Well = Water , Water = Fountain of Youth?

[twinbad]

Could this well be the source of Alpert's youth? If there was once water in it that led down to the weird energy core, that would be some special water.

[Saukkomies]

This is a very interesting idea, TB. This got me thinking about what the mythic symbolism is behind a Well. So I dug around a bit, and found a reference to Wells in the Encyclopedia Mythica:

in Norse mythology, the Norns are the demi-goddesses of destiny. They control the destinies of both gods and men, as well as the unchanging laws of the cosmos. They are represented as three sisters: Urd ("fate"), Verdandi ("necessity") and Skuld ("being"). They live at the base of the World Tree Yggdrasil in the realm of Asgard. Nothing lasts forever, and even the mighty Yggdrasil is subject to decay. The Norns try to stop this process, or at least slow it down, by pouring mud and water from the Well of Fate over its branches. This magical liquid stops the rotting process for the time being.

So I think this supports your idea of how Wells could be connected to a search for immortality...

[twinbad]

Thanks for responding, I got excited about this and you're the only one to comment in almost 24 hours. I just don't see why there'd be a well if not to get water, theres obviously ice in the cave so couldn't it have been a spring at some point? I guess we'll find out more about it in future episodes. It may be cliche but Richard's fountain of youth could actually be a source of water.

[What Would Jeff Do]

That's a cool idea. We know Locke and Rose were cured once they got to the island, and Alpert seems ageless. So maybe you don't have to actually drink the water, but the same energy source that makes the island move also has restorative power.

[Sawyerluver]

There is also "Jacob's well" from the Bible....

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Easton%27s_Bible_Dictionary_(1897)/Jacob%27s_Well

http://www.biblicaltheology.com/joh/43_04_01.html

"Living water" referred to water that is naturally moving. Water that flowed in rivers and streams was called "living water." Water from a cistern or a well becomes stagnant and polluted. However, living water is fresh and always renewed. Jacob's well was a spring-fed, flowing well, a living water..."

Living water leads to eternal life.

[smilingshade]

This occurred to me as well. I found it interesting that the energy source empties directly into the well. Temporal energy + water + man-made way to get at the water = fountain of youth? Makes sense to me. In Jughead, it struck me not only that Alpert was ageless, but also that everyone in the group of "Others" that I noticed was very young. If true, this hypothesis explains 1.) why Richard never ages, 2.) why those who know about the island's properties will do anything to protect it and 3.) why the aging Widmore (and, I suspect, Hawking. I don't trust her) want to get back to the island so badly. Widmore has everything except immortality, it would seem. Perhaps we now know where the water came from that froze the FDW, too.

Of course, that doesn't begin to answer a fraction of the other questions raised during the series, but it is an interesting thought.

[Devera]

I wouldn't be surprised if Richard Alpert had taken some kind of long life or immortality drinks. I have a lot of quotes here that may prove relevant, all bold mine. I included everything that might be significant for reference.

Of interest, perhaps this article on the Elixir of Life.

Quotes:
"The elixir of life, from Arabic: الإكسير, also known as the elixir of immortality or Dancing Water or Persian: Aab-e-Hayaat آب حیات and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create life."

"It has been anecdotally suggested that Laozi, the founder of Daoism stated that tea is one of the ingredients to the elixir of life. In fact, the fermented tea-based Kombucha was originally known in Chinese as "The Tea of Immortality"." (I added this particular quote for the people who watch everything our characters are drinking...iced tea anyone? )

"AMRIT or AMRUT has been described in the Hindu scriptures which are the oldest compiled source of information known to humanity. Anybody who consumes even a tiniest portion of Amrut has been described to gain immortality. The legend goes that, at the very early times when the inception of the world had just taken place, some demons had gained strength. This was seen as a threat to many other gods who feared for their lives. So these gods (including Indra-the god of rain, Vayu-the god of wind, Agni-the god of fire) went to seek advice and help from Vishnu (the preserver), Bhrama (the creator) & Shiva (the destroyer). They suggested that Amrut could only be gained from the samudra manthan (or the churning of ocean) for the ocean in its depths hid mysterious and secret objects. Vishnu agreed to take the form of a turtle on whose shell a huge mountain was placed.

