The desire for enrichment, which underlies the centuries-old search for the philosopher's stone, is characteristic of human nature, but the fear of death is even deeper in it.
Since ancient times, the death of hundreds of thousands of people in continuous wars, from epidemics, natural disasters, crop failure and hunger caused, on the one hand, panic fear of imminent death, and on the other hand, the desire to find a miraculous remedy that would protect a person from all these disasters.
Another reason for the search for such a saving means was that the Christians knew from the Bible the life expectancy of the Old Testament forefathers, which in no way corresponded to the life span of an ordinary person.
For example, in the book of Genesis it is said that Adam lived 930 years, Seth - 912 years, Enos - 905 years, Cainan - 910 years, Meleleil - 895 years, Jared - 962 years, Enoch - 365 years, Methuselah - 969 years, Lamech - 777 years old, Noah - 950 years old, Shem - 600 years old, Sarah - 127 years old, Abraham - 175 years old (Genesis 5, 5. 8. 11. 14. 17. 20. 23.27.31; 9, 29; 11, 10-11; 23, 1; 25, 7).
Why was human life in the foreseeable historical past many times shorter than life in ancient times? And how to prolong human life, despite wars, epidemics, natural disasters, hunger?
In their search for answers to these questions, Arnold of Villanova (Spanish physician and alchemist 1235-1311) and Raimund Llull (Catalan missionary, poet, philosopher and theologian 1232-1316) contributed to the emergence of belief in the ability of the philosopher's stone to prolong life.
Trying to convince his contemporaries of this, Paracelsus (Swiss alchemist, physician, philosopher, naturalist 1493-1541) argued that through distillation he managed to obtain "the bodily spirit of life."
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Francis Bacon (1561-1626) adhered to the absurd theory that life is an internal flame absorbed by the surrounding air; therefore, it is necessary to protect a person from the loss of the inner flame (that is, vitality) through the pores in the skin and for this to inject ointments and protective varnish into them.
As you know, science has proven that, on the contrary, skin respiration and evaporation are absolutely necessary for life.
Some alchemists attributed to themselves fantastic abilities to prolong life. So, the alchemist of the XII century. Artefy said that he was about a thousand years old thanks to the use of the quintessence of life, and Solomon Trimozen argued that it costs him nothing to prolong his life until the Last Judgment.
The famous alchemist and adventurer Count Saint-Germain (18th century) claimed that he owned the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life and therefore remembers the early days of the Christian era; he allegedly achieved such longevity with the help of tea. The famous mystic and charlatan Count Cagliostro (18th century) claimed that he used elixirs based on aromas and alcohol to prolong life.
Blood played a special role in the search for a universal panacea, that is, a means of salvation from all diseases and prolongation of human life. “The soul of every body is its blood” (Lev. 17:14; cf. Deut. 12:23), is said in the Old Testament, and this statement echoes the words of Christ addressed to His followers: “He who drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”(John 6:54).
Since blood is the soul of every body, that is, the basis of the life of the body, since ancient times blood has been considered exactly that miraculous remedy that can rejuvenate the senile body, protect it from dangerous diseases and prolong life.
Researcher Ernest Bosk in his work "Psychology" (Paris, 1894) gives examples of how the blood of a young organism was tried to be used to improve the health and prolong the life of the powerful.
In the Roman Empire, elderly patricians tried to rejuvenate their decrepit bodies by taking baths in the blood of young slaves.
In 1492, shortly before his death, Pope Innocent VII imagined that in order to prolong his life, he needed to transfuse the blood of two young people, selected from among the most beautiful and strong. Of course, the lives of young people were deliberately sacrificed, since at that time, for blood transfusion, the donor's carotid artery was connected to the vein of the person to whom the blood was intended. Young people died, but dad was not saved.
In the 17th century, blood transfusion as a means of rejuvenating the body and prolonging life became extremely popular among wealthy people. IN
1667, as if in response to bright hopes, the doctor Denis showed up in Paris and began to transfuse blood as a universal panacea.
“According to enthusiasts,” says Dr. Pellag in his notes to Christoph-Wilhelm-Hufeland (1762-1836), The Art of Extending Human Life, or Macrobiotics, “blood transfusion was to become a universal panacea, a means of endless life extension.
Finally, the miracles of the fountain of youth would take place: no more diseases! Eternal youth! The rebirth of the human race! The weak and the weak would ask the strong and healthy to share their excess blood with them.
Moreover, there was hope that blood transfusion would have a beneficial effect on morality, that it would be possible to soften the temper of an unbridled and hot-tempered person by infusing him with the blood of a lamb, or to give him courage through injections of lion's blood.”
