - and they were called cancer cells (which is why cancer is so difficult, and often impossible to defeat). That. no one can guarantee that such an "immortality pill" will not cause cancer. And the mechanism of aging itself is not so simple: in an adult, nerve cells do not divide - nevertheless, they grow old and die, therefore, in addition to shortening telomeres, there is some other mechanism of aging and death ... what? So far, there is no answer - which means that it is too early to talk about overcoming it.
But suppose a "tablet" of immortality is invented ... will we be delighted with it? Well, at least those politicians and "bags of money" to whom it will be available?
... On the way to Calvary, Jesus Christ, exhausted under the weight of the cross, stopped for a minute to rest, leaning against the wall of the house. The owner of this house - a Jew named Ahasuerus - pushed him away with a cry: "Go, what are you delaying!". “And you will go forever,” the Savior answered. “And there will be neither peace nor death for you.” And the unfortunate accursed Ahasuerus still walks the earth, waiting for the Second Coming of the Savior - after all, only it will save him from the overwhelming burden of eternal life ...
This legend is far from the only example in folklore and literature when immortality acts as a curse and even punishment. Usually the heroes of such works - from Ahasuerus to Jack Harkness, the hero of the English science fiction series "Torchwood" - suffer from the fact that everyone they manage to love (including their own children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.), die - and they continue to live, over and over again experiencing the pain of new losses. So, for immortality to bring happiness, it must be universal immortality? What awaits us if such a "recipe" is found (of course, provided that immortal life there will be more eternal youth)?
First of all, you have to give up once and for all. Of course it will Paradise» for adherents of the childfree movement - but they, fortunately, do not yet make up the majority. In addition, such a humanity will stop its development once and for all: a new generation will not come to put forward new ideas ... do we need such a “stopped” life?
Until now, we have been talking about physical immortality ... but there is also an idea of immortality of the soul. It has always existed - as long as humanity remembers itself. Of course, there have always been philosophers who denied it (for example, Epicurus) - but in one form or another it is present in all religions - the only exception is Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists ... the latter substantiate their denial of the posthumous existence of the soul in a very original way: in their In a brochure, I came across a selection of quotations from the Bible, where death is compared to sleep, provided with a note - “In sleep, all activity stops, time passes imperceptibly for the sleeper.” Of course, for such conclusions, one must absolutely not know either psychology or history. Sciences and art, where there are many examples when in a dream people made discoveries and created masterpieces - and, probably, they themselves will never dream ... but one way or another - these are just exceptions, and so - even in Christian Creed it does not say "I believe in the immortality of the soul" - this is so self-evident that it does not require "introduction as a separate item."
But faith is faith - but what about scientific evidence?
They started talking about evidence when medicine got its hands on technology. Many people who survived clinical death told about the same thing: I flew through a dark tunnel, saw light at its end - further stories vary, but this detail is almost always present - all patients in different countries of the world could not agree decisively, in really! Yes, and in religious teachings there is no mention of "at the end of the tunnel" so that it can be attributed to self-hypnosis ... so there is something real behind this?
Obviously worth it - but it's hardly the afterlife. The fact is that no one really returned “from the next world” - medicine cannot revive the dead! Clinical death is not death as such: oxygen and nutrients are cut off to the cells - but they are still living, therefore, a person in a state of clinical death is a person who is dying rather than dead, in some way still alive, so what to talk about the afterlife is still early. Of course, in this state, the work of the brain is disturbed - so that images can arise of any kind. The perception of signals from the outside world also changes (so, according to scientists, the notorious “light at the end of the tunnel” is nothing more than your own pupil, which a person can only see in this state).
So how do we deal with immortality?
The immortal physical is currently unavailable, for the foreseeable future future is not foreseen - and it is hardly necessary at all.
In the immortality of the soul - as in all ages - one can believe or not believe, its existence has not been scientifically proven - and is hardly provable at all (at least by the means of modern science).
It was in the 18th century. Once a servant of the legendary Count of Saint-Germain was asked if his master had really met Julius Caesar in person and had the secret of immortality. To which the servant calmly replied that he did not know, but over the past 300 years of his service with Saint-Germain, the count had not changed in appearance at all ...
Nowadays, the question of immortality has not lost its relevance, and active work to find a way to gain physical immortality is being carried out in all industrialized countries of the world.
If we omit the mythological history of the biblical Adam, who lived, according to legend, for 900 years, the Eternal Jew Ahasuerus and Koshchei the Immortal, then the first popularizer of the elixir of immortality will be the same Saint Germain, a person, I must say, very mysterious. In the 18th century, folk rumor seriously claimed that the count was 500 years old, and in his castle there was a unique mirror in which one could see the future.
It was rumored that the count personally showed the headless body of his grandson in the mirror to Louis XV. In turn, the famous adventurer Count Cagliostro, who considered himself a student of Saint Germain, mentioned a certain vessel during interrogation in the Inquisition. In it, Saint Germain, according to Cagliostro, kept the elixir of immortality, made according to the recipes of the ancient Egyptian priests.
