{"id":81641,"date":"2024-04-29T22:15:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T03:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindseyemag.com\/magazine\/?p=81641"},"modified":"2024-04-29T22:15:18","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T03:15:18","slug":"principia-discordia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindseyemag.com\/magazine\/principia-discordia\/","title":{"rendered":"Principia Discordia"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Principia Discordia<\/b><\/i>\u00a0is the first published\u00a0Discordian<\/a>\u00a0religious text<\/a>. It was written by Greg Hill (Malaclypse the Younger<\/a>) with\u00a0Kerry Wendell Thornley<\/a>\u00a0(Lord\u00a0Omar Khayyam<\/a>\u00a0Ravenhurst) and others.[1]<\/a><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The first edition was printed using\u00a0Jim Garrison<\/a>‘s\u00a0Xerox<\/a>\u00a0printer in 1963.[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The second edition was published under the title\u00a0Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost<\/b><\/i>\u00a0in a limited edition of five copies in 1965.[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The phrase\u00a0Principia Discordia<\/i>, reminiscent of\u00a0Isaac Newton<\/a>‘s 1687\u00a0Principia Mathematica<\/a><\/i>, is presumably intended to mean\u00a0Discordant Principles<\/i>, or\u00a0Principles of Discordance<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Principia<\/i>\u00a0describes the Discordian Society and its Goddess\u00a0Eris<\/a>, as well as the basics of the\u00a0POEE<\/a>\u00a0denomination<\/a>\u00a0of Discordianism. It features typewritten and handwritten text intermixed with\u00a0clip art<\/a>, stamps, and seals appropriated from other sources.[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0It is quoted extensively in and forms the basis for several themes within the satirical 1975\u00a0science fiction<\/a>\u00a0book\u00a0The Illuminatus! Trilogy<\/a><\/i>\u00a0by\u00a0Robert Shea<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Robert Anton Wilson<\/a>.[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Notable symbols in the book include the\u00a0Apple of Discord<\/a>, the\u00a0pentagon<\/a>, and the “Sacred Chao”, which resembles the\u00a0Taijitu<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Taoism<\/a>, but the two principles depicted are “Hodge” and “Podge” rather than\u00a0yin and yang<\/a>, and they are represented by the apple and the pentagon, and not by dots. Saints identified include\u00a0Emperor Norton<\/a>,\u00a0Yossarian<\/a>,\u00a0Don Quixote<\/a>, and\u00a0Bokonon<\/a>. The\u00a0Principia<\/i>\u00a0also introduces the mysterious word “fnord<\/a>“, later popularized in\u00a0The Illuminatus! Trilogy<\/i>; the trilogy itself is mentioned in the afterword to the\u00a0Loompanics<\/a>\u00a0edition, and in the various introductions to the fifth editions.<\/p>\n

–Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n