Our lady Eris, goddess of discord

Discordianism is a religion based on the worship of Eris (also known as Discordia), the Greco-Roman goddess of chaos. It was founded circa 1958–1959 after the publication of its (first) holy book the Principia Discordia, written by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst after a series of shared hallucinations at a bowling alley.

The religion has been likened to Zen, based on similarities with absurdist interpretations of the Rinzai school. Discordianism is centered on the idea that both order and disorder are illusions imposed on the universe by the human nervous system, and that neither of these illusions of apparent order and disorder are any more accurate or objectively true than the other.

There is some division as to whether it should be regarded as a parody religion, and if so to what degree.^[1] Discordians use subversive humor to spread their philosophy and to prevent their beliefs from becoming dogmatic. It is difficult to estimate the number of Discordians because they are not required to hold Discordianism as their only belief system,^[2] and because there is an encouragement to form schisms and cabals.^[3][4]

Founding[link]

The foundational document of Discordianism is the Principia Discordia, fourth edition, written by Malaclypse the Younger, an alias of Greg Hill. This book contains many references to an earlier source, The Honest Book of Truth (HBT). From the quotations, the HBT seems to be arranged like the Bible, consisting of verses grouped into chapters grouped into books grouped into the HBT itself. The Principia includes a large portion of (or possibly all of) a chapter of "The Book of Explanations" which recounts how the HBT was revealed to Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst.^[5] The tale of the discovery of the HBT contains many similarities to the tale of the discovery of the Book of Mormon, and that Ravenhurst had been a Mormon. It also includes part of the next chapter, telling how the HBT was taken by a garbage collector, who refused to return it.^[6]

Discordianism can be interpreted as a belief that disharmony and chaos are equally valid aspects of reality.^{[citation needed]} The Principia Discordia often hints that Discordianism was founded as a dialectic antithesis to more popular religions based on order, although the rhetoric throughout the book describes chaos as a much more underlying impulse of the universe. This may have been done with the intention of merely "balancing out" the creative forces of order and disorder, but the focus is on the more disorderly aspects of the world — at times the forces of order are even vilified. There are other religions that revere the principles of harmony and order in the Universe.^[7][8]

Organization[link]

The very idea of a Discordian organization is something of a paradox. Nevertheless, some structure is indicated in Principia Discordia. The most general group, presumably including all Discordians (and potentially others), is The Discordian Society, whose definition is “The Discordian Society has no definition”.^[9] Within the society are sects of Discordianism, each under the direction of an “Episkopos” (overseer in Greek.)

Discordians who do not form their own sects, whether they belong to someone else's sect or not, make up the Legion of Dynamic Discord, and may be referred to as Legionnaires. Would-be Discordians are told in the Principia Discordia:

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 Prevails.

—Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Page 00032

POEE[link]

The sect of Discordianism founded by Malaclypse the Younger and Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst is known as the Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric (POEE), a non-prophet irreligious disorganisation, and the Principia Discordia tells about POEE in particular, as well as Discordianism in general.

For example, the Principia contains some details about the structure of POEE. In particular:

POEE has 5 DEGREES:

There is the neophyte, or LEGIONNAIRE DISCIPLE.
The LEGIONNAIRE DEACON, who is catching on.
An Ordained POEE PRIEST/PRIESTESS or a CHAPLAIN.
The HIGH PRIEST, the Polyfather.
And POEE POPE.

POEE LEGIONNAIRE DISCIPLES are authorized to initiate others as Discordian Society Legionnaires. PRIESTS appoint their own DEACONS. The POLYFATHER ordains Priests. I don't know about the POPES.

—Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Page 00022

According to the Principia Discordia, POEE is “a tribe of philosophers, theologians, magicians, scientists, artists, clowns, and similar maniacs who are intrigued by Eris goddess of confusion and her doings.” Furthermore it states that “POEE subscribes to the Law Of Fives of Omar's sect” and “POEE also recognizes the Holy 23.”

Paratheo-Anametamystikhood can be taken to mean "equivalent deity, reversing beyond-mystique". Loosely interpreted, it basically states that "all deities are equivalent, there is no great mystery about that".^{[citation needed]}

Episkopos[link]

Episkoposes are the Overseers of sects of Discordianism, who have presumably created their own sect of Discordianism. They speak to Eris through the use of their pineal gland. It is said in the Principia Discordia that Eris says different things to each listener. She may even say radically different things to each Episkopos but, all of what she says is equally her word (even if it contradicts another iteration of her word).^[10]

Most Episkoposes have an assumed name and/or title of bizarre nature and self-proclaimed 'mystic import', such as Malaclypse the Younger, Omnibenevolent Polyfather of Virginity in Gold; Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst, Bull Goose of Limbo; Professor Mu-Chao; and Kassil the Erratic. Some Discordians choose their entire title by themselves, some turn to random generators, others assimilate things from other people, and a few never really offer any explanation.

Popes[link]

According to the Principia Discordia, “every single man, woman, and child on this Earth” is a pope.^[11] Included in the Principia Discordia is an official Pope card that may be reproduced and distributed freely to anyone and everyone.^[11] Papacy is not granted through possession of this card; it merely informs people that they are “a genuine and authorized Pope” of Discordia.

