The Principia Discordia is a sacred scripture/parody of the Discordian religion. It was written by Greg Hill (Malaclypse The Younger) and Kerry Thornley (Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst). It is quoted extensively in and shares many themes with The Illuminatus Trilogy. Both books use over-the-top, sometimes koan-like humor as a vehicle for countercultural iconclasm.

The work describes the Discordian Society and its Goddess Eris, as well as the basics of the POEE denomination of Discordianism. It features typewritten and handwritten text intermixed with clipart, stamps, and seals taken (possibly illegally) from other sources. The work is characterized by nonsense and numerous non sequiturs.

While the Principia is full of obvious self-contradictions and strange humor, it contains several passages that suggest a serious intent behind the work, especially a message scrawled on page 00075: "If you think the PRINCIPIA is just a ha-ha, then go read it again."

Printing History

The full title of the fourth and most popular edition is PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her: The Magnum Opiate Of Malaclypse The Younger, Wherein is Explained Absolutely Everything Worth Knowing About Absolutely Anything. Included on page 00075 is the following note about the history of the Principia:

"This being the 4th Edition, March 1970, San Francisco; a revision of the 3rd Edition of 500 copies, whomped together in Tampa 1969; which revised the 2nd Edition of 100 copies from Los Angeles 1969; which was a revision of PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or HOW THE WEST WAS LOST published in New Orleans in 1965 in five copies, which were mostly lost."

A "Fifth Edition" consisting of a single Western Union telegram page filled with the letter M was published as an appendix to one of the re-printings of the 4th Edition.

The Fourth Edition has been reprinted many times by multiple publishers:

• Loompanics Unlimited published a version (the "yellow version") in 1979, adding an introduction by Robert Anton Wilson, an afterword by Malaclypse the Younger, and the aforementioned "Fifth Edition".
• Illuminet Press published a version (the "purple version") in 1991, adding an introduction by Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst.
• Steve Jackson Games published a version (the "black version") in 1994, adding 20 pages of new Discordian text, mostly collected from online Discordians.

Quotes

• Fliegende Kinderscheisse! (Flying Baby Shit!) - The POEE Mysteree Oath
• Five tons of flax!
• Remember: King Kong died for your sins!

The following is page 00019 of the Principia Discordia, showing the typical elements that can be found throughout the book.

Heute die Welt, morgen das Sonnensystem - (Today the world, tomorrow the solar system [is what we seek to dominate]) - is a supposed motto of the Illuminati.

See Also

• Apocrypha Discordia

External links

The Principia Discordia is widely available on the Web from these and other sources:

• Page scans of the Fourth Edition. fnord.org
• HTML, individual pages layout. Minimal graphics. principiadiscordia.com
• HTML, text on a single page, almost no graphics. No page separations. ology.org
• HTML, creative formatting. Lots of graphics. junkpile.demon.co.uk
• Text, selection of excerpts deemed important. Wikisource
• ZIP file of page scans of the Third Edition 23ae.com
• http://evilloop.com/principia.discordia.html - Traduction française du Principia Discordia - http://evilloop.com/principia.discordia.exe - Projecteur flash avec images et mise en page de l'original