Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. We are what we eat. At least that's what we're told by nutritionists and fitness enthusiasts who'd rather we didn't pop that last piece of candy into our mouths. There are vegetarians who swear off meat, while vegans refused to eat all animals and all animal products. There are also pscytarians who eat only vegetables and seafood. It seems that for every type of food out there, there's a special diet to go with it. However, one other group of diet style exists. They don't eat meat or vegetables or fish. In fact, their diet is pretty light. These special dieters practice something called a edia. In Edia is the belief that the human body can survive on air and in some cases sunlights alone. In Sanskrit, the essence being consumed is called prana or life force, but many other countries and religions have their own words for it, and edia has been studied and documented for centuries. The Catholics called it anorexia mirabilis or holy anorexia, Unlike the more common form of the disorder we know today, and arexia mirabilis was fueled by blind devotion to one's faith rather than a desire to be thin. Jane monks in India have been known to fast for six months or more, with one monk going as long as five hundred days without food. Back in the late sixteen hundreds, Rosa Crucians saw spiritual enlightenment from a secret esoteric order possessing a knowledge. Among their topics of study were the teachings of an alchemist named Paracelsus, who claimed to have lived for several years on nothing more than a little bit of sunlight. Among the surprising number of an Edians out there, a Buddhist monk living in Nepal was able to survive for more than four days on air alone, not a particularly impressive feat when compared to the Jane monks, until you realize he did it while sitting in one spot without moving a muscle. Mahama Gandhi famously fasted as a method of political protest. He called it the truest prayer. Of course, such a diet isn't for the faint of heart. Literally, several practitioners of such extreme fasting have died of starvation and dehydration over the years. But it was in nineteen eighty when an American named Willie Brooks took the Inetian movement to a whole new level. He burst onto the scene on the television show That's Incredible. Brooks was the founder of the breath Aian Institute of America. Breathe Aians, he explained, were people who could live without eating physical food. At the time of his television debut, Brooks claimed that he hadn't eaten so much as a peanut in over fifteen years. His group started out with several hundred followers who wanted to learn how to sustain themselves on only air and sunshine, and Brooks was only too happy to help for a price. Of course, he charged people ten dollars to attend his lectures, while all day seminars earned him a hundred bucks ahead. Those who really wanted to change their lives had to drop five dollars to attend an intensive retreat, and during these seminars, Brooks taught people that the body was able to pull all the nutrients that needed to survive right out of the air. He explained how when he was in his late twenties, he was losing his hair and feeling older by the day. It wasn't until he started fasting when his body started to bounce back, his hair grew back, he felt better. To those who followed him, Brooks walked the walk as much as he talked the talk. He eventually compounded his fat steam regiment with a special form of meditation, which he claimed fed the body as much as the soul. Things seem to be going well for the spiritual leader until his followers finally saw the truth. In three a news report came out that Willie Brooks hadn't been completely honest about his diet. It seems his human body needed a little more than air to survive. Brooks had been spotted coming out of a seven eleven, a slurpye in one hand and a hot dog Twinkies in the other, with plenty of room, one would assume, or a slice of humble pie. Parents don't always understand the things that young people are into. Their music is too loud, their clothes or too baggy, or their hair is too long. They just don't get that young people need to express themselves to unwind when things get tough. King James the First of Scotland didn't understand either. Of course, they didn't have rock and roll back then. Rather, James had a problem with certain distractions, which is why he passed an act in fourteen twenty four, the Football Act. That's right, King James the first banded football. He passed his distaste of the sport onto his son, James the Second, who became king in fourteen thirty seven. He believed a weak and unprepared army would spell doom for the safety at his kingdom. That was why he made sure that all young men twelve years or older were automatically drafted into the military. They were to hone their fighting skills whenever they weren't sleeping, eating, or actively in battle. However, instead of practicing their sword play or archery, the men often stuck off to play sports. Their favorites and the ones that invited the ire of the king the most were football and golf. Soldiers found an excuse to play and they would play anywhere they could, including churchyards, in the middle of the road, or in open fields. James couldn't stand it. He believed their sole focus should have been on preparing for war with England. When his soldiers wouldn't listen to his demands, James did something to make them obey. He put it down on paper, just like his father had done years earlier. According to James the Second's Act of Parliament, football and