Drawing Down the Moon (58 page)

Wilson, along with another Erisian named Robert Shea, coauthored
Illuminatus,
a three-volume science fiction/occult/conspiracy novel that takes place in an Erisian framework. Its success in both science fiction and occult circles may prove to be the springboard for more Erisian activity, although the opposite could just as easily occur. In fact, one Erisian magazine in New Jersey published a notice dissolving the local Erisian cabal. The reason: “Since the beans were spilled in the proverbial manner (see
Illuminatus
) it is necessary to retreat to a more esoteric position.”
¹⁶
Meanwhile, Malaclypse has given notice that the Eris in the
Principia
and the Eris in
Illuminatus
are
not
the same Eris.

Whichever Eris you choose, she always seems to take the form of paradox, and an Erisian notice printed in
Green Egg
said that the Erisian path generally appealed to those who have “an affinity toward taoism, anarchy and clowning; who can feel comfortable in a Neo-Pagan context; and who probably have a tendency toward iconoclasm.”
¹⁷

And Discordianism plans to stay humorous. Wilson says, “Much of the Pagan movement started out as jokes, and gradually, as people found out they were getting something out of it, they became serious. Discordianism has a built-in check against getting too serious. The sacred scriptures are so absurd—as soon as you consult the scriptures again, you start laughing. Discordian theology is similar to Crowleyanity. You take any of these ideas far enough and they reveal the absurdity of all ideas. They show that ideas are only tools and that no idea should be sacrosanct. Thus, Discordianism is a necessary balance. It's a fail-safe system. It remains a joke and provides perspective. It's a satire on human intelligence and is based on the idea that whatever your map of reality, it's ninety percent your own creation. People should accept this and be proud of their own artistry. Discordianism can't get dogmatic. The whole language would have to change for people to lose track that it was all a joke to begin with. It would take a thousand years.”

The Erisian position on humor has always been clear, and to prove it, here is another section from the sacred scriptures, the
Principia.
¹⁸

 

THE DISCORDIAN SOCIETY

Joshua Norton Cabal

San Francisco

And yet Erisianism should not be treated frivolously. Greg Hill told me his experiences with Eris had been quite profound. Although it started as an atheistic joke, his perceptions began to change.

“Eris is an authentic goddess. Furthermore, she is an old one. In the beginning I saw myself as a cosmic clown. I characterized myself as Malaclypse the Younger. But if you do this type of thing well enough, it starts to work. In due time the polarities between atheism and theism became absurd. The engagement was transcendent. And when you transcend one, you have to transcend the other. I started out with the idea that all gods are an illusion. By the end I had learned that it's
up to you
to decide whether gods exist, and if you take a goddess of confusion seriously, it will send you through as profound and valid a metaphysical trip as taking a god like Yahweh seriously. The trips will be different, but they will both be transcendental. Eris is a valid goddess in so far as gods are valid; and gods are valid when we choose them to be. The Christian tradition has become so totally alienated from reality in the Western world that people have had to start inventing their own damn gods. Some people are doing it seriously and it is validly working. The Neo-Pagan phenomenon is an example. Another path would be transcendental atheism: using atheism as a spiritual path. The phenomenon of Eris is a hybrid between the two. She is an absurdist deity who shows that nonsense is as valid as sense, since Eris is as preposterous a deity as ever invented. Yet, if you pursue her, it can be a valid spiritual experience that can carry you to the point where you no longer relate to things in terms of deities and nondeities.”

For Wilson also, Discordianism is a perceptual game, a means of expanding one's perception of reality. The Discordian position, he has written, “demands, then, continuous motion. To stop at any one metaphor and establish it as dogma is to put the mind in chains.” He adds, “Although Discordians move about the country and the world constantly, in many guises, there is always one major Discordian ashram in the San Francisco Bay Area ‘on the site of the beautiful future San Andreas Canyon.' The only way to remain sane is to
know
that the ground below you is pure Void.”
¹⁹

I asked Malaclypse, “What's Omar Ravenhurst doing these days?” He said, “Ravenhurst has recently been in a state of extreme discord. We were talking about Eris and confusion and he said, ‘You know, if I had realized that all of this was going to come
true,
I would have chosen Venus.'”

Discordians and Erisians still make their presence known at Pagan gatherings and in the pages of newsletters. And there are many Erisian sites on the Web (see Resources). Dennis Moskowitz (Brother Max Flax Beeblewax), who was part of the Five-College Discordian Society of Saint Rufus a number of years ago, writes that what's most noticeable now is the influence of Eris in the culture at large. “Most Pagans and magicians seem to be familiar with Discordianism,” he says. Moskowitz notes that Eris was one of the main characters—albeit a villain—in a recent Sinbad animated movie, and Discordian references can be found in Grant Morrison's 1994–2000 comic series,
The Invisibles.
There is a role-playing game created by designer John Wick called
Discordia!
It is free to the public. There were some Discordian protests of the movie
Troy
because it told the story of the Trojan War without mentioning any gods, and therefore denied the role of the Goddess Eris in starting the war. Moskowitz observes that Discordianism “will always be a movement that begins with high school and college students who discover it, perhaps take it too seriously, mellow out as they get older,” but then, every so often, Erisian elements will wind up in their future artistic work.

Another Discordian, who calls herself Elfwreck, notes that Eris is a recurring villain in the Cartoon Network show
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.
She also says there is an annual Discordian convention called
KallistiCon a Discordian (un) Convention,
usually in California. And at PantheaCon, an annual Pagan convention in northern California, there is usually a Discordian ritual attended by a couple hundred people. There are also occasional pilgrimages to Emperor Norton's gravesite. A member of the Avatar Jones Memorial Cabal (AJMC) is in the process of starting an Erisian church, the Fifth Trinity Church. Elfwreck said the Discordian/Erisian movement was as strong as it ever was, “which is to say, there are tiny clots here and there with delusions of grandeur, and the illusion of a much larger web connecting all the dots.” Elfwreck says that the fact that public Paganism has developed a tolerance for Discordians “rather shocks me,” and she says it may well show the superficiality of much of Paganism.

Some Pagans argue that since Erisianism is mostly playful nonsense, people leave it once they get into Paganism more seriously. An entry on a Pagan scholars list read “The jokes get tiresome . . . perhaps the movement has lost steam.” The writer adds that any real reading of Greek writers like Hesiod shows Eris to be the mother of all harm—and not a goddess to emulate.

But others would argue that the Pagan community is one of the only spiritual communities that is exploring humor, joy, abandonment, even silliness and outrageousness as valid parts of spiritual experience. Oz, a Craft priestess from New Mexico, wrote these words to me, just days before the 1986 edition of
Drawing Down the Moon
went to press.