Blood transfusion soon became very popular, and along with the growing popularity of this procedure, the number of accidents increased, so in 1668 a decree was issued forbidding doctors to perform this dangerous operation.
In essence, blood transfusion for the purpose of rejuvenating the human body and prolonging life has the effect of psychological suggestion. As Dr. Pellaga rightly noted:
“From a psychological point of view, these curious experiments are an example of the influence of a living body on organs whose vital activity has ceased; but this is not life, and in order to correctly understand this phenomenon, it must be compared with the touch of a finger to the pendulum of a stopped clock.
The mechanism starts to move, the pendulum vibrates and you can hear its ticking, but soon the movement slows down, and the pendulum finally stops. This is not life, for the big spring has broken."
Alchemists attributed the properties of a universal elixir not only to blood, but also to the so-called "primitive earth", which became the subject of their tireless search.
What is this earth made of? Where was she to be found? Was it possible to create it? We don't know anything about this. However, according to Paracelsus, he created it and used it as a medical tool.
To obtain primitive soil, Paracelsus first collected virgin soil, which was located deeper than the vegetative and organic layers of soil; tree roots have never reached this depth.
Then Paracelsus purified the resulting land with fire, air and water. First he exposed the earth to flame, then air, and then he thoroughly washed it.
During the day, the earth was exposed to sunlight, enhanced by powerful lenses, and at night it absorbed the evening fog and morning dew. At the end of this procedure, the primitive earth was placed in earthen vessels and applied to the patients, who had to absorb the vital fluids.
Paracelsus argued that if you apply a pinch of this earth extracted from a vessel to a person's navel and write certain formulas on it, then this person could live fifteen days without food, without experiencing hunger. Thanks to such a procedure, Paracelsus himself allegedly could fast for a long time without suffering from hunger; on the contrary, he felt calm, rested, mental strength and clarity of thought.
Together with a pinch of primeval earth, he also used a certain elixir in order to enhance the strengthening properties of the earth and, consequently, its effect on the brain. At the same time, he performed various physical exercises that tired him, and he fell into a cataleptic sleep, accompanied by such clear visions that upon awakening he remembered everything to the smallest detail. Then he sat down at the table and began to write automatically (that is, as mediums of modern times).
If you believe literally everything that Paracelsus says, then, of course, his state and actions can only be explained by self-hypnosis.
In addition to the searches described above for a universal panacea capable of protecting the human body from any disease and prolonging its life, the astral fluid is also mentioned in E. Bosk's Psychology. This is the name of the root cause from which everything happened; in a word, the astral fluid is the source of life.
This hypothesis, which became widespread in the late 19th century, suggests that there is a continuous exchange of fluids in a large gathering of people - an exchange necessary for human life.
The strong, healthy, nervous exude an excess of their vitality, and this excess fluid is stored in the environment at the disposal of the weak, sick, anemic, who absorb it and thereby restore their vitality. This is the compensation system in a person's communication with their own kind.
A lonely person, deprived of communication with other people, will never reach old age, for he will not receive any vitality. It is dangerous for a young child to constantly live with an old man, and for a young girl to marry an elderly person, for both the child and the girl will have to give all their vitality, receiving nothing in return.
So, the astral fluid, restoring balance between people in the process of their communication, is the only true elixir of longevity.
However, the author of "Psychology" says nothing about how you can use this elixir of longevity. Apparently, the wider a person's communication with his own kind, the more vitality he can receive from them.
The search for a universal panacea attracted the attention of not only magicians who sincerely believed in the existence of a cure for all diseases and in the possibility of prolonging human life, but also all kinds of deceivers and charlatans who sought to make money from human ignorance and then disappear once and for all from the field of vision of fooled patients …
So, in Paris at the beginning of the XVIII century. the recognized elixir of longevity was the so-called "Villard's water", which perfectly healed diseases. However, chemical analysis showed that this water was taken from the Seine. Therefore, healings were accomplished through suggestion.
At the end of the XIX century. in Paris, there was an outright fraud with the elixir of longevity. Here, they began to inject guinea pig testicular fluid to all those who needed it. Nobody knew how long the treatment with this organic liquid, supposedly containing a vital enzyme, would last, as it depended on medical indications and expected results.
Thus, "injections from old age" could continue until death, and the patient who began treatment could no longer get out of this painful and costly trap.
Note that the general panacea attracted fewer fraudsters and deceivers than the manufacture of gold by transforming metals, since the results of the imaginary treatment were discovered much more easily and faster than counterfeit gold coins.