While the powers of a Pope are not enumerated in the Principia, the card states, “A Pope is someone who is not under the authority of the authorities.” Some Discordians have also taken it upon themselves to further elaborate upon the powers of a Pope. On the back of some Pope cards, the following message can be found:

The rights of a Pope include but are not necessarily limited to:

1. To invoke infallibility at any time, including retroactively.
2. To completely rework the Erisian church.
3. To baptise, marry, and bury (with the permission of the deceased in the latter two cases).
4. To excommunicate, de-excommunicate, re-excommunicate, and de-re-excommunicate (no backsies!) both him-/her-/it-/them-/your-/our-/Him-/Her-/It-/Them-/Your-/Our-self/selves and others (if any).
5. To perform all rites and functions deemed inappropriate for a Pope of Discordia.

The third right (requiring permission from the deceased in cases of burying or marriage, but not baptism) may be a reference to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practice of baptism for the dead, or it may just be a witty conflation of marriage and death.

This understanding of the notion of Pope has far reaching consequences in Discordianism. For example, the introduction to Principia Discordia says, “Only a Pope may canonize a Saint. ... So you can ordain yourself—and anyone or anything else—a Saint.” The last enumerated right of a Pope may be an allusion to the Necessary and Proper Clause.

In most of his public presentations and lectures, Robert Anton Wilson's first gesture when taking the stage would be to declare everyone within the audience to be ordained Discordian Popes.

A female version, with the word Mome substituted for Pope, has also been promulgated.

Philosophy[link]

There are as many interpretations of Discordianism as there are Discordians,^{[citation needed]} centering around the words "Ancient Greeks", "Chaos Worship" and "Anarchism". This is an extremely debatable assertion as to what would define Discordian philosophy as a whole.^{[citation needed]} Indeed, it is a notion directly confronted by the concept of the Eristic Illusion, as mentioned in the following passage, a summary of part of the Discordian philosophy which appears in the Principia Discordia:

Here follows some psycho-metaphysics.

If you are not hot for philosophy, best just to skip it.

The Aneristic Principle is that of apparent order; the Eristic Principle is that of apparent disorder. Both order and disorder are man made concepts and are artificial divisions of pure chaos, which is a level deeper than is the level of distinction making.

With our concept-making apparatus called "the brain" we look at reality through the ideas-about-reality which our cultures give us.

The ideas-about-reality are mistakenly labeled "reality" and unenlightened people are forever perplexed by the fact that other people, especially other cultures, see "reality" differently.

It is only the ideas-about-reality which differ. Real (capital-T) True reality is a level deeper than is the level of concept.

We look at the world through windows on which have been drawn grids (concepts). Different philosophies use different grids. A culture is a group of people with rather similar grids. Through a window we view chaos, and relate it to the points on our grid, and thereby understand it. The order is in the grid. That is the Aneristic Principle.

Western philosophy is traditionally concerned with contrasting one grid with another grid, and amending grids in hopes of finding a perfect one that will account for all reality and will, hence, (say unenlightened westerners) be true. This is illusory; it is what we Erisians call the Aneristic Illusion. Some grids can be more useful than others, some more beautiful than others, some more pleasant than others, etc., but none can be more True than any other.

Disorder is simply unrelated information viewed through some particular grid. But, like "relation", no-relation is a concept. Male, like female, is an idea about sex. To say that male-ness is "absence of female-ness", or vice versa, is a matter of definition and metaphysically arbitrary. The artificial concept of no-relation is the Eristic Principle.

The belief that "order is true" and disorder is false or somehow wrong, is the Aneristic Illusion. To say the same of disorder, is the Eristic Illusion.

The point is that (little-t) truth is a matter of definition relative to the grid one is using at the moment, and that (capital-T) Truth, metaphysical reality, is irrelevant to grids entirely. Pick a grid, and through it some chaos appears ordered and some appears disordered. Pick another grid, and the same chaos will appear differently ordered and disordered.

Reality is the original Rorschach. Verily! So much for all that.

—Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Pages 00049–00050

And this, from the Principia Discordia's very beginning, a Discordian koan:

Greater Poop: Is Eris true?

Malaclypse the Younger: Everything is true.

GP: Even false things?

M2: Even false things are true.

GP: How can that be?

M2: I don't know man, I didn't do it.

Chao[link]

Chao (pronounced "cow") is a neologism for a single unit of chaos. In Discordianism, the chao is a symbol of the 'pataphysical nature of reality. The word is a pun, enabling this quatrain from the Principia Discordia:

To diverse gods do mortals bow; Holy Cow, and Wholly Chao.

Sacred Chao[link]

The Sacred Chao

The Sacred Chao is a symbol used by Discordians to illustrate the interrelatedness of order and disorder. It resembles a Yin-Yang symbol, but according to the Principia Discordia:

The Sacred Chao is not the Yin-Yang of the Taoists. It is the Hodge-Podge of the Erisians. And, instead of a Podge spot on the Hodge side, it has a pentagon which symbolizes the Aneristic Principle, and instead of a Hodge spot on the Podge side, it depicts the Golden Apple of Discordia to symbolize the Eristic Principle. The Sacred Chao symbolizes absolutely everything anyone need ever know about absolutely anything, and more! It even symbolizes everything not worth knowing, depicted by the empty space surrounding the Hodge-Podge.

—Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Page 00049

The choice of the pentagon as a symbol of the Aneristic Principle is partly related to The Pentagon in Virginia near Washington, D.C., partly a nod to the Law of Fives, partially for the Golden Ratio references associated with the pentagon/apple allegory, and wholly for the five-sided pentagon from the "Starbuck's Pebbles" story in the Discordia. The Golden Apple of Discordia is the one from the story of The Original Snub (below).