With the help of a mighty and long serpent the churning process was started at the surface of the ocean. The gods pulled the serpent from one side which had coiled itself around the mountain. The demons pulled it from the other side.(the churning process required immense strength and hence the demons were persuaded to do the job- they agreed but in return for a portion of Amrut). Finally with the combined effort of the gods and demons, Amrut emerged from the depths of the ocean. All the gods were offered the drink but the gods managed to trick the demons who later didn't manage to get any part of the holy drink."

"Aab-i-Hayat and Aab-i-Haiwan are Persian and both mean "water of life". "Chashma-i-Kausar" (not "hasma") is the "Fountain of Bounty", which Muslims believe to be located in Paradise. As for the Indian names, "Amrit Ras" means "immortality juice", "Maha Ras" means "great juice", and "Soma Ras" means "juice of Soma"; Soma was a psychoactive drug, by which the poets of the Vedas Veda received their visions, but the plant is not known any more." (I need to copy this to the juice thread!)

"In April 2008, a group of young scientists demonstrated, in a Portuguese program of television (RTP - Abciência, Elixir of immortality), that it is possible to immortalize yeast cells."

Even more connected with your observations, I found this link on sacred waters and holy wells:

"People visited the wells for their traditional virtues of healing and divination. If a physical cure was sought, the believer would drink or sometimes bathe in the water. And in fact,the water of some holy wells have indeed been found to contain curative properties, mostly due to the presence of certain minerals. But the healing influence of the wells was due to more than their medicinal qualities.The well itself was viewed as a shrine dedicated to the miraculous emergence of living water, in all cultures a symbol of generation, purification, and the matrix of life itself. To quote Mircea Eliade, '...water symbolizes the whole of potentiality; it is fons et origo, the source of all possible existence.'" (Here is the "living water" that Sawyerluver mentioned.)

"A great many wells were supposed to cure eye problems, which scholars have traced to the magical perception of the well as the eye of a god. And the sympathetic link between water and fertility led, as one might expect, to a number of wells gaining a reputation for curing childlessness. In Oxford, for example, Child's Well "had vertue to make women that were barren to bring forth children," while St.Agnes Well at Whitestaunton in Somerset gained fame when Henrietta, the wife of King Charles I, was rumored to have wished for a child there, and became pregnant soon after."

"The healing power of wells was also accessed through what appears to be a British equivalent of dream-incubation."

"Recent research has, moreover, verified this strange connection between wells and dreams: Earth Mysteries researcher Paul Devereux, in Earthmind, recounts incidences where people have become unaccountably drowsy and fallen asleep at the site of a holy well, a phenomenon he correlates with the mildly radioactive properties found at many of the well sites." (!!!!!)

"In addition, the faeries took the maid to Elfland, which highlights another important feature of the holy wells: that along with other sacred features of the landscape such as certain megaliths, caves, trees and lakes, they stand as entrances to the world of spirit - the Otherworld."

"Many Christian churches were constructed near pagan sacred wells, and the early Celtic church used them for baptism until the Roman church replaced them with the font inside the building. A number of old churches contain a crypt or grotto that opens into a subterranean spring. This place - close to earth and water - is the innermost sanctum, the hidden holy center of the sacred enclosure."

Then there is the Grail or Holy Grail which is connected with both Arthurian mythology and Christian symbolism. What it looks like is up in the air, but it can supposedly bring immortality or provide major healing powers to those who drink from it (even potentially raising people from the dead). The person who holds or drinks from the grail is supposed to be spiritually graced by God or otherwise enlightened.

Perhaps also of interest, The water bottles thread which has some speculation about island water and also radiation levels.

[twinbad]

Wow that's a lot of research Devera, thanks. I think this is an archtype that runs through many cultures. I noticed that a lot of alcholic beverages across Europe refer to this : Vodka means water of life in Polish, brandy distilled from fruit is called Eau de vie in French which means water of life, and the Dutch have Aquavit which means the same thing. I don't know if we've seen other examples of non-aging amongst others yet though, Ben has aged and there were some older others, why didn't Ben ask Richard to hook him up? I'm wondering if the well drying up stopped the immortality and Richard just has some lingering effect.

[smilingshade]

Ben has aged and there were some older others

Two possibilities here. First, is it really clear that Ben has aged? He looks the same in 2004 as he did when the purge happened. I'm not sure that he has. Second, maybe Ben and Richard, for some reason, keep the fountain of youth information from Ben's Others. Or maybe something happened and the well filled in?

[CarpeDiem23]

I wonder why Richard has been the only one to acsess this? Assuming so..