#elixir of immortality

[journeytothewestresearch]

How to Kill Sun Wukong

Have you ever wondered what it would take to kill Sun Wukong? My new article describes a ritual borrowed from Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620) that would certainly kill our hero. It involves a secret, spiritual assault from a distance. That way, the villain doesn't have to worry about getting smashed into hamburger or ripped to shreds by an angry monkey immortal.

The ritual steals an immortal's spirit, tethers it to a straw effigy, and then kills the target by shooting the effigy in the eyes and heart with arrows.

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Elixir of Immortality

"Bottled life. Not as tasty as I'm used to, rather stale, but it has the same effect." —Baron Sengir

Artist: Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

[kingoftheu]

were i a chinese emperor i would simply find the right amount of mercury to make myself immortal

[ultra-katsi]

DO U NEED HELP WITH SOMETHING?

Anyone know kalosian here .... im begging

[archiethinking]

I was looking for a recipe for immortality! Youtube can be so helpful.

SLURM WAVE!!!

[youling-the-ghost]

I know that they would probably be hesitant to do it, but I'd love for sfth to do a skit based on Chinese mythology.

[non-cannon]

Because my brain never stops generating AUs Werewolf AU where in his quest for power Rufus discovers werewolves are real, finds one, makes them turn him into one, and then when he has Patricia and or Jerome locked up he bites and turns them. Full moon/transformation optional for biting the children because it would be fun (for me the hypothetical author) to watch them try and deal with the unexpected transformations

[journeytothewestresearch]

I've heard the idea that Monkey is 7 times immortal thrown around a couple times, but my count has only ever gone up to 4 (the peaches, the pills, the wine, and his daoist studies). How immortal IS Monkey?

(Note 09-07-2024: I am going to edit this for more clarity. It will differ from previously shared versions.)

I count eight categories of immortality.

In place of using “layer” or “level,” I’m choosing to designate his various immortalities as “categories.” This is because a new layer of divine longevity or durability would surely be added for each immortal peach, elixir pill, or cup/jug of heavenly wine consumed. Hence, eating multiple peaches would be one category, eating multiple elixir pills would be one category, and so on and so forth.

There are two sets. The first are achieved before or during the journey:

1) Daoist Longevity Arts - Ch. 2

I discuss the exact methods here.

A photomanipulation by me.

2) Erasing Allotted Lifespan - Ch. 3

[After Monkey is summoned to hell in his sleep and thereafter threatens to beat the Judges of Hell for their mistake] The Ten Kings immediately had the judge in charge of the records bring out his [Sun's] books for examination. The judge, who did not dare tarry, hastened into a side room and brought out five or six books of documents and the ledgers on the tens species of living beings ... He [Monkey] had, therefore, a separate ledger, which Wukong examined himself.  Under the heading "Soul 1350" he found the name Sun Wukong recorded, with the description: "Heaven-born Stone Monkey. Age: three hundred and forty-two years. A good end." Wukong said, "I really don't remember my age. All I want is to erase my name. Bring me a brush." The judge hurriedly fetched the brush and soaked it in heavy ink. Wukong took the ledger on monkeys and crossed out all the names he could find in it. Throwing down the ledger, he said, "That ends the account! That ends the account! Now I'm truly not your subject" (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 140-141).

A print from the Japanese children book Son Goku (1939).

