Note: This is a continuation of Ancient Longevity Techniques: Diet & The Elixir of Life, Part 1.
In 2018, a bronze pot was unearthed from a 2,260 sq ft tomb dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (202 BCE to 8 CE) in the city of Luoyang. In the bronze pot archeologists found "3.5 liters of the liquid in the color of transparent yellow." The liquid smelled like rice wine, but that’s not what it was. It was a mysterious liquid mixture of potassium nitrate and alunite. The ancient Chinese believed that ingesting precious substances like jade, cinnabar or hematite would transfer longevity onto the person who consumed them.
Potassium nitrate is used in everything from fireworks to fertilizer and food thickener, but it’s the combination with alunite that makes it a match for the highly sought after, 'elixir of life' documented in ancient Taoist texts. In the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang sent Taoist alchemist Xu Fu with 500 young men and 500 young women to the eastern seas to find the elixir of life, but they never came back.
The most famous Chinese alchemical book, the Danjing yaojue (Essential Formulas of Alchemical Classics) by Sun Simiao discusses in detail the creation of elixirs for immortality.
The Patriarch of Pang is a mythical being, reputed to have attained amazing longevity. He was 767 years of age when the Yin dynasty came to an end in 1123 B.C.. He is said to have nourished himself “upon the powder of mother-o’-pearl” and similar substances.
In India, the elixir of life has been described in the Hindu scriptures as Amrit. But the elixir of immortality was of little importance in India (which has many other avenues to immortality).
In European tradition, the elixir of life is related to the creation of the philosopher's stone. According to legend, certain alchemists have gained a reputation as creators of the elixir. These include Nicolas Flamel and Count de Saint-Germain (seen below). In the text Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored by Archibald Cockren, he recounts a declaration of Count de Saint-Germain.
It was diet, he declared, combined with his marvellous elixir, which constituted the true secret of his longevity, for it may be remembered that records of St. Germain's various appearances in Europe extend over a period of 110 years, during which time his appearance never altered. Always he appeared as a well-preserved man of middle age.
It is said that Count de Saint-Germain was a brilliant alchemist who, it is believed, discovered the secret of eternal life.
Referred to by many as one of the ascended masters, his autobiographer, Isabel Cooper-Oakley, had this to say about him in 1912:
Less well understood are some of the other stories that have been made about the elusive Count: he always appeared about forty years old, popped up from time to time after his official death (on February 27th, 1784), made spot-on, unambiguous prophecies, could transmute matter, and spontaneously teleported to distant locations.
Whatever the Count was doing, it sounds like he had found the secret to more than eternal life. Whatever he had found the secret gave him mastery over the laws in the simulation.
Soma
Another ancient elixir is called Soma by the ancient Hindus and Zoroastrians, while the Iranians call it Hoama in the sacred Avesta. The consumption of Soma is attested to in Vedic ritual. The two leading gods Indra and Agni are portrayed as consuming it in copious quantities. The Rig Veda, composed more than 5000 year ago, says:
“We drank soma, we became immortal, we came to the light, we found gods.”
There are several meanings for Soma. Earlier meanings in the Rig-Veda refer to Soma as a God, while others refer to it as a juice. Soma the god was said to be divine, immortal and he had the ability to confer immortality on others. There is reference to the god that dwelled inside of a plant, which could refer to both the God and the juice in one.
The following is an excerpt from Hymn XLVIII, entitled Soma from the Rid Veda,
3 We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.
Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?
4 Absorbed into the heart, be sweet, O Indu, as a kind father to his son, O Soma,
As a wise Friend to friend: do thou, wide-ruler, O Soma, lengthen out our days for living.
5 These glorious drops that give me freedom have I drunk. Closely they knit my joints as straps secure a car.
Let them protect my foot from slipping on the way: yea, let the drops I drink preserve me from disease.
6 Make me shine bright like fire produced by friction: give us a clearer sight and make us better.
For in carouse I think of thee, O Soma, Shall I, as a rich man, attain to comfort?
7 May we enjoy with an enlivened spirit the juice thou givest, like ancestral riches.
O Soma, King, prolong thou our existence as Sūrya makes the shining days grow longer.
For unknown reasons the identity of the plant from which Soma was extracted was lost until in 2009, two archaeologists claim to have discovered the plant used to produce the drink. Up until then, a number of candidates have been put forward, including cannabis, wild chicory, rhubarb, ginseng, and opium.
