An Epistle to Them that got Ears.

[LMNO]

Brothers and Sisters,

It has been years (months, weeks, days) since Our Goddess Eris first blessed me with her holy spirit; even longer since I first learned my habits of the Natural Philosopher (whatever that means).  Such that the two entwine, I hasten to add my eternal doubt that either of the two shall meet; or that they even exist; or that, existing, they are of separate natures.

A conflict has arisen, my brethren, and so it is with heavy heart I abandon my meaningful pursuits into the nature of the 5-7-5 form, and the benefits of pie (pi-po-phi-pho), and address you as a man of the (tattered) cloth.  

Of late, my pineal gland has remained silent.  This has been borne out by the stirring of the other bodily humors that pervade my corporal form.  In an attempt to revive said awakenings, it can be plainly obvious that the snake of Kundalini has been awoken in my base charkas (known fully well by the Scorpios in our midst), and has reared its hooded head to advance along my spine.  I tell you now, sisters and brothers, the forked tongue of Qetzlquatl has teased the seat of Eris, and I may begin the epistle I bring to you.  That, and I,Äôm pretty sure the open bottle of wine sitting next to me has something to do with it.

It has been written in the false books (for all books are false; for they are made of words, which imply the arbitrary aspect of linearity and of single-mindedness) that there existed in the 23rd revolution, a Legion of Dynamic Discord, and an Erisian Liberation Front.  These groups existed in the minds of those who never existed, and they live in my mind now.  The delineations are random, fluid, and arbitrary,Äîlike most things, they exist in the mind of the operator, and that operator is me.  Suffice to say, these groups do not exist.  And yet, if not in name, they exist in mutating categories residing within my mind, hastening judgment without more exacting deliberations: which make them a possible liability and hazard, if I trust in them too much.  So I better not.  But I have to say, they do help when writing Epistles.

The LDD, as it was (falsely) written, tended toward the chaos of the everyday,Äîthat is, the inhibiting force that was the body politik, the social order that imposed arbitrary rules through the barrel of a gun,Äîthis was their enemy, a solid, if shifting, body of authority figures that stood in the way of the student of Eris and Hir maxims.  To this end the LDD worked inside the common reality (perceived) to bring about chaos, usually violent chaos, with the hopes of liberating those who never knew they were trapped inside the chains of Social Order, and further liberating themselves, who saw the chains first-hand, in the restrictions of their liberty and their rights as sentient beings, capable of their own destiny.

Their mirror were the ELF: mystics, dreamers, and philosophers, who traveled the path inwards, finding barriers within their own minds and souls, encountering impediments of thought, of convenience, of habit,Ķ their path was strewn with seemingly impossible obstacles, for how can one do battle with their own minds, who was seemingly both attacker and defender?  But they found that, for them, the chains were self-imposed, the rigors and rules of social order were impregnated upon their waking selves by their sleeping selves (in the Gurdjieff sense of sleep).  To the ELF, the Social order was an outside occurrence; they had adopted the TAZ (Temporary Autonomous Zone per Hakim Bey) as a mobile system that can surround the individual and enable an individual to nominally live above social games; and then, in the instances where spheres collide, adopt the meta-awareness state of non-emotional-involvement.  For when economics becomes a game of paper tickets, why should bio-survival become involved?

Such is the perceived divide between these two camps of Eris that conflict would inevitably arise.  Even in the False (falsely called) books, Hagbard and the Dealy Lama argued about their roles in the war of (possible) apocalypse.  The LDD looks at the ELF and wonders:  ,ÄúHow can such proselytizers of the faith be so placid about the happenings of our society?  I stab you!,Äù  The ELF turns to the LDD and says, ,ÄúHow can you be so concerned?  Have a cookie.,Äù

The LDD thinks globally; The ELF acts locally.  For one,Äôs immediate surroundings are far more malleable than the intangibles of human consciousness and the Machiavellian fantasias of the Global Body Politik (or even the National Body Politik).  Wouldn,Äôt one rather live in a well-constructed TAZ, a stronghold of independence with which to gradually influence the otherkind, than live in a constant struggle against impersonal forces which are ,Äújust following orders,Äù, and use violence and oppression to suppress, with the individual living a day-to-day battle to strike a blow to the heart of a perceived ,Äúempire,Äù, that does not even exist in any physical sense?

To be true; the ELF needs the LDD to ground them in the realities of the physical world.  As a non-prophet said, ,ÄúI can debate about the existence of that chair, but you can hit me over the head with it.,Äù  Most Homo Sapiens cannot easily conceive of the semantic nature of their minds when they have no food, clothes, education, sleep; but it seems that many of the LDD seem to be fighting perceived inaction wherever they find it, and not allowing the mental, philosophical, and spiritual element of revolution to be planted through subversive and occult (in its original meaning) means.

In the same vein, one may say that the ELF is shutting out the temporal needs of revolution; that spreading a concept is best served with a physical demonstration of said concept.  Many of the domesticated apes on this planet seem to be unable to adopt new methods of viewing the world without drastic shocks to the nervous system.  But once there, and the mind opens, philosophic ideas are allowed a two-way gate in and out.

