Seitenleiste
Principia Discordia includes some of the more well known rituals. One practice that may be of interest to magical operators is the use of laughter in banishing.
In terms of conduct, Discordians adhere to the Chaoist idea that 'nothing is true and everything is permissible.' It sounds like a blanket endorsement for any sort of behavior. Even so, it is said that some religions preach love, compassion, law, and forgiveness but result in hatred, disorder and destruction. Discordianism preaches chaos, confusion, and disorder, and results in love, creativity, freedom, and laughter. The reason why an ethic of 'everything is permissible' works within Discordianism is the ultimate respect given to the individual to work out their own approach to Eris. We do not believe in manipulating people or even trying to control their expressions, even if they disagree with us. And this idea comes from the idea that we are all free right now. If this sounds like anarchy, you may be right. . . maybe.
Ways of Worship/Ritual
Laughter and paradox are essential in worshiping Eris. One of the ways we worship Eris is by engaging in 'guerrilla mind' tricks - making paradoxical flyers to distribute, posting esoterica in unlikely places, counter-evangelism, surrealist pranking, ontological trickery, giving absurd rewards to distinguished individuals, etc. We believe that such things are essential to someone on any honest spiritual path. Laughter opens minds more than anything else can. Laughter is also one of the best ways to worship. Why wouldn't your Goddesses/Gods wish to see you having a rip-roaring good time?
Another way we worship Her is to design our own rituals, on the fly - and they had better be good rituals, Eris help us - in which we mimic or parody other more 'serious' traditions. Due to the nature of Discordianism, the rituals are at the whim of the moment. Often, no two rituals are the same. What the rituals lack in continuity, they make up for in creativity, and usually, though not always; cabals will have organically developed sets of rituals which fit the participants and Eris just fine.
The magical tools we use in rituals more often depend upon the idiosyncrasies of the episkopos than on any tradition. Sacred forks may replace athames for circle casting. Five quarters may be called instead of four. For divination, we may use TV screens to scry as readily as black plates or crystal balls. For incense we may burn clove cigarettes. Sometimes we cast no circles and at other times we may cast differently shaped sacred spots. If this appears silly, that is the main point. Another point is that people should learn to work rituals with any or no tools. Discordian ritual and worship is really about incorporating everything around you and being always ready to so.
Holidays
This is probably the easiest aspect of Discordianism to describe as it is pretty much clear for Discordians even if they seemingly argue over its importance. All religious traditions have their own set calendars and Discordianism is no exception.
The year is broken down into five seasons named after the five stages, each one having a patron from the legendary five Erisian Apostles from history - Chaos, Discord, Confusion, Bureaucracy, and the Aftermath - of 73 days each. The patrons are Hung Mung, Dr. Van Van Mojo, Sri Sayadasti, Zarathud, and the Elder Malaclypse. There are five-day weeks in which the days are named thus: Sweetmorn, Boomtime, Pungenday, Prickle-Prickle, and Setting Orange. Both the seasons and the five-day weeks are in keeping with the law of fives that Discordians favor. The five Discordian elements are sweet, boom, pungent, prickle, and orange. The fives also stand for the five elements (four plus spirit) so common in other Neo-Pagan traditions. If you notice, the weekday names each reference a particular physical sense and Discordians tend to meditate on the particular sense that the name refers to. It can be said that the Discordian calendar is the easiest yet most profound thing for outsiders to grasp.
