Discordianism
Discordianism is a paradigm based upon the book Principia Discordia, written by Greg Hill with Kerry Wendell Thornley in 1963, the two working under the pseudonyms Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst. According to self-proclaimed "crackpot historian" Adam Gorightly, Discordianism was founded as a parody religion. Many outside observers still regard Discordianism as a parody religion, although some of its adherents may utilize it as a legitimate religion or as a metaphor for a governing philosophy.
The Principia Discordia, if read literally, encourages the worship of the Greek goddess Eris, known in Latin as Discordia, the goddess of disorder, or archetypes and ideals associated with her. Depending on the version of Discordianism, Eris might be considered the goddess exclusively of disorder or the goddess of disorder and chaos. Both views are supported by the Principia Discordia. The Principia Discordia holds three core principles: the Aneristic, the Eristic, and the notion that both are mere illusions. Due to these principles, a Discordian believes there is no distinction between order and disorder, since they are both man-made conceptual divisions of the pure element of chaos. An argument presented by the text is that it is only by rejecting these principles that you can truly perceive reality as it is, chaos.
It is difficult to estimate the number of Discordians because they are not required to hold Discordianism as their only belief system, and because, by nature of the system itself, there is an encouragement to form schisms and cabals.
Founding and structure
The foundational document of Discordianism is the Principia Discordia, fourth edition, written by Malaclypse the Younger, an alias of Greg Hill. The Principia Discordia often hints that Discordianism was founded as a dialectic antithesis to more popular religions based on order, although the rhetoric throughout the book describes chaos as a much more underlying impulse of the universe. This may have been done with the intention of merely "balancing out" the creative forces of order and disorder, but the focus is on the more disorderly aspects of the world – at times the forces of order are even vilified.Popes
According to the Principia Discordia, "every single man, woman, and child on this Earth" is deemed a pope.Included in the Principia Discordia is an official pope card that may be reproduced and distributed freely to anyone and everyone. Papacy, however, is not granted through possession of this card; it merely informs people that they are "a genuine and authorized Pope" of Discordia.
Saints
There are also five classes of saints within Discordianism, who are those who best act as exemplars and are closer to perfection. Only the first of these classes "Saint Second Class" contains real human beings, with higher classes reserved for fictional beings who, by virtue of being fictional, are better able to reach the Discordian view of perfection.A well-known example of a second-class saint is Emperor Norton, a citizen in 19th century San Francisco, who despite suffering delusions was beloved by much of the city. He is honoured as a saint within Discordianism for living his life according to truth as he saw it and a disregard for reality as others would perceive it.
Mythology
Eris and Aneris
In discordian mythology, Aneris is described as the sister of Eris a.k.a. Discordia. Whereas Eris/Discordia is the goddess of disorder and being, Aneris/Harmonia is the goddess of order and non-being."DOGMA III – HISTORY 32, 'COSMOGONY' " in Principia Discordia, states:
The sterile Aneris becomes jealous of Eris, and starts making existent things non-existent. This explains why life begins, and later ends in death.
The names of Eris and Aneris, are used to show some fundamental Discordian principles in "Psycho-Metaphysics":
Hand of Eris
The hand of Eris and other proposed symbols are used informally in certain circles; however, it is unlikely that Eris, the trans-Neptunian dwarf planet, will be assigned an official symbol by the IAU, since graphical symbols are rarely assigned to minor objects in modern times. A request to the Unicode Consortium to add the hand as a unicode symbol to represent the planet, along with a symbol for 90377 Sedna, was filed in 2016 and accepted the same year, releasing with Unicode 11 as ERIS FORM ONE.The "original snub"
The "original snub" is the Discordian name for the events preceding the judgement of Paris, although more focus is put on the actions of Eris. Zeus believes that Eris is a troublemaker, so he does not invite her to Peleus and Thetis's wedding. Having been snubbed, Eris creates a golden apple with the word kallisti inscribed in it. This, the Apple of Discord, is a notable symbol in Discordianism for its inclusion in the Holy Chao, and is traditionally described as being made of gold.Some recent interpretations of the original snub place Eris as being not at all mischievous with her delivery of the apple, but instead suggest that Eris was simply bringing the apple as a wedding present for Thetis. This interpretation would see Eris as innocent and her causing of chaos as a by-product of the other wedding guests' reaction upon seeing her at the wedding.
Philosophy
Three core principles
The Principia Discordia holds three core principles: the Aneristic and Eristic principles representing order and disorder, and the notion that both are mere illusions. The following excerpt summarizes these principles:Operation Mindfuck
is an important practice in the Discordian religion. The concept was developed by Kerry Thornley and Robert Anton Wilson in 1968 and given its name by Wilson and Robert Shea in The Illuminatus! Trilogy.Writings
Discordian works include a number of books, not all of which actually exist. Among those that have been published are Principia Discordia, first published in 1965 ; and The Illuminatus! Trilogy, which had its first volume published in 1975.The Principia Discordia is a Discordian religious text written by Greg Hill with Kerry Wendell Thornley.The phrase Principia Discordia, reminiscent of Newton's Principia Mathematica, is presumably intended to mean Discordant Principles, or Principles of Discordance.
Summa Universalia was another work by Malaclypse the Younger, purported to be a summary of the universe. It was excerpted in the first edition of Principia but never published. It was mentioned in an introduction to one of the Principia editions, and the work was quoted from in the first edition.
Zenarchy was first self-published by Thornley, under the pen name Ho Chi Zen, as a series of one-page newsletters in the 1960s. A selection of the material was later reedited and expanded by Thornley and republished in paperback by IllumiNet Press in 1991. The book describes Thornley's concept of Zenarchy "a way of Zen applied to social life. A non-combative, non-participatory, no-politics approach to anarchy intended to get the serious student thinking."
One of the most influential of all Discordian works, the Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson purportedly between 1969 and 1971. In a 1980 interview given to the science fiction magazine Starship, Wilson suggested the novel was an attempt to build a myth around Discordianism.
Zen Without Zen Masters is a book by Camden Benares, published in 1977, of koans, stories and exercises of a Discordian nature. It includes tales of several early Discordians including Hill and Thornley. "Enlightenment of a Seeker" from this book is also present in Principia Discordia as "A Zen Story".
''Principia Discordia'' editions
The first edition was printed using Jim Garrison's Xerox printer in 1963. The second edition was published under the title Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost in a limited edition of five copies in 1965.In 1978, a copy of a work from Kerry Thornley titled THE PRINCIPIA Discordia or HOW THE WEST WAS LOST was placed in the HSCA JFK collections as document 010857. Adam Gorightly, author of The Prankster and the Conspiracy about Kerry Thornley and the early Discordians, said the copy in the JFK collection was not a copy of the first edition but a later and altered version containing some of the original material. In an interview with researcher Brenton Clutterbuck, Gorightly said he had been given Greg Hill's copy of the first edition. This appeared in its entirety in Historia Discordia, a book on Discordian history released in spring of 2014.