Principia Discordia

[Persona22 205]

Okay, so I was researching things about Chaos for a story I want to write about Discord... you know, Chaos Theory, Chaos in greek mythology, and all that.

 

As I was finding more and more stuff, I found this... pseudo religious book I believe is the correct way to call it.

It is called the Principia Discordia, and talks about "Discordianism" a "religion" if you can call it that, that endorses the belief that Chaos is the only thing real and therefore everything that makes sense or is serious is totally unreal. It "worships" Eris (or Discordia, the ancient goddess of Chaos)

 

 

It has this weird "rules" like that everything is related to the number 5 in any way or form (using stupid and nonsensical explanations like, the number 1 is related to the number 5 because 1 + 4 = 5) and that a way to show your devotion to chaos is to eat a hot dog on Fridays... anyway the more I read it, the more it looked like it was written by Discord himself... if he were real that is.

The pages don't even make sense, some are written, some are just collages of old newspapers clippings, or crudely drawn stick figures, stamps... it makes no sense at all... the pages are even numbered with several number zeroes in front for no apparent reason.

The more I read it, the more Discord's words came to my mind "What fun is there in making sense?"

 

Just take a look and see for yourselves. Here are some links:

 

ONLINE PDF

 

DIRECT DOWNLOAD LINK (Mediafire)

 

PrincipiaDiscordia.pdf

Edited November 6, 2013 by lucasliso

[Cakebandit :3 1,064]

That sounds kind of amazing actually, an entire religion based off of chaos sounds oddly fun and amazing (mind you i'm really only thinking that way because of how discord acted in the show)

 

I for one support chocolate milk rain and bubbles

 

(totally going to read this now just because it sounds interesting xD)

[Aerodynas 439]

Yeah I've heard of that. It is really cool isn't it?! I came by it by chance when I studied greek and roman mythology. Chaos was the original being ironically that supposedly created the titans and all before. They might have derived it from that mythological belief

[The Prime Reaper 180]

Luckily, Christians have nearly wiped out all Paganistic religions around the world.

That why we don't have or rarely observe some extremist religions have human sacrifices.

It is interesting that their Sacred Chao symbol is similar to Yin-Yang of Chinese.

It seems Greeks invented most the known things and languages, we do today.

[BalanceBrony 259]

It seems like an interesting read. I'll have to examine the whole thing. But from what I've checked so far and wikia, despite the religion's absurd humour, it does appear to have very valid philosophical viewpoints. There is definite influence of Taoism, Chaos Theory, Cartesian Dualism, and other philosophies. But I would posit that, despite this paradigm which is pretty much the antithesis of my belief in Isorropism (the philosophy of Harmony and Balance), it still works in my paradigm. Discordianism actually directly supports one of the key arguments of Isorropism.

 

Principia Discordia covers this in its discussion of Aneristic Principle vs. Eristic Principle. It mentions that, no matter how much Order you apply to things, eventually Chaos will snap back at Order. No matter how much Chaos there is, humans will still apply an Order to it, or else the Chaos will consume us. This notion is shared in Isorropist arguments for the fact that Balance does, in fact, exist. The simple fact that neither Order nor Chaos can remain dominant is actually a demonstration of dualistic reconciliation, a key point in supporting Isorropist theory.

 

From my perspective as an Isorropist, I would point out that Discordianism maintains the flaw which I have since removed from Isorropism. And that is the notion that opposite forces are at conflict with one another. Such is not the case in reality. In reality, forces are not at conflict. They are not beating at each other in the manner of Newton's equal-but-opposite. Rather, they are equally pulling on each other at the same point in time. This is a crucial distinction. In the former case of equal-but-opposite, the forces are constantly at conflict. In the latter case of push-and-pull, the forces are constantly at peace.

 

One goal of Isorropism is to away from Newtonian dualism, and towards Taoist dualism. Harmonic push-and-pull rather than conflicted push-and-push-back.

 

Another thing which distinguishes Isorropism from previous dualistic theories is the addition of pluralism into the picture. Isorropism does not simply see everything in terms of Yin and Yang. Isorropism accepts the existence of neutral parties, and holds that there are more things at work in the Universe than opposites. Also, Isorropism acknowledges the interconnectedness of different complex systems, so Chaos Theory is a factor as well.

