What is Discordia?

[Illuminatus]

Here's what I know for certain - It was founded by a couple of guys in a bowling alley in 1958, as the world's first DISorganized religion. It earned a small following among the counterculture community with the publication of this document, the Principia Discordia, which is now in it's Fifth Version:

http://www.ology.org/principia/

It is either a joke disguised as a religion, or a religion disguised as a joke. Balthazar said earlier how ritual is supposed to be the intermediary between an individual and God, well, discordia basicly focuses entirely on the ritual. Every ridiculous aspect of religion - from lofty titles, to silly hats, the bizarre trappings, the contradictory practice of cannonization, it's all fair game. Eating hot dog bugs is prohibited, except on Fridays, when it is compulsory. We partake of hot dog buns because it was the hot dog that consoled our patron Goddess Eris after the Original Snub. Remember the party on Mount Olympus where Eris was not invited? So she threw a golden apple with the word "Kallisti", For the Fairest, and thus started the argument that started the Trojan War. Eris, a greek Diety devoted to discord and chaos, is the focus of much of Discordia's philosophy, worship and tennants. Popular symbols of Discordia are the Golden Apple (with the word Kallisti written on it), the Eye in the Pyramid of the Illuminati, and the Sacred Chao (pronounced 'Sacred Cow').

Each and every practicioner is acknowledged as a Pope (If they like) and we can name and revoke sainthood of anyone we please by papal edict. As long as you have a Pope Card. You can make one for yourself, if you surf the web and find a template. Also, the founders and contributors to the Principia are named Profits of the Church. While most of the traditions we mock^H^H^H^H adopt are judeo-christian in origin, nothing is off-limits. I have stolen^H^H^H^H^H^H drawn upon some absolutely hilarious and nonsensical practices my Pagan friends partake in.

Actually, everything I've said are just conventions, there are no real hard-and-fast rules. Discordia is pretty much what I decide I want it to be, though the themes of chaos, bureaucracy, nonsense and mind-altering drug use are prevalent. Additionally, there is a relationship between Discordia and the mysteries of the Bavarian Illuminati, though the nature of this relationship, be it sisterhood, parenthood, equality, opposition, or one of the many places in between - is uncertain.

OK, I have to do work now, I hope that my answers have left you with more questions!

- Illuminatus!

[Belteshazzar]

Hey Illuminatus! .....I think I was discordian before I came to faith in Christ. ....LOL

shaz

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Belteshazzar
Hey Illuminatus! .....I think I was discordian before I came to faith in Christ. ....LOL

shaz

Praise Eris, there's hope for you yet!

It is sad, I only know one or 2 other discordians :( It's the bane of participating in a disorganized religion. I probably know a few others, but I suspect that they are in disguse, as I usually am.

[Mithrea]

I found this post very enlightening. Thank you. :)

[Mythrel]

hey, the religion makes perfect sense to me...

[st0rm]

lol, Illu, I think u converted me....

[Demeter]

I've read the Principia, and while I do not consider myself primarily Discordian, certain elements have crept into my ritual work -- like the time I announced, in the middle of the Charge of the Goddess, in solemn tones ... "for I am the Mother of All Things, and All Things should wear a sweater!"

My DH is quite Discordian - perhaps you've heard of him? Lord Zanderthud, Chief Walnut Herder for the Goddess? He's considering investing in one of those hotdog vending trucks and listing "blessings" as one of the official toppings for the hotdogs.

[st0rm]

;) would love to buy a hotdog with blessings and mustard

[Armitage]

I have yet to get the Principia, but I like the ideas...Eris sounds like a pile of fun, and tossing convention out the window always makes for a good time.

[FLipsiDE]

FNORD!

heh heh... Discordianism is exactly the medicine that the world needs. The whole of the great revealed (yet never hidden) truth is:

In a universe with the Platypus, creatures who hijack eachother's gonads and shrimp who penis-fence, anyone who claims the world is serious needs more medication. (or less parhaps...)

Here is one of my all time favorite Discordian stories:

I dreamed that I was walking down the beach with the Goddess. And I looked back and saw footprints in the sand. But sometimes there were two pairs of footprints and sometimes there was only one. And the times there was only one set of footprints, those were my times of greatest trouble. So I asked the Goddess,

"Why in my greatest need did you abandon me?"

