Roger Bacon was a writer in the late 13th Century, slightly after the Ars Magica period, and well known in the Magonomia period. It’s important not to confuse him with Sir Francis Bacon, who was an early scientist in Elizabeth I’s reign. Each had useful ideas about alchemy.
Roger Bacon explains, in his great book (called the “Major Opus”) that extremely efficient longevity medicine is possible in a purely mechanical sense. In Ars Magica terms, he explains why longevity rituals don’t breach the Law of Essential Nature. He also gives a recipie, whose ingredients could grant original research experience for player characters.
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The “Opus Majus” of Roger Bacon: Experimental Science – Example II
Another example can be given in the field of medicine in regard to the prolongation of human life, for which the medical art has nothing to offer except the regimen of health. But a far longer extension of life is possible. At the beginning of the world there was a great prolongation of life, but now it has been shortened unduly. Many have thought that the reason for this prolongation and shortening of life is found in the influence of the heavens. For they considered that the arrangement of the heavens was best at the beginning, and that as the world grows old all things decay. They think that the stars were created in more advantageous positions, in which stars have their dignities, which are called house, exaltation, triplicity, face, and boundary ; and in a better relationship of these to one another in accordance with the diversity of aspects or the invisible projection of rays. They also think that they have gradually receded from this position, and that in accordance with this recession they impose a shortened span of life up to some fixed boundary, at which there will be a state of rest. But this idea has many contradictions and difficulties, of which I must now speak.
Whether this shall prove to be true or not, another reason must be given, which is ready at hand for us and is plain, which cannot be contradicted, and which we know by experience.
Therefore in regard to this we must strive, that the wonderful and ineffable utility and splendor
of experimental science may appear and the pathway may be opened to the greatest secret
of secrets, which Aristotle has hidden in his book on the Regimen of Life. For although the regimen of health should be observed in food and drink, in sleep and in wakefulness, in motion and in rest, in evacuation and retention, in the nature of the air and in the passions of the mind, so that these matters should be properly cared for from infancy, no one wishes to take thought in regard to them, not even physicians, since we see that scarcely one physician in a thousand will give this matter even slight attention. Very rarely does it happen that anyone pays sufficient heed to the rules of health. No one does so in his youth, but sometimes one in three thousand thinks of these matters when he is old and approaching death, for at that time he fears for himself and thinks of his health. But he cannot then apply a remedy because of his weakened powers and senses and his lack of experience. Therefore fathers are weakened and beget weak sons with a liability to premature death. Then by neglect of the rules of health the sons weaken themselves, and thus the son’s son has a doubly weakened constitution, and in his turn weakens himself by a disregard of these rules. Thus a weakened constitution passes from father to sons, until a final shortening of life has been reached, as is the case in these days.
Not only is there this accidental cause, but there is also another, consisting in the disregard
of morals. For sins weaken the powers of the soul, so that it is incompetent for the natural
control of the body ; and therefore the powers of the body are weakened and life is shortened. This weakening passes from father to son, and so on. Therefore owing to these two natural
causes the longevity of man of necessity has not retained its natural course from the beginning but for these two reasons the longevity of man has been shortened contrary to nature. Moreover, it has been proved that this excessive shortening of the span of life has been retarded in many cases, and longevity prolonged for many years by secret experiments. Many authors write on this topic. Wherefore this excessive shortening of life must be accidental with a possible remedy.
Since I have shown that the cause of a shortening of life of this kind is accidental, and therefore that a remedy is possible, I now return to this example which I have decided to give in the field of medicine, in which the power of medical art fails. But the experimental art supplies the defect of medicine in this particular. For the art of medicine can give only the proper rules of health for all ages. For although noted authors have spoken inadequately concerning the proper regimen of the aged, it has been possible, however, for medicine to give such a regimen. This regimen consists in the proper use of food and drink, of motion and rest, of sleep and wakefulness, of elimination and retention, of the air, and in the control of the passions
of the mind. But if from birth a man followed a proper regimen to the end of his life, he would reach the limit of life set by God and nature, in accordance with the possibility of a proper
regimen. But since it is impossible for this regimen to be followed by any one, and since few, nay, scarcely any one at all, from youth pay any heed to this regimen, and very few old people observe it as it is possible, therefore the accidents of old age of necessity come before old age and senility, namely, in the period of the prime of life, which is the age of human beauty and strength. In these times this period of life does not continue beyond forty-five or fifty years.
