
KULTCHA #20


          Part Two:  THE ROOTS OF REVOLUTIONARY VANDALISM


   "As for Kerista, that group espoused spontaneity, community, eroticism,
and liberty. Omar wrote that the aims of Kerista and Paganism, in general,
were strongly opposed to dogma and creed: 'Kerista is a religion and the
mood of Kerista is one of holiness. Do not, however, look for a profusion of
rituals, dogmas, doctrines and scriptures. Kerista is too sacred for that. It
is more akin to the religions of the East and, also, the so-called pagan
religions of the pre-Christian West. Its fount of being is the religious
experience and that action or word or though which is not infused with
ecstasy is not Kerista. And Kerista, like those religions of olden times, is
life-affirming.'

   "Kerista disappeared and Young Omar became involved with the vagaries
and intricacies of the Lady Eris, but he was perhaps the first person, at
least in the United States, to use the word Pagan to describe past and
present nature religions. Some have actually alleged that the entire
Neo-Pagan movement is an Erisian Plot (see next chapter and Robert Anton
Wilson and Robert Shea's ILLUMINATUS) .... " (pp. 276-77)

   "In a way, it's ridiculous to even talk seriously about the Erisians, a
group, or collection of groups, that has called itself a 'Non-prophet
Irreligious Disorganization' that is 'dedicated to an advanced
understanding of the para-physical manifestation of  Everyday Chaos,' and
at other times has stated, 'The Erisian revelation is not a complicated
put-on disguised as a new religion, but a new religion disguised as a
complicated put-on.'

   "The Discordian Society was founded (if one can call it that) in 1957 (or
1958 -- even this primary confusion has never been cleared up) by Greg
Hill (Malaclypse the Younger) and Kerry Thornley (Omar Ravenhurst) ....
Omar Ravenhurst went on to form his own Erisian organization, the Erisian
Liberation Front (ELF) ...." (pp. 304-5)

   Other Erisian cabals formed. At one point there were rumored to be more
than twenty, although some may have had a membership of only one. Since
radical decentralization is a Discordian principle, it is impossible to know
how many Discordians there were and are, or what they are doing. Most of
these cabals engaged in various nonviolent, absurdist, revolutionary,
magical and surrealist endeavors. A number of these 'actions' were done
under the name of the supposed 'Bavarian Illuminati,' a rather mysterious
organization founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776. The Erisian 'Illuminati'
have mostly been the inspirations of someone known as Thomas the
Gnostic. Similar actions were initiated by ELF. Omar Ravenhurst, for
example, invented a Do-It-Yourself Conspiracy Kit, complete with
assortments of stationery bearing dubious letterheads....

   "'Eris is an authentic goddess. Furthermore, she is an old one. In the
beginning I was myself as Malaclypse the Younger. But if you do this type
of thing well enough, it starts to work'.... I asked Malaclypse, 'What's Omar
Ravenhurst doing these days?' He said, 'Ravenhurst has recently been in a
state of extreme discord. We were talking about Eris and confusion and he
said, "You know, if I had realized that all of this was going to come TRUE, I
would have chosen Venus."!" -- Margot Adler, DRAWING DOWN THE MOON (pp.
308-312)



c 1986 Kerry W. Thornley
Available from :
Illumi-Net
(404) 377-1141