Law of Fives[link]

The Law of Fives is summarized in the Principia Discordia:

The Law of Fives states simply that: All things happen in fives, or are divisible by or are multiples of five, or are somehow directly or indirectly appropriate to 5. The Law of Fives is never wrong.

—Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Page 00016

Like most of Discordianism, the Law of Fives appears on the surface to be either some sort of weird joke, or bizarre supernaturalism; but under this, it may help clarify the Discordian view of how the human mind works. Lord Omar is quoted later on the same page as having written, "I find the Law of Fives to be more and more manifest the harder I look."

Appendix Beth of Robert Shea's and Robert Anton Wilson's The Illuminatus! Trilogy considers some of the numerology of Discordianism, and the question of what would happen to the Law of Fives if everyone had six fingers on each hand. The authors assert that the real Law of Fives is realizing that everything can be related to the number five if you try hard enough. Sometimes the steps required may be highly convoluted. Incidentally, the number five appears five times within the quote describing the Law of Fives, which is stated in 23 words, and 2 plus 3 is 5.

Another way of looking at the Law of Fives is as a symbol for the observation of reality changing that which is being observed in the observer's mind. Just as how when one looks for fives in reality, one finds them, so will one find conspiracies, ways to determine when the apocalypse will come, and so on and so forth when one decides to look for them. It cannot be proven wrong, because it proves itself reflexively when looked at through this lens.

At its basic level, the Law of Fives is a practical demonstration that perception is intent-sensitive; that is, the perceiver's intentions inform the perception. To whatever extent one considers that perception is identical with reality, then, it has the corollary that reality is intent-sensitive.

The Law of Fives is related to the significance of the number 23 and the 23 Enigma in the Illuminatus!-trilogy, as 2 plus 3 equals 5.

Original Snub[link]

Apple of Discord

The Original Snub is the Discordian name for the events preceding the Judgment of Paris, although more focus is put on the actions of Eris. Zeus believes that Eris is a troublemaker, so he does not invite her to Peleus and Thetis's wedding. This is “The Doctrine of the Original Snub”.^[12]

Having been snubbed, Eris creates a golden apple with the word kallisti (Ancient Greek: καλλίστῃ, to the prettiest one) inscribed in it. This, the Apple of Discord, is a notable symbol in Discordianism for its inclusion in the Holy Chao. The apple is traditionally described as being made of gold,^[13] but the Principia Discordia notes a debate over whether the “gold” described was “metallic gold or Acapulco.” The story also relates that the first thing Eris did after throwing the Apple of Discord into the wedding was to joyously partake of a hot dog (thus "a Discordian is to partake of No Hot Dog Buns").^[12][14]

When the female wedding guests disagree about who the apple is meant for, Zeus decides to leave the decision to Paris of Troy. Aphrodite bribes Paris, leading to the Trojan War, which “is said to be The First War among men.”^[12]

Some recent interpretations of the Original Snub place Eris as being not at all mischievous with her delivery of the apple, but instead suggest that Eris was simply bringing the apple as a wedding present for Thetis. This interpretation would see Eris as innocent and her causing of chaos as a by-product of the other wedding guests' reaction upon seeing her at the wedding.^[15]

Curse of Greyface[link]

One of the most important parts of Discordianism, The Curse of Greyface features prominently on several pages of the Principia Discordia. According to claims made in the Principia, Greyface was a man who lived in the year 1166 BCE and taught that life is serious and play is sin. The curse is the psychological and spiritual imbalance that results from these beliefs, both individually and within groups, nations, and civilizations.

According to the Principia, Greyface existed and had followers who he encouraged to "Look at all the order around you" (Principia Discordia page 00042), and he somehow convinced mankind to agree with his ideas about Serious Order. The Principia notes that it is something of a mystery why Greyface gained so many followers when anyone could have looked at all of the disorder in the world.

Greyface and his followers took the game of playing at life more seriously than they took life itself and were known even to destroy other living beings whose ways of life differed from their own.

—Malaclypse the Younger, Principia Discordia, Page 00042

According to the Principia, by accepting that life is a serious, orderly matter, the followers of Greyface end up viewing things as either orderly or disorderly. In this system, order is preferred to disorder at all costs.

An alternative is to view disorder as preferable at all costs. To quote: "To choose order over disorder, or disorder over order, is to accept a trip composed of both the creative and the destructive. But to choose the creative over the destructive is an all-creative trip composed of both order and disorder" – Malaclypse the Younger, K.S.C.

In addition to the generic advice of cultivating your natural love of chaos and playing with Her, the Principia Discordia provides "The Turkey Curse Revealed by the Apostle Dr. Van Van Mojo" to counteract The Curse of Greyface.^[16] The Turkey Curse is designed to counteract destructive order. It derives its name from the fact that the incantation resembles the sounds of a turkey.

Law of Eristic Escalation[link]

The Principia Discordia contains the Law of Eristic Escalation.^[17] This law states that "Imposition of Order = Escalation of Chaos". It elaborates on this point by saying that the more order is imposed the longer it takes for the chaos to arise and the greater the chaos that arises.^{[citation needed]} The idea is not new; it is mentioned in the Tao Te Ching: "the more laws and orders are written, the more thieves there are".

This can be read as an argument against zero tolerance and hard security, or just a statement about the world and human nature. It can also be seen as a parallel to the second law of thermodynamics which states that entropy (the number of states a given system can occupy) never decreases over time. It is also reminiscent of Newton's Third Law, where every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Incidentally, if you add those Laws together you get the Law of Five, as discussed earlier.