The most interesting thing is that people who personally met Saint-Germain in various parts of Europe described him as a man about 45 years old with a swarthy face. At the same time, over the course of decades, the graph did not change at all in appearance. He was rich, well-bred, and had a truly aristocratic manner. The Count spoke French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Chinese, Turkish and Arabic equally well.
Often in conversation with monarchs, Saint Germain referred to the rulers of bygone days, and in conversation he often claimed to have had personal conversations with many ancient rulers and philosophers, including Jesus Christ. Saint-Germain died either in 1784 in Holstein, or in 1795 in Kassel.
But his grave was never found. And many aristocrats who knew the count during his lifetime met him more than once after his official death! There is evidence of the appearance of Saint-Germain in Europe of the 20th century. Did the count really possess the elixir of eternal youth, is it possible?
YOUTH FOR THE TYRANT
As you know, the most notorious sinners and satraps cling to life more than others. Historical sources claim that the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, the legendary Shi Huangdi, who lived in the 3rd century BC. e., was literally obsessed with the idea of his own immortality. From morning to night, his associates studied ancient treatises in the hope of discovering a recipe for eternal youth.
But in vain. As a result, the frustrated emperor issued a decree in which he forbade himself to die. But still he died. Subsequently, many emperors of China tried to find the elixir of eternal life, but apart from unique rejuvenation techniques, nothing was invented.
Medieval rulers also became famous for their search for a recipe for immortality. All the ways they invented bordered on a rare inhuman sadism. They say that Marshal of France Count Gilles de Ré, the prototype of Bluebeard, became famous in this field more than others. After being arrested during interrogations by the Inquisition, he confessed that he had killed several hundred young people in order to make an elixir of immortality from their genitals.
In the second half of the 16th century, the Hungarian Countess Elisabeth Bathory took baths from the blood of virgins to gain eternal youth and beauty. In total, 650 girls found their end in the castle of the countess.
BLOOD FOR THE LEADER
Like medieval aristocrats, the first Soviet leaders also wanted to live forever. In the 1920s, the famous revolutionary Alexander Bogdanov headed the world's first Blood Institute, in which the elderly leaders of Soviet Russia tried to transfuse the blood of the young.
However, the matter did not work out. Lenin, unlike his sister, who underwent a rejuvenating procedure, refused a blood transfusion, calling it scientific vampirism. Perhaps the research would have been successful, but Bogdanov died unexpectedly during one of the experiments on himself. After his death, a disappointed Stalin ordered the experiments to be interrupted.
Half a century later, the problem of gaining longevity through the transfusion of the blood of young compatriots was quite successfully practiced by the leader of North Korea, Kim Il Sung. Having begun the procedures at the age of 65, the dictator lived to a very old age of 82, although he planned to stretch it to at least 120 years.
THE GENERATOR OF YOUTH EXISTS
In the modern world, there are dozens of promising methods for extending human life. But humanity is not waiting for a unique diet, an expensive operation or cryofreezing of its own body, but the invention of a device that, in a few sessions, would help a person completely get rid of diseases and live an extra 40-50 years.
Oddly enough, but such an apparatus exists and operates on principles that are logically close to the cruel experiments of medieval rulers. However, now it is not about transfusing young blood to an old man, but about transplanting a young biofield.
One of the presentations of the technique took place in 1997 in St. Petersburg at the First International Congress "Weak and superweak fields and radiation in biology and medicine." A report on his unique technique was made by a scientist of Chinese origin from Khabarovsk, Yuri Vladimirovich Jiang Kanzhen. According to the scientist's theory, repeatedly confirmed by practical experiments, all living organisms exchange some genetic information invisible to the eye.
The process occurs with the help of electromagnetic waves of the microwave range. The device, invented by Dr. Jiang Kanzheng, can transfer the biofield of young organisms to old ones, rehabilitating their DNA and stimulating rejuvenation. Like a real scientist, Jiang Kanzheng experimented both on himself and on his father - the result was both the youthfulness of the scientist himself and the processes of regeneration of the body of his 80-year-old father.
It is interesting to note that, unlike many similar inventions, official science accepted and even issued patents for several inventions. So it is likely that in the foreseeable future every clinic will have a device capable of transferring the biofield of a young person to his elderly relatives, rejuvenating them. In this case, the duration of human life will almost double.
