E is for Everlasting

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

If you’d rather check out my book review for today, go here.

Looking at the thesaurus, everlasting, immortal, undying, fadeless and several others are synonyms.

Everlasting adj 1 never coming to an end; eternal 2 lasting for an indefinitely long period (Collins English Dictionary).

Who hasn’t dreamt of having their loved-ones with them forever? Or, more selfishly, living forever?

Folklore

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry Edited and Selected by W. B. Yeats [1888]

T’YEER-NA-N-OGE.

There is a country called Tír-na-n-Og, which means the Country of the Young, for age and death have not found it; neither tears nor loud laughter have gone near it. The shadiest boskage covers it perpetually. One man has gone there and returned. The bard, Oisin, who wandered away on a white horse, moving on the surface of the foam with his fairy Niamh, lived there three hundred years, and then returned looking for his comrades. The moment his foot touched the earth his three hundred years fell on him, and he was bowed double, and his beard swept the ground. He described his sojourn in the Land of Youth to Patrick before he died. Since then many have seen it in many places; some in the depths of lakes, and have heard rising therefrom a vague sound of bells; more have seen it far off on the horizon, as they peered out from the western cliffs. Not three years ago a fisherman imagined that he saw it. It never appears unless to announce some national trouble.

There are many kindred beliefs. A Dutch pilot, settled in Dublin, told M. De La Boullage Le Cong, who travelled in Ireland in 1614, that round the poles were many islands; some hard to be approached because of the witches who inhabit them and destroy by storms those who seek to land. He had once, off the coast of Greenland, in sixty-one degrees of latitude, seen and approached such an island only to see it vanish. Sailing in an opposite direction, they met with the same island, and sailing near, were almost destroyed by a furious tempest.

According to many stories, Tír-na-n-Og: is the favourite dwelling of the fairies. Some say it is triple-the island of the living, the island of victories, and an underwater land.

The Prose Edda

IDUN AND HER APPLES.

Brage began his tale by telling how three asas, Odin, Loke and Honer, went on a journey over mountains and heaths, where they could get nothing to eat. But when they came down into a valley they saw a herd of cattle. From this herd they took an ox and went to work to boil it. When they deemed that it must be boiled enough they uncovered the broth, but it was not yet done. After a little while they lifted the cover off again, but it was not yet boiled. They talked among themselves about how this could happen. Then they heard a voice in the oak above them, and he who sat there said that he was the cause that the broth did not get boiled. They looked up and saw an eagle, and it was not a small one. Then said the eagle: If you will give me my fill of the ox, then the broth will be boiled. They agreed to this. So he flew down from the tree, seated himself beside the boiling broth, and immediately snatched up first the two thighs of the ox and then both the shoulders. This made Loke wroth: he grasped a large pole, raised it with all 156his might and dashed it at the body of the eagle. The eagle shook himself after the blow and flew up. One end of the pole fastened itself to the body of the eagle, and the other end stuck to Loke’s hands. The eagle flew just high enough so that Loke’s feet were dragged over stones and rocks and trees, and it seemed to him that his arms would be torn from his shoulder-blades. He calls and prays the eagle most earnestly for peace, but the latter declares that Loke shall never get free unless he will pledge himself to bring Idun and her apples out of Asgard. When Loke had promised this, he was set free and went to his companions again; and no more is related of this journey, except that they returned home. But at the time agreed upon, Loke coaxed Idun out of Asgard into a forest, saying that he had found apples that she would think very nice, and he requested her to take with her her own apples in order to compare them. Then came the giant Thjasse in the guise of an eagle, seized Idun and flew away with her to his home in Thrymheim. The asas were ill at ease on account of the disappearance of Idun,—they became gray-haired and old. They met in council and asked each other who last had seen Idun. The last that had been seen of her was that she had gone out of Asgard in company with Loke. Then Loke was seized and brought into the council, 157and he was threatened with death or torture. But he became frightened, and promised to bring Idun back from Jotunheim if Freyja would lend him the falcon-guise that she had. He got the falcon-guise, flew north into Jotunheim, and came one day to the giant Thjasse. The giant had rowed out to sea, and Idun was at home alone. Loke turned her into the likeness of a nut, held her in his claws and flew with all his might. But when Thjasse returned home and missed Idun, he took on his eagle-guise, flew after Loke, gaining on the latter with his eagle wings. When the asas saw the falcon coming flying with the nut, and how the eagle flew, they went to the walls of Asgard and brought with them bundles of plane-shavings. When the falcon flew within the burg, he let himself drop down beside the burg-wall. Then the asas kindled a fire in the shavings; and the eagle, being unable to stop himself when he missed the falcon, caught fire in his feathers, so that he could not fly any farther. The asas were on hand and slew the giant Thjasse within the gates of Asgard, and that slaughter is most famous.