All these accidents of old age and senility are white hair, pallor, wrinkling of the skin, excess of mucus, foul phlegm, inflammation of the eyes, and general injury to the organs of sense, diminution of blood and of the spirits, weakness in motion and breathing and in the whole body, failure in both the animal and natural powers of the soul, sleeplessness, anger and disquietude of mind, and forgetfulness, of which the royal Hali says that old age is the home of forgetfulness ; and Plato that it is the mother of lethargy. Because of the lack of a proper regimen of health all these accidents and many more come to men in the prime of life, that is, either in greater or lesser degree, in accordance with the better or worse control they have exercised over themselves in the matter of their health, and in accordance with a better and stronger constitution and a better or worse control exercised over their morals. But the medical
art does not furnish remedies against this corruption that comes from lack of control and failure in regimen, just as all physicians expert in their own art know, although medical authors
confess that remedies are possible, but they do not teach them. For these remedies have always been hidden not only from physicians, but from the whole rank and file of scientists, andhave been revealed only to the most noted, whom Aristotle mentions in the first book of the Topics in the division of the probable. Not only are remedies possible against the conditions of old age coming at the time of one’s prime and before the time of old age, but also if the regimen of old age should be completed, the conditions of old age and senility can still be retarded, so that they do not arrive at their ordinary time, and when they do come they can be mitigated and moderated, so that both by retarding and mitigating them life may be prolonged beyond the limit, which according to the full regimen of health depends on the six articles mentioned. And there is another farther limit, which has been set by God and nature, in accordance with the property of the remedies retarding the accidents of old age and senility and mitigating their evil. The first limit can be passed but the second cannot be.
Because of these two limits the Scripture says more than once, “Thou hast set its bounds which cannot be passed” ; for it is impossible for the ultimate limit to be passed, but the first limit can be passed, although it is rarely passed ; but the second limit cannot be passed. The proper regimen of health, therefore, as far as a man can possess it, would prolong life beyond its common accidental limit, which man because of his folly does not protect for his own interest ; and thus some have lived for many years beyond the common limit of life. But a special regimen by means of remedies retarding the common limit mentioned, which the art of directing the health does not exceed, can prolong life much further. What is possible is shown by Dioscorides, who says that there may be some medicine to protect man from the swiftness of old age and from cold and from the drying up of his members, so that by its means the life of man may be prolonged. In the Tegni near the end Hali maintains this. Again he says, “Those who have lived a long time have used medicines by which their life has been prolonged.” Avicenna, moreover, speaks in regard to such matters as follows in the second book of the Canon, ”There is a medicine that settles and divides every constitution as it should be.” But medical authorities have not given those medicines, nor have they been stated in their books, since these writers pay attention only to the art of caring for the health, and that, too, insufficiently as regards the elderly and the aged, as has been stated. But learned men devoted to experimental science have given thought to these matters, influenced thereto not only by their utility but by the action of animals which in many ways avoid a premature death, as, for example, the stag, the eagle, the snake, and many other animals that prolong their life by natural action, as authors state and experience has shown. Influenced by these examples they believed that God himself granted this power to brutes for the instruction of mortal man. Therefore they lay in wait for animals, in order that they might learn the powers of herbs, stones, metals, and other things, with which they improved their bodies in many apparently miraculous ways, just as we gather with the utmost certainty from the books of Pliny, Solinus, Avicenna on Animals, Tullius on the Divine Nature, from the philosophy of Artephius, and fromother books and various authors, and many people have had experience in this matter. For in Paris lately there was a scientist who sought for snakes and took one and cut it into small portions, except that the skin of the belly on which it crept remained intact. This snake crept as it was able to a certain herb by the touch of which it was immediately cured. The experimenter collected the herb of wondrous virtue. Since human reason is superior to all the wisdom of animals, scientists thus encouraged by the examples of animals have thought out better
and greater means.
