Discordianism

Discordianism is a modern, Chaos-based religion founded in either 1958 or 1959. It has been described as both an elaborate joke disguised as a religion, and as a religion disguised as an elaborate joke. Some of its followers make the claim that it is “a religion disguised as a joke disguised as a religion.” It can be viewed as a simple rejection of reductionism and dualism, even falsifiability — not in concept different from postmodernism or certain trends in the philosophy of mathematics. It has also been described as “Zen for roundeyes,” and converges with some of the more absurdist interpretations of the Rinzai school.

Orgin

The foundational document of Discordianism is the Principia Discordia written by Malaclypse The Younger (an alias of Greg Hill). This book contains many references to an earlier source, The Honest Book of Truth. From the quotations, the HBT seems to be arranged like the Bible, consisting of verses grouped into chapters grouped into books grouped into the HBT itself. The Principia includes (on page 00041) a large portion of (or possibly all of) a chapter of “The Book of Explanations” which recounts how the HBT was revealed to Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst (believed by many to be Kerry Thornley). It may be worth noting that the tale of the discovery of the HBT contains many similarities to the tale of the discovery of the Book of Mormon, and that Thornley had been a Mormon. It also includes (on page 00030) part of the next chapter, telling how the HBT was taken by a garbage collector, who refused to return it.

Although most religions revere the principles of harmony and order in the Universe, Discordianism can be interpreted as a recognition that disharmony and chaos are equally valid aspects of reality. The Principia Discordia often hints that Discordianism was founded as a dialectic antithesis to more popular religions based on order, although the rhetoric throughout the book describes chaos as a much more underlying impulse of the universe. This may have been done with the intention of merely “balancing out” the creative forces of order and disorder, but the focus is certainly on the more disorderly aspects of the world – at times the forces of order are even vilified.

The matron deity of Discordianism is Eris, the ancient Greek goddess of discord, with whom the Romans identified their goddess Discordia.

Further reading

• Malaclypse the Younger. Principia Discordia. Loompanics Unlimited, 1980. ISBN 1559500409

This article is licensed under the Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Discordianism.”