3) Immortal Peaches - Ch. 5

[After being appointed the guardian of the Queen Mother of the West's immortal peach groves] The Great Sage ... asked the local spirit, "How many trees are there?" "There are three thousand six hundred," said the local spirit. "In the front are one thousand two hundred trees with little flowers and small fruits. These ripen once every three thousand years, and after one taste of them a man will become an immortal enlightened in the Way, with healthy limbs and a lightweight body. In the middle are one thousand two hundred trees of layered flowers and sweet fruits. They ripen once every six thousand years. If a man eats them, he will ascend to Heaven with the mist and never grow old. At the back are one thousand two hundred trees with fruits of purple veins and pale yellow pits. These ripen once every nine thousand years and, if eaten, will make a man's age equal to that of Heaven and Earth, the sun and the moon..." One day he [Monkey] saw that more than half of the peaches on the branches of the older trees had ripened, and he wanted very much to eat one and sample its novel taste. Closely followed, however, by the local spirit of the garden, the stewards, and the divine attendants of the Equal to Heaven Residence, he found it inconvenient to do so. He therefore devised a plan on the spur of the moment and said to them, "Why don't you all wait for me outside and let me rest a while in this arbor?" The various immortals withdrew accordingly. That Monkey King then took off his cap and robe and climbed up into a big tree. He selected the large peaches that were thoroughly ripened and, plucking many of them, ate to his heart's content right on the branches. Only after he had his fill did he jump down from the tree. Pinning back his cap and donning his robe, he called for his train of followers to return to the residence. After two or three days, he used the same device to steal peaches to gratify himself once again One day the Lady Queen Mother decided to open wide her treasure chamber and to give a banquet for the Grand Festival of Immortal Peaches, which was to be held in the Palace of the Jasper Pool. She ordered the various Immortal Maidens ... to go with their flower baskets to the Garden of Immortal Peaches and pick the fruits for the festival ... [After meeting with the Great Sage's ministers] The local spirit went into the garden with them; they found their way to the arbor but saw no one. Only the cap and the robe were left in the arbor, but there was no person to be seen. The Great Sage, you see, had played for a while and eaten a number of peaches. He had then changed himself into a figure only two inches high and, perching on the branch of a large tree, had fallen asleep under the cover of thick leaves (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 161-162).

A new years print found online.

4) Immortal Wine - Ch. 5

Our Great Sage could not make an end of staring at the scene [the heavenly feast set for the Immortal Peach Banquet] when he suddenly felt the overpowering aroma of wine ... standing beside the jars and leaning on the barrels, he abandoned himself to drinking. After feasting for a long, he became thoroughly drunk... [...] [After returning to Flower Fruit Mountain and meeting with his children, he says] "When I was enjoying myself this morning at the Jasper Pool, I saw many jars and jugs in the corridor full of the juices of jade [yuye qiongjiang, 玉液瓊漿; lit: "Jade liquid and jade syrup"], which you have never savored. Let me go back [to heaven] and steal a few bottles to bring down here. Just drink half a cup, and each of you will live longer without growing old" ... He took two large bottles, one under each arm, and carried two more in his hands. Reversing the direction of his cloud, he returned to the monkeys in the cave. They held their own Festival of Immortal Wine [Xianjiu hui, 仙酒會], with each one drinking a few cups" (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 165 and 167).

A screenshot from the 1986 Journey to the West TV show.

5) Immortal Elixir - Ch. 5

[After Sun Wukong drunkenly stumbles into Laozi's laboratory in the Tushita Heaven] He found no one but saw fire burning in an oven beside the hearth, and around the oven were five gourds in which finished elixir was stored. "This thing is the greatest treasure of immortals," said the Great Sage happily. "Since old Monkey has understood the Way and comprehended the mystery of the Internal's identity with the External, I have also wanted to produce some golden elixir on my own to benefit people. While I have been too busy at other times even to think about going home to enjoy myself, good fortune has met me at the door today and presented me with this! As long as Laozi is not around, I'll take a few tablets and try the taste of something new." He poured out the contents of all the gourds and ate them like fried beans (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, p. 166).

A detail from the 1835 Japanese translation of Journey to the West.

6) Ginseng Tree Fruit - Ch. 24

In the mountain there was a Daoist Abbey called the Five Villages Abbey [Wu zhuang guan, 五莊���]; it was the abode of an immortal whose Daoist style [name] was Master Shenyuan [Shenyuan zi, 鎮元子] and whose nickname was Lord, Equal to Earth [Shi tong jun, 世同君]. There was, moreover, a strange treasure grown in this temple, a spiritual root that was formed just after chaos had been parted and the nebula had been established prior to the division of Heave and Earth. Throughout the four great continents of the world, it could be found in only the Five Villages Abbey in the West Aparagodaniya Continent. This treasure was called grass of the reverted cinnabar [cao huan dan, 草還丹], or the ginseng fruit [renshen guo, 人參果]. It took three thousand years for the plant to bloom, another three thousand years to bear fruit, and still another three thousand years before they ripened. All in all, it would be nearly ten thousand years before they could be eaten, and even after such a long time, there would be only thirty such fruits. The shape of the fruit was exactly that of a newborn infant not yet three days old, complete with the four limbs and the five senses. If a man had the good fortune of even smelling the fruit, he would live for three hundred and sixty years; if he ate one he would reach his forty-seven thousandth year. [After Wukong learns the complicated method of harvesting the fruit] Parting the leaves and branches, he knocked three of the fruits into the sack ... The three of them [Monkey and his brothers] took the fruits and began to enjoy them (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 453 and 462-463).

