A. Hey! There's no rotting fish in this cider!
It was then that the slow realisation dawned that it wasn't cider but a mug of Earl Grey Tea. Hmm, someone was definately plotting against me and I was sure I knew who it was, it was myself. All I had to do now was to prove it.
Quote from Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine. Phil was talking about the Discordian Society, the writings of Robert Anton Wilson and Company and their influence on the development of Chaos Magick. In its own words, the Discordian Society is ...a tribe of philosophers, theologians, magicians, scientists, artists, clowns, and similar maniacs who are intrigued with ERIS GODDESS OF CONFUSION and with Her doings. Eris has been working behind the scenes for centuries, rumoured to have had a hand in manifesting the first bureaucracies, triplicate forms, and insurance companies. We might well add innovations catalougues, useless inventions, the Welfare State and Pac-Man. She hadn't put in a personal appearance since the fall of the ancient Greek and Roman empires until the late 1950's. She then appeared to two young Californians. Phil tells us that these two later became known as Omar Ravenhurst and Malaclypse The Younger and that Eris appointed them "Keepers of the Sacred Chao" and gave them the message to: "Tell constricted mankind that there are no rules unless they choose to invent rules."
Omar and Mal-2 appointed each other High Priest of his own madness, and declared themselves each to be a Society of Discordia. We can interpret this as the idea that each of us is more than one individual. Our minds are actually societies in themselves, on a level futher down the societal fractal. How that society organises itself depends upon your current world view. If you are a Fascist externally, you will have to organise your mind likewise. In fact, what you are externally is a reflection of who you are internally, and the internal organisation of your mind. Becoming a Society of Discordia means organising your mind on the principle of confusion and chaos, on fun, laughter and weirdness.
The Discordian movement is growing fast on both sides of the atlantic, helped by the Discordian tactic of declaring that everyone is a genuine Pope. Malaclypse The Younger set out the basic principles of Discordian religion in Principia Discordia. The movement was popularised in Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's blockbusting Illuminatus! trilogy.
We will finish with another quote from Phil Hine...
It was the Discordians that pointed out that
amidst the long list of dualisms that occultists
were fond of using, the opposites of humour/
seriousness had been left aside. Humour is
important in magic. As a colleague of mine
once said, we're too important to take ourselves
seriously...
...Important: rituals, when silly, can
be no less effective than when you keep a straight
face. Magic is fun - otherwise, why do it?
Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea the Illuminatus trilogy
Phil Hine Condensed Chaos New Falcon ISBN 1-56184-117-X