Over at our Early Discordians facebook group, a friend of Kerry Thornley’s named Lori Dyann shared this photo literally ripped from the pages of Creative Loafing sometime in the mid-90s that features Mr. Thornley decked out all apocalyptic-like in Little Five Points, Atlanta.
Kerry Thornley (L) appears in a mid 1990s Creative Loafing. Courtesy of Lori Dyann.
“I was living in a VW campervan behind a restaurant in L5P. I had just had breakfast and was standing at the corner across from the park, when Kerry comes walking from the far end of the square, wearing a white cloak with a hood and carrying a sign reading ‘World Will End SOON. Get your tickets NOW!’
As he passed down the street, snowflakes (unseasonal for Oct 31 in Atlanta) began to fall right behind Kerry, and as he passed across my field of vision, the snow came in like a curtain drawn by Kerry. My friend Wolf, standing directly behind me said: ‘Yep, hell just froze over!’”
First and last issue of Apocalypse: A Trade Journal for Doom Prophets published 1960, Whittier, CA. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
The reason co-author Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley published only one issue of Apocalypse was because no one else, besides them, found it the least bit humorous. As Kerry later noted: “Things we thought were funny, nobody else did.”
A letter to Greg Hill dated March 15, 1970—otherwise known as the First Day of the Season of Discord, Prickle-Prickle Discord 1st, Year of Our Lady 3136 (Also known as the Ides of Eris)—courtesy of Louise Crowley of the The Seattle Cabal.
The images of the Sacred Chao and the Illuminati Eye-in-the-Pyramid On Fire in the letter were later incorporated into the 4th edition of the Principia Discordia.
Origin art found, Hail Eris!
March 15, 1971 letter from Louise Crowley to Greg Hill, containing some source art for the Fourth Edition of the Principia Discordia.
Zenarchy signed by Kerry Thornley with illustration. Courtesy of Pope Zen Buffalo.
Upon seeing this missive, Historia Discordia team member Groucho Gandhi, K.S.P., immediately validated Kerry Thornley‘s signing of Zenarchy for Pope Zen Buffalo because he has a copy of the Illuminet Press published book with the same Discordian koan signed by Thornley in the Discordian Archives donated for the greater grok by a friend.
Zenarchy, signed by Kerry Thornley. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
So it appears Thornley signed copies of the book with this Discordian koan “Kill the Buddha! Smash the State!”
Let us know if you have a copy of Zenarchy, especially signed!
A letter (date unknown, but probably from the mid-70s) sent to Greg Hill from the Hospice of St. Polly the Friendly (whoever she may have been) located in Vallejo, California.
1970s letter to Greg Hill from Hospice of St. Polly the Friendly.
Included with St. Polly’s letter were five free tickets, one of which you see pictured below.
Hospice of St. Polly the Friendly's ticket, one of five, included in the letter to Greg Hill.
1980s Zine: A Discordian Directory No. 00024Reason Magazine’s Jesse Walker, author of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory—which delves a bit into Discordian History and the Bavarian Illuminati—just gave me a heads up about A Discordian Directory #24, a zine published circa late 1980s that he recently posted at Scribd.
The title at the top of page 1 looks distinctly like lettering/artwork produced by our old friend Roldo Odlor who, as noted in previous posts, collaborated with both Kerry Thornley and Greg Hill and was involved with producing artwork for other like-minded Discordian zines during the zenith of the Zine Revolution.
A Discordian Directory was produced by an outfit dubbing itself B.I.T.C.H (The Bavarian Illuminati Tennessee Chapter Headquarters) consisting of a six page listing of an eclectic hodge-podge of Discordian-SubGenius-Anarchist and conspiratorial tracts, among them an obscure book called The Lost Treasure of Eris we had discussed first here and then here, in addition to such alternative publishing mainstays as Mike Hoy’s publishing company Loompanics that helped revive interest in Discordianism with the re-publication of Principia Discordia in 1977.
Page 2 includes an ad for Kerry Thornley’s Spare Change as well as some outfit peddling Robert Anton Wilson tapes along with scattered images of the Golden Apple, Mr. Spock, and Bob Dobbs with only one eye on his forehead.
Other offerings include Arthur Hlavaty’s The Dillinger Relic, Bob Black’s notorious anarchist manifesto The Abolition of Work, Donna Kossy’s Kooks, and Elayne Wechsler’s Inside Joke, a zine which featured the work of many renowned Discordians such as Thornley, Hill and Roldo. Also listed is Mike Gunderloy’s Factsheet Five which was the go-to publication during this period to find out what was happening on the bleeding edge of the Zine Movement.
The Illuminati biker club card was also a nice touch, from an actual honest-to-Goddess cabal situated in these United States.
Established in January 2002 in the aftermath of 9/11, the Information Awareness Office (IAO) was a short-lived agency that oversaw the U.S. domestic surveillance program.
In 2003, IAO was axed by Congress following public criticism that the agency was overstepping its Constitutional authority. What with the in-your-face all-seeing eye in the triangle seemingly torn straight from the pages of Illuminatus!, the IAO seal possessed imagery suggesting an Orwellian nightmare come true, replete with an ominous death ray shooting a malevolent beam over the planet.
Cover of Dell's The Illuminatus! Trilogy.During the period when IAO was going hot and heavy, Robert Anton Wilson made a habit of cc’ing his outgoing email to then IAO grand poobah, John Poindexter. To this end, Bob figured that by sending his email directly to Poindexter it would eliminate the need for anyone to maintain surveillance on him, thus eliminating a paid position and cutting down on government waste. “Besides,” Bob told me, “It amuses me to think of Poindexter reading my emails.”
In a May 2002 phone conversation, I asked Bob if “They” had intentionally lifted the IAO seal from the cover of The Illuminatus! Trilogy (Amazon). “I don’t know what the Hell’s going on,” Bob replied. “I think we’re being taken over by a bunch of surrealists.”
Nazi Eye illustration.The acronym, IAO—it should be noted—was a mystical formula used by Uncle Aleister Crowley in his Freemasonic based magick rituals, the same kind of hocus pocus that certain sinister factions of Nazi Germany dipped their spooky toes into. For example, here is a Nazi era illustration (provided courtesy of my good friend Vyzygoth) that once again summons up the surreal spectre of IAO.
Established in January 2002 in the aftermath of 9/11, the Information Awareness Office (IAO) was a short-lived agency that oversaw the U.S. domestic surveillance program.