And especially was this wisdom granted to the world through the first men, namely, through Adam and his sons, who received from God himself special knowledge on this subject, in
order that they might prolong their life. We can learn the same through Aristotle in the book of Secrets, where he says that God most high and glorious has prepared a means and a remedy for tempering the humors and preserving health, and for acquiring many things with which to combat the ills of old age and to retard them, and to mitigate such evils; and has revealed these things to his saints and prophets and to certain others, as the patriarchs, whom he chose and enlightened with the spirit of divine wisdom, etc. And below he says that there is a medicine called the ineffable glory and treasure of philosophers, which completely rectifies the whole human body. This medicine is said to have been discovered by Adam or by Enoch and secured through a vision, as he himself states, although it has not been fully attested which of these first produced this medicine. But these matters and the most secret of secrets of this kind have always been hidden from the rank and file of philosophers, and particularly so after men began
to abuse science, turning to evil what God granted in full measure for the safety and advantage
of men.
Many examples, moreover, of these facts are written. Artephius, who traveled over all the regions of the East in his search for knowledge, found Tantalus, teacher of the king of India,
seated on a golden throne and discoursing on nature and on the motions of the heavens. This same Tantalus humbled himself and became a pupil of Artephius, who is said in the book of his
Opus Majus own philosophy to have lived actually for many centuries by means of secret experiments. Pliny, moreover, in the twenty second book of the Natural History states that a man stood in the presence of Augustus, who had prolonged his life beyond a hundred years. To the astonishment of the bystanders he was strong, robust, and active to such a degree that the emperor in wonder asked him what he did so as to live in this way. The man replied in a riddle, as Pliny says, that he had applied oil on the outside and mead on the inside. Moreover, as stated in the book on the Accidents of Old Age, in the time of King William of Sicily a man was found who renewed the period of his youth in strength and sense and sagacity beyond all human calculation for about sixty years, and from a rustic ploughman became a messenger of the king. While ploughing he found a golden vessel in the fields hidden in the earth, which contained an excellent liquor. Thinking the liquor was dew from the sky he drank it and washed his face, and was renewed in mind and body beyond measure. And in the book just mentioned it is recorded that a man anointed with an excellent unguent the whole surface of his body with the exception of the soles of his feet, and lived for several centuries without decay except in his soles, which he had neglected to anoint, and for this reason he nearly always rode. Moreover, the author of this book bore witness that he had seen a man, and had talked with him, who had lived for several centuries, because he took a medicine prepared by scientists for a great king, who lost hope for himself and wished the medicine to be tried on an ignorant person. Thus the man’s life was prolonged, and he had official letters from the Pope of that time and from others in regard to this fact.
Therefore the excellent experimenter in the book on the Regimen of the Aged says that if what is tempered in the fourth degree, and what swims in the sea, and what grows in the air, and what is cast up by the sea, and a plant of India, and what is found in the vitals of a long-lived animal, and the two snakes which are the food of Tyrians and Aethiopians, be prepared and used in the proper way, and the mineral of the noble animal be present, the life of man could be greatly prolonged and the conditions of old age and senility could be retarded and mitigated. But that which is tempered in the fourth degree is gold, as stated in the book on Spirits and Bodies, which among all things is most friendly to nature. And if by a certain experiment gold should be made the best possible, or at any rate far better than nature and the art of alchemy can make it, as was the vessel found by the rustic, and it should be dissolved in such water as the ploughman drank, it would then produce a wonderful action on the body of man. And if there is added that which swimsin the sea, namely, the pearl, which is a thing most efficacious for preserving life, and there is added also the thing that grows in the air. This last is an anthos [flower] and is the flower of seadew, which possesses an ineffable virtue against the
condition of old age. But the dianthos that is put in an electuary is not a flower, but is a mixture of leaves and fragments of wood and a small portion of flower. For the pure flower should be gathered in its proper season, and in many ways it is used in foods and drinks and electuaries. To these must be added what is cast up by the sea. This last is ambergris, which is spermaceti,
a thing of wondrous virtue in this matter. The plant of India is similar to these, and is the excellent wood of the aloe, fresh and not seasoned. To these ingredients there is added that
which is in the heart of a long-lived animal, namely, the stag. This is a bone growing in the stag’s heart, which possesses great power against premature old age. The snake which is the food of the Tyrians is the Tynan snake from which Tyriaca is made, and whose flesh is properly prepared and eaten with spices. This is an excellent remedy for the condition of old age and for all the corruptions of the constitution, if it is taken with things suitable to one’s constitution and condition, as we are taught in the book on the Regimen of the Aged. Aristotle, moreover, in the book of Secrets recommends strongly the flesh of the Tyrian snake for our ills. The snake that is the food of the Aethiopians is the dragon, as David says in the psalm, ‘Thou hast given
it as food to the tribes of the Aethiopians.” For it is certain that wise men of Aethiopia have come to Italy, Spain, France, England, and those lands of the Christians in which there are good flying dragons, and by the secret art they possess lure the dragons from their caverns. They have saddles. and bridles in readiness, and they ride on these dragons and drive them in the air at high speed, so that the rigidity of their flesh may be overcome and its hardness tempered, just as in the case of boars and bears and bulls that are driven about by dogs and beaten in various ways before they are killed for food. After they have domesticated them in this way they have the art of preparing their flesh, similar to the art of preparing the flesh of the Tyrian snake, and they use the flesh against the accidents of old age, and they prolong life and sharpen their intellect beyond all conception. For no instruction that can be given by man can produce such wisdom as the eating of this flesh, as we have learned through men of proved reliability on whose word no doubt can be cast.