The conflicts I have seen of late have been distressing, not just because abstract concepts of people I have come to regard as real have been offended, but because once again, the ELF and the LDD have come to blows, albeit virtual.  As the unelected and nonofficial, not to mention completely arrogant and self-serving attention whore of the entirely fictional and unreal ELF (which does not exist), I would like to extend my hand to the equally unreal head of the LDD, (who also does not exist) and begin some unreal form of cooperation, blending the physical and the esoteric, to bring about the true OM of the populous.

But now, the bottle is empty, and the arms of mother night call me.  In the mornin, I may not post this,Ķ. Ah, who am I kidding?  I spent all this time writing the damn thing.

[B_M_W]

Somehow I wish ELF was real; sounds very esoteric.

[LMNO]

There is no ELF anywhere.

There is no not-ELF everywhere.

[B_M_W]

*Blows one note on flute, bows, and leaves*

[East Coast Hustle]

are you talkin' to me?

are you talking to ME?!?

seriously though...

first of all, I commend you on your well-written and well-thought out post. And I hope that you know that when I make generalizations such as "all you fakes" or "you so-called discordians", you are NOT one of those I am addressing. I have as much respect for you as I can have for someone who I know only as a collection of pixels. But there's a problem. While those of you who could be termed "ELF" have the cerebral bent and philosophical wherewithal to offer olive branches and entertain thoughts of a united discordia exerting its influence on the sleeping masses, those of us who could betermed "LDD" are of the opinion that the time for words and philosophies has long passed. We have come to believe that humanity has proven over and over again that the only way anyone listens to anything is through force. While there are those who would posit that humanity is not deserving of our efforts, that the experiment has failed and those of us who have awakened to some tiny degree should abandon our sleeping brethren and fend for ourselves, I can not be counted among them. Humanity may be blind, it may be ignorant, it may, in fact, have failed, but I do not believe it is beyond redemption. I prefer to view humanity as a whole, as a mega-organism, and as such, how can I, as one of the cells, in good conscience abandon the rest of the body to die? Would I not be signing my own death warrant as well? Certainly in the spiritual sense, if not necessarily in the physical. No, I view the struggle as analogous to fighting a cancer. the dominant paradigm is a rapidly metastasizing tumor, and we, those you call the LDD, are the intensive chemotherapy. Though the use of force and violence may kill many of those we would save, it may also kill the cancer that spreads through our species, and thereby leave us the ability to recover and become stronger than ever before. So I say to you that while I will NOT stop fanning the flames of discontent, still I believe that we work towards a common goal. It has come to be my belief that the comingling of our different paths would likely have the effect of diluting and weakening both of our "movements". I fell that we both serve our intended purpose better in our autonomy, and that while we should always be willing to share not only ideas, but passions, laughter, and the sense that what we are doing is right, we do so separated by our ideals in order that we may be more effective in bringing about the change we both so greatly desire.

[LMNO]

::


Last one to reach enlightenment is a rotten egg!


::scampers towards the light::


Damn, man, when are you gonna get your computer fixed?  The NSRA [edit: There is no NSRA anywhere] is drifting apart...

...um, together...

...whichever is the bad one for Discordian disorganizations...

[Cain]

Both.  But screw that.  Ive finally worked out where all the Uni and town council CCTV cameras are.  Which means later tonight Im on totse.com to make a shopping list and tomorrow Im off to get supplies.  You want Discord?  Then you'll damn well get it!

[LMNO]

Have I posted the link to Security Camera Theatre?

[Cain]

Have I posted the link to Security Camera Theatre?

You have, and I enjoyed and performed some Gilbert and Sullivan with my girlfriend beneath them (as she was taking part in a prodcution and because I am twisted).  However, I now need a laser pen/thing so I can stop them from working.

[LMNO]

Don't forget your disguise while you do this...

[Hoshiko]

Ah, interesting point bastard. And perhaps applicable when it comes to joining together movements.

But I'm still not convinced that both aspects aren't necessary for change. A person who follows one path blindly is less suited to the flexibility and personal leadership that real change demands. They stumble. But someone who possesses both aspects, while perhaps not perfect, is at least well-rounded and possesses the ability to see the full spectrum, inside and out, and not just their own little corner of discord.

Which is assuming that change can happen. That's a big assumption in my view, given how slow people's base natures seem to be evolving and changing.

[East Coast Hustle]

Scribe, you make me so proud...

[Cain]

Don't forget your disguise while you do this...

Black clothing?  Check.  Witnesses who will swear I was in a certain set of rooms on the other side of town all day?  Check.  Cash instead of cards to buy supplies? Check.  I love planning....

[LMNO]

You know what the most frightening part of Turds reply was?

I have as much respect for you as I can have for someone who I know only as a collection of pixels.

I've gained someone's respect.  How will I ever be able to look at myself in the mirror again?

[Eldora, Oracle of Alchemy]

You know what the most frightening part of Turds reply was?

I have as much respect for you as I can have for someone who I know only as a collection of pixels.

I've gained someone's respect.  How will I ever be able to look at myself in the mirror again?

I got as far as the cookies and decided I'm an ELF, does that count
PS I hope you wrote this last night.  I pictured you at your desk with a bottle of at 7:57 AM