Discordianism is by its very nature impossible to explain (and know), but the info below can act as one of the better (re: shorter) primers I've come across in quite some time.
Stolen without permission from Blade Hamilton, infamous Fnordist, and unknowing Receptacle of the Knowledge of the Placement of the Unlost Items.
In absorbing this I noted several possibly incorrect words, but with Discordianism you just never know, nor can you ever know, so I have left everything exactly as was.
On Discordian Mysticism
The Earth quakes and the Heavens rattle; the beasts of nature flock together and nations of men flock apart; volcanoes usher up heat while elsewhere water becomes ice and melts; and then on other days it just rains.
Indeed do many things come to pass. --HBT:The Book of Predictions, Chap. 19
Author Robert Anton Wilson once pointed out "Large parts of the Neo-pagan movement started out as jokes"(1) and the religion of Discordianism, ironically, not an exception to that rule. Founded in 1957 by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley (who was implicated in the assassination of JFK by Jim Garrison), the Discordianism evolved out of the discussion over the contradictions found in many major religions. They decided that the idea of examining the world and determining it was ordered by the fact that they saw ordered patterns in the world had a basic fallacy in it. They contended that it was, in fact, just as valid to point out the disorder and nonsense in the world and conclude that the world is in chaos.(2) Amused by this concept, they declared themselves the Discordian Society and began to base the Society around Eris, the Greek Goddess of Confusion ("an absurdist deity...as preposterous a deity as ever invented."(3). Greg Hill, under the pen name of Malaclypse the Elder, wrote the basic holy text of Discordianism called the Principia Discordia, sub-titled "How I Found the Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her." Later, Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea (both Discordians themselves) wrote the underground hit called the Illuminatus! trilogy, in which the protagonists are members of various factions of the Discordian conspiracy to save the world from itself. Each chapter of the book begins with a quotation taken from the Principia. This brought the message of Discordianism to a wide audience and rooting it into the subculture known as Neo-paganism.
To understand such a young religion as Discordianism, the examination of the environment in which Discordianism flourished is required. The twentieth century has been witness to an attempt to connect the spirituality and mysticism of the past to the people of the present. In many underground cultures through out the United States and the United Kingdom, there had been an increasing interest in the religious and spiritual aspects of native pre-Christian religions in Europe and in the natural philosophies and supernatural studies of Renaissance thinkers. The rise of these occult and 'pagan' ideas in what has been referred to as the "New Age movement" has lead to a small and diverse modern religious community of self-proclaimed Neo-pagans. These Neo-pagans have attempted to reclaim the religions suppressed by, or absorbed by, Christianity and apply them to contemporary life. The Neo-pagan attempt of reconstruction is a particularly recent trend, historically speaking, beginning in the early 1920s and not gaining momentum until the early 1950s. The beginning of the Neo-pagan movement can be traced to British occultist Aleister Crowley. Crowley's scientific approach to occultism attracted a large number of people who desired mystical and spiritual experiences, but had been brought up in a society in which rationalism was becoming more and more accepted. The most significant push in this movement came from Gerald Gardner when he published his book Witchcraft Today shortly after the decriminalization of witchcraft in Great Britain. Gardner, drawing heavily from Crowley, outlined a pantheistic religion in which the current world in which we live is a manifestation of the Divine God and Goddess. The practice of witchcraft (or Wicca, as it is often referred) spread far beyond the aegis of Gardner and his sanctioned covens. As these self-initiated neo-pagans began to independently research pagan religions and spirituality, they found themselves with several small pieces of a larger puzzle that had largely been forgotten with the dominance of Christianity in Europe. In order to have a viable religion from these fragments, it became normal for Neo-pagans to draw from any source that allowed them to express themselves religiously. In this environment, the Discordian ideas of humor and flexibility of ego became popular and Discordians became the Trickster figures of the Neo-pagan subculture.
All statements are true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, and true and false and meaningless in some sense.
