From time immemorial, mankind has cherished the dream of immortality. Even those who do not know what to do on their next weekend want to live forever. At the heart of this dream lies a panicky, irrational fear of death, of the unknown that awaits everyone at the end of life. But maybe there are a select few among us who managed to escape the common fate and open the door to immortality? And if so, then perhaps they live among us, carefully hiding their secret from prying eyes?
Eternal Wanderer Ahasuerus
According to religious tradition, when Jesus Christ carried a heavy wooden cross to Golgotha, he leaned exhausted against the wall of a house to take a breath. But the owner of this house, the artisan Ahasfer, shouted at him:
- Go, you will rest on the way back!
- I'll go, - said Christ. - And you will go forever, and you will have neither peace nor death.
This story about a man who angered God and is doomed to eternal wandering could be considered a terrible moralizing tale. But the wanderer, identified with Ahasfer, appears many times in different centuries and countries. In 1223, the Italian astrologer Guido Bonatti met him at the Spanish court. Five years later, in the chronicle of the Abbey of St Alban (England), an entry was made about the visit of the Armenian Archbishop. The saint said that several times he met with the immortal wanderer in Armenia and talked with him. According to him, this man has seen a lot and knows a lot. He remembered the appearance of the apostles, described in detail the events of more than a thousand years ago. In 1242, Hagasfer appeared in France. In 1505 he visited Bohemia, then moved to the Arab East, in 1547 he returned to Europe, to Hamburg. According to the testimony of the Bishop of Schleswig Paul von Eitazen, this "man of the world" spoke without the slightest accent in many languages, had no property, except for the clothes that he was wearing, and all the money he got was distributed to the poor. At the end of the 17th century, Oxford and Cambridge professors gave him an exam, and he impressed with his knowledge of ancient history, geography of the most remote corners of the Earth, which he allegedly visited. Agasfer also visited Moscow.which he allegedly visited. Agasfer also visited Moscow.which he allegedly visited. Agasfer also visited Moscow.
Who is he? A cruel artisan cursed by God? The magician and alchemist who discovered the elixir of immortality?
Promotional video:
An alien from a parallel world? Or a visitor from the future, traveling across countries and centuries in a time machine? We are more interested in the latest version. Perhaps, there were several such time travelers, and the ancient legend allows them to be identified with Ahasuerus, convincingly explaining the strange knowledge of these people.
Apollonius of Tyana
This man was a contemporary of Christ, was engaged in alchemy. He visited many countries, adopted the secrets of the priests of Egypt and India. During the reign of Domitian (81-96 years), Apollonius returned to Rome - and was captured on charges of witchcraft. In front of everyone, he disappeared from the courthouse, as if disappearing into thin air.
Disappeared to appear in the XII century under the guise of the philosopher and alchemist Artefius. Two of his treatises have come down to our time: on the philosopher's stone and ways to prolong life. In the preface to the latter, the author indicated that he himself has been living in the world for 1025 years. Contemporaries identified Artefius with Apollonius of Tyana, finding much in common between them. It is believed that Apollonius-Artefius, having managed to prepare the elixir of immortality, lives among people to this day. True, he was last seen in the 19th century.
Count Saint-Germain
He shone in European secular salons in the second half of the 18th century. Saint Germain amazed his contemporaries with stories of his meetings with the philosopher Plato and the apostles of Christ. Elderly aristocrats recalled that they met him when they were children, and since then the count has not changed at all.
This man has appeared in different countries and centuries under different names. He was the Italian Marquis de Montferat, the Spanish Count de Bellamy, the English Lord Veldon, the Russian Count Saltykov, the Hungarian Count de Tsarogi. His services and knowledge in the field of occult sciences were used by many powerful of this world.
It is believed that Saint-Germain died in 1784 in a secluded castle in Holstein. But in 1788 he was seen in Venice, during the Great French Revolution - in a prison where aristocrats were kept, and in 1938 and 1940 he appeared in Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulcher.
Alessandro Cagliostro
It is believed that this magician and alchemist also possessed the secret of the elixir of immortality. He even described its action. Having taken the first portion of the medicine, a person loses consciousness for three days, during which he writhes in convulsions, perspiration appears on his body. After some time, the rest of the medicine is taken, after which the patient falls asleep in deep sleep. During sleep, he begins to shed real, and in addition, teeth and hair fall out. All this is restored within a few hours. In the morning of the fortieth day from the moment of taking the elixir, the patient gets up completely recovered and able to live forever.
Medicine of the future
It is difficult to say whether there really was a magic elixir that would grant immortality to its owners. But medicine today is capable of working miracles. For example, 15 years ago, scientists from a Moscow clinic working with stem cells conducted an experiment on a 19-year-old medical student who became interested in cell technology. The young man underwent a course of cell therapy - and since then a decade and a half his body does not age and is at the same biological age. Now, according to his passport, Sergei N. is 34 years old, he has a wife and two children, and he himself became one of the leading specialists of the same experimental clinic. Sergei still looks 19 years old, he has never been sick during this time, although they specially tried to infect him with various infectious diseases. That is, the man's immunity is excellent. But can he be considered immortal? It is unlikely, since the course of therapy has to be repeated annually, and no one can say now whether the aging mechanism will not turn on if medical intervention is stopped.
Modern research shows that in every person at the genetic level there is a “biological clock” - telomeres. These are sections of DNA that are located at the ends of chromosomes and shrink over the course of life. For a long time, it was not possible to increase or maintain telomeres in the same size, until the unique effect of cancer cells was noticed. The enzyme telomerase contained in them allows cells not to age, but to divide an infinite number of times. Experiments on mice showed that thanks to this enzyme, the elderly became much more cheerful, looked younger in appearance, and even began to give birth again.
Until recently, there were no human trials in this area. The problem is that a healthy cell affected by telomerase has a very good chance of becoming cancerous. However, the American researcher Elizabeth Parrish took a conscious risk. She was the first to dare to interfere with the genome of an adult - her own. The goal of the experiment is to find a cure for aging and with its help defeat the most dangerous diseases. In addition to telomerase, a myostatin inhibitor gene was introduced into Elizabeth's blood, which prevents muscle dystrophy. It is too early to sum up the results of this experiment, but the subject herself feels cheerful and rejuvenated.
Modern medicine has made stunning advances in the field of transplantation and genetic engineering. They will be even more impressive in the future. That is, even now, individual individuals can become forever young and practically immortal (for a lot of money and with constant medical supervision). But this is purely physical. And who can rejuvenate the soul? Will not the burden of past years, psychological fatigue, become an unbearable burden for the new immortals? The poet Vladimir Livshits wrote about this well:
I once dreamed that I would never die
And I remember that in a dream I cursed this mercy.
Like a poor bird that cries in the autumn forest, My soul languished with the consciousness of immortality.
And finally, is this physical immortality really necessary if the soul itself is immortal? She moves into our body shell at birth, fulfills a given program, develops, improves and, having completed her task, leaves the “cocoon” like a butterfly to go to a new level - or enter a new body after a while.
So there is no need to be afraid of death. Death - no!
Victor MEDNIKOV