Pentabarf[link]

The Pentabarf is the doctrine of Discordianism.^{[citation needed]} It is as follows:

1. There is no Goddess but Goddess and She is Your Goddess. There is no Movement but The Erisian Movement and it is The Erisian Movement. And every Golden Apple Corps is the beloved home of a Golden Worm.
2. A Discordian Shall Always use the Official Discordian Document Numbering System.
3. A Discordian is required to, the first Friday after his illumination, Go Off Alone & Partake Joyously of a Hot Dog; this Devotive Ceremony to Remonstrate against the popular Paganisms of the Day: of Roman Catholic Christendom (no meat on Friday), of Judaism (no meat of Pork), of Hindic Peoples (no meat of Beef), of Buddhists (no meat of animal), and of Discordians (no Hot Dog Buns).
4. A Discordian shall Partake of No Hot Dog Buns, for Such was the Solace of Our Goddess when She was Confronted with The Original Snub.
5. A Discordian is Prohibited from Believing What he reads.

The Pentabarf is the most fundamental of all Discordian catmas. ("Catma" is a general term for Discordian teachings, sayings, quotations, explanations, jokes and illustrations, as distinguished from Discordian "dogma", which consists of certain specific passages from The Honest Book of Truth, cited in Principia.)

The 5th law mirrors both the nature of Taoist sayings ("the Tao that can be named is not the true Tao")^[18] and Zen koans ("If you meet the Buddha on your path, kill him").^[19] It is also similar to the end of Wittgenstein's Tractatus (where he essentially states that if his thesis is meaningful then it is worthless^[20] the Epimenides paradox ("All Cretans are liars"), and several other paradoxes.

Five tons of Flax[link]

In the Principia Discordia, "Five tons of flax" is given as the answer to the question, "Is there an essential meaning behind POEE?" (This is a reference to a Zen story about "Three pounds of flax".) Discordians have taken "Five tons of flax" as a slogan or as a universal answer to philosophical questions.^{[citation needed]}

In the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, which draws heavily upon Discordianism, "Flaxscrip" is depicted as a genuine form of scrip, serving to avoid the use of government-issued currency.

Pineal gland[link]

"Consult your pineal gland" is a common saying in Discordianism. Although it has never been proven, the pineal gland is believed by some, such as Rick Strassman, to produce trace amounts of DMT (dimethyltryptamine), a psychedelic chemical which is believed to play a role in dreaming and other mystical states.^[21] The pineal gland was also used in Descartes's explanation of Cartesian Dualism as the "seat of the soul" and the connection between the material and immaterial world. In some cases it is referred to as "the atrophied third eye". It has also been suggested that the third eye (Ajna) physically resides at this location between the two hemispheres of the brain.

Discordian calendar[link]

The Discordian or Erisian calendar is an alternative calendar used by some Discordians. It is specified on page 00034 of the Principia Discordia.^[22] The Discordian year 1 YOLD is 1166 BC. Elsewhere in the Principia Discordia, it is mentioned that the Curse of Greyface occurred in 1166 BC, so this is presumably the start-date of the calendar.^[23] As a reference, 2012 AD is 3178 YOLD (Year of Our Lady of Discord). While the abbreviation "YOLD" isn't used in the Principia, and the phrase "Year of Our Lady of Discord" is only mentioned once,^[24] it is a Discordian tradition to use that designation. Most common Linux operating system-distributions have the command ddate to show the current Discordian date.

Discordian-inspired works[link]

• The Illuminatus! Trilogy, speculative fiction novels by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, popularized Discordianism with various quotes and references.
• Discordian texts and scriptures include Principia Discordia, Black Iron Prison, Zen Without Zen Masters, Liber Malorum, Book 5 (The Zenarchist's Cookbook), Zenarchy Unapologia, The Book of the Apocalypso, The Book of Eris, The Book of Inconveniences, The Honest Book of Truth (portions of which are used in Principia Discordia), Jonesboria Discordia, Metaclysmia Discordia, Novus Ordo Discordia, Principia Harmonia, Aeturnus Ille Discordia, The Wise Book of Baloney, The Book of Life, The Book of Chaos and Its Virtue, Chao Te Ching, Summa Discordia, Voices of Chaos, The Book of Chaos, Apocrypha Discordia, Principia Entropius, etc. There is even A Discordian Coloring Book.
• Stephen King's The Dark Tower series mentions Discordia in several contexts; one of the main characters, Mordred Deschain, is from Discordia, and the castle that is home to the main antagonist is called Castle Discordia. There is also a spinoff online game called The Discordia Experience devoted to it.
• The KLF's entire body of work is Discordian both in subject matter and in approach.

See also[link]

• Absurdism
• Church of the SubGenius
• Chaos magic
• Devival
• Epistemological anarchism
• Operation Mindfuck
• Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy
• Subjectivism
• Surrealism
• Emperor Norton
• The Illuminatus! Trilogy
• Robert Anton Wilson
• Zenarchy

References[link]

External links[link]