She replied, "I never left you. Those were the times we both
hopped on one foot."

And I was really embarassed for bothering Her with such a stupid question.

From: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/2176/discordia.html

heh heh...

Also, if you are interested in Discordianism, from a magick point of view, Chaos Magic is a natural extention of it...

A good book on Chaos magic: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/156184117X/qid=1035498189/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-9034372-0888140?v=glance

Phil Hine is pretty good writer. I liked this bok and it's follow up. :)

[FLipsiDE]

gah... clicked too fast... confused the post and preview buttons. Sorry for the mispellings.

[Flar's Freyja]

Originally posted by Illuminatus
Actually, everything I've said are just conventions, there are no real hard-and-fast rules. Discordia is pretty much what I decide I want it to be, though the themes of chaos, bureaucracy, nonsense and mind-altering drug use are prevalent. Additionally, there is a relationship between Discordia and the mysteries of the Bavarian Illuminati, though the nature of this relationship, be it sisterhood, parenthood, equality, opposition, or one of the many places in between - is uncertain.

OK, I have to do work now, I hope that my answers have left you with more questions!

- Illuminatus!

The scary - or perhaps comforting - thing that Discordia has in common with other religions is that its "pretty much what I decide I want it to be."

[Phoenix Blue]

**Wry smile** If anything, Freyja, they're just more honest about it.

[Flar's Freyja]

*wide grin*

When I was Catholic I used to say "At least we're blatantly hypocritical..........."

[Mythrel]

Originally posted by Freyja
*wide grin*

When I was Catholic I used to say "At least we're blatantly hypocritical..........."

:rotfl:

[Illuminatus]

Originally posted by Demeter
My DH is quite Discordian - perhaps you've heard of him? Lord Zanderthud, Chief Walnut Herder for the Goddess? He's considering investing in one of those hotdog vending trucks and listing "blessings" as one of the official toppings for the hotdogs.

Can't say that I have. My formal title within the church is Legionaire Episkopos Ken the Nameless, LDD, KSC, KFC. My name among the Illuminati I am not permitted to disclose at this time.

[Gwion]

When I first came to Eris, I was all but bereft of slack. I scarce gave myself any, and what little I worked for was taken by the Stark Fist of Removal. Now I say joke 'em if they can't take a Hey this would be a good place to post the (expurgated) version of

