Historical data elixir of eternal life. Elixir of Immortality

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 issue 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 were 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

AT 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 cryogenic freezing 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, the discovery of a scientist 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.

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 Frederick's death 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 the Prince of Transylvania Rakoczi II, 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 part of 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 not available for 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 don't suffer in last years life 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. science and art, where there are many examples when people made discoveries and created masterpieces in a dream - 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: they flew through a dark tunnel, saw a light at its end - further stories vary, but this detail is almost always present - surely all patients in different countries negotiate peace, indeed! 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 have been 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).

Historical site of Bagheera - secrets of history, mysteries of the universe. Mysteries of great empires and ancient civilizations, the fate of disappeared treasures and biographies of people who changed the world, the secrets of special services. The history of wars, the mysteries of battles and battles, reconnaissance operations of the past and present. World traditions, modern life in Russia, the mysteries of the USSR, the main directions of culture and other related topics - all that official history is silent about.

Learn the secrets of history - it's interesting ...

Reading now

History of Russia during the Revolution and civil war full of amazing, sometimes incredible turns of human destinies. The clearest example in this regard can be considered the life path of the outstanding Russian military leader General Slashchev, who was called the “Savior of the Crimea” by the White Guards, and then abruptly changed his views ...

"Underpants - vacuum and x-ray!". Do you think these are the notes of a madman? And here it is not. Such phrases can be heard in the studio where they sew clothes for ... astronauts. It is necessary to vacuum it so that the dust does not clog the air filters of the space station, and the x-ray will reveal foreign objects in the clothes. So, for example, once the tailors left a pin in the fabric, which could seriously injure the astronaut.

The recent suicide of Irina, the wife of Alexander Porokhovshchikov, and the death of the famous actor that soon followed, have become an inexhaustible topic for the press and television. What is behind this double tragedy: selfless love, a combination of circumstances, or some forces beyond human understanding?

In 1980, sensational news was published in some Argentine newspapers that Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide, but remained alive. In 1953, he met with his personal pilot Hans Baur, released from Soviet captivity, and he gave him a message from Interior Minister Lavrenty Beria. In it, the all-powerful head of the Soviet special services informed the former Fuhrer of the Third Reich about plans to recreate a united Germany and offered through the Black International, which has big weight in many countries Western Europe give him political support.

Aimee Mullins was born in 1976 in Allentown (Pennsylvania, USA) and became famous, despite her limited physical abilities, as an athlete, actress, model and oratory. This woman was born with a congenital defect in both fibulae, so doctors were forced to amputate her legs below the knees a year after birth. Since then, Mullins has been using special prostheses.

1949 was a remarkable year in many ways. In the USSR, preparations were underway for the 70th anniversary of Stalin, they were waiting for good news from the Chinese Communists. It would seem that nothing could spoil such a happy year in many respects.

The German command was very fond of giving their secret objects intricate and somewhat romantic names. Suffice it to recall how the Fuhrer's headquarters were called - "Wolf's Lair", "Eagle's Nest", "Bear's Lair" ... So they called the fortification on the border of what was then Poland "Earthworm Camp" ...

Some fragments of the Bible are confirmed by historical documents and archaeological finds. But there are texts of Holy Scripture about which doubts arise: are they not simply beautiful legends? Only scientific research can answer this question. Sometimes, in order to answer it, you need to restore the era and its accompanying events bit by bit. The story about Joseph and his brothers also belongs to such mysterious texts.

Since time immemorial, people have been looking for ways to achieve immortality, or at least extend their lives. Legends of gaining eternal youth have been passed down from generation to generation throughout human history.

Scientists of antiquity and the Middle Ages created many amazing longevity recipes- from taking a tincture of dried and powdered bats to rubbing the body with the tears of virgins. And, judging by the surviving documents, some means gave amazing results.

Cinnabar or meditation?

The earliest available handwritten evidence of the elixir of eternal youth dates back to China in the 1st millennium BC.

According to historical chronicles, Taoist monks owned the secret of preparing a medicine that could prolong life. The most important component of their preparations was cinnabar, or sulphurous mercury (that is, mercury quenched with sulfur), which, due to its color, was associated with blood.

The manuscripts cite the example of a scientist named Chufu, who took purified cinnabar along with saltpeter for 30 years - and as a result, he began to look like a teenager, and his hair turned bright red.

By the beginning of the new era, Chinese alchemy was divided into external and internal (that is, recognizing the influence from outside or from within). The first scientific direction proceeded from the fact that immortality can be achieved by taking special drugs, and the second - that it occurs due to the forces of the body itself, which must be activated with the help of special breathing exercises, diet, exercise and meditation.

