The Art of Our Forefathers

What is now known as the circus art of contortionism, back in the days of old was no less than a subclass of sorcery, because everything unnatural was seen not as unnatural but rather as supernatural, magical, and all such things were carefully studied by sorcerers. Mastering extreme stretches was practiced along with learning the art of retorts and couldrons, or flying on a broom, mind-reading, animal-taming, searching for treasures using a magic stick and so on...

During the dark times of inquisition many forms of witchcraft were persecuted and many sorcerers were burned alive, their knowledge lost forever, much like the many books of knowledge that were also destroyed. But the bodybenders were unique in that sense, since they escaped the witchhunt by turning their craft into a form of public entertainment. Masquerading as mere jesters, they continued to work hard, expanding the bounds of nature. Extreme stretching blended perfectly with the art of jugglers and acrobats, so they could continue exploring the supernatural without the fear of being captured by these fanatics.

Today contortionism is perhaps the only type of ancient magic that lived to our days, but even contortionism has degraded to something that doesn't look all that wondrous now, compared to how far the ancients went in controlling their bodies.