Thread:Grimmival/@comment-27845103-20160223105539/@comment-27845103-20160224222805

I did a cursory internet search of immortality, medieval and ritual. In Medieval times, alchemists were of the belief that drinking liquid gold or silver drops (mercury or mercury mixed with gold) would give them immortality. The problem with this is that mercury is toxic and obviously if this were true, people would be inhaling the stuff at any given notice.

I also found that mythology wise, animals that are associated with this type of ritual were the rabbit or hare. This was a common belief in Asian customs, not European customs that I'm assuming is what you mean when you say medieval.

The ritual itself can be brutal - mercury posioning can cause the person who has been poisoned to feel like their skin is crawling with insects (so a burning/itching sensation). In addition, extreme cases can have the skin peeling off, especially in the hands and feet. They can also experience profuse sweating, salivation and hypertension (high blood pressure and heart rate). Insomnia and memory impairment are also an issue.