If the elements should be prepared and purified in some mixture, so that there would be no action of one element on another, but so that they would be reduced to pure simplicity, the wisest have judged that they would have the most perfect medicine. For in this way the elements would be equal. Averroes, moreover, asserts in opposition to Galienus in the tenth book of the Metaphysics that if the mixture was made with an equality of the miscibles, the elements would not act or be acted on, nor would they be corrupted, Aristotle also maintains this view in the fifth book of the Metaphysics, where he has stated definitely that no corruption
occurs when the active potencies are equal ; and this is an assured fact.
For this condition will exist in our bodies after the resurrection. For an equality of elements in those bodies excludes corruption for ever. For this equality is the ultimate end of the natural matter in mixed bodies, because it is the noblest state, and therefore in it the appetite of matter would cease, and would desire nothing beyond. The body of Adam did not possess elements in full equality, and therefore the contrary elements in him acted and were acted on, and consequently there was waste, and he required nourishment. For this reason he was commanded not to eat of the fruit of life. But since the elements in him approached equality, there was very little waste in him; and hence he was fit for immortality, which he could have secured if he had eaten always of the fruit of the tree of life. For this fruit is thought to have elements approaching equality ; and therefore it was able to continue incorruption in Adam, which would have happened if he had not sinned. Scientists, therefore, have striven to reduce the elements in some form of food or drink to an equality or nearly so, and have taught the
means to this end. But owing to the difficulty of this very great experiment, and because few take an interest in experiments, since the labor involved is complicated and the expense very
great, and because men pay no heed to the secrets of nature and the possibilities of art, it happens that very few have labored on this very great secret of science, and still fewer have reached a laudable end.
Those men, however, of whom mention has been made, who prolonged their life for centuries, had a medicine of this kind prepared with more or less skill. For Artephius, who, it is stated, lived a thousand and twenty-five years, had a better medicine than the aged ploughman, in whom his youth was renewed for sixty years. That liquor which the rustic drank is thought to have approached an equality of elements far beyond ordinary foods and drinks ; but yet it was far from possessing full equality. For there are many degrees in the approach to final equality, which the medicine of Artephius failed to secure, as well as that which caused the man to live for five hundred years who had the papal letter in attestation of so great a miracle, of whom mention was made above. Nor is it strange if Aristotle did not live so long, nor Plato, nor many other famous philosophers; since in the Categories Aristotle says he was ignorant of the quadrature of the circle, which bears no comparison to a secret of this kind. Avicenna, moreover, says in the third book of the Physics that he did not yet know the category of habit; and now I judge that this is easily learned, and we wonder that these men were ignorant of matters so evident. For all wisdom is from the Lord God ; and therefore sometimes to the simple are granted things that the most learned arid famous cannot know. But medicine cannot give us these things nor does it mention them but the greatness of the secret belonging to an experimental science of this kind has proved them. What, then, the remedies are and what things they contain, are discovered especially in the book of ‘the Secrets of Aristotle and in the philosophy of Artephius, and in the book on the Conditions of Old Age, and in the treatise on the men of the Elderly and the Aged, and in the books of Pliny, and elsewhere in many ways.
Games From Folktales 