• PrincipiaDiscordia.com – contains the Principia Discordia in HTML. Also has Discordian message boards and other resources.
• Discordian.com – Chaos with a Clue Thorough Discordian information site.
• Discordianism/Erisianism The history and philosophy of Discordianism and Erisianism.
• The Semi-Official Quasi-Clandestine Bavarian Illuminati/Discordian Archives An archive of early Discordian documents, photos and paraphernalia.
• Discordipedia, an external wiki
• Discordian Calendar Calculator
• HyperDiscordia – hypertext Discordian encyclopedia.
• POEE.org – "The Living Encyclopedia Chaotic" and "The Discordian Society Page"
• Discordian Pope Card – Discordian Pope Card
• Kristin Buxton's Discordianism site – long-standing Web repository of Discordiana
• Discordian Quotes – web site based around "Discordian Quotes"
• Discordian Saints – 1999 archive from Andrew C. Bulhak.
• The Discordian Saints – compiles 4 lists (Andrew Bulhak as anon.; Pope Icky Fundament, PZK; Tonisoa Postatis; Snorri Abrahamsem)
• Discordian Tarot with 'Reading' – the free deck consists of 73 cards, incl. 23 Trumps (also as PDF, 0.7 MB)

Robert Anton Wilson
At the National Theatre, London, for the 10-hour stage version of Illuminatus! in 1977
Born	Robert Edward Wilson (1932-01-18)January 18, 1932 Brooklyn, New York
Died	January 11, 2007(2007-01-11) (aged 74) Capitola, California
Spouse(s)	Arlen Riley Wilson
Influences Aleister Crowley · Buckminster Fuller · George Gurdjieff · James Joyce · Alfred Korzybski · Friedrich Nietzsche · Ezra Pound · Wilhelm Reich · Erwin Schrödinger · Lysander Spooner · Benjamin Tucker · Ludwig Wittgenstein ·

Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson, January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007), known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian^[1] and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized as an episkopos, pope, and saint of Discordianism, Wilson helped publicize the group through his writings, interviews, and strolls.^{[clarification needed]}

Wilson described his work as an "attempt to break down conditioned associations, to look at the world in a new way, with many models recognized as models or maps, and no one model elevated to the truth".^[2] His goal being "to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone but agnosticism about everything" (cf. solipsism, acatalepsia, Pyrrhonism).^[3]

Early life[link]

"Is", "is." "is"—the idiocy of the word haunts me. If it were abolished, human thought might begin to make sense. I don't know what anything "is"; I only know how it seems to me at this moment.

— Robert Anton Wilson, The Historical Illuminatus, as spoken by Sigismundo Celine.

Wilson, born Robert Edward Wilson in Methodist Hospital, in Brooklyn, New York, spent his first years in Flatbush, and moved with his family to Gerritsen Beach around the age of 4 or 5, where they stayed until he turned 13. He suffered from polio as a child, and found generally effective treatment with the Kenny Method (created by Elizabeth Kenny) which the American Medical Association repudiated at that time. Polio's effects remained with Wilson throughout his life, usually manifesting as minor muscle spasms causing him to use a cane occasionally until 2000, when he experienced a major bout with post-polio syndrome that would continue until his death.

Wilson attended Catholic grammar school, most likely the school associated with Gerritsen Beach's Resurrection Church^{[citation needed]}. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School to remove himself from the Catholic influence. While working as an ambulance driver Wilson attended New York University, studying engineering and mathematics.

He worked as an engineering aide, a salesman, a copywriter, and as associate editor of Playboy magazine from 1965 to 1971. Wilson adopted his maternal grandfather's name, Anton, for his writings, at first telling himself that he would save the "Edward" for when he wrote the Great American Novel and later finding that "Robert Anton Wilson" had become an established identity.

In 1979 he received a Ph.D. in psychology from Paideia University in California,^[4] an unaccredited institution that has since closed.^[5][6] Wilson reworked his dissertation, and it found publication in 1983 as Prometheus Rising.

Wilson married freelance writer and poet Arlen Riley in 1958; they had four children. Their youngest daughter Luna—beaten to death in an apparent robbery in the store where she worked in 1976 at the age of 15—became the first person to have her brain preserved by the Bay Area Cryonics Society.^[7] Arlen Riley Wilson died in 1999 following a series of strokes.^[8][9]

[edit] The Illuminatus! Trilogy

Among Wilson's 35 books,^[10] and many other works, perhaps his best-known volumes remain the cult classic series^[11] The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975), co-authored with Robert Shea. Advertised as "a fairy tale for paranoids," the three books--The Eye in the Pyramid, The Golden Apple, and Leviathan, soon offered as a single volume—philosophically and humorously examined, among many other themes, occult and magical symbolism and history, the counterculture of the 1960s, secret societies, data concerning author H.P. Lovecraft and author and occultist Aleister Crowley, and American paranoia about conspiracies and conspiracy theories.

Wilson and Shea derived much of the odder material from letters sent to Playboy magazine while they worked as the editors of the Playboy Forum.^[12] The books mixed true information with imaginative fiction to engage the reader in what Wilson called "guerrilla ontology" which he apparently referred to as "Operation Mindfuck" in Illuminatus! The trilogy also outlined a set of libertarian and anarchist axioms known as Celine's Laws (named after Hagbard Celine, a character in Illuminatus!), concepts Wilson revisited several times in other writings.

Among the many subplots of Illuminatus! one addresses biological warfare and the overriding of the United States Bill of Rights, another gives a detailed account of the John F. Kennedy assassination, in which no fewer than five snipers, all working for different causes, prepared to shoot Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, and the book's climax occurs at a rock concert where the audience collectively face the danger of becoming a mass human sacrifice.

Illuminatus! popularized Discordianism and the use of the term "fnord". It incorporates experimental prose styles influenced by writers such as William S. Burroughs, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound.^[13] Although Shea and Wilson never partnered on such a scale again, Wilson continued to expand upon the themes of the Illuminatus! books throughout his writing career. Most of his later fiction contains cross-over characters from "The Sex Magicians" (Wilson's first novel, written before the release of Illuminatus!, which includes many of his same characters) and The Illuminatus! Trilogy.

