![]() The formula for gunpowder, sulfur, saltpeter and carbon was originally an attempted elixir of immortality. They were frequently commissioned by the Emperor, and experimented with things like toxic mercury, gold, sulfur and plants. The Mushroom of ImmortalityĬhinese alchemists spent centuries formulating elixirs of life. Lingzhi Mushroom (Via Wikimedia Commons) 1. According to the ancients, the secrets of immortality could be found within the Earth, on the moon, or even in your own back yard. Other times, a normal human would unlock alchemical secrets hidden in natural materials that stopped death in its tracks. In some traditions, immortality was bestowed by the gods themselves. Epic of Gilgamesh, focuses on a hero’s quest for immortality. ![]() One of the earliest works of literature, the 22nd century B.C.E. In mythologies around the world, humans who achieve immortality are often regarded as gods, or as possessing god-like qualities. Naturally, the earliest storytellers and holy men dreamed of ways to achieve immortality as well. While humans are born, subjected to the will of nature and die, the gods of the ancients and the gods of today are usually characterized as immortal immune to the darkness that awaits every man and woman. For many cultures, mortality is one of the major qualities that separates humanity from the Gods. The inevitability of death and speculation upon the nature of afterlife has always been an object of obsession for mystics and philosophers. Mortality (and the lure of immortality) has tormented our consciousness since the first human witnessed death and realized his or her own eventual demise. Chasing down the ancient world’s alchemical obsession with obtaining immortality and the Philosopher’s Stone
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