The Brag of the Subgenius

Pardon my language. But YEEEEEEHAW, let the sons of God and man
bear witness! Even in the belly of the Thunderbird I've been
casting out the False Prophets; I'm busting a gut and blowing my
O-ring, and ripe to throw a loaf! For I speak _only_ the
_Truth, and never in my days have I spoke other than! For my
every utterance is a lie, including this very one you hear!
By God, 'Anything for a laugh,' I say. I am the last remaining Homo Correctus,
I am the Man of the Future! I'll drive a mile so as not to
walk a foot; I am a human being of the _first_ water!
I drank the Devil under seven tables, I'm too _intense_ to
die, I am insured for acts o' God _and_ Satan! I was shanghaied
by bodiless fiends and alien infidels from a corporate galaxy,
and got away with their hubcaps! I _cannot_ be tracked on radar!
I wear nothing uniform, I wear _no_ god damn uniform! Yes, baby,
I'm 23 feet tall and have 13 rows o' teats; I was suckled by a
Triceratops, I'm a bacteriological weapon, I'm _armed_ and _loaded!
I'm a fission reactor, power plants are fueled by
the sweat from my brow; when they plug me in the lights go out
in Hong Kong, I cook and _eat_ my dead; YAH-HOOOOO, I'm the
Unshaven Thorn Tree of the Atlantis Zoo! I pay no taxes! The
Devil's hands are my _ideal_ playground, I hold the Seven-Bladed
Windbreaker; the wheels that turn are behind me; I think
_backwards! I do it for _fun! They say a
godzillion is the highest number there is. Well, by God! I count
to a godzillion and _one! Yes, I'm the purple flower of Hell
County, give me wide berth, when I drop my drawers, Mother
Nature swoons! I use a python for a prophylactic;
YEE! YEE! I kidnapped the future and ransomed it for the
past, I made _Time_ wait up for me to bleed my lizard! My
infernal breath wilts the Tree of Life,
Whoop! I'm ready! So step aside, all you buttlipped, neurotic,
insecure bespectacled slabs o' wimp meat! I'm a Crime Fighting
Master Criminal, I am Not Insane! I'm a screamer and a laugher,
I make a spectacle of myself, I am a _sight! My physical type
_cannot_ be classified by science, my 'familiar' is a
pterodactyl, I feed it dipshits! I communicate without _wires_
or _strings! I am a Thuggee, I am feared by the Tongs, I have
the Evil Eye, I carry the Mojo Bag; I swam the _Bermuda
Triangle_ and didn't get wet! I'm the big-footed Devil of Level 14,
who'll come shoe me? _Space_ monsters
cringe at my tread! I wipe the Pyramids off my shoes before I
enter _my_ house. I'm fuel-injected, I'll live forever and
remember it afterwards! I'm _immune! I'm _radioactive!
I'm supernatural,
YEEE HAW! _Gut Blowout! I am a _Moray Eel, I am a _Komodo
Dragon, I am a _Killer Whale bereft of its pup! I have a
triple backbone, I was sired by the Wolf Man, give me _all_ your
Slack! I told _Jesus_ I wouldn't go to Church and he _shook my
hand! I have my _own_ personal Saviors, I change 'em every
hour, I am a god damn _visionary, I see the future and the past in comic books
and wine bottles; I eat _black holes_ for breakfast! I bend my
genes and whittle at my DNA with the sheer force of my mighty
_will! I steer my _own_ evolution! I ran 'em out of
Heaven and sold it to Hell for a _profit! I'm enlightened, I
achieved "Nirvana" and took it _home_ with me. _Yip, Yip,
YEEEEE_! When the Rapture comes, I'll make
'em wait! They'll _never clean my cage!

[Illuminatus]

I'm not a huge fan of the Subgenius slack. First of all, I have a few friends who have been rated geniuses, and suspect that, if tested, I myself mayself turn out to be one. Second, while Slack is an admirable goal, and I work to incorporate it into my life, it shouldn't be the focus.

Discordia is about creative chaos - the idea that things are just as interesting as they fall down as they are to build. For me, I can't have creative chaos if I don't build some serious order first.

[pope hUx]

Hail Fellow Discordians, and semi discordians and former discordians (if that is even possable) Illuminatus said so many facts there seems to be not much left to say. Hey anybody have discordian tattoos? i have the sacred chao above my sholderblades, in the middle.

[Loopaleigh]

This is St.Gulik. He is the messenger of the Goddess. A different age from ours called him Hermes. Many people called him by many names. He is a roach.

[Moonstoned]

FNORD!

heh heh... Discordianism is exactly the medicine that the world needs. The whole of the great revealed (yet never hidden) truth is:

In a universe with the Platypus, creatures who hijack eachother's gonads and shrimp who penis-fence, anyone who claims the world is serious needs more medication. (or less parhaps...)



A good book on Chaos magic: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/156184117X/qid=1035498189/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-9034372-0888140?v=glance

Phil Hine is pretty good writer. I liked this bok and it's follow up. :)


I agree with you that Discordianism is excellent medicine!!! We all take ourselves far too seriously sometimes. :lol:

BTW, kaosxmage pointed me in the direction of Phil Hine's website, and I got Condensed Chaos as a download, saved myself £12.

http://philhine.org.uk

[Mindflayer]

Ok, I found this post after Illuminatus said something about Discordia in another thread...

I'm so confused :bug:

[Illuminatus]

That would not be the infamous PAPA Roach, would it?

[Morning Star]

It is sad, I only know one or 2 other discordians :( It's the bane of participating in a disorganized religion. I probably know a few others, but I suspect that they are in disguse, as I usually am.

I would be a Discordian, but they said that I was too disorganized.

On a more serious note, the Principia Discordia is one of my many "Bibles" and Eris is one of the few deities that I admire and feel aware of.