golf would be and I quote utterly condemned and stopped. In other words, he banned them, but he didn't stop there. He also outlawed what he referred to as pointless sports. Those who refused to comply were find forty shillings if caught. Rather than waste their time throwing a ball, soldiers were instructed to spend their days shooting arrows at targets. Four times a year, they would be expected to perform in an archery display, most likely to demonstrate their accuracy. The sports ban lasted for some time, but the men couldn't stay away forever. They needed to find ways to unwind and squeezed in games where they could. After James the Third assumed the throne in fourteen sixty, He also noticed the distractions that had plagued his father's soldiers, and he renewed the ban on golf and football in fourteen seventy. The prohibition continued until fourteen nine one, when James the third son James the fourth, also renewed the ban on the two sports. Apparently, the men in the royal family just didn't want their armies focusing on anything but combat. Even though James the fourth was a fan of both golf and football. According to records from the time, he owned several footballs and golf clubs which had been made for him. In the city of Perth around fifteen two, still people found a way to play both inside and outside the military. The servants and apprentices who worked under metal workers in Perth were prohibited from playing football, as were Scottish citizens living in Peoples. If someone was caught playing, they were required to pay a fine of eight shillings. Holy Men were also not exempt from the law. In fifteen eighty five, a minister aptly named Archibald James Law was censured because he had dared to play a game of football on a Sunday. No less, and the more people played, the worst the violence got the particularly rough games ended with fighting and in one case, people nearly killing each other with guns. Golf, on the other hand, never ended with players getting shot, but it was still in nuisance. Both the Church and Parliament believed anyone playing golf would have been better served either at their job or in a pew. Sunday was a day for church, not chip shots. As time passed and military technology evolved from arrows to bullets, the rules were slowly relaxed. Soldiers were no longer fined or scolded for the occasional ball game. However, the government would have been well within its rights to prosecute anyone caught playing golf or football up until the century. The band was kept in place until nineteen o six, when it was if you'll pardon the pun sidelined for good. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribed for re on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the world of lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,

Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. We are what we eat. At least that's what we're told by nutritionists and fitness enthusiasts who'd rather we didn't pop that last piece of candy into our mouths. There are vegetarians who swear off meat, while vegans refused to eat all animals and all animal products. There are also pscytarians who eat only vegetables and seafood. It seems that for every type of food out there, there's a special diet to go with it. However, one other group of diet style exists. They don't eat meat or vegetables or fish. In fact, their diet is pretty light. These special dieters practice something called a edia. In Edia is the belief that the human body can survive on air and in some cases sunlights alone. In Sanskrit, the essence being consumed is called prana or life force, but many other countries and religions have their own words for it, and edia has been studied and documented for centuries. The Catholics called it anorexia mirabilis or holy anorexia, Unlike the more common form of the disorder we know today, and arexia mirabilis was fueled by blind devotion to one's faith rather than a desire to be thin. Jane monks in India have been known to fast for six months or more, with one monk going as long as five hundred days without food. Back in the late sixteen hundreds, Rosa Crucians saw spiritual enlightenment from a secret esoteric order possessing a knowledge. Among their topics of study were the teachings of an alchemist named Paracelsus, who claimed to have lived for several years on nothing more than a little bit of sunlight. Among the surprising number of an Edians out there, a Buddhist monk living in Nepal was able to survive for more than four days on air alone, not a particularly impressive feat when compared to the Jane monks, until you realize he did it while sitting in one spot without moving a muscle. Mahama Gandhi famously fasted as a method of political protest. He called it the truest prayer. Of course, such a diet isn't for the faint of heart. Literally, several practitioners of such extreme fasting have died of starvation and dehydration over the years. But it was in nineteen eighty when an American named Willie Brooks took the Inetian movement to a whole new level. He burst onto the scene on the television show That's Incredible. Brooks was the founder of the breath Aian Institute of America. Breathe Aians, he explained, were people who could live without eating physical food. At the time of his television debut, Brooks claimed that he hadn't eaten so much as a peanut in over fifteen years. His group started out with several hundred followers who wanted to learn how to sustain themselves on only air and sunshine, and Brooks was only too happy to help for a price. Of course, he charged people ten dollars