How shall Idun be named? She is called the wife of Brage, the keeper of the apples; but the apples are called the medicine to bar old age (ellilyf, elixir vitæ). She is also called the booty of the giant Thjasse, according to what has before been said concerning how he took her away from the asas.

Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures by Theresa Bane

There are many tales of the huli jing (“fox fairy”) in Chinese demonology. A nocturnal kuie (ghostly demon), they are immortal shapeshifters who usually choose to appear as an animal, a deceased relative, an old or handsome man, or a seductive woman. They must, however, consume human souls to maintain their immortality.

In the Hinduism practiced in India, there is a vampiric race of demons known as the rakshasas that was created by Brahma to protect the ocean from those who sought to steal the secret elixir of immortality.

*More can be read in the book.

Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi

ANGUS OG is the god of youth and beauty in the Tuatha De Danaan, he drank the Ale of Immortality, and four swans circled over his head when he traveled.

BEE is a symbol of purity, rebirth, industry, and immortality. In the Greek Mystery Traditions the bee symbolized the soul. The harmony of the beehive was a spiritual symbol of the community of souls. Among the Celts the bee represented secret wisdom related to the Other-world. Bees were also considered messengers of oak and thunder gods, and when carved on tombs signified immortality.

HONEY is a symbol of immortality, initiation, and rebirth.

…and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Vessel of Immortality.

*More can be read in the book.

Faery Magick: Spells, Potions, and Lore from the Earth Spirits by Sirona Knight

In folklore, the rabbit is the one who knows the formula for making a potion for immortality.

Apple: Key magickal uses: Love, immortality, fertility, happiness, attracting helpful faeries.

*More can be read in the book.

The Encyclopedia of Crystals, Herbs and New Age Elements by Adams Media

The legendary Cup of Jamshid is a famous scrying mirror that appears in Persian mythology. The cup was said to be filled with an elixir of immortality in which the whole world was reflected.

Rosemary has long been associated with immortality, memory, and fidelity.

*More can be read in the book.

The Element Encyclopedia of the Celts by Rodney Castleden

The mythic tree of the Underworld, the tree of immortality, is a common idea in many cultures. In late Celtic mythology, the Isle of Avalon, where King Arthur was taken to die, was either an island of the dead or a portal to the Underworld. The word “Avalon” means “orchard”; compare the Old Welsh word afal, meaning “apple.” Avalon was the resting-place of heroes and kings: a particular kind of sacred grove—of apple trees. The apple itself is a magic fruit, again as it is in many ancient cultures.

The apple recurs again and again in European myths, and it is there too in Celtic myth as the fruit of the World Tree, the axis of the universe. To the Celts, the apple is the fruit of immortality and prophecy.

*More can be read in the book.

The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes

According to Chinese myth, a rabbit keeps the Moon Lady company in her lonely palace—not just any old rabbit though: the rabbit on the moon is an alchemist rabbit, seen pounding out the secret elixir of immortality with his mortar and pestle.

There are also legends about what seems to be a different Cailleach Bheur. This one lived on the shores of Loch Ba on the Isle of Mull in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides where, every hundred years or so, she immersed herself in the waters of the lake to renew her immortality. One year she waited until it was too late and died.

Skadi is the daughter of the Frost Giant Thiazzi who stole the apples of immortality from the gods. Eventually Loki the trickster stole the apples back and Thiazzi was killed.

Even people who know nothing else about alchemy are often conversant with the Philosopher’s Stone—the legendary substance that was the goal of so many obsessive quests over the centuries. Many understand alchemy to be nothing more than a means of acquiring this miraculous substance. Allegedly the Philosopher’s Stone can:

• Change base metals into gold (transmutation)
• Heal all ailments and illnesses
• Prolong life to the point of virtual immortality while
• simultaneously maintaining youth, health, and vigor

Despite its name, the Philosopher’s Stone was not usually envisioned as a rock but is generally believed to be a chemical or powder, or sometimes a wax or liquid. In ancient Egypt, a black powder made from mercury was identified with the body of Osiris and the Philosopher’s Stone is most frequently envisioned as a black powder. Fierce arguments have, however, raged regarding the appearance and true identity of the Philosopher’s Stone. In addition to black, it has been described as vivid yellow, bright red or dark red. An Arabic scholar, perhaps trying to maintain peace, suggested that the Philosopher’s Stone unites and contains all colors, hence the disagreements and differences in perception.

The French alchemist Nicholas Flamel allegedly found the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone, gaining immortality and wealth.

