Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2005, Page 33
Breatharians are perhaps the most striking example of group members who fast for spiritual
reasons.
Breatharians hold as their basic belief that humans are capable of living without food. The
basis of Breatharian doctrine is the notion that humanity has progressed through five
stages. These stages are carnivorous, vegetarian, fruitarian, liquidarian, and breatharian
(Brooks and Foss, 1982: 9). According to Breatharian doctrine, God divinely commanded
vegetarianism and fruitarianism in Genesis 1:26. God said to love all creatures, and
therefore people should have ended the first stage of ‗carnivorous‘ eating and entered into
the next two stages of vegetarianism and fruitarianism (Brooks and Foss, 1982: 9).
Breatharians believe that God prescribed living on air in the book of Genesis 2:7: ―God
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living entity‖ (Brooks and
Foss, 1982: 50).
In addition to biblical justification, Breatharians also have developed a very elaborate
pseudo-scientific rational for living off air. Brooks and Foss claim that because our bodies
are composed of the same elements found in air— hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and
water— we should be able to live on air alone because our bodies can get all the building
blocks of life from it (Brooks and Foss, 1982: 27). Breatharianism questions the basis of
how the body breaks down food energy to regenerate cells and sustain life. Breatharian
doctrine states that if one does not eat, the body actually saves energy, because the body
does not expend energy to digest and break down food (Brooks and Foss, 1982: 25).
Although Breatharians claim that food is not necessary for building cells and sustaining life,
they do not offer any real scientific explanation to explain how breathing air can build cells.
Breatharianism does offer, however, a logic based on not eating: ― Electrons do not eat,
atoms do not eat, molecules do not eat, cells do not eat, and the body is built of and
sustained by the cells, and not by what man eats‖ (Breatharian website, 2004)
Breatharian doctrines continue to stress control over one‘s body. Wiley Brooks and Nancy
Foss founded Breatharianism in the late 1970s, and today the leader of the main
Breatharianism movement is Ellen Graves, who goes by the name Jasmuheen. Jasmuheen
believes that that she is ―a messenger of the ‗Ascended Masters,‘ with whom she
communicates through cosmic telepathy‖ (Dutter, 1999). Jasmuheen claims that she is
able to live without eating by tapping into a different source of pranic nourishment, or liquid
light (Dutter, 1999).
Jasmuheen recommends a twenty-one day initial fast before embarking on a Breatharian
lifestyle so that the body supposedly can adapt to living off alternative energy sources.
Brooks and Foss originally laid out the twenty-one day transitional diet and they drew
inspiration for it from Eastern traditions. In recent years, Jasmuheen‘s twenty-one day fast
has drawn media attention because at least three followers have died while attempting her
transition diet. One woman, Verity Linn, passed away in September 1999, and found with
Ms. Linn‘s body was a diary containing references to Jasmuheen (The Times, 2000: 9). The
twenty-one day fast is quite controversial because it advocates no food or drink for the first
seven days and then only small sips of water for the remaining fourteen days (Dutter,
1999).
The fact that the human body cannot survive without food or water does not seem to bother
Jasmuheen. All scientific knowledge points out that the body needs food. Without food the
body begins to eat itself in order to gain nutrients. This leads to tissue damage and
eventually death due to kidney or heart failure. Without liquid, however, death would occur
in a matter of days due to dehydration (Kibby, 1999). When confronted with the deaths of
those attempting her fast, Jasmuheen refused any responsibility for their fate. She said,
―[i]f people are not coming from a place of integrity and the right motivation, then [the
transition fast] doesn‘t work‖ (Dutter, 1999).
Breatharians are perhaps the most striking example of group members who fast for spiritual
reasons.
Breatharians hold as their basic belief that humans are capable of living without food. The
basis of Breatharian doctrine is the notion that humanity has progressed through five
stages. These stages are carnivorous, vegetarian, fruitarian, liquidarian, and breatharian
(Brooks and Foss, 1982: 9). According to Breatharian doctrine, God divinely commanded
vegetarianism and fruitarianism in Genesis 1:26. God said to love all creatures, and
therefore people should have ended the first stage of ‗carnivorous‘ eating and entered into
the next two stages of vegetarianism and fruitarianism (Brooks and Foss, 1982: 9).
Breatharians believe that God prescribed living on air in the book of Genesis 2:7: ―God
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living entity‖ (Brooks and
Foss, 1982: 50).
In addition to biblical justification, Breatharians also have developed a very elaborate
pseudo-scientific rational for living off air. Brooks and Foss claim that because our bodies
are composed of the same elements found in air— hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and
water— we should be able to live on air alone because our bodies can get all the building
blocks of life from it (Brooks and Foss, 1982: 27). Breatharianism questions the basis of
how the body breaks down food energy to regenerate cells and sustain life. Breatharian
doctrine states that if one does not eat, the body actually saves energy, because the body
does not expend energy to digest and break down food (Brooks and Foss, 1982: 25).
Although Breatharians claim that food is not necessary for building cells and sustaining life,
they do not offer any real scientific explanation to explain how breathing air can build cells.
Breatharianism does offer, however, a logic based on not eating: ― Electrons do not eat,
atoms do not eat, molecules do not eat, cells do not eat, and the body is built of and
sustained by the cells, and not by what man eats‖ (Breatharian website, 2004)
Breatharian doctrines continue to stress control over one‘s body. Wiley Brooks and Nancy
Foss founded Breatharianism in the late 1970s, and today the leader of the main
Breatharianism movement is Ellen Graves, who goes by the name Jasmuheen. Jasmuheen
believes that that she is ―a messenger of the ‗Ascended Masters,‘ with whom she
communicates through cosmic telepathy‖ (Dutter, 1999). Jasmuheen claims that she is
able to live without eating by tapping into a different source of pranic nourishment, or liquid
light (Dutter, 1999).
Jasmuheen recommends a twenty-one day initial fast before embarking on a Breatharian
lifestyle so that the body supposedly can adapt to living off alternative energy sources.
Brooks and Foss originally laid out the twenty-one day transitional diet and they drew
inspiration for it from Eastern traditions. In recent years, Jasmuheen‘s twenty-one day fast
has drawn media attention because at least three followers have died while attempting her
transition diet. One woman, Verity Linn, passed away in September 1999, and found with
Ms. Linn‘s body was a diary containing references to Jasmuheen (The Times, 2000: 9). The
twenty-one day fast is quite controversial because it advocates no food or drink for the first
seven days and then only small sips of water for the remaining fourteen days (Dutter,
1999).
The fact that the human body cannot survive without food or water does not seem to bother
Jasmuheen. All scientific knowledge points out that the body needs food. Without food the
body begins to eat itself in order to gain nutrients. This leads to tissue damage and
eventually death due to kidney or heart failure. Without liquid, however, death would occur
in a matter of days due to dehydration (Kibby, 1999). When confronted with the deaths of
those attempting her fast, Jasmuheen refused any responsibility for their fate. She said,
―[i]f people are not coming from a place of integrity and the right motivation, then [the
transition fast] doesn‘t work‖ (Dutter, 1999).