to attend his lectures, while all day seminars earned him a hundred bucks ahead. Those who really wanted to change their lives had to drop five dollars to attend an intensive retreat, and during these seminars, Brooks taught people that the body was able to pull all the nutrients that needed to survive right out of the air. He explained how when he was in his late twenties, he was losing his hair and feeling older by the day. It wasn't until he started fasting when his body started to bounce back, his hair grew back, he felt better. To those who followed him, Brooks walked the walk as much as he talked the talk. He eventually compounded his fat steam regiment with a special form of meditation, which he claimed fed the body as much as the soul. Things seem to be going well for the spiritual leader until his followers finally saw the truth. In three a news report came out that Willie Brooks hadn't been completely honest about his diet. It seems his human body needed a little more than air to survive. Brooks had been spotted coming out of a seven eleven, a slurpye in one hand and a hot dog Twinkies in the other, with plenty of room, one would assume, or a slice of humble pie. Parents don't always understand the things that young people are into. Their music is too loud, their clothes or too baggy, or their hair is too long. They just don't get that young people need to express themselves to unwind when things get tough. King James the First of Scotland didn't understand either. Of course, they didn't have rock and roll back then. Rather, James had a problem with certain distractions, which is why he passed an act in fourteen twenty four, the Football Act. That's right, King James the first banded football. He passed his distaste of the sport onto his son, James the Second, who became king in fourteen thirty seven. He believed a weak and unprepared army would spell doom for the safety at his kingdom. That was why he made sure that all young men twelve years or older were automatically drafted into the military. They were to hone their fighting skills whenever they weren't sleeping, eating, or actively in battle. However, instead of practicing their sword play or archery, the men often stuck off to play sports. Their favorites and the ones that invited the ire of the king the most were football and golf. Soldiers found an excuse to play and they would play anywhere they could, including churchyards, in the middle of the road, or in open fields. James couldn't stand it. He believed their sole focus should have been on preparing for war with England. When his soldiers wouldn't listen to his demands, James did something to make them obey. He put it down on paper, just like his father had done years earlier. According to James the Second's Act of Parliament, football and golf would be and I quote utterly condemned and stopped. In other words, he banned them, but he didn't stop there. He also outlawed what he referred to as pointless sports. Those who refused to comply were find forty shillings if caught. Rather than waste their time throwing a ball, soldiers were instructed to spend their days shooting arrows at targets. Four times a year, they would be expected to perform in an archery display, most likely to demonstrate their accuracy. The sports ban lasted for some time, but the men couldn't stay away forever. They needed to find ways to unwind and squeezed in games where they could. After James the Third assumed the throne in fourteen sixty, He also noticed the distractions that had plagued his father's soldiers, and he renewed the ban on golf and football in fourteen seventy. The prohibition continued until fourteen nine one, when James the third son James the fourth, also renewed the ban on the two sports. Apparently, the men in the royal family just didn't want their armies focusing on anything but combat. Even though James the fourth was a fan of both golf and football. According to records from the time, he owned several footballs and golf clubs which had been made for him. In the city of Perth around fifteen two, still people found a way to play both inside and outside the military. The servants and apprentices who worked under metal workers in Perth were prohibited from playing football, as were Scottish citizens living in Peoples. If someone was caught playing, they were required to pay a fine of eight shillings. Holy Men were also not exempt from the law. In fifteen eighty five, a minister aptly named Archibald James Law was censured because he had dared to play a game of football on a Sunday. No less, and the more people played, the worst the violence got the particularly rough games ended with fighting and in one case, people nearly killing each other with guns. Golf, on the other hand, never ended with players getting shot, but it was still in nuisance. Both the Church and Parliament believed anyone playing golf would have been better served either at their job or in a pew. Sunday was a day for church, not chip shots. As time passed and military technology evolved from arrows to bullets, the rules were slowly relaxed. Soldiers were no longer fined or scolded for the occasional ball game. However, the government would have been well within its rights to prosecute anyone caught playing golf or football up until the century. The band was kept in place until nineteen o six, when it was if you'll pardon the pun sidelined for good. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribed for re on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the world of lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,