Manifesto of First Discordian Principles
The Discordian movement was born in the late fifties, a time when the culture of its creators country was about to be turned upside down by the turbulence of the sixties. Although the ideas of Discordianism were originally steeped in the tenants of libertarian anarchism and agnosticism, the new liberal, atheist and neopagan paradigms that guided the counterculture of the following decade were to shape Discordianism in dramatic ways. Because Discordianism was attractive due to its antiauthoritarian principles, the flower power movement became torch bearers for Eris’ message throughout the next several decades. As these Discordians settled into their lives and became champions of liberalism, atheism and neopaganism, the message of Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley began to lose its original flavor. Today’s Discordians are largely lost in a maze of liberal politics, new age mysticism and gratuitous freak flag flying. Today’s Discordians are happy to pick from Greyface A or Greyface B as long as their consolation prizes leave them time for Chaos Magick and other meaningless gestures.
Perhaps this is the fault of one of our greatest Discordian Saints, Robert Anton Wilson. RAW espoused a lifestyle of experimentation with different perception models so that one could form syncretic realities from varying models. An admitted Crowley admirer, Wilson wrote extensively about his own experiments with different magick systems. Wilson himself was also given to publicly supporting leftist political agendas. Because so many Discordians were also avid Wilson followers, these things became central focuses of many Erisians. However, RAW never intended to support leftist politics but only seemed to be doing so when they mirrored his own libertarian anarchist ideologies. Further, his experiments with magick were only a single facet of his experiments with consciousness, not a central theme of his Discordian philosophies. Finally, Robert Anton Wilson never did anything to be intentionally different. While he intentionally did very many different things, he did them in order to explore things central to the experience of all human beings and not in order to separate himself from others through individualistic posturing.
The Discordianism of RAW, like that of Kerry and Greg, has largely been lost. Today’s Discordians often seem to be polarized on issues where a dichotomy has been falsely created by Greyface. They beg Greyface A or Greyface B for some kind of order to bring stability to their lives while forgetting that these new orders will increase the chaos they asked their Greyface of choice to minimize. They have forgotten how this dragon swallows its tail, or Mr. Moromoto his nose. Today’s Discordians both worship chaos through unimaginative rituals and beg for order in their political and social systems. Is it any wonder that Greyface grows stronger when the children of Eris have lost their way? Discordianism is about recognizing the balance between order and disorder and by minimalizing escalations of either by avoiding applications of both. Discordianism is a philosophy of individual liberty and freedom of expression, and must be wrestled away from the mothering liberals that were necessary to counteract the fathering conservatives who had guided our culture far too long.
The time for both left and right to exit the stage has come, and it is up to a new generation of Discordians to rebuild the world in the ashes of our ancestor’s folly. The new Discordian needs to Question Everything! Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts and don’t take lollipops from the bad man. The new Discordian needs to be flexible, to ingest incredible and diverse amounts of new information and create syncretic models of reality where black and white are merely shades of grey and not just easy answers to be grasped at when the questions get hard. We must be champions of our own evolution and the future of our species on this planet and throughout the cosmos. We must promote this progress not through social safety nets but through individual liberties and the promotion of intellect and creativity over greed and power with the self evident reward of greatness and not the current system of paltry consolations prizes and an expensive false sense of security.
Eris is here to remind you that the world IS a chaotic place, but she does not require fear or worship like those false dick gods. Her reminder is yours to transform into a healthy set of expectations for the universe you are surrounded by to prevent you from becoming deluded into entitlements. She is also a reminder that no law of man is greater than that of the land and that personal progress is measured by your contributions to the freedom, happiness and well-being of others, but only when the act is genuine and not compulsively enforced by a coercive imposition of morality. As Crowley said, “Do what thou shalt shall be the whole of the law, love is the law, love under will.”
Perhaps this is the fault of one of our greatest Discordian Saints, Robert Anton Wilson. RAW espoused a lifestyle of experimentation with different perception models so that one could form syncretic realities from varying models. An admitted Crowley admirer, Wilson wrote extensively about his own experiments with different magick systems. Wilson himself was also given to publicly supporting leftist political agendas. Because so many Discordians were also avid Wilson followers, these things became central focuses of many Erisians. However, RAW never intended to support leftist politics but only seemed to be doing so when they mirrored his own libertarian anarchist ideologies. Further, his experiments with magick were only a single facet of his experiments with consciousness, not a central theme of his Discordian philosophies. Finally, Robert Anton Wilson never did anything to be intentionally different. While he intentionally did very many different things, he did them in order to explore things central to the experience of all human beings and not in order to separate himself from others through individualistic posturing.
The Discordianism of RAW, like that of Kerry and Greg, has largely been lost. Today’s Discordians often seem to be polarized on issues where a dichotomy has been falsely created by Greyface. They beg Greyface A or Greyface B for some kind of order to bring stability to their lives while forgetting that these new orders will increase the chaos they asked their Greyface of choice to minimize. They have forgotten how this dragon swallows its tail, or Mr. Moromoto his nose. Today’s Discordians both worship chaos through unimaginative rituals and beg for order in their political and social systems. Is it any wonder that Greyface grows stronger when the children of Eris have lost their way? Discordianism is about recognizing the balance between order and disorder and by minimalizing escalations of either by avoiding applications of both. Discordianism is a philosophy of individual liberty and freedom of expression, and must be wrestled away from the mothering liberals that were necessary to counteract the fathering conservatives who had guided our culture far too long.
The time for both left and right to exit the stage has come, and it is up to a new generation of Discordians to rebuild the world in the ashes of our ancestor’s folly. The new Discordian needs to Question Everything! Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts and don’t take lollipops from the bad man. The new Discordian needs to be flexible, to ingest incredible and diverse amounts of new information and create syncretic models of reality where black and white are merely shades of grey and not just easy answers to be grasped at when the questions get hard. We must be champions of our own evolution and the future of our species on this planet and throughout the cosmos. We must promote this progress not through social safety nets but through individual liberties and the promotion of intellect and creativity over greed and power with the self evident reward of greatness and not the current system of paltry consolations prizes and an expensive false sense of security.
Eris is here to remind you that the world IS a chaotic place, but she does not require fear or worship like those false dick gods. Her reminder is yours to transform into a healthy set of expectations for the universe you are surrounded by to prevent you from becoming deluded into entitlements. She is also a reminder that no law of man is greater than that of the land and that personal progress is measured by your contributions to the freedom, happiness and well-being of others, but only when the act is genuine and not compulsively enforced by a coercive imposition of morality. As Crowley said, “Do what thou shalt shall be the whole of the law, love is the law, love under will.”