Illuminatus! won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award for science fiction in 1986, has many international editions, and found adaptation for the stage when Ken Campbell produced it as a ten-hour epic drama. It also appeared as a Steve Jackson role-playing card game called Illuminati and a trading-card game called Illuminati: New World Order. Eye N Apple Productions and Rip Off Press produced a comic book version of the trilogy.

On the Illuminati[link]

Near the end of his life, Richard Metzger interviewed Robert Anton Wilson and asked him about the Illuminati. His answer was:

Richard Metzger: You have studied the Illuminati for years. Have you come to any conclusion about their aims?

Robert Anton Wilson: Usually when people ask me that question, I give them some kind of a put-on, but I can't think of a good and original put-on that I haven't done several times before. So I'll tell you the truth, for once. After investigating the Illuminati and their critics for the last 30 years, I think the Illuminati was a short lived society of free thinkers and democratic reformers that formed a secret society within Freemasonry, using Freemasonry as a cover so they could plot to overthrow all the kings in Europe and the Pope. I'm very happy that they succeeded in overthrowing all the kings, I just wish that they had completed the job and gotten rid of the Royal family in England too, but they did pretty well on the continent. I'm sorry they haven't finished off the Pope yet, either, but I think they're still working on the project and I wish them luck.

— Disinformation: the interviews. By Richard Metzger.^[14]

[edit] Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy, The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, and Masks of the Illuminati

Wilson wrote two more popular fiction series. The first, a trilogy later published as a single volume, was Schrödinger's Cat. The second, The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, appeared as three books. In-between publishing the two trilogies Wilson released a stand-alone novel, Masks of the Illuminati (1981), which fits into, due to the main character's ancestry, The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles' timeline and, while published earlier, could qualify for the fourth volume in that series.

Schrödinger's Cat consists of three volumes: The Universe Next Door, The Trick Top Hat, and The Homing Pigeons. Wilson set the three books in differing alternative universes, and most of the characters remain almost the same but may have slightly different names and different careers and background stories. The books cover the fields of quantum mechanics and the varied philosophies and explanations that exist within the science. The single volume describes itself as a magical textbook and a type of initiation, and implies that some people have gone slightly insane just by reading it. The single-volume edition omits many entire pages and has many other omissions when compared with the original separate books.

The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, composed of The Earth Will Shake (1982), The Widow's Son (1985), and Nature's God (1991), follows the timelines of several characters through different generations, time periods, and countries. The books cover, among many other topics, the history, legacy, and rituals of the Illuminati and related groups.

Masks of the Illuminati, featuring historical characters in a fictionized setting, contains a great deal of occult data. Intermixing Albert Einstein, James Joyce, Aleister Crowley, Sigmund Freud and others, the book focuses on Pan and other occult icons, ideas, and practices.

Plays and screenplays[link]

A play by Wilson, Wilhelm Reich in Hell (published as a book in 1987 and first performed at the Edmund Burke Theatre in Dublin, in San Francisco, and in Los Angeles) included many factual and fictional characters, including Marilyn Monroe, Uncle Sam, and Wilhelm Reich himself. Wilson also wrote and published as books two screenplays, not yet produced: Reality Is What You Can Get Away With: an Illustrated Screenplay (1992) and The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1997).

[edit] The Cosmic Trigger series and other books

In the nonfiction and partly autobiographical Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (1977) and its two sequels, as well as in many other works, Wilson examined Freemasons, Discordianism, Sufism, the Illuminati, Futurology, Zen Buddhism, Dennis and Terence McKenna, Jack Parsons, the occult practices of Aleister Crowley and G.I. Gurdjieff, Yoga, and many other esoteric or counterculture philosophies, personalities, and occurrences.

Wilson advocated Timothy Leary's eight circuit model of consciousness and neurosomatic/linguistic engineering, which he wrote about in many books including Prometheus Rising (1983, revised 1997) and again in 1990 with Quantum Psychology (which contain practical techniques intended to help one break free of one's "reality tunnels"). With Leary, he helped promote the futurist ideas of space migration, intelligence increase, and life extension, which they combined to form the word symbol SMI²LE.

Wilson's 1986 book, The New Inquisition, argues that whatever reality consists of it actually would seem much weirder than we commonly imagine. It cites, among other sources, Bell's theorem and Alain Aspect's experimental proof of Bell's to suggest that mainstream science has a strong materialist bias, and that in fact modern physics may have already disproved materialist metaphysics.

Wilson also supported the work and utopian theories of Buckminster Fuller and examined the theories of Charles Fort. He and Loren Coleman became friends,^[15] as he did with media theorist Marshall McLuhan and Neuro Linguistic Programming co-founder Richard Bandler, with whom he taught workshops. He also admired James Joyce, and wrote extensive commentaries on the author and on two of Joyce's novels, Finnegans Wake and Ulysses, in his 1988 book Coincidance: A Head Test.^[16]

Although Wilson often lampooned and criticized some New Age beliefs, bookstores specializing in New Age material often sell his books. Wilson, a well-known author in occult and Neo-Pagan circles, used Aleister Crowley as a main character in his 1981 novel Masks of the Illuminati, included some elements of H. P. Lovecraft's work in his novels, and at times claimed to have perceived encounters with magical "entities" (when asked whether these entities seemed "real", he answered they seemed "real enough," although "not as real as the IRS" but "easier to get rid of", and later decided that his experiences may have emerged from "just my right brain hemisphere talking to my left").^[17] He warned against beginners using occult practice, since to rush into such practices and the resulting "energies" they unleash could lead people to "go totally nuts".^[18]