Although “alchemy” is used to describe Chinese and Western traditions, their techniques and goals are not identical. Chinese alchemy places far greater emphasis on longevity and immortality than on the transmutation of metal and accumulation of wealth. Rather than acquisition of the Philosopher’s Stone, the Chinese alchemical obsession has traditionally involved discovery of a potion, pill or magical technique that would produce immortality.

In addition to metal, it was believed that manipulating and absorbing another person’s magical power or life essence (see: Chi) could also provide immortality, or at least extended longevity. Methods for absorbing another’s life essence often involved sophisticated sexual techniques. Eastern Alchemists were, thus, sometimes identified with incubuses, vampires, and fox spirits.

*More can be read in the book.

The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore by Patricia Monaghan

The Tuatha dé Dannann, who refined the art of brewing until the ale of the smith and brewer Goibniu was strong enough to endow the drinker with immortality.

Symbolizing harmony and immortality, abundance and love, the apple was considered a talisman of good fortune and prosperity.

Immortality

Cosmological concept. Although some writers describe Celtic gods as immortal, tales such as that of battles of Mag Tuired described the deaths of many of them. Gods and goddesses are occasionally victims of treacherous murder, as when Medb was struck down while bathing. Thus it is not clear that the idea of immortality – in the sense of never suffering death – was part of the Celtic vision of divinity. Some Irish legends speak of food that, when eaten by the gods, kept them young and hale: the pigs of the sea god Manannán Mac Lir, the contents of the ever-full cauldron of the smith Goibniu, and apples from the Otherworld. The myths suggest that, without such magical food, divinities might age and die just like mortals, but existing texts and oral tales do not describe any deaths from old age among the gods.

*More can be read in the book.

Further Reading:

• Fairies and the Fae
• Idun
• The Secret Substance Soma: Bringing Human Beings Closer to the Gods
• Magical Mermaids of Japanese Folklore
• 10 Mythological Ways To Become Immortal
• Immortality, the Elixir of Life and the Food of the Gods
• Ambrosia :: Food of the Gods

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

Immortality or everlasting life is the kind of thing people search for and go mad for finding… outliving everyone you’ve ever known or loved will take a hard toll on a person. Unless you’re already a soulless monster.

People yearn for youth and beauty. It’s the thing that hasn’t gone out of fashion. From the Aesir not wanting Idun’s apples to fall into the wrong hands, to the Celts searching for Tír-na-n-Og to live in the Country of the Young, to searching for the Elixir of Immortality in various mythologies, folklore is rife with examples of people wanting to live forever.

But eluding death just leads to wasting your life in search of the alchemists’ Philosopher’s Stone, trying to steal apples or ambrosia from the gods, or – worse – making deals with dark creatures.

There are instances of the gods making mortals immortal: Zeus made Cupid’s wife Psyche immortal for all the harm Aphrodite had done. But it’s not a common occurrence.

What folklore and literature has taught us is that the chase for immortality always turns the seeker into a monster. Voldemort ripping his soul into pieces, for example. Or Dorian Gray and his monstrous portrait.

It’s much safer to eat healthy food, exercise, and drink plenty of water to live for as long as you are meant to. Unless you want to become a desiccating thing rotting in an attic?

Immortality in Modern Culture

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

‘The horror, whatever it was, had not yet entirely spoiled that marvellous beauty’

Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life, indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The Picture of Dorian Gray was a succès de scandale. 

Blurb of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Read more.

You really need to read this book (or just watch the movie if you can’t stomach gothic horrors, though the movie does water things down a bit to looks and sex). Either way, Dorian is cursed with eternal youth and is seemingly immortal: everything bad that could happen to him physically is magically done to his portrait instead…

In BBC’s Merlin.

The Cup of Life is an immensely powerful magical artifact of the Old Religion. Blessed by centuries of powerful sorcerers, it contains the secret of life itself and can be used to heal the dying, resurrect the dead, and create armies of the undead.

Centuries before the reign of Uther Pendragon, the Cup of Life fell in to the possession of a great warlord. He took a drop of blood from every man in his army and collected it in the Cup. Such was the vessel’s power that the soldiers were made immortal where they stood.

The warlord’s immortal army wrought unimaginable carnage throughout the land. Only when the Cup was emptied of the blood that it contained was the enchantment broken and the army destroyed (The Coming of Arthur).

Read more here.

In the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling.