Gradually, internal alchemy supplanted the external one. It is known that Genghis Khan, having heard about the Taoist monk Chang Chun, who owned the secret of eternal youth and lived for 300 years, sent messengers to China to deliver the magician with honors to Samarkand. But Chang Chun, who arrived, instead of creating an elixir of immortality for the great khan, began to tell him about the benefits of abstinence and a healthy lifestyle.

Elixir of manure

Longevity advice is also found in the works of ancient Greek, Egyptian and Persian authors. For example, the writings of Aristotle mention Epimenides, a priest and poet from the island of Crete, who in 596 BC at the age of 300 was invited to Athens to participate in sacrificial ceremonies, and Pliny the Elder writes about a certain Illyrian who managed to live to be 500 years old. .

Rejuvenating drinks made from the fruits of eternal youth appear as medicine in these writings. Ancient Greek ambrosia and ancient Iranian haoma were considered such elixirs.

One of the recipes for longevity suggested the following magical ingredients: honey from Africa, gentian from Crete, four types of live vipers from Sparta, healing roots from Gaul, Scythia and Macedonia, and centaur hair.

In addition, the elixirs of youth for the scientists of the Mediterranean of that time were associated with the use of unusual products - for example, dried snakes or toads, dead mice, and excrement of people and animals.

Breath of young girls

In biblical times, one of the ways to restore youth was considered the breath of children or young girls who lay next to the elderly at night. It is known that the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, constantly surrounded herself with babies at night.

Later, this technique became widespread in France in the 18th century, where some companies rented young innocent girls to the elderly rich for the night. The course of treatment was designed for 24 days, while intimate services were not provided, but as a result of such procedures, the vitality of elderly people increased and even certain diseases disappeared.

Already in our time, studies have shown that human skin is very sensitive to thermal fields emanating from other people - these conclusions are a strong argument in favor of the healing factor of gentle touches and their use for therapeutic purposes.

Healing Basic Instinct

The moon hare is pounding the potion of immortality. Embroidery from a Chinese imperial robe, 18th century

Intimate relationships were also recognized by ancient healers as an effective anti-aging agent. An indication of this can be found in drawings relating to the civilizations of India, the Middle East and China that existed more than two thousand years ago, as well as in classic treatises on love, such as Plato's Phaedrus and Feast (4th century BC), "The Art of Love" by Ovid (I century), the Indian "Kama Sutra" (III-IV centuries), "The Dove's Necklace" by Ibn Hazm (XI century) and others.

They not only contain information about the technique of love contacts, but primarily focus on the rejuvenating effect of sexual relations. This is also indicated by the works of ancient physicians of antiquity, in particular Hippocrates and Avicenna.

Medicines with elements of cannibalism

Some anti-aging drugs and potions have been associated with the blood and flesh - both living people and their remains.

Here is a recipe from an ancient Persian text: to feed a red-haired and freckled person with fruits until the age of 30, then lower him into stone vessel with honey and other compounds and hermetically seal. After 120 years, the body will turn into a mummy, which must be taken in parts as a means of granting immortality.

The inhabitants of ancient Rome believed that the source of longevity is the blood - especially of young people. After the end of the gladiator fights, many old men ran out into the arena and washed themselves with the blood of the wounded and killed.

Pharmacists of the 12th century used a powder made from mummies stolen in Egypt as a cure for old age. Magical magical properties were attributed to him - just like other remains of the dead.

The Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) took baths from the blood of virgins to preserve her youth. According to historians, after the death of the countess, more than 600 skeletons of young girls were found in the basement of her castle.

Burn the black dragon

In the Middle Ages, alchemists were engaged in theories of rejuvenation. Their ideas were based on the works of the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, according to which all objects and living beings in the Universe in different proportions consist of four elements: fire, air, earth and water. Immortality, according to Aristotle, can give the yet unknown fifth element - the quintessence.

The main goal of the alchemists was the search for such an element, also called the philosopher's stone and the elixir of immortality. At the same time, scientists of the Middle Ages believed that, in addition to the gift of eternal life, the philosopher's stone can turn lead or iron into gold and silver, that is, they drew a parallel between the chemical changes in metals and the rejuvenation of the human body - since, in their opinion, metals grow in the womb of the Earth in exactly the same way. like a child growing in a mother's womb.

The main material with which medieval scientists worked was mercury. Being both a metal and a liquid, it was perceived as a kind of ideal substance, from which, with the addition of sulfur, other metals can be obtained and, most importantly, the philosopher's stone, which grants immortality.

