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For awhile now, I've been playing around with the idea of a practical guide to witchcraft from a Discordian perspective. Basically, it's the book I wish existed when I first fell down the Pagan rabbit hole eleventy-thousand years ago. I'd been working under the impression that no one except me would ever want to read it, but through a series of events that are at least partly Eris' fault (THANKS, ERIS), there is now communication with an editor and submission of proposal forms and a slight but tantalizing chance that this will turn into an actual thing.

And five years later... it turned into an actual thing.

Currently writing a book that combines Discordianism and Empedocledian doctrine with witchcraft and Chaos magic, because I never, ever want to be published, apparently.

A bit of a belated update, but I ended up getting a book deal and submitted the first draft to a publisher this past Wednesday. 

I would like to subscribe to this newsletter....

SAAAAAME.

⚠️ Instruction manuals for power tools have inline warnings; a guide to discordian witchcraft should have the same.  Tell the reader how they can screw this up, and what the potential consequences are.

Absolutely. There's a line from Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft that I've been keeping in mind as I work on this: "Don't delude yourself. The minute you set foot upon the path of witchcraft, a call rings out in the unseen world announcing the fact of your arrival." While I'm not handing over the keys to a nuclear submarine, I do want my readers to understand that people have effed themselves up pretty spectacularly doing less crazy shit than we're getting into.

Break your reader's pre-conceptions, that this is the same-old hippy-dippy witchcraft.

This is 100% my goal.

"safety first", "how to know when you're doing it wrong", "how to do it wrong on purpose"

"How to do it wrong on purpose" is sheer fucking brilliance, and I am reworking my current outline as we speak.

My mental mapping for witchcraft involves molten metal and noxious fumes.

One of my covenmates is a blacksmith. I will get with him and try to come up with some interesting molten metal/noxious fume spells.

All of your feedback was awesome and sincerely appreciated. Thank you!

Is this about how to add a little Eris to the pot or about a pot labeled Discordia all its own?

A bit of both, I think. I don't want to reinvent recognizable/workable ritual structure, but I do want to subvert it to an extent. There will be info on how to work with the Discordian Elements instead of the classical Four Elements, notes on the Discordian Apostles and their spheres of influence, etc. (I am 100% convinced that Dr. Van Van Mojo is a cognate of St. Cyprian and will die on this hill.)

How might Eris and Hecate get along, or not?

That is a damn good question. My pineal gland says that they may not be friends per se, but that they do have a solid working relationship. I will keep meditating on this and let you know what I find out.

... so by all means squeak and divert her attention from the rest of us.

I will do my best. I will also work something clever about squeaky toys into the acknowledgements for you.

I think it would be wise to acknowledge the existence of kopyleft Discordian materials, and to open up strong with "this is MY Disco, take what you want, leave what you don't, check out other peoples' shit and consult your penial gland."

Sound advice. I was already planning on mentioning kopyleft and All Rites Reversed in the introduction, but I will definitely make sure to emphasize the DIY aspect of the work, and that it is MY way, not THE way.

A Discordian who doesn't break their own dogma is definitely not the kind of person I wanna hang out with.

Noted.

As the author of PS: You're Pope! I authorize its use in your commercial endeavor, with or without the current layout. If you want to change the text I'm gonna ask for approval. Credit to "QGP: Holy Nonsense" if you use it.

Much obliged! There are some pieces on your website that I would love to include, so I will keep you posted on the project as it develops.

Thanks so much!

For awhile now, I've been playing around with the idea of a practical guide to witchcraft from a Discordian perspective. Basically, it's the book I wish existed when I first fell down the Pagan rabbit hole eleventy-thousand years ago. I'd been working under the impression that no one except me would ever want to read it, but through a series of events that are at least partly Eris' fault (THANKS, ERIS), there is now communication with an editor and submission of proposal forms and a slight but tantalizing chance that this will turn into an actual thing.

I am emphatically not trying to Found a New Tradition of Witchcraft of Which I Am the Supreme or anything douchey like that -- this is just my disco, and your disco may vary. But I am very curious as to what other Discordians might want to see in it. What would be of interest or use to you? What would make you want to burn it, or give it as a mean-spirited gift to someone you strongly dislike? What would make you giggle, or be all "FUCK YEAH, DISCO WITCH"? Any and all feedback is welcome, including constructive criticism and eyerolls. At this point, I really just want to see where the project goes.

Thanks muchly!

Waking up to Marsha P. Johnson made me so happy.

WHAT A LETDOWN 
                \

But, y'know, the night is young.

I like the style. Short, silly, easy to read.

I'm glad you like it! It started off as a place to document all the odd shit that happened at the shop where I work and sort of evolved from there.

Every time I talk to a priest, I'm like "Man, I want to do that... but not as a Christian... i wish there were secular churches"

and then I realize I'm kinda talking about Unitarians.

That's exactly where I am with the whole thing. Plus my dad has been on me about going to grad school for awhile now -- he wanted me to go into either psychology or social work -- so I pitched UU seminary as an alternative.

I don't really know what to expect, but the UU seminarians I'm friends with don't seem to have gone off any particular deep ends, so that's good.

On a panel?

Like at a conference: "On today's Chaos Magic discussion panel, we have Peter J. Carroll," [applause] "Phil Hine," [applause] "And..." [looks at me blankly, checks notes] "Um..."

I've spent today bumming around the forum and looking for places to contribute, and this thread feels like a good place to start.

My WOO:

I'm an initiate of the Gardnerian Tradition of Witchcraft. I spent years looking forward to a time when I could be a real-and-for-true High Priest, right up until I was made a High Priest, at which point the title felt awkward and self-indulgent. I usually just go with HP if anyone ask (and hardly anyone ever does, so it's all good).

I'm also an initiate of the Minoan Brotherhood, which is a Pagan tradition for "men who love men" (and the men who love them). It's pretty cool.

I'm Discordian, because I've had a thing for Eris since high school, and it was heartening to find a religion dedicated to Her. It was even more heartening to find the weirdness therein. (I remain undecided on the Facebook groups, though.)

Lately, I've been calling myself a Discordian witch, and now I just need to figure out what I mean by that. Or maybe I don't. I'll roll some dice over it.

I sometimes attend Unitarian Universalist services and may end up going to UU seminary. I spend a lot of time thinking about how my church office would be decorated.

Other interests include rootwork, Chaos Magic, and geomancy. I am mildly to moderately competent in all of the above but will more than likely never end up on a panel for any of them.

Just thought I'd take the opportunity to pimp my blog: https://misfitmarjorie.com. It occasionally features Discordian topics, along with witchcraft, notarizations, and fetishwear.