While digging up a burial chamber in Mongolia, two Russian archaeologists discovered textiles dating back 2000 years. The textiles were parts of a carpet composed of a dark-red woolen fabric. The cloth, which was spun in Syria or Palestine, and embroidered in India, had somehow found its way to Mongolia. The embroidery depicts an ancient Zoroastrian ceremony centered around a “divine mushroom”. The belief is that Soma, the ancient ritual drink, was prepared from the mushroom family of strophariaceae, which contains psilocybin.
The Sushruta Samhita is considered one of the most representative works of the Hindu system of medicine.
Chapter XXVIII of the text is dedicated to elixirs or rasayana to improve memory and life span. The chapter starts by relating the intention of the elixirs:
Now we shall discourse on the elixirs and remedial agents which tend to improve the memory and invigorate the mental faculties as well as to increase the duration of human life
The first elixir is Shvetavalguja-Rasayana. Those that drink Shvetavalguja-Rasayana for six months:
would make the life of its user sinless, and extend it in the full glow of health and vigour and in the sound enjoyment of a vigorous memory and of all his intellectual faculties to a hundred green summers.
Each elixir promises to cure different ailments. One promises to fix jaundice and abdominal dropsy, while another (Manduka-parni Rasayana) ensures:
...a long life of a hundred years in the full vigour of retentive memory and intellectual faculties, and would impart a god-like effulgence to the complexion.
Brahmi Rasayana used continuously for a week:
..improves the memory, leads to the expansion of the intellectual faculties and imparts a celestical glow to the complexion. In the second week of its course it revives old and forgotten memories in the user and adds to his proficiency in the writing out of any book to be written. In the third week it enables a man to reproduce from memory as many as one hundred words if twice heard or read (at a single sitting). In the same manner a (further) use of the drug for twenty-one days removes all inauspicious features whether of the body or of the mind, the goddess of learning appears in an embodied form to the (mind of the) user, and all kinds of knowledge come rushing into his memory. A single hearing is enough to make him reproduce (verbatim from memory a discourse however lengthy), and he is enabled to live for five hundred years.
There are many more. For example, these are the directions for an elixir called Vaca Rasayana that is said to increase memory and improve hearing:
A paste of white Vaca to the size of an Amalaka should be taken with (an adequate quantity of) milk, after consecrating it (in the proper manner). The medicine should be taken after cleansing the system (with emetics and purgatives, etc.) and after entering the Agara (room). After the medicine had been digested, a meal of boiled rice with milk and clarified butter should be partaken of. A continuous use of this elixir for twelve days improves the power of hearing. It increases the power of memory if taken for the next twelve days. It enables the user to remember a hundred words at a time by a thrice repetition of the same (i.e., by taking it for a period of thirty-six days). A repetition of a twelve days’ (i.e., forty-eight days) use of the medicine leads to the expiation of all sins; it imparts a keenness of sight like that of Garuda and enables the user to witness a hundred summers on earth.
Ambrosia
And let's not forget about Ambrosia - the drink of the Greek Gods. In the ancient Greek myths, Ambrosia is the food or drink of the gods, conferring longevity or immortality upon those that consume it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus by doves.
We don't know what Ambrosia is made of, but many believe it to be blood. The sacrifice of an animal for its blood is a ritual found in many ancient text. Today, Ambrosia Plasma-- a company founded by Jesse Karmazin, a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford University’s School of Medicine, sells “young” blood. Currently, you can buy 1 liter for $8,000 dollars and 2 liters for $12,000.
What Can You Do Today?
This can all sound a bit daunting, but it’s only because this is an area of study that humans have been focused on for thousands of years.
To recap, there are many ways to achieve longevity, but the easiest way to start today is to:
1) watch your diet,
2) exercise regularly
3) becoming active in the community (on or offline)
4) do something that decreases stress like meditation, drinking wine or dancing
5) do something that challenges you mentally: soduku, crossword puzzle, poker or chess. This can be just as important as physical activity.
So, if you take nothing else away from this post, know that these five actions can change your life.
The next post in this series will focus on ancient longevity techniques focused on movement and exercise: Yoga, Tai chi and Pilates.
Click here to read the next post in this series: Ancient Longevity Techniques: Movement and Exercise: Yoga, Tai chi and Pilates Part 3