The recipe of the English alchemist George Ripley (XV century), published in his Book of Twelve Gates, said that to obtain the elixir of eternal life, mercury should be heated and evaporated in a solution of grape alcohol until it turns into a solid, and then distilled in a clay retort.

Then a black dragon will appear inside the retort, which should be ground on a stone and burned, and the combustion products should be distilled again. The result will be a substance similar to human blood - this is the drink that gives longevity.

Gold could also be a component of a magical elixir, because it is not subject to chemical changes, which means, according to the logic of alchemists, it personifies immortality.

A recipe compiled by the personal physician of Pope Boniface VIII (XIII century) has been preserved: to take gold, pearls, sapphires and other precious stones mixed in crushed form, ivory, sandalwood, deer heart, aloe root, musk, and amber.

Plus 60 years is not the limit?

The reader is probably wondering: did the recipes of medieval alchemists help anyone? What do we know about the long-livers of that time?

In church books there is a mention of Bishop Allen de Lisle, who died in 1278. It is claimed that he knew the composition of the elixir of immortality - or at least a significant life extension. When he was already dying of old age at an advanced age, taking this elixir helped him extend his life by another 60 years.

The famous philosopher Roger Bacon, in one of his writings, spoke about a man named Papalius, who spent many years in captivity with the Saracens and there he learned the secret of making a magic potion, using which he lived to be 500 years old.

As you can see, in ancient historical documents there are often references to the elixirs of eternal youth. On the one hand, the effectiveness of such drugs seems unlikely. However, we should not forget that it was alchemy that became the ancestor of modern pharmacology.

Many scientists argue that the human body is designed for a much longer life span - and the fact that people are not yet able to take advantage of this may indicate the loss of recipes for longevity, which nevertheless were discovered, but did not reach our time.

Platon VIKTOROV

People have always been looking for a way to achieve immortality or at least extend their lives. Legends of gaining eternal life have been passed down from generation to generation. Scientists of antiquity and the Middle Ages created many amazing recipes for longevity - from tincture of dried and powdered bats to rubbing the body with the tears of virgins. And, according to the surviving documents, some means gave an amazing result.

Cinnabar or meditation?

The earliest available handwritten evidence of the elixir of eternal youth dates back to China in the 1st millennium BC. e.

As historical chronicles tell, Taoist monks owned the secret of preparing medicines that were able to prolong life. The most important component of their preparations was cinnabar, or sulphurous mercury (mercury quenched with sulfur), which, due to its color, was associated with blood. The manuscripts cite the example of a scientist named Chufu, who took purified cinnabar along with saltpeter for thirty years - as a result, he looked like a teenager, and his hair turned bright red.

By the beginning of the new era, Chinese alchemy was divided into external and internal (that is, recognizing the influence from outside or from within). The first scientific direction proceeded from the fact that immortality can be achieved by taking special drugs, and the second - that it occurs due to the forces of the body itself, which must be activated with the help of special breathing exercises, diet, exercise and meditation.

Gradually, internal alchemy supplanted the external one. It is known that Genghis Khan, having heard about the Taoist monk Chang Chun, who owned the secret of eternal youth and lived for 300 years, sent messengers to China to deliver the magician with honors to Samarkand. But the arrived Chang Chun, instead of creating an elixir of immortality for the great khan, began to tell him about the benefits of abstinence and a healthy lifestyle.

Medicines with elements of cannibalism

Some rejuvenating medicines and potions have been associated with the blood and flesh of both living people and their remains.

Here is a recipe from an ancient Persian text: to feed a red-haired and freckled person with fruits for up to thirty years, then lower him into a stone vessel with honey and other compounds and hermetically seal it. After 120 years, the body will turn into a mummy, which must be taken in parts as a means of granting immortality.

AT Ancient Rome believed that the source of longevity is the blood - especially young people. After the end of the gladiator fights, many old men ran out into the arena and washed themselves with the blood of the wounded and killed.

Pharmacists of the 12th century used a powder made from mummies stolen in Egypt as a cure for old age. Magical magical properties were attributed to him - just like other remains of the dead.

The Hungarian Countess Bathory (1560-1614) took baths from the blood of virgins to preserve her youth. According to historians, after the death of the countess, more than 600 skeletons of young girls were found in the basement of her castle.

Elixir of manure

Tips for achieving longevity are also found in the works of ancient Greek, Egyptian and Persian authors. For example, the writings of Aristotle mention Epimenides, a priest and poet from the island of Crete, who in 596 BC. e. at the age of 300 he was invited to Athens to participate in sacrificial ceremonies, and Pliny the Elder wrote about a certain Illyrian who could live to be 500 years old.

