Kabouters were a Dutch anarchist group in the 1970s. It was founded by Roel van Duyn and one of its objectives was to set up an alternative society based on Van Duyn’s ideas as stated in his book,“De boodschap van een wijze Kabouter” (The Message of a Wise Kabouter). Van Duyn for some time worked at an organic farm and asked the farmer if they were going to get a harvester. “No,” the farmer responded “Noisy machines chase away the kabouters [Dutch gnomes, elves or leprechauns], and we need them to keep our plants healthy.” That is why Van Duyn used this image.
While once again wading through the Discordian Archives the other day, I stumbled upon this startling document produced by the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria which demonstrates that Greg Hill at least had a clue as to who the Kabouters were.
Greg Hill's note on the difference between the Church of the Subgenius and Discordianism. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
While wading through the Discordian Archives the other day, I came across a hand-written note by Greg Hill commenting on the difference between Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius.
Sayeth The Polyfather:
“The SubGenius is more DADA, while Discordianism tends to be more Surrealist. It is like having two different delicious flavors of the same revolting ice cream.”
Another Greg Hill sketch for Kerry Thornley's Church of the Laughing Christ. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.A Greg Hill sketch for Kerry Thornley's Church of the Laughing Christ. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
For your general amusement, here are a couple of rough sketches Greg Hill produced inspired by a Discordian Cabal that Kerry Thornley cooked up called the Church of the Laughing Christ.
This is a photo of RAW and yours truly from the spring of 2001. In it he is sporting a shirt that says “I have seen the fnords” and of course wearing his famous ring with the spiral on it. A couple years back I had a dream with RAW in which we engaged in a deep discussion about the meaning of his ring, and how it was an allegory to The Buddha. Photo courtesy of Greg Bishop.
Yesterday I was reviewing a list of potential posts for Historia Discordia, one of which is a piece I wrote on Robert Anton Wilson’s passing back in 2007. So I got to wondering what day RAW died, and thought it would be apropos to coincide posting the piece on that date.
I did a quick Google search and, as our crazy Goddess would have it, RAW died on the date of January 11th, which is just the sort of stone cold synchronicity one encounters when pulling cosmic triggers and rolling golden apples. Perhaps a day late and a dollar short, we share with you now my RAW eulogy. —Adam Gorightly
From the late-60s through the early-70s, Greg Hill published a newsletter called The Greater Poop aka The Greater Metropolitan Yorba Linda Herald-News-Sun-Tribune-Journal-Dispatch-Post and San Francisco Discordian Society Bulletin and Intergalactic Report & Pope Poop, a networking tool of sorts where Hill kept his fellow Popes and Momes informed about new initiates, cabals, projects and other current Discordian doings.
The early issues were a one page long sheet that was folded four times and mailed. The first few issues composed in long hand and later issues typed, often including hand drawn illustrations by Malaclypse himself.
Back (mailer) side of Issue #29 of The Greater Poop. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.Front side of Issue #1 (archive copy) of The Greater Poop. Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
As The Greater Poop evolved, it sometimes encompassed several pages, such as Issue #30, a ten page monstrosity that we’ve have posted here in its entirety.
This issue includes an announcement of the printing of the 4th Edition of the Principia Discordia and the official rescinding of the 1st thru 3rd Editions… along with the rest of reality.
Brenton Clutterbuck of the worldwide Chasing Eris project quest poses with the original cover page of the Paste-Up Principia Discordia (known as the Sacred PUD). Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.My young friend, Brenton Clutterbuck of Chasing Eris fame, is working on a book about contemporary Discordia, which I expect the Goddess will ultimately approve of.
Along the way I’ve tried my best to introduce him to a number of fellow Discordians, among them Rosemary Tantra Bensko, who in the following video describes her introduction to Kerry Thornley and the subsequent ritual the two engaged in concerning butter and cats licking thereof.
The following review of Illuminatus! entitled “Anarcho-Surrealism” was among the Discordian Archives I was first turned onto by Bob Newport in the early 2000s. At first blush, the document appeared to have been composed by Greg Hill — under the pseudonymous moniker of “Mordecai Zwack” — circa 1974-ish during the period he was living in NYC.
Later, while combing through correspondence between Robert Anton Wilson and Greg Hill from the period, I soon discovered that they actually collaborated on the piece. This would explain the Mordecai moniker in the byline, as Mordecai — it just so happens — was the first name of RAW’s Discordian persona, Mordecai Malignatus aka Mordecai the Foul.
