In the Roman Empire’s eternal era of superior gleaming, the Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time when “the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad, and all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies. And then there was the perpetual godsawful smell of boiling cabbage.”
—
Clavis Calendaria; or a Compendious Analysis of the Calendar:
illustrated with ecclesiastical, historical, and classical anecdotes,
2 vols., 1812 by John Brady
Lee Oswald and the Garrison Investigation
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Hail Eris!
Here’s the latest on what Eris has procured for Her Enjoyment:
BEHOLD, YE MORTALS, AND DESPAIR!
Adam Gorightly’s forthcoming book from Feral House is announced:
Caught in the Crossfire: Kerry Thornley,
Lee Oswald and the Garrison Investigation.
INTERVIEWS WITH THE
‘CRACKPOT HISTORIAN’
@AdamGorightly
The Origins of the Discordian Society
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Shout-Outs and Reviews
Guest post by Robert Denton
Now that I’ve gotten Adam Gorightly’s excellent Historia Discordia (Amazon), I’m starting to see some really intriguing parallels between the Discordians and the Gnostics (the latter of whom I’ve always been very interested in).
One of the central principles of Discordianism is that “the only thing you can know is that you cannot know anything…” reminds me of the gnostic concept of the nature of the “Source” or “Pleroma,” which was also ultimately unknowable as well. The Pleroma created from pure thought Sophia, or “knowledge,” the source of enlightenment for humans, who through the medium of the “fruit of the tree of knowledge” causes Adam and Eve (mankind) to become self-aware. Now it’s interesting that Sophia uses an apple, or that the fruit of the tree is most often represented as an apple; and the “original snub” of Discordianism is a golden apple with the word “Kallisti” (to the most beautiful) which Eris tossed into the wedding feast of Thetis and Peleus, and eventually would lead to the Trojan War as a result of a jealous tiff among the Greek Goddesses. Sophia was usually associated with the soul by the gnostics, and the soul was often thought to have its seat in the pineal gland. The Discordians speak to Eris via the pineal gland (coincidence? I think not…). 🙂
Old Greyface of the Discordians is really parallel with the demiurge, who the Gnostics associated with Jehovah or YHWH. Both of them try to convince mankind that there is an “order” to the cosmos, and they were responsible for creating it (which they were) but being imperfect themselves, their creation was inherently imperfect (thus, we get cruelty, ignorance, hot dog buns, and chiggers). What they really don’t want mankind to know is that Sophia actually created us (or our soul personalities), and that we are in fact closer to the Pleroma than they are. Of course, there were those who wanted to stick to orthodoxy, and for them the Church of the Sub Genius was created by Bob Dobbs, with JHVH-1 being essentially the embodiment of Greyface.
Then again, both the Discordians and the Gnostics may simply have been insane… but Eris tells me otherwise. 🙂
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Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!
Adam Gorightly speaking at San Diego’s Conspiracy Cafe, January 2012 about Discordians Kerry Thornley and Robert Anton Wilson.
Video excerpt courtesy of Skylaire Alfvegren.
(Full Video with Musical Interludes!)
I had been monitoring the situation, and so in an orderly fashion loaded the two cats and other stuff in my truck. When the word came down to evacuate, I got the hell out of Dodge. Among the items I took with me, of course, where the key pieces of the Discordian Archives, which included the 1st edition of Principia Discordia as well as The Honest Book of Truth.
We’re back at the DAH now and all is well. The firefighters sound like they’re getting the upper-hand on the fire. Unfortunately, a few structures were lost in town, but nobody was injured, so that’s what’s really important.
The front piece to the Paste-Up Discordia (known as The Sacred PUD).
Courtesy the Discordian Archives.
Hail Eris and All Hail the Brave Firefighters of the World!
We recently posted some scans from a little Discordian ditty called the Lost Treasure of Eris.
The fellow who sent the scans, Alfred Vitale, was pleased as punch about this, and sent me a few more snapshots of this Erisian wonder, along with these comments:
LOVED the piece on your blog! Finally started Historia Discordia… it is awesome! I will write more in detail at some point soon… it makes me laugh out loud. Nobody in my house knows what Discordianism is… but I’ve tried to share Principia and whatever doctrinal witticisms I could, but they just rolled their eyes. Same thing happened when I gave a talk recently at a high school. 15 kids in the room, but ONE of them decided to go check out Principia online… perhaps a seed planted. But I think your book has made my wife and daughter believe that my lunacy is not so unique now… so thanks 🙂
I had to use my camera phone because the book’s a bit fragile and if I lay it flat it may fall apart. These are a couple of random page shots—not complete pages, but maybe helpful?
page on the books publication.
Courtesy of Alfred Vitale.
Eris Training.
Courtesy of Alfred Vitale.
page on Aleister Crowley.
Courtesy of Alfred Vitale.
The Book of Gammy Grogs.
Courtesy of Alfred Vitale.
Historia Discordia is currently ranked #1 in the Movements category at Amazon as of this writing.
But what I find most encouraging (and synchronistic) is that the overall Amazon Best Sellers ranking for the book is #2,323!
Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia! And All Hail fellow Discordians!
Celine’s Second Law: Communication occurs only between equals.
Welcome to a new series here at Historia Discordia called “Greg Hill Gets Letters,” featuring chaotic correspondence sent to Hill from fellow Discordians throughout the years.
In the first episode, we present a package of happiness sent from Kerry Thornley to Greg during the period Kerry was living in a renovated chicken coop in Tujunga, California, around 1976 or thereabouts.
Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
The Lost Treasure of Eris also happens to be dedicated to a number of Bobs—including the aforementioned Wilson and Shea—not to mention a certain someone named Banner. In this case, I assume Episcopos BOB was referring to Bob Banner, former editor and publisher of the late, great conspiracy magazine Critique that during the course of its run would occasionally feature articles by RAW.
Courtesy of the Discordian Archives.
The Lost Treasure of Eris dedication page also acknowledges Neil Wilgus, author of The Illuminoids, another must-have book for one’s Illuminati Discordian-library back in the day when the Eye in the Pyramid had suddenly become all the rage.
So it appears that the Magickal Childe had an affinity for Discordian obscurities such as these.
Alfred and I would like to track down the origins of this strange relic—The Lost Treasure of Eris—that was supposedly first published 10 years or so before its ’87 re-publication. So if you have any info please let us know!