Rejuvenating drinks made from the fruits of eternal youth appear as medicines in these works. Ancient Greek ambrosia and ancient Iranian haoma were considered such elixirs.

One of the recipes for longevity included the following ingredients of a miracle remedy: honey from Africa, gentian from Crete, four types of live vipers from Sparta, healing roots from Galia, Scythia and Macedonia, as well as centaur hair.

In addition, the elixirs of youth for Mediterranean scientists of those times were associated with the use of unusual products - for example, dried snakes or toads, dead mice, and human and animal excrement.

Breath of young girls

In biblical times, one of the options for returning youth was considered the breath of children or young girls who lay next to the elderly at night. It is known that the Egyptian queen Cleopatra constantly surrounded herself with babies at night.

Over time, this technique became widespread in France in the 18th century, where some companies rented young innocent girls to the elderly rich for the night. The course of treatment was calculated for 24 days, while intimate services were not provided, but as a result of such procedures, the vitality of the elderly increased and even certain diseases disappeared.

Already today, studies have shown that human skin is very sensitive to thermal fields emanating from other people - these findings are a strong argument in favor of the healing factor of gentle touches and their use for therapeutic purposes.

Healing Basic Instinct

Intimate relationships were also recognized by ancient healers as an effective anti-aging agent. An indication of this can be found in drawings relating to the civilizations of India, the Middle East and China that existed more than 2,000 years ago, as well as in classic treatises on love, such as Plato's Phaedrus and Feast (4th century BC). .), "The Art of Love" by Ovid (I - century), the Indian "Kama Sutra" (III-IV centuries), "Necklace of the Dove" by Ibn Hazm (II century) and others.

They not only contain information about the technique of love contacts, but primarily focus on the rejuvenating effect of sexual relations. This is also indicated by the works of ancient physicians of antiquity, in particular Hippocrates and Avicenna.

Burn the black dragon

In the Middle Ages, alchemists were engaged in theories of rejuvenation. Their ideas were based on the works of the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, according to which all objects and living beings in the Universe in different proportions consist of four elements: fire, air, earth and water. Immortality, according to Aristotle, can give the yet unknown fifth element - the quintessence.

The main goal of the alchemists was the search for such an element, also called the philosopher's stone and the elixir of immortality. At the same time, scientists of the Middle Ages believed that, in addition to the gift of eternal life, the philosopher's stone could turn lead or iron into gold and silver, that is, they drew a parallel between the chemical changes in metals and the rejuvenation of the human body - since, in their opinion, metals grow in the womb of the Earth in exactly the same way. like a child growing in a mother's womb.

The main material with which scientists worked in the Middle Ages was mercury. Being both a metal and a liquid, it was perceived as a kind of ideal substance, from which, with the addition of sulfur, other metals can be obtained and, most importantly, the philosopher's stone, which grants immortality.

The recipe of the English alchemist George Ripley (XV - century), published in his "Book of Twelve Gates", said that to obtain the elixir of eternal life, mercury should be heated and evaporated in a solution of grape alcohol until it turns into a solid, and then distilled in a clay retort . Then a black dragon will appear inside the retort, which should be ground on a stone and burned, and the combustion products should be distilled again. The result will be a substance similar to human blood - this is the drink that gives longevity.

Gold could also be a component of a magical elixir, because it is not subject to chemical changes, which means, according to the logic of alchemists, it personifies immortality.

A recipe compiled by the personal physician of Pope Boniface VIII (XIII - century) has been preserved: take gold, pearls, sapphires and other precious stones mixed in crushed form, ivory, sandalwood, deer heart, aloe root, musk and amber.

Plus 60 years is not the limit?

The reader is probably wondering: did the recipes of medieval alchemists help someone? What do we know about the long-livers of those times?

In church books there is a mention of Bishop Allen de Lisle, who died in 1278. It is claimed that he knew the composition of the elixir of immortality - or at least a significant life extension. When he was already dying of old age at an advanced age, taking this elixir helped him extend his life by another 60 years.

The famous philosopher Roger Bacon, in one of his writings, spoke about a man named Papalius, who spent many years in captivity with the Saracens and there he learned the secret of making a magic potion, taking which he lived to be 500 years old.

As you can see, in ancient historical documents there are often references to the elixirs of eternal youth. On the one hand, the effectiveness of such drugs seems unlikely. But we must not forget that it was alchemy that became the ancestor of modern pharmacology. Many scientists argue that the human body is designed for a much longer life span - and the fact that people are not yet able to take advantage of this may indicate the loss of recipes for longevity, which nevertheless were discovered, but have not reached our days.