Monkey holding ginseng tree fruit. Image found online.

This previous article talks about the history of this magical fruit.

Sun Wukong is not truly immortal during the journey, just long-lived and hard to kill. Immortality in Ming to Qing-era popular literature means that you can live for a long time but still die if injured badly enough. Think of it like an infinitely long candle being blown out instead of having a chance to burn for centuries or eons. For example, Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen yanyi, 封神演義, c. 1620), a sort of prequel to Journey to the West, is full of immortals killed in battle with heavenly weapons. Some even have their immortality sapped away before dying in one of many celestial traps. The biggest of these traps is the "Ten Thousand Immortal Array" (Wanxian zhen, 萬仙陣), so named because it can apparently kill myriad transcendents.

The second set of immortalities are achieved at the journey’s end once they reach the Buddha’s blessed land. These shouldn’t be lumped together with those acquired before and during the pilgrimage.

7) Divine food and tea - ch. 98

Then Buddha turned to call out: "Ananda and Kasyapa, take the four of them to the space beneath the precious tower. Give them a vegetarian meal first. After the maigre, open our treasure loft for them and select a few scrolls from each of the thirty-five divisions of our three canons, so that they may take them back to the Land of the East as a perpetual token of grace." The two Honored Ones obeyed and took the four pilgrims to the space beneath the tower, where countless rare dainties and exotic treasures were laid out in a seemingly endless spread. Those deities in charge of offerings and sacrifices began to serve a magnificent feast of divine food, tea, and fruit-viands [仙餚、仙茶、仙果] of a hundred flavors completely different from those of the mortal world. After master and disciples had bowed to give thanks to Buddha, they abandoned themselves to enjoyment (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 349). [...] This time it was Eight Rules who was in luck and Sha Monk who had the advantage, for what the Buddhist Patriarch had provided for their complete enjoyment was nothing less than such viands as could grant them longevity and health and enable them to transform their mortal substance into immortal flesh and bones [... 壽長生，脫胎換骨之饌，儘著他受用。] (Wu & Yu, 2012, vol. 4, p. 350).

While the quote refers directly to Zhu and Sha, Monkey certainly benefits from the meal as well, gaining another category of immortality.

Monkey eating yummy food.

8) Buddhahood - ch. 100

Sun Wukong, when you caused great disturbance at the Celestial Palace, I had to exercise enormous dharma power to have you pressed beneath the Mountain of Five Phases. Fortunately your Heaven-sent calamity came to an end, and you embraced the Buddhist religion. I am pleased even more by the fact that you were devoted to the scourging of evil and the exaltation of good. Throughout your journey you made great merit by smelting the demons and defeating the fiends. For being faithful in the end as you were in the beginning, I hereby give you the grand promotion and appoint you the Buddha Victorious in Strife [Dou zhansheng fo, 鬥戰勝佛] (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 381).

I'm adding this as another immortality category since as a Buddha, he is now completely free of the wheel of reincarnation.

It’s important to note that the novel ends before Monkey is able to perform any feats as a Buddha. Therefore, making claims about his subsequent abilities is outside of canon.

A lovely drawing of Sun Wukong as a Buddha by the talented @ninjahaku21art.

Source:

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). The Journey to the West (Vols. 1-4) (Rev. ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.

[smashpages]

Immortal X-Men #13 (Marvel, July 2023) Hellfire Gala Variant Cover by Luciano Vecchio

[heckcareoxytwit]

A preview of Immortal X-Men #18

IMMORTAL X-MEN #18

FOREVER CHANGES! Being immortal means nothing when you’ve run out of time. There’s no future. There’s no past. There’s no way out.

FINAL ISSUE

Written by: Kieron Gillen Art by: Juan José Ryp, David Curiel Cover by: Mark Brooks Page Count: 28 Pages Release Date: December 27, 2023

[marshalforgotten]

Alkebu-lan is SO gonna indulge Rai on the three immortals arc of jttw.