In retrospect, “Anarcho-Surrealism” seems a prime example of Discordian Culture Jamming, in the sense that RAW was writing his own clandestine review of Illuminatus! with the covert aid of Discordian Society co-founder Greg Hill, aka Malaclypse the Younger, Omnibenevolent Polyfather of Virginity in Gold (K.S.C.).
Back in 2004, Brian Doherty of Reason Magazine reviewed The Prankster and the Conspiracy (Amazon Kindle, Paperback) and titled his review “Historia Discordia,” a title that, with Brian’s consent, I’ve decided to use for this website, as well as the forthcoming book Historia Discordia: The Origins of the Discordian Society coming soon from RVP Publishers.
Reprinted with permission, here’s Brian’s article from Reason Magazine:
Illuminatus! poster for the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool production, 1976.On November 23rd, 1976 (which just so happens to be a high holy day in Discordianism, both due to the mystical manifestation of the number 23 and because it’s Harpo Marx’s birthday) an Englishman named Kenneth Campbell premiered a ten-hour stage production of Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea’s Illuminatus! (Amazon Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover) at the Science-Fiction Theatre in Liverpool. In true Discordian fashion, the production consisted of five plays of five acts each, with each act 23 minutes in length. As Wilson wrote in Cosmic Trigger (Paperback):
Ken Campbell’s adaptation was totally faithful to this nihilistic spirit and contained long unexpurgated speeches from the novel explaining at sometimes tedious length just why everything the government does is always done wrong. The audiences didn’t mind this pedantic lecturing because it was well integrated into a kaleidoscope of humor, suspense, and plenty of sex (more simulated blow jobs than any drama in history, I believe.)
Working with the National Theatre (under the Patronage of Queen Elizabeth, no less!), Campbell arranged for the two Bobs, Wilson and Shea, to be flown across the pond for the London production premiere. In appreciation of Her Majesty’s largesse, Wilson made a cameo appearance: “The cast dared me to do a walk-on role during the National Theatre run. I agreed and became an extra in the Black Mass, where I was upstaged by the goat, who kept sneezing. Nonetheless, there I was, bare-ass naked, chanting ‘Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law’ under the patronage of Elizabeth II, Queen of England, and I will never stop wondering how much of that was programmed by Crowley before I was even born.” According to Michael Coveney’s Ken Campbell bio, RAW was so nervous about his nude cameo that he dropped some acid before going on stage, as well as doling out hits to other actors in the play.
At some point, during the course of the production (if I got the story straight), Kenneth Campbell’s daughter, Daisy Eris Campbell, was conceived backstage. More on the adventures of Daisy Campbell in a bit….
A year after of the Illuminatus! stage production, a Discordian reunion of sorts took place that included Bob and Arlen Wilson, Louise Lacey, Greg Hill, Bob and Rita Newport, as well as several other friends of the Wilson’s who traveled to Seattle to take in the Illuminatus! stage production during its stateside run.
‘Twas a chilly Seattle night (as the story goes), so someone (who shall remain nameless) produced enough MDMA for Wilson and all his colleagues (ingested between the second and third acts) which in due time took the chill from the bones of the assembled Discordians—and cranked up the glow surrounding their collected auras—as they sat entranced by the spectacle which unfolded.
Wilson (l) and Shea (r) during the Illuminatus! publication period.The MDMA notwithstanding, Louise Lacey recalls the Illuminatus! stage production as a “sublime experience” which had one and all rolling in the aisles.
In the spirit of the Illuminatus! stage play—and filled with the same sort of Erisian inspiration as her dearly departed father—Daisy Eris Campbell has taken on the task of creating a stage adaption of Wilson’s Cosmic Trigger, which you can find out more about in the YouTube video to follow.
Left to right: Camden Benares and John F. Carr at Camden's cabin in Tujunga, California circa late-70s. Photo courtesy of John F. Carr.John F. Carr has just recently published the long ago written and much anticipated (at least by me!) first book in the Crying Clown series, A Certain Flair For Death (Amazon Kindle, Hardcover), a collaboration with his good friend and fellow Discordian, the late, great Camden Benares, a result of their many “pot and plot” sessions of the mid-70s through late-90s.
Robert Anton Wilson once described A Certain Flair For Death as “The best psychological science-fiction novel since The Demolished Man… the tension mounts and mounts… I couldn’t put it down… it might do your head as much good as an Encounter Group with the Marx Brothers!”
I recently contacted John to get some background about how and when the Crying Clown series were written, and he was kind of enough to share the following response. —Adam Gorightly
The following review of Illuminatus! entitled “Anarcho-Surrealism” was among the Discordian Archives I was first turned onto by 