SCIENCE DOES NOT STAND
To comment on the possibility of creating a technique that significantly prolongs human life, we were agreed by the doctor of medical sciences, academician of the VAKB Dmitry Valerievich GLUKHOV:
The elixir of eternal youth really has a right to exist. But not in the medieval sense. All over the world, research is being actively conducted in the field of rejuvenation techniques, there are significant successes in this area. In Russia alone, more than 10 rejuvenation systems and more than 30 rejuvenation techniques have been commercialized, not counting a variety of dietary supplements and pharmacological preparations. Most of the work is carried out in the field of cosmetology and correction of the human immune system. Every year there are new methods based on advanced, promising technologies. So, nanotechnologies gave impetus to a new direction of rejuvenation - supramolecular chemistry. Development is proceeding rapidly, and, perhaps, in the near future, one of the researchers will show the coveted bottle with a cloudy liquid. Today, the technologies of electromagnetic transformation, or modification of the human genome, have advanced farthest in this direction. Again, many scientists are working in this direction in Russia. In my opinion, the work of Jiang Kanzheng looks quite promising. It is impossible not to mention Professor Zakharov with his cell therapy and revitalization, Goryaev, Komrakov and other researchers. In case of their success and the mass introduction of methods, the average life expectancy of a person can increase from the current 65-70 years to 140-160 years. True, in this case, a person will have, among other things, to lead a relatively healthy lifestyle.
The human body is 70% water. No wonder one famous biologist figuratively called living beings "animate water." Obviously, for the health and longevity of a person, it is not indifferent what kind of water nourishes the tissues of his body.
Indeed, in recent years it has become known that water differs significantly not only in chemical impurities, but also in isotopic composition and other features. Many properties of water change, for example, if it is passed between the poles of a magnet. Water can be more biologically active, and this affects the aging process of the body. But much about the properties of water - an important component of our body - we still do not know.
In any case, today it is no longer vague legends and ancient legends, but scientific research that speaks of the influence of water on the health and life expectancy of the inhabitants of different regions of the Earth.
Where do people live longer?
It is known that the inhabitants of some islands Caribbean, for example, the islands of Guadeloupe, look much younger than their European peers. When they are asked how they manage to keep their youth for a long time, the answer usually follows: “On our island, such water flows from springs that rejuvenates a person ...” The inhabitants of the central regions of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are also distinguished by excellent health. The inhabitants of Sri Lanka consider the climate and water of mountain springs to be the cause of their health. Apparently, it was no coincidence that the ancients tried to look for life-giving water on this island.
The longevity of the highlanders and a number of peoples of the North, some scientists associate with the water they drink. This is the so-called "melt water effect", which has a beneficial effect on metabolism and thus, as it were, "rejuvenates" the body.
Today, the search is not conducted on distant islands or in unknown lands. They are carried out in dozens of laboratories of the world's largest scientific centers that study the properties of water and its effect on the human body.
People who were extremely anxious to lengthen their lives as much as possible were, for the most part, endowed with wealth and power. They were looking for the shortest path. And such a way seemed to exist. The most ancient traditions and legends mentioned him - this is the "elixir of immortality" that the gods ate. In different countries it was called differently. The gods of the ancient Greeks used ambrosia, which gives eternal life, the Indian gods - amrita, the gods of the Iranians - haoma. And only the gods of Ancient Egypt, showing majestic modesty, preferred water to other food of the gods. True, all the same water of immortality.
Alchemists and the elixir of immortality
Of the people, no one approached the elixir of immortality as close as the alchemists, who, however, were looking for something completely different - ways to make gold. There was a certain logic to this. Immortality is a state that is not subject to change. Isn't gold the only substance that is not subject to external influences? It is not afraid of alkalis or acids, it is not afraid of corrosion. It seemed that time itself was powerless before him. Doesn't this metal contain some principle that makes it so? And is it possible to isolate this substance from it or bring it into the human body along with gold? “Whoever takes gold inside,” says one ancient oriental text, “he will live as long as gold.” This is the traditional basis of ancient beliefs: eat the eyes of an eagle - you will be like an eagle, eat the hearts of a lion - you will be strong like a lion ... Gold was an indispensable component of various versions of the elixir of immortality. A recipe compiled by the personal physician of Pope Boniface VIII has come down to us: gold, pearls, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, topazes, white and red corals, ivory, sandalwood, deer heart, aloe root, musk and ambergris should be mixed in crushed form. (We hope that prudence will deter readers from overly hasty application of the composition given here.)
ancient recipes
Another composition was not much simpler, which can be found in one ancient oriental book: “You need to take a toad that has lived for 10,000 years, and a bat that has lived for 1,000 years, dry them in the shade, grind them into powder and take them.”
And here is the recipe from the ancient Persian text: “You need to take a person, red-haired and freckled, and feed him with fruits for up to 30 years, then lower him into a stone vessel with honey and other compounds, enclose this vessel in hoops and hermetically seal it. In 120 years, his body will turn into a mummy.” After that, the contents of the vessel, including what became the mummy, could be taken as a remedy and a means of prolonging life.
Errors that germinate in every sphere of human activity, in this area bring a particularly bountiful harvest. Mention may be made in this connection of a French scholar of the 15th century. In search of the elixir of life, he boiled 2,000 eggs, separated the whites from the yolks and, mixing them with water, distilled them many times, hoping in this way to extract the desired substance of life.
The sheer senselessness of such recipes does not testify to the senselessness of the search itself. Only that which was discarded as unnecessary became known. But if we judge the history of this or that science only by unsuccessful experiments and failed discoveries, the picture will probably be about the same.