 

An aspect which Isorropism has in common with Discordianism, and most of modern thought, is the limitations of human perception. Both philosophies know that we see everything through a filter.

 

The difference lies in that, as opposed to Discordianism, which holds that the filters are just illusory, and all that really exists is the Chaos beyond, Isorropism sees instead that all filters of perspective have a bit of the whole picture of objective truth.

 

So, there are many similarities and differences between this philosophy and my own, and it's all very fascinating. I can't wait to read the whole work. I just hope I can find time with my college workload.

 

My, this little meditation of mine has been very enlightening for me. For years I've been working on this philosophy of mine. And yes, it is my philosophy. Comparing Isorropism with Discordianism has really helped me to articulate to myself where Isorropism currently stands regarding its functioning principles. Thank you for bringing this interesting philosophy to my attention. it has helped me see where my theory currently sits.

[Little Lizards 91]

I love Greek Mythology (and I currently have to read Mythology by Edith Hamilton) so I'm constantly thinking and wondering if there were and Greeks who patronized Eris (chaos). This sounds slightly obscure, but I'll see where it takes me. 

[Persona22 205]

Some quotes and text from the Pricipia Discordia:

 

 

Interview between Malaclypse the Younger and the Greater Poop:

Greater Poop: Is Eris true?

Malaclypse the Younger: Everything is true.

GP: Even false things?

M theY: Even false things are true.

GP: How can that be?

M the Y: I don't know man, I didn't do it.

 

 

IF THE TELEPHONE RINGS TODAY... WATER IT!

 

 

"It is my firm belief that is a mistake to have firm beliefs." (This one is quite awesome if you think about it)

 

 

One day Mal-2 (Malaclypse the Younger) asked the messenger spirit Saint Gulik to approach the Goddess (meaning Eris) and request Her presence for some desperate advice. Shortly afterwards the radio came on by itself, and an ethereal female Voice said "YES?"

 

"Oh! Eris! Blessed Mother of Man! Queen of Chaos! Daughter of Discord! Concubine of Confusion! O! Exquisite Lady, I beseech You to lift a heavy burden from my heart!"

 

"WHAT BOTHERS YOU, MAL? YOU DON’T SOUND WELL."

 

"I am filled with fear and tormented with terrible visions of pain. Everywhere people are hurting one another, the planet is rampant with injustices, whole societies plunder groups of their own people, mothers imprison sons, children perish while brothers war. Oh, woe."

 

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THAT, IF IT IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO?"

 

"But nobody wants it! Everybody hates it!"

 

"OH. WELL, THEN STOP."

 

At which moment She turned Herself into an aspirin commercial and left the Polyfather stranded alone with his species

 

(The above one is one of my favorites if I can say so myself.)

 

 

"If you want in on the Discordian Society

then declare yourself what you wish, do what you like
and tell us about it

or
if you prefer
don't.
There are no rules anywhere.

The Goddess (meaning Eris) Prevails."

(Now if the above statement doesn't have "Discord could have said this" written all over it, I don't know what does.)

 

 

Then there is the calendar described in the book, which in Discodianism starts on the year 1166 BC. That year is called year 1 YOLD. "YOLD" stands for "Year of Our Lady of Discord". So, as a reference, the year 2013 AD (this year) is 3179 YOLD according to Discordian calendar...

 

 

This, of course, from the pages that actually have text in a way that forms sentences... there are still plenty of pages that are just filled with bizarre images and collection of nonsensical things.

 

The most strange thing is, the more I read the book, the less sense it makes... but at the same time it makes sense! It makes sense in a way that is nonsense! It's freaking perfect, nonsensical Chaos explained in a way that it makes sense in a way that there is no way to make sense... does that make sense?

 

Seriously, I like Discord as much as the next guy, but the fans that have Discord as their all time favorite character are going to LOVE this book. All its missing is a picture of cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk...

Edited November 6, 2013 by lucasliso

[ComanderZhabikKlavik 3,036]

I have read the "Principia Discordia". I even liked this religion.