Translation of the full name of Sri Syadasti, Discordian Saint, from the Principia Discordia
Any investigation of Discordianism, much less Discordian mysticism, will run afoul with the problem of the general attitude of Discordians. As Discordianism is based around the idea that disorder is as valid as order, it is difficult to find any description of this religion that is not filled with paradoxes, misleading language, obscure imagery, bawdy jokes and bald-faced lies. The Principia Discordia itself is filled with extraneous art, phrases and ideas. The fact that the Principia was left intentionally uncopyrighted has lead to six different printings of the text, each with more material added by the new publishers. To confuse the issue to an even further extent, Discordians tend to follow the motto put forth by Malaclypse the Younger (i.e. Greg Hill) that "we Discordians shall stick apart."(4) In the spirit of this statement, Discordians will needlessly argue amongst themselves over doctrine (or lack thereof) and theological point with the purpose of increasing the confusion about the subject. This has lead some serious occultists to discount the religion as a complicated practical joke. But Wilson contends that it is "not a complicated put-on disguised as a new religion, but a new religion disguised as a complicated put-on."(5)
The cloud of confusion and nonsense that surrounds the religion serves a number of important purposes from the mystic's point of view. Through this form of ontological gymnastics comes the primary illumination of the Discordian mystic. The use of familiar symbols and phrases (e.g. "We must stick together.") is an intentional tactic used to draw the audience into the event itself. By making slight, yet seemingly absurd, variations on these symbols (e.g. "We must stick apart."), the audience is forced to make sudden changes in their thinking processes in relation to that symbol. In the collision between the learned response and the urge to understand this new variation on a familiar pattern, the listener has a momentary loss of ego as they question what their own judgments on the symbol at hand. That momentary loss, or reduction, of ego and the reconsideration of the listener's own method of classification is the goal of these displays, termed "guerilla ontology"(6) by Greg Hill. At this point of disorientation, the listener will, hopefully, make an intuitive connection that results in a revelation of some sort, whether is a major ontological shift or not. This revelation illustrates some sort of deeper meaning to the apparent nonsense in front of them. To quote Shakespeare's Hamlet, "If this be madness, there's a method to it." Once someone sees the possibility of meaning in apparent nonsense, then they can begin to look for that meaning and look for meaning in other nonsense. The first step of many Discordian mystics is to realize the value of nonsense. This is the core of the idea of the poetic quotation from Sri Syadasti, "'Tis an ill wind that blows no minds."(7)
Another function of the state of confusion inherent in Discordianism is as a check-and-balance system for Discordians. To the mystically-inclined Discordian, the constant arguing serves a way of preventing dogmatism in the mystic's thinking. Wilson states that Discordianism "demands continuous motion."(8) To opt for any one metaphor, or joke, over another is to place a greater value on that idea than the others. At that point, the mystic clings to the ideas inherent in that metaphor, or even worse, the metaphor itself. This leads to dogmatism and reduces the amount of creative thinking occurring. The contrariness of the Discordian position disrupts the stagnation of thought by requiring that the mystic readjust his/her point of view to effectively argue against (or at least annoy) the mystic's opponent. And, if that fails, the mystic will constantly be challenged on his/her belief system by other Discordians. Continuous confrontation weakens the mystic's faith in a particular metaphor or belief system, eventually allowing the mystic to break the need for the metaphor. This denial of one's own point of view requires the mystic to constantly be attempting new metaphors, view points or variations thereof, and thus forces the mystic to expand his/her view of reality as a whole. "We are teaching people that there are alternate realities," according to Wilson.(9) With Discordianism's roots in the pantheistic Neo-pagan movement, this widening of view point is seen as a heightened awareness of the possibilities of the divinity in the reality in which one exists. This is a sort of identity-in-difference when it comes to union with the divine. While one develops this heightened awareness of the divinity inherent in all, they seem themselves as a part of this divinity. The union with the divine is not a sort of transendance, but a realization of the fact that one is part of the divine and accepting that union with the immanence that is part of the mundane world.
A shrewd reader could very well point out that the above arguments against placing faith in certain metaphors and beliefs can be used against the very metaphors and beliefs of Discordianism. That same shrewd reader would be correct. While the metaphors and beliefs of Discordianism are a sort of meta-system of beliefs (i.e. a system of beliefs about beliefs), it is still a system with which one can create dogma. The idea that there is a a true, objective reality is known as the Aneristic (against-Eris) Illusion, and is very quickly rejected. The idea that there is no objective reality, that reality can be viewed through different gridworks is called the Eristic Illusion.(10) And while the Eristic Illusion is closer to the Discordian mystic's view of Ultimate Reality, the mystic still knows that it is an illusion, equally as invalid (and valid) as the Aneristic Illusion. The concept that the universe is chaos is central to the Discordian theology, but the Discordian mystic makes a definite distinction between the concepts of disorder and chaos. Chaos is defined by the Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary as "utter confusion or disorder." But just as something that is utterly inconsistent cannot be inconsistent all of the time (thereby being consistently inconsistent), something that is utterly random cannot be random all of the time. Chaos, to be truly chaotic, has to contain all order as well as disorder, otherwise it would be predictably always disordered, or predictably all but a specific type of order or disorder. Utter disorder cannot be predicted, in any way. To believe in the Eristic Illusion, you are denying that the Aneristic Illusion is true and thereby creating a way that chaos can be predicted, where one can establish dogma about what is true. The Ultimate Reality of the Discordian Mystic is not an Ultimate Reality, but an Ultimate Possibility, in one can appreciate the whole of possibility as well as reality, and become part of all those possibilities, thereby uniting with all possibilities of the divine.