A Horcrux was an object in which a Dark wizard or witch had hidden a detached fragment of his or her soul in order to become immortal.^[1][3] As long as the receptacle remained intact, so too did the soul fragment inside it, keeping the maker anchored to the world of the living, even if their body suffered fatal damage. The Horcrux was considered to be by far the most terrible of all Dark Magic.^[1]

Horcruxes could only be created after committing murder, the most supreme act of evil, as a means to tear the soul. The process for the creation of a Horcrux involved a spell and a horrific act of some sort was performed soon after the murder had been committed.^[1]

Given that Horcruxes were utterly precious to those who made them, protective measures were taken to prevent them from being stolen or destroyed, such as counter-charms and curses. Horcruxes were also extremely durable, and therefore only the most powerful and potent elements and magical spells of the wizarding world could truly destroy them, such as Basilisk venom and Fiendfyre.

Read more here.

Harry Potter: “So if all of his Horcruxes are destroyed, Voldemort could be killed?“

Albus Dumbledore: “Yes, I think so. Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul.“

A discussion on how to go about killing Voldemort.

Smallville TV Series

“I have been speared by Mayan warriors, survived Mongols’ arrows, and the cold steel of Crusaders’ blades. What makes you think the sting of a 9 millimeter could slow me down?” – Curtis Knox, to Lex Luthor, Cure

Curtis Knox is an immortal doctor who supposedly cured meteor freaks from their powers and psychosis. In actuality, he was obsessed with trying to make his wife Sophia immortal by harvesting kryptonite–infected body parts from meteor freaks.

Read more here.

Highlander movie/TV franchise.

Immortals are a group of ageless beings that cease aging after receiving a fatal wound. They have no natural lifespan, and can live forever unless beheaded.

Wherever they come from, the Highlander franchise assumes that there have always been Immortals on Earth, well before the beginning of recorded civilization. In Highlander, Ramírez’s narrative started, “From the dawn of time we came; moving silently down through the centuries, living many secret lives…” and in Highlander: Endgame, Connor’s narrative says, “In the days before memory, there were the Immortals. We were with you then, and we are with you now.”

Read more here.

In Highlander: Endgame, protagonist Connor MacLeod says, “We are the seeds of legend, but our true origins are unknown. We simply are.” 

Immortality in My Writing

Origin of the Fae: Immortality

There are different ways to gain immortality. It, of course, means different things to different beings.
The first is being cursed with immortality. This usually happens among human magic-users. It can take on many forms, from being stuck at the same age forever and never changing to living until a certain age and being hunted down by the enemy and then born again just for the painful cycle to continue forever.
The second is stealing immortality – or being granted the gift of immortality. Both requires the Elixir of Life to be consumed. The elixir is kept safe in Avalon, though there are always those stealthy enough to steal from the Fae. Some mortals are granted the gift for services rendered (like saving an entire race of Fae).
The third is striking a deal with the Unseelie Court, mostly with the king himself. But this usually results in the seeker becoming more monstrous the longer he/she lives. Which, of course, suits the needs of the Dark Court. An example is the Obayifo.
The last way to be immortal is being born with it. All Fae are born immortal. Though, certain things can change their state. Being immortal doesn’t mean being indestructible. Fae kill Fae all the time over silly disputes – the King of the Dead, Ankou, wouldn’t have a realm otherwise. And curses can influence even what immortality means: The Fae living in the Labyrinth suffer for perpetuity over something none of them were involved in, though they all die very young (even to mortal standards).
The Fae, and made immortals, can live for thousands of years if not killed off. They are patient with their plans: it doesn’t matter if a plan has to take twenty – or two hundred – years to come to pass, they have the time to wait. Living forever also means that most of them are never in a hurry to do anything: time is their friend.

Immortality translated to Afrikaans: Onsterflikheid

I think this is the most iconic song about immortality.

See this concept in action in my writing:

Smoke on the Water (Irascible Immortals Complete Collection with Extra Short Stories)

In the amethyst cave, all the unconscious gods and fae lay on the floor including the ones they’d rescued. No-one else was there. Ra got ready to perform the reversal spell, the few herbs and stones he needed already waiting for him on a pedestal at the entrance, as he’d requested from Dagda’s wife earlier.

‘You can’t,’ Loki whispered. ‘You’ve already sacrificed the key ingredient.’

Shock went through him. Ra couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed the change in his body. He was mortal. He looked at those needing the help he couldn’t offer anymore. He didn’t know anyone who would sacrifice their immortality to save them.

It Ends Tonight, Smoke on the Water, Irascible Immortals by Ronel Janse van Vuuren

Remember that you can request all of my books from your local library!

What are your thoughts about things that last forever? Would you like to be immortal? Any other stories about the everlasting you’d like to share? Check out my Pinterest board dedicated to the subject.

You can now support my time in producing folklore posts (researching, writing and everything else involved) by buying me a coffee. This can be a once-off thing, or you can buy me coffee again in the future at your discretion.

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