Discordianism In Drawing Down The Moon

Probably the first semi-academic study of Discordianism in popular form appeared in Margot Adler’s Drawing Down The Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans In America Today (Amazon), published in 1979 by Beacon Press.

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.