The idea of Ultimate Possibility itself can, like its individual possibilities, become a form of dogma. So the Discordian mystic is required to abandon even union with Ultimate Possibility. This constant abandonment of reality is a constant nullification of ego, but destroying the basis of the ego and allowing nothing about the world to be permanent. To the Discordian mystic, there is a flaw in accepting enlightenment, because one then clings to enlightenment the same way one clings to the mundane world, developing an ego based upon one's existence as enlightened. Thus, the mystic has no place at which the mystic journey can end. To reiterate, Discordianism "demands continuous motion."
Reporter: Is Eris true?
Mal-2: Everything is true.
Reporter: Even false things?
Mal-2: Even false things are true.
Reporter: How can this be?
Mal-2: I don't know man, I didn't do it.
Interview with Malaclypse the Younger from the Principia Discordia
While a lot can be said on the subject of Discordian mysticism, for the actual mystic, the ineffability of the mystic journey cannot be more profound. The steps in the above analysis of the Discordian mystic journey are almost exclusively intuitive to the mystic. The conscious analysis and construction of the ontological explanations for a mystic's actions are usually an afterthought. This is analysis is in no way considered to be unimportant, but the intuitive action of the mystic is seen as step closer to the ideal of the nullification of ego as the source of the actions is the inherent nature of the Discordian. Otherwise, the mystic acts out of an ontological framework, which is appallingly close to dogmatism for the Discordian mystic. While the creation of this framework is definitely required for the understanding of the source of these actions and their ramifications, this gridwork is seen as a way of understanding and not a source of guidance for further action. Similar to the Taoist state of wu wei, the Discordian mystic's attitude is that of one spontaneous action. The understanding of these actions contributes to the ability to understand other points of view and the destruction of the ego. The source of these actions, however, are ineffable. And, with the constant destruction of one's own ontological reality that is central to the Discordian mystic journey, the concept of truth itself becomes meaningless as the parameters that one uses to understand truth shift.
In this state of mind, the false and the true become equally viable, just as the Aneristic and the Eristic Illusions become equally viable. The fact that most of the religion and the mystic experience of the Discordian is being fabricated as the mystic travels through the mystic path is of no concern. Ontology itself becomes a placebo which, while truly accomplishing nothing, does have a profound affect on the mystic. Greg Hill himself was astounded that his satirical writings and theological practical jokes were in fact having a noticeable and real affect on himself and those around him.(11) In is in this manner that even false things become true. No part of the mystic journey is seen as a mandatory or inevitable. One can begin the journey at any point and any part of the journey can be avoided. There are no laws in the State of Confusion. (13)
That which is not considered ineffable by Discordian mystics is viewed as the next most difficult thing to understand, that which is so simple that most will take these facts for granted. The noetic quality of the mystic state of the Discordian is, like so many of the different facets of Discordianism, paradoxical. The secret core of Discordian enlightenment is that there is no secret core to Discordian enlightenment. All the reality that is essential to following the mystic path is readily apparent in the reality surrounding the mystic. All other parts are either completely unknowable or completely adjustable.
Finally, the reader should note that from the Discordian mystical perspective, the joke is on you. This paper, from that perspective, is an attempt to construct a framework in which Discordianism can be analyzed and solidified, which is contrary to the very nature of the experience. This explanation of the Discordian mystical experience is a only a single possible description of this mystic path. Thus, it is woefully incomplete, as any description or analysis would be. How does one analyze a paradoxical experience in a system of thought that cannot tolerate paradox?
2 Malaclypse. Principia Discordia. Austin: Steve Jackson Games. 1994. p. 7
5 Wilson, Robert Anton. "All Hail the Goddess Eris," Gnostica. Vol. 3, No. 12. July 21, 1974. p. 19
6 Malaclypse. Principia Discordia 4th ed. Port Townsend: Loompanics. 1986
8 Wilson, Robert Anton. "All Hail the Goddess Eris!" Gnostica. Vol. 4, No. 9. July 1975. p.27
12 This is a recursive endnote.(12)