Seeking Recommendation Book recommendations on Discordianism

[luciel lilith]

I'm interested in learning more about Discordianism

 

[Robert Ramsay]

The original Principia Discordia is still online AFAIK.

Underneath all the horseplay, I believe the idea of Discordianism is to evoke Eris so as to open yourself up to ALL possibilities. This can of course be extremely dangerous, but you will probably have a wild ride before they bury you in a coffee can.

 

[ahathoor]

There's of course the Principia, which is arguably 'the' book on Discordianism... you'll easily find the text online, but the Principia is not "just" text, it is a disaster area where seemingly a stack of paper collided with a writing implement and an counteiculture acid fiend. Or, it's a visual artwork; in the same way a better than average gang insignia tagged onto a fast food joint's back wall is a visual artwork. For the art, the yellow paperback from Paladin Press is great (also feels very period-accurate).

The way I understand Discordianism, it is an exercise in taking fun seriously while making fun of seriousness. One can discuss at length who Eris "is" and whether Mal the Younger had just made the whole thing up out of whole cloth (which would be a totally valid move btw.)

One implication I have drawn from engaging with it was "what if existence isn't a cruel joke, but a clown piece?"...

Also it arguably saved me from getting all messed up by the ontological mess that is Spare-Carroll chaos magic, which has a ridiculous propensity of taking itself dangerously seriously, from Spare's temu-LHP proto-goth-kid whining about faith vs. belief to Carroll's absolutely unbacked chadbro scientism and desperate clutch on ontological control, both of which feed into why you see so many chumps online doing chaos 'magick' [sic!]...

Discordianism as a banishment spell / surrender to chaos / Kia while keeping hold of what's important has helped me take what is useful and forward pointing from the Spare-Carroll system without getting mired or throwing it away in disgust.

If you're interested in what the synthesis may look like, check out Bluefluke's Psychonaut Field Manual, which surprised me as a parallel evolution of almost the same approach I was taught decades before...

 

[Frater M.M.]

What has happened to all the Discordian/SubGenii/etc. scene in the last 10/15 years. I've been out of the loop but it seems remarkably absent from WF. Eris Bar 'n' Grill seems to have closed down and DKMU mainly moved into Discord and seemed to be imploding?

Did everyone get tired of s-posting on forums and move on (especially once s-posting/meme culture went mainstream anyway on social media), or are there still active things going on?

 

[ahathoor]

I feel like all that was part of an online culture that simply ceased to exist. The summer of love is over, the TAZ has been parceled out by the landlords and is being rented by the hour to peddlers of afghani pants and palo santo and chaiwalas where a cup costs four dollars, while patrolled by the county sheriff's office K9 units.

The last significant Discordian "event" I remember was the release of Ossuary a good while ago.

 

[Frater M.M.]

I feel like all that was part of an online culture that simply ceased to exist. The summer of love is over, the TAZ has been parceled out by the landlords and is being rented by the hour to peddlers of afghani pants and palo santo and chaiwalas where a cup costs four dollars, while patrolled by the county sheriff's office K9 units.

Yeah, sadly I think you're right. I guess the clue is in the name. If a creative zone/space/scene/whatever doesn't produce any cultural value it will just flop. However, if it does, ppl will inevitably jump on the bandwagon and commercialise it. By nature, it's going to be temporary.

Tbh, I can't even imagine what a 2026 PD version would even look like, especially online. There isn't even really any single dominant culture to be counter to.

The last significant Discordian "event" I remember was the release of Ossuary a good while ago.

oof I missed that, and that was as far back as 2013 or so. RIP Bob (both of them)

 

[ahathoor]

Tbh, I can't even imagine what a 2026 PD version would even look like, especially online. There isn't even really any single dominant culture to be counter to.

The Principia feels just as current for today's occult marketplace as it feels retroactively current for Crowley's Victorian world of high society occultism... The mail order initiations, the ancient and authentic lodges in every small township with cut-out application forms in risographed zines, the nonsense reporting of grassroots paranormal journalism that the Principia makes fun of and elevates / preserves through satire may be gone, but the spirit of the marketplace, the enlightened masters claiming ancient and authentic lineages do exist, they just publish on amazon or do twitch and tiktok.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 1:07 PM

the TAZ of web1.0 may be gone, but the ideas and currents aren't...

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 1:08 PM

the good thing about TAZ is there's always a new one being born somewhere

 

[Philou]

The Principia Discordia, and Black Iron Prison I & II.
Zenarchy and Zen Without Zen Masters aren't Discordian per se, but they're closely connected to the early Discordian scene and very much share the same spirit.
OR KILL ME!! is also a really interesting compilation of posts.

The rest is of lesser quality, chaos discordian magic book are ... niche marketing strategy with no soul or use.

 

[Jim Dandy]

Thumper Forge's The Chaos Apple: Magic & Discordianism for the Postmodern Witch will not only give you information on Discordianism but how to actually apply it in your magical practices. Aside from the Principia itself, I'd consider this your second must-have book on it. Discordianism isn't dead, it's just losing all the poseurs and hangers-on that thought it was the Cool Thing to espouse for a while before moving on to the next Cool Thing.

 

[Frater M.M.]

The Principia feels just as current for today's occult marketplace as it feels retroactively current for Crowley's Victorian world of high society occultism... The mail order initiations, the ancient and authentic lodges in every small township with cut-out application forms in risographed zines, the nonsense reporting of grassroots paranormal journalism that the Principia makes fun of and elevates / preserves through satire may be gone, but the spirit of the marketplace, the enlightened masters claiming ancient and authentic lineages do exist, they just publish on amazon or do twitch and tiktok.

That's a good point. I guess we don't need a single dominant culture for Discordianism to still have something to do today.