Every culture has its stories of a mystical fountain of youth that confers lifelong youth and vitality upon the lucky ones who find it. Some legends include immortality or even returning the dead to life.
In our culture, of course, Juan Ponce de Leon supposedly set out in search of this fabled pool or spring. When the Spanish were exploring and settling in the Americas this belief received plenty of support in stories from the local Indian tribes of the southeast and the islands of the Caribbean. In what is present day Puerto Rico and Cuba, a tribe called the Arawak not only believed in the fabled fountain of youth – they also believed they knew its location because one of their chiefs found it and was still enjoying his youth centuries later. They directed the Spanish to look in the land of Bimini which is the approximate location of today’s Bahamas.
Ponce de Leon apparently heard and believe this story when he was governor of Puerto Rico and in 1513 he headed an expedition to find eternal youth. At least, that’s the story that has come down through the legends, There is no doubt that the expedition was real, although his motivation might have been different. The result of his search was that Europeans discovered Florida and the fountain is supposed to be somewhere near St. Augustine. and the city today includes a Fountain Of Youth Archeological Park. As a sidenote: that park contains a fountain but no one claims that it confers immortality. Still, lots of folks have been known to sample the water.
More recently, claims for a fountain of youth came from the Himalayas. A gentleman named Colonel Bradford went in search of youth – although not the mystical fountain – in India. The colonel is described as, “a wrinkled, stooping man in his late sixties, drained of physical energy, unable to walk without the help of a strong cane.” Bradford was intrigued by a particular story of regained youth:
“In almost every Indian district he’d visited, he’d been told about an ancient monastery deep in the heart of Tibet, where Lamas had discovered “The Fountain of Youth.”
Peter Kelder later wrote of this place: Old men had visited and mysteriously regained health and strength, vigor and virility shortly after entering a certain monastery; but where this particular place was none seemed exactly to know.
Colonel Bradford decided to find that monastery for himself.
The Colonel occasionally wrote to Kelder with updates of his progress. He eventually reported that he had found the monastery. But then the scent ran dry, and Kelder heard nothing more.
Until four years later, when Colonel Bradford stepped into his office…
… COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED.
His hair was a rich brown once again. His complexion was smooth and fresh. He no longer walked with a stoop. He was energetic, and strong, and virile, and HAPPY.
Asked how old he looked, most people guessed 38.
HE WAS 72.
According to Bradford, he achieved this miraculous result by doing five simple exercises.
Is there any basis for this claim or is it mere hogwash? I don’t personally know. I started the five exercises and followed them for a period of time – until I broke my left wrist and had to quit {you definitely need both hands to do the rituals, as they are known}. The one thing I can tell you is that they’re not hard to do and don’t take a lot of time.
So if you’d like eternal youth, if not eternal life, you can decide for yourself if the Ancient Secrets Of The Fountain Of Youth truly work. I can say that Martin Sheen and author John Gray think so.
Lady63 says
Hmmm… This Tibetan Fountain of Youth is indeed very interesting. Who would not want to remain youthful forever. Thanks for this useful article.
Jim says
The location fountain of youth is known and is almost at hand but not from a potion or bottle of snake oil. It will come from stem cell and human genome research. Already complex body parts are being grown to replace those that are damaged by disease and accidents. As a biologist I continue to marvel at the progress that is being made each month.
I tell my children that when they reach my age people may no longer die of old age. However that poses a greater problem and that is what to do with all the additional people that will populate the earth.
The fountain of youth does exist and its location is known. It quietly resides in our DNA helix.
Lavender says
Fascinating but i don’t believe a word of it. It sounds just like all the treasure map escapades we’ve been hearing about all our lives. It’s ironic how these people were looking for eternal youth and not accepting the fact that all we can do in life is make the most of what we have and spend our time doing meaningful things rather than frivolously spending it chasing non-existent things and complaining that we don’t have enough time to do all the things we want to do in life.
Unknown says
well personally i think that the fountain of youth may exsist. finding it in our DNA helix isnt possible though. i may be only 15 but i do know that the DNA only works on our genetic structure; our apperences and our internal structure too. sure it can make us look younger but it cant make us live longer. though i do believe more in the fountain of youth Ponce de Leon set out to find. i believe that we have yet to find it yet. i dont think that it would alow just anyone to come and get a drink if you really think about it. it would want to challenge you. i mean the fountain doesnt have a mind of its own but someone must have put it there at some point of time, so i think that perosn must have put up defenses.
BlissPlan says
Interesting perspective. Most people would think that biology would be more likely to determine youth and life span than a geographic location. I do feel certain, though, that a lot of physical aging we undergo isn’t “inevitable”. After all, quantum physics has proved that we are all energy patterns and energy doesn’t age. The Matrix movie is probably closer to accurate than most concepts.