Wilson also criticized scientific types with overly rigid belief systems, equating them with religious fundamentalists in their fanaticism. In a 1988 interview, when asked about his newly-published book The New Inquisition: Irrational Rationalism and the Citadel of Science, Wilson commented: "I coined the term irrational rationalism because those people claim to be rationalists, but they're governed by such a heavy body of taboos. They're so fearful, and so hostile, and so narrow, and frightened, and uptight and dogmatic... I wrote this book because I got tired satirizing fundamentalist Christianity... I decided to satirize fundamentalist materialism for a change, because the two are equally comical... The materialist fundamentalists are funnier than the Christian fundamentalists, because they think they're rational! ...They're never skeptical about anything except the things they have a prejudice against. None of them ever says anything skeptical about the AMA, or about anything in establishment science or any entrenched dogma. They're only skeptical about new ideas that frighten them. They're actually dogmatically committed to what they were taught when they were in college..."^[19]

Probability reliance[link]

In a 2003 interview with High Times magazine, Wilson described himself as "model-agnostic" which he said "consists of never regarding any model or map of the universe with total 100% belief or total 100% denial. Following Korzybski, I put things in probabilities, not absolutes... My only originality lies in applying this zetetic attitude outside the hardest of the hard sciences, physics, to softer sciences and then to non-sciences like politics, ideology, jury verdicts and, of course, conspiracy theory".^[20]

Wilson claimed in Cosmic Trigger: Volume 1 "not to believe anything", since "belief is the death of intelligence".^[21] He described this approach as "Maybe Logic."

Wilson wrote about this and other topics in articles for the cyberpunk magazine Mondo 2000.^[22]

Economic thought[link]

Robert Anton Wilson favored a form of Basic Income Guarantee; synthesizing several ideas under the acronym RICH. His ideas are set forth in the essay "The RICH Economy" found in The Illuminati Papers.^[23]

Other activities[link]

Robert Anton Wilson and his wife Arlen Riley Wilson founded the Institute for the Study of the Human Future in 1975.

From 1982 until his death, Wilson had a business relationship with the Association for Consciousness Exploration, which hosted his first on-stage dialogue with his long-time friend Timothy Leary.^[24] entitled The Inner Frontier.^[25][26][27] Wilson dedicated his book The New Inquisition to A.C.E.'s co-directors, Jeff Rosenbaum and Joseph Rothenberg.

Wilson speaking at the Phenomicon

Wilson also joined the Church of the SubGenius, who referred to him as Pope Bob.^[28] He contributed to their literature, including the book Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob", and shared a stage with their founder, Rev. Ivan Stang, on several occasions. Wilson also founded the Guns and Dope Party^[29] and its corresponding Burning Man theme camp.^{[citation needed]}

As a member of the Board of Advisors of the Fully Informed Jury Association, Wilson worked to inform the public about jury nullification, the right of jurors to nullify a law they deem unjust.^[30] He supported and wrote about E-Prime, a form of English lacking all "be" verbs (words such as "is", "are", "was", "were" etc.), and preferred the term "maybe logic".^[31]

A decades-long researcher into drugs and a strong opponent of what he called "the war on some drugs", Wilson participated as a Special Guest in the week-long 1999 Annual Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam,^[32] and used and often promoted the use of medical marijuana.^[33]

Wilson co-founded and became the primary instructor of the Maybe Logic Academy, named for his agnostic approach to all knowledge. Fellow instructors include Patricia Monaghan, Rev. Ivan Stang, Philip H. Farber, Antero Alli, Peter J. Carroll, Starhawk, R. U. Sirius, Douglas Rushkoff, Erik Davis, Lon Milo Duquette, and David Jay Brown.

Death[link]

On June 22, 2006, Huffington Post blogger Paul Krassner reported that Robert Anton Wilson was under hospice care at home with friends and family.^[34] On October 2, 2006 Douglas Rushkoff reported that Wilson was in severe financial trouble.^[35] Slashdot, Boing Boing, and the Church of the SubGenius also picked up on the story, linking to Rushkoff's appeal.^[36][37] As his webpage reported on October 10, these efforts succeeded beyond expectation and raised a sum which would have supported him for at least six months. Obviously touched by the great outpouring of support, on October 5, 2006, Wilson left the following comment on his personal website, expressing his gratitude:

Dear Friends, my God, what can I say. I am dumbfounded, flabbergasted, and totally stunned by the charity and compassion that has poured in here the last three days.

To steal from Jack Benny, "I do not deserve this, but I also have severe leg problems and I don't deserve them either."

Because he was a kind man as well as a funny one, Benny was beloved. I find it hard to believe that I am equally beloved and especially that I deserve such love.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, know that my love is with you.

You have all reminded me that despite George W. Bush and all his cohorts, there is still a lot of beautiful kindness in the world.

Blessings,

Robert Anton Wilson

—^[38]

On January 6, Wilson wrote on his blog that according to several medical authorities, he would likely only have between two days and two months left to live.^[39] He closed this message with "I look forward without dogmatic optimism but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying. Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take death seriously. It seems absurd." He died peacefully five days later, on January 11 at 4:50 a.m. Pacific time.^[40] After his cremation on January 18, and his family-held memorial service on February 18, 2007, his family scattered most of his ashes at the same spot as his wife's - off the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California.^[41][42]

A tribute show to Wilson, organized by Coldcut and Mixmaster Morris and performed in London as a part of the "Ether 07 Festival" held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on March 18, 2007, also included Ken Campbell, Bill Drummond and Alan Moore.^[43]

Works[link]

Bibliography[link]

Fiction[link]

• The Sex Magicians (1973)
• The Illuminatus! Trilogy (1975) (with Robert Shea)
  • The Eye in the Pyramid
  • The Golden Apple
  • Leviathan
• Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy (1979–1981)
  • The Universe Next Door
  • The Trick Top Hat
  • The Homing Pigeons
• Masks of the Illuminati (1981)
• The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles
  • The Earth Will Shake (1982)
  • The Widow's Son (1985)
  • Nature's God (1988)

Autobiographical and philosophical trilogy[link]

• Cosmic Trigger Trilogy
  • Cosmic Trigger I: The Final Secret of the Illuminati (1977)
  • Cosmic Trigger II: Down to Earth (1992)
  • Cosmic Trigger III: My Life After Death (1995)

Plays and screenplays[link]

• Wilhelm Reich in Hell (1987)
• Reality Is What You Can Get Away With (1992; revised edition—new introduction added—1996)
• The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1997)

Non-fiction[link]

• Playboy's Book of Forbidden Words (1972)
• Sex and Drugs: A Journey Beyond Limits (1973)
• The Book of the Breast (1974)
• Neuropolitics (1978) (with Timothy Leary and George Koopman)
• The Game of Life (1979) (with Timothy Leary)
• Prometheus Rising (1983)

• The New Inquisition (1986)
• Natural Law, or Don't Put a Rubber on Your Willy (1987)

• Neuropolitique (1988) (with Timothy Leary & George Koopman) revision of Neuropolitics
• Sex, Drugs and Magick: A Journey Beyond Limits (1988) revision, with new introduction, of Sex and Drugs: A Journey Beyond Limits
• Ishtar Rising (1989) revision of The Book of the Breast
• Quantum Psychology (1990)
• Everything Is Under Control: Conspiracies, Cults and Cover-ups (1998) (with Miriam Joan Hill)
• TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution (2002)

Essay collections[link]

• Email to the universe and other alterations of consciousness (2005) collection of essays and new material
• Coincidance: A Head Test (1988) essays and new material
• The Illuminati Papers (1980) collection of essays and new material
• Right Where You Are Sitting Now (1983) collection of essays and new material

Editor[link]

• Semiotext(e) SF (1989) (anthology, editor, with Rudy Rucker and Peter Lamborn Wilson)
• Chaos and Beyond (1994) (editor and primary author)

Discography[link]

• A Meeting with Robert Anton Wilson (ACE) cassette
• Religion for the Hell of It (ACE) cassette
• H.O.M.E.s on LaGrange (ACE) cassette
• The New Inquisition (ACE) cassette
• The H.E.A.D. Revolution (ACE) cassette and CD
• Prometheus Rising (ACE) cassette
• The Inner Frontier (with Timothy Leary) (ACE) cassette
• The Magickal Movement: Present & Future (with Margot Adler, Isaac Bonewits & Selena Fox) (ACE) Panel Discussion - cassette
• Magick Changing the World, the World Changing Magick (ACE) Panel Discussion - cassette
• The Self in Transformation (ACE) Panel Discussion - cassette
• The Once & Future Legend (with Ivan Stang, Robert Shea and others) (ACE) Panel Discussion - cassette
• What IS the Conspiracy, Anyway? (ACE) Panel Discussion - cassette
• The Chocolate-Biscuit Conspiracy album with The Golden Horde (1984)
• Twelve Eggs in a Basket CD
• Robert Anton Wilson On Finnegans Wake and Joseph Campbell (interview by Faustin Bray and Brian Wallace) (1988) 2 CD Set Sound Photosynthesis
• Acceleration of Knowledge (1991) cassette
• Secrets of Power comedy cassette
• Robert Anton Wilson Explains Everything: or Old Bob Exposes His Ignorance (July 30, 2005) Sounds True ISBN 1-59179-375-0, ISBN 978-1-59179-375-5

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

• Túneis da Realidade, Os (a.k.a. Who Is the Master Who Makes the Grass Green?) (1996) Edgar Pêra (Portugal)
• Manual de Evasão (September 16, 1994) Edgar Pêra (Portugal)

Writer[link]

• Wilhelm Reich in Hell (2005) (Video) Deepleaf Productions

Himself[link]

• Children of the Revolution: Tune Back In (2005) Revolutionary Child Productions
• The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick (2001) TKO Productions
• 23 (1998) (23 - Nichts ist so wie es scheint) Claussen & Wöbke Filmproduktion GmbH (Germany)
• Arise! The SubGenius Video (1992) (V) (a.k.a. Arise! SubGenius Recruitment Film #16) The SubGenius Foundation (USA)
• Borders (1989) Co-Directions Inc. (TV documentary)
• Fear In The Night: Demons, Incest and UFOs (1993) Video - Trajectories
• Twelve Eggs in a Box: Myth, Ritual and the Jury System (1994) Video - Trajectories
• Everything Is Under Control: Robert Anton Wilson in Interview (1998) Video - Trajectories

Documentary[link]

• Maybe Logic: The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson, a documentary featuring selections from over 25 years of Wilson footage, released on DVD in North America on May 30, 2006.^[44]

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]