Noticed that someone is currently selling "AMRITA" on ebay... (have an idea its someone i know personally).
A book that, if I had the money I surely would love to purchase. This lead me onto AC's comments on the "Elixir of Life" and how he mentions that such a gift from the Gods has been sought for distribution.
Below is an excerpt that interested me in particular. Who exactly receives the Elixir? or is it a pipe dream?
"But we have found the Super-food. We know a vehicle of which a few grains can house enough pure light to fill a man not only with nourishment, but with Energy almost superhuman, and parallel, Intelligence incredibly sun-bright for four-and twenty hours. That substance is theoretically easy, but practically hard to obtain. In England and America it would be impossible to procure any quantity even of the raw material, at least in strength and purity; much less to prepare it. We know how to charge this substance with the Life-force. The process is at present laborious and expensive; great skill is required, and much precaution for errors in preparation are hard to detect, and may result in hideous mischance.
It is now six years since we gained our knowledge. They have been crowded with experiment; we are arrived at the practical stage. We cannot understand the true Nature of this force; we cannot measure it; we cannot create it, or obtain it synthetically. But we can purify and intensify it; we can, within wide limits, determine at will the quality and scope of its action; we can postpone death, increase energy, or prolong youth; and we are justified in saying that we possess the Elixir of Life
666
Note: The Elixir is only administered to selected individuals for good reason shown. The normal course of treatment consists of two or three months' preparation in the place prepared for the purpose in Sicily, followed by the necessary period, usually one month, of the actual experiment which is made in the greatest secrecy."
I know it's tempting to think he were talking about some alchemical operation in the literal sense, but I think this all may be a thinly veiled metaphor for certain sexual or pharmacological experiments he was doing. I know that it's all arguably "alchemical", so when I say in the "literal sense" I mean like with a lab and with plants/metals and stuff. To my knowledge Crowley didn't do much of this.
The person receiving it may possibly be a person of a certain degree in the OTO. It might also mean Crowley or the other participants involved.
It could be in reference to the experiments which he was doing that involved the consumption of certain bodily fluids. I think that he had bought a pill press or something to that effect, and was planning to market some universal elixir at some point.
Hey Mr. T.,
My fiance is a huge advocate of "super-foods," as with many who are concerned about health, bodily wealth and wellness. This has been an exciting, important trend in recent years, slowly emerging up and out of the underground. I can think of a few things that Crowley meant by this, amongst them, the pomegranate or the juice of any highly oxidized vegetation, mixed with a veritable smorgasbord of herbs or roots considered "super-foods", combinations of which and how might be any one's guess if they weren't recorded anywhere on his journeys. We make concoctions that meet the standard of effectiveness quite often in our kitchen though I am not sure they could be called Elixir's of Life, or that they should not!
If you were extremely interested in answering this question, perhaps looking at his whereabouts six years prior, you might find a clue in the localized lore of popular health foods of the day. Crowley was a huge fan of Galangal which purports to raise Energy levels significantly, encouraging psychic awareness, as well as general psychological balance, considered a stimulating aphrodisiac, causing mental astuteness, and its effects last for a longer period than the act of digestion itself. Many of us here know that Crowley found it incredibly potent when mixed with Alpine Tumeric. I once tried this concoction at home, finding the tea to be ineffective even after boiling it for hours. This makes me wonder at the complicated, time-consuming process he spoke of involving these two substances. I would not doubt if the Elixir involved the popular and majorly effective Maca root, for all its legendary properties. Perhaps he was talking about the Oil of Abramelin, itself. Please, let me know politely if in any way, you think this is incorrect. I am not at all well enough informed but to speculate. Hopefully any ideas in this thread leads you to your answers!
Success to your Work,
Iris
Robert Anton Wilson discusses the operation here: http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/alchemy.htm
However, it is my understanding from those who have been entrusted with the Royal Secret, that neither of the operants need to be fecund; A Magician possessing the Royal Secret may successfully compete the act even if the male has had a vasectomy, or if the woman is somehow infertile. It is my understanding that the product of their union has an element transcending the physical plane, and it is *that* element which is 'Amrita.' These secrets go back to Gnostic Sects such as the Borborites and Ebionites, according to "The Panarion of Epiphaneus Vol. I", originally written in the 4th Century C.E.
The elixir of life (solved)
An unknown alchemist of the 16th century first concocted the seductive brew, and it is rumoured that the essences of around 130 different plants were used in the distilling process of the drink. Having established the compound, work was transferred to the monastery in Chartreuse, thereby enabling the recipe to remain a closely guarded secret. Even today, it is said that only three monks at the monastery know the secret recipe; each one of them knowing one third of the herbs and spices used to create it. So even if you could track down one of them, his information would only give you a starting point, and you'd have to find the other two to discover the full recipe!
This secret was kept within the monastery walls until the foundation of the Chartreuse liqueur label in Paris in 1605. This followed a seemingly fortuitous accident when one of the most brilliant minds of contemporary French noble society, the Maréchal d'Éstrée, discovered the old alchemist's manuscript with the recipe for Green Chartreuse. Curiously, the manuscript was entitled 'An Elixir for Long Life'. This suggestion of the alchemists' legendary quest for immortality via the Philosopher's Stone intrigued the Maréchal and piqued his interest, so he investigated further ( http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/louxsie/green.html).
Chartreuse and it's uses: http://everything2.com/title/Green+Chartreuse
Here is a list of some of the coctails Aleister Crowley created. The last one contains Chartreuse. The recipes on the site is from - yes, you guessed right - LASHTAL.COM
http://www.ahistoryofdrinking.com/wordpress/2010/10/an-excuse-to-drink-aleister-crowley-cocktails/
Every Carthusian monastery I have visited (in Italy these are called "Certosa") makes a form of this drink, with a similar recipe - usually it is brownish in colour, and my wife calls it "monk juice". But the green Chartreuse is sublime, in a different class.
The commercial version is 55 degrees alcohol (110 proof), but the "original" recipe is 90 degrees (180 proof). It really was intended to be a tonic, medicine.
It has to be drunk sparingly, without food or any additions, to truly appreciate its subtlety. My method is to inhale, then to take the slightest sip, just a taste to coat the tongue, then to let it fill the mouth, and exhale through the nose while swallowing. One ounce can last a half an hour this way.