from wikipedia (very interesting i must say)
elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the Philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it for two main reasons: either they sought the gift of immortality for its own sake, or they desired to spend as much time as possible practicing alchemy. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create life. It is related to the myths of Enoch, Thoth, and Hermes Trismegistus, all of whom in various tales are said to have drunk "the white drops" (liquid gold) and thus achieved immortality. It is also associated with the Koran's Al Khidr ('The Green Man'), and is mentioned in one of the Nag Hammadi texts.[1]
History
Naturally, no such potion has ever been discovered though alchemists in ancient China, India, and the West spent a great deal of time and effort on it.
China
In Ancient China, various emperors sought for the fabled elixir with various results. In the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang sent Taoist alchemist Xu Fu with 500 boys and 500 girls to the eastern seas to find the elixir, but he never came back (legend has it that he found Japan instead). The ancient Chinese believed that ingesting long-lasting precious substances such as jade, cinnabar or hematite would confer some of that longevity on the person who consumed them. Gold was considered particularly potent, as it was a non-tarnishing precious metal; the idea of potable or drinkable gold is found in China by the end of the third century BCE. The most famous Chinese alchemical book, the Tan Chin Yao Ch’eh ("Great Secrets of Alchemy," dating from approximately 650 CE), discusses in detail the creation of elixirs for immortality (mercury, sulfur, and the salts of mercury and arsenic are prominent) as well as those for curing certain diseases and the fabrication of precious stones.
Many of these substances, far from contributing to longevity, were actively toxic. Jiajing Emperor in the Ming Dynasty died from ingesting a lethal dosage of mercury in the supposed "Elixir of Life" conjured by alchemists, and British historian of Joseph Needham compiled a list of Chinese emperors whose death was likely due to elixir poisoning. Chinese interest in alchemy and the elixir of life declined in proportion to the rise in Buddhism, with its alternative routes to immortality.
India
The Vedas (sacred scriptures of India) also contain vague references to a connection between gold and long life. Alexander the Great invaded India in 325 BC and it is possible that Indians acquired the idea from the Greeks, but it could have been the other way around ("ambrosia," the name of the Greek "food of the gods," means "no death"). It is also possible that it came to India from China, or vice versa. But the elixir of immortality was not of great interest in India since Indian religion (like Christianity) provided other avenues to immortality). The Indian elixirs were generally remedies for specific diseases or, at the most, to promote longevity. [2]
Europe
More recently, the Comte St. Germain, an 18th century nobleman of uncertain origin and mysterious capabilities, was reputed to have the Elixir and to be several thousand years old.
Names
The Elixir has had hundreds of names (one scholar of Chinese history reportedly found over 1,000 names for it.), including (among others) Amritsar or Amrita, Aab-i-Hayat, Maha Ras, Aab-Haiwan, hasma-i-Kausar, Mansarover or the Pool of Nectar, and Soma Ras. The word elixir was not used until the 7th century A.D. and derives from the Arabic name for miracle substances, "al iksir." Some view it as a metaphor for the spirit of God (e.g. Jesus' reference to "the Water of Life" or "the Fountain of Life"). And of course the Scots and the Irish adopted the name for their "liquid gold": the Gaelic name for whisky is uisge beatha, or water of life.
