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Chinese woodblock illustration of a waidan alchemical refining furnace, 1856 Waike tushuo 外科圖説 (Illustrated Manual of External Medicine). Waidan, translated as 'external alchemy' or 'external elixir', is the early branch of Chinese alchemy that focuses upon compounding elixirs of immortality by heating minerals, metals, and other natural substances in a luted crucible.
Its first occurrence is in the Rigveda, where it is considered one of several synonyms for soma, the drink of the devas. [2] Amrita plays a significant role in the Samudra Manthana, and is the cause of the conflict between devas and asuras competing for amrita to obtain immortality. [3] Amrita has varying significance in different Indian religions.
The elixir of life (Medieval Latin: elixir vitae), also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means of formulating the elixir.
Christian writers from Tertullian to Luther have held to traditional notions of Hell. However, the annihilationist position is not without some historical precedent. Early forms of annihilationism or conditional immortality are claimed to be found in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch [10] [20] (d. 108/140), Justin Martyr [21] [22] (d. 165), and Irenaeus [10] [23] (d. 202), among others.
Immortality in religion refers usually to either the belief in physical immortality or a more spiritual afterlife. In traditions such as ancient Egyptian beliefs, Mesopotamian beliefs and ancient Greek beliefs, the immortal gods consequently were considered to have physical bodies.
Incarnations of Immortality is an eight-book fantasy series by Piers Anthony. The books each focus on one of eight supernatural "offices" ( Death , Time , Fate , War , Nature , Evil , Good , and Night ) in a fictional reality and history parallel to ours, with the exception that society has advanced both magic and modern technology.
Eternal youth is the concept of human physical immortality free of ageing. The youth referred to is usually meant to be in contrast to the depredations of aging, rather than a specific age of the human lifespan. Eternal youth is common in mythology, and is a popular theme in fiction.
The Jin dynasty Daoist scholar Ge Hong's c. 320 CE Baopuzi (Master Who Embraces Simplicity) is the earliest surviving source of information about zhi excrescences.. Based upon no longer extant texts and illustrations, Chapter 11 (仙藥; Xianyao; "Medicines of Immortality") outlines folklore and knowledge about zhi, and elucidates the wuzhi (五芝; "Five Zhi") classification system.