[skjam]

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural

Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural edited by Nicola Cuti As I’ve mentioned before, Superman’s impressive array of powers at the top of the super-scale make him a hard character to write challenges for. This led to the invention of Kryptonite and its subsequent overuse as a plot device. But at some point in the early Silver Age, it was also established that…

[sunhated-a]

One liberty I take from the canon is Muzan's killing of the doctor. With my interpretation of Muzan, the killing happens later, after Muzan had begun his transformation.

The doctor took great interest in observing how Muzan's blood affected animals and even plants, as they seemed to echo whatever condition his patient had found himself in, indicating that as a result of his treatment, Muzan's blood had developed special properties that warranted observation

He was fascinated with the way that his body would heal almost immediately from any injury. I can imagine that when Muzan transformed and freed himself from his bindings, shortly before he was killed and devoured, the doctor sincerely believed he created some sort of god.

[blueheartbookclub]

"Alchemy of Immortality: Unveiling Honore De Balzac's 'The Elixir of Life'"

"The Elixir of Life" by Honore De Balzac, elegantly translated by Clara Bell and James Waring, is a literary elixir that transcends the boundaries of time, weaving together elements of mystery, alchemy, and human desire. This enigmatic work, originally part of Balzac's magnum opus "The Human Comedy," delves into the quest for immortality, blending the ethereal with the tangible in a narrative that both captivates and challenges the reader's perception of life and death. The title itself acts as a beckoning potion, inviting readers to partake in Balzac's exploration of the mystical elixir that promises to unlock the secrets of eternal life.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, "The Elixir of Life" follows the protagonist, Don Juan de Manara, as he embarks on a quest for the legendary elixir that promises to confer immortality. The title encapsulates the allure of this mythical substance, resonating with the age-old human desire to conquer mortality. Balzac, through his vivid prose and masterful storytelling, weaves a tapestry that intertwines the mystical and the mundane, challenging readers to ponder the boundaries between reality and the supernatural.

As Don Juan delves into the world of alchemy and esoteric knowledge, the title becomes a metaphor for the elusiveness of the human pursuit of eternal life. Balzac navigates the realms of science, philosophy, and the occult, crafting a narrative that dances on the fringes of possibility and imagination. The title, "The Elixir of Life," becomes a key to unlocking the symbolic layers within the text, inviting readers to decipher the allegorical significance of the elixir as a metaphor for the elusive nature of true fulfillment and meaning in life.

Balzac's exploration of immortality is not confined to the literal quest for a magical potion; it extends into the psychological and emotional realms. The title serves as a guide through the labyrinth of human desires and ambitions, prompting readers to reflect on the nature of their own pursuits and the lengths to which individuals may go in search of fulfillment and transcendence. Balzac, with his keen insight into the human condition, unveils the complexity of the human psyche, making the title a portal into the depths of existential contemplation.

"The Elixir of Life" also delves into the theme of sacrifice and the moral implications of the quest for immortality. The title resonates with the alchemical symbolism of transformation and metamorphosis, suggesting that the pursuit of eternal life requires a profound alteration of one's being. Balzac challenges readers to question the ethical considerations of such a pursuit and to ponder the consequences of tampering with the natural order. The title becomes a moral compass, guiding readers through the ethical dilemmas woven into the fabric of the narrative.

In conclusion, "The Elixir of Life" by Honore De Balzac, translated by Clara Bell and James Waring, is a literary alchemy that invites readers to partake in the quest for immortality, both literal and metaphorical. The title, with its alluring promise of an elixir, encapsulates the essence of Balzac's exploration of the human desire for transcendence and fulfillment. Through rich symbolism, philosophical depth, and intricate storytelling, Balzac invites readers to sip from the chalice of his narrative elixir, challenging them to reflect on the mysteries of life, death, and the eternal quest for meaning.

"The Elixir of Life" by Honore De Balzac is available in Amazon in paperback 12.99$ and hardcover 17.99$ editions.

Number of pages: 76

Language: English

Rating: 9/10                                           

Link of the book!

Review By: King's Cat

[general-sleepy]

Hammer making Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde:

[ID: The "I am going to create an environment that is so toxic" meme, showing Sue Sylvester from Glee. The caption reads: "I am going to create a Jekyll and Hyde move that is so stupid." End ID]