Month: Setting Orange, the 4th day of Confusion, in the YOLD 3180 (May 30, 2014)
Through my remarkable remote viewing powers I’ve had the opportunity to sneak a peek at Daisy’s play, and I must say she’s done a marvelous job of weaving all of RAW’s Chapel Perilous craziness together in a freewheeling romp that includes appearances by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley, to boot.
Among the Cosmic Trigger perks included at the crowdfunding page are some signed books by yours truly, so surf on over there and gobble up some goodies in support of the Golden Apple Corps. Here’s Douglas Rushkoff endorsing the Cosmic Trigger fund raising drive.
In other important business, 5/23 was also the day the presses starting churning out my latest book Historia Discordia: The Origins of the Discordian Society (RVP Press), although it will be about a week before you start seeing it pop up for purchase, so hang in there and as soon as we have a purchase link, you’ll be the first to fnord know!
According to my publisher for Historia Discordia, part of the delay stemmed from the fact that when he reviewed a test copy of the book, he discovered page 123 had been printed twice.
I kid you not. Hail Eris, of course.
Laughing Buddha Jesus (short for LBJ) was a Discordian cabal Kerry Thornley cooked up back in the day, although I don’t know if Kerry ever referred to it with a “Phallus” added to the end—as the John Dillinger character does on page 127. For those versed in the alternate Dillinger legends, perhaps the addition of “Phallus” (to the end of LBJ) is associated with rumors that Dillinger was well equipped with a massive 23-inch you-know-what that was pickled for posterity and is now hidden away in the vaults of the Smithsonian.
To this end, Dillinger identifies himself as President of Laughing Buddha Jesus Phallus, Inc. (LBJP), a distributer of rock music LPs that Johnny D.—in cahoots with the Justified Ancients of Mummu (JAMS)—started as a front organization to counterattack the Illuminati’s strangle-hold on the rock music industry. In conjunction with this anti-Illuminati operation, Dillinger mentions that the LBJP had disseminated Illuminati revelations through certain unexpected channels such as The Christian Crusade, which—in “real life”—is exactly what the Discordian Society perpetrated via Operation Mindfuck (OM), a topic previously discussed here at Historia Discordia—so if you are still confused by the term “OM” (Don’t Leave OM Without It!) do a search of this site—or if all else fails, a pineal gland consultation has been known to work wonders.
Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
Below is a snippet from a lecture by Rev. Noebel on Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, which pretty much lays out his commies-infiltrating-rock-music thesis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srXa_eaiFEc
More on the good Rev. here.
2 Tons of Flax = 1 Principia Discordia. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
This book—along with RAW’s Cosmic Trigger Volume I, Final Secret of the Illuminati (Amazon)—helped me greatly in understanding the early days of Discordianism from the perspective of RAW and Greg Hill, both interviewed by Adler.
On page 309, RAW drops some vital Discordian knowledge, which stands as probably the most succinct and to the point summary of Eris worship ever writ (maybe):
“Much of the Pagan Movement started out as jokes, and gradually, as people found out they were getting something out of it, they became serious. Discordianism has a built-in check against getting too serious. The sacred scriptures are so absurd—as soon as you consult the scriptures again, you start laughing. Discordian theology is similar to Crowleyanity. You take any of these ideas far enough and they reveal the absurdity of all ideas. They show that ideas are only tools and that no idea should be sacrosanct. Thus, Discordianism is a necessary balance. It’s a fail-safe system. It remains a joke and provides perspective. It’s a satire on human intelligence and is based on the idea that whatever your map of reality, it’s ninety percent your own creation. People should accept this and be proud of their own artistry. Discordianism can’t get dogmatic. The whole language would have to change for people to lose track that it was all a joke to begin with. It would take a thousand years.”
Later in the book, when Adler asked Malaclypse (Greg Hill): “What’s Omar Ravenhurst (Kerry Thornley) doing these days?” He replied, “Ravenhurst has recently been in a state of extreme discord. We were talking about Eris and confusion and he said, ‘You know, if I had realized that all of this was going to come true, I would have chosen Venus’” (Page 312). This, of course, during a period when Kerry went off the deep end believing that he was at the center of a grand conspiracy that made Illuminatus! look like a Sunday stroll in the park with grandma.
From the final report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the “Warren Commission”
Mr. JENNER.
Mr. Thornley, in the deposition you are about to give, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Mr. THORNLEY.
I do.
Mr. JENNER.
You are Kerry Wendell Thornley, spelled K-e-r-r-y W-e-n-d-e-l-l T-h-o-r-n-l-e-y?
Mr. THORNLEY.
That is correct, sir.
Mr. JENNER.
Mr. Thornley, where do you reside now?
Mr. THORNLEY.
At 4201 South 31st Street in Arlington, Va.
Mr. JENNER.
Did you at one time reside at 1824 Dauphine Street in New Orleans?
Mr. THORNLEY.
Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER.
What is your present occupation?
Mr. THORNLEY.
I am a doorman at the building where I reside, Shirlington House.
Mr. JENNER.
Doorman.
Back somewhere in the mid-90s, my pal Matt Lutz of Working Class Hero Magazine conducted this wonderful interview with Kerry Thornley.
(Photo courtesy of Louise Lacey)
I’ve lost touch with Matt over the years, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind us reviving it here.
—Adam Gorightly
At the time, Vankin noted that he was considering writing Thornley’s biography, a notion that excited me immensely, as Vankin’s portrayal of Kerry in Conspiracies, Cover-ups and Crimes only whet my appetite for further revelations of one of the most curious characters to inhabit the counterculture and JFK assassination research scene of the 60s and 70s.
Of course, Vankin never got around to writing Thornley’s biography, so by the early 2000s I took it upon myself to dive down that particular rabbit hole, a journey which amazingly enough is still ongoing. I eventually pulled my research together in my biography of Thornley, The Prankster and the Conspiracy: The Story of Kerry Thornley and How He Met Oswald and Inspired the Counterculture, currently still available in all those various formats we read now. Hail Eris!
Here’s a fascinating article discussing Vankin’s coverage of Thornley from 1991 by John Strausbaugh, then-contributor and editor of The New York Press, then later host of the The New York Times’s “Weekend Explorer” podcast. This was a turning-point in Kerry’s life as IllumiNet Press was starting to publish Kerry’s works in a serious format, and subsequent coverage of Thornley, his works, and his story was being picked-up by earnest media types.
Clipping courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
Clipping courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
Book PDF File Here.
Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
Our forthcoming book, Historia Discordia, will feature more Roldo-created Discordian treasures, not to mention one of the most mind-blowing book covers you’ll ever see!
Roldo has a presence on Facebook and his music is available on Bandcamp.
All Hail Roldo!