"Onward Christian Soldiers,
Onward Buddhist Priests,
Onward Fruits of Islam,
Fight 'til you're deceased!

Fight your little battles,
Join in thickest fray
For the Greater Glory,
Of Dis-Cord-I-A!"

- Principia Discordia, "An Erisian Hymn"

Hi there all! My name's Tar, you may have seen me recently crawling around the Dickian Gnosti-blogosphere, and other places you'd probably rather not admit to being. *grinz* Well, since I've been taking an active interest in this blog phenomenon, I figured I'd provide my own node with a not-too-