Culture Jamming & Discordianism

If you're at the CCC, you probably have some idea of what Discordianism is about. This presentation will show the rich cultural web of influences on Discordianism and show where it seems to be heading in the future.

For those not in the know, Discordianism is something between a joke and a religion. Founded by a couple of beatniks about fifty years ago, Discordianism venerates the ancient Greek goddess of chaos, Eris, and her Roman counterpart Discordia. Robert Anton Wilson popularized Discordianism with his Illuminatus! Trilogy and Schroedinger's Cat Trilogy.

Culturally, Discordianism often winds up being the religion of the surrealists and reality hackers, poking fun at the solemnity of others as they seek to connect with the divine. Still, many people are devout esoteric Discordians (for all that seems to be a contradiction), and this presentation hopes to show some of Discordianism's influences and history. Before we're done, we'll take a look at where Discordianism is today, and where it seems to be headed in the future.

It is important to start at the begining, so we'll look to the Surrealists and Dadaists to get an idea of some of Discordianism's earliest influences. Satire has always been a part of society, but the Surrealists and Dadaists took it to a new level by learning to live in satire and social commentary.

Bricolage and pastiche define a sort of social collage-making, where diverse ideas are patched together to form something new and often critical of the original. Discordianism relates to many of the new illegal art movements by doing the same thing with religion. We'll cover billboard liberation, mashups, and other forms of illegal art as related movements.

Prankster movements have had a sort of infinite loop of influence on Discordianism. We'll talk about prankster movements from the Situationists to the Cacophony Society and glamourbombing.

Discordianism needs all of these influences to remain whole and healthy as our ideological parents die off and we ourselves must replace them. Discordian.com strives to create Discordianism as a rich subcultural untradition where everyone consults their pineal glands. We'll talk about the current state of Discordianism in the world, from events such as KallistiCon and the Free Spirit Gathering to online fora and meeting places for Discordians. These days, Discordianism is taking its influences from both art and the esoteric, moving into a quasi-magical paradigm where reality hacking can happen just as much with a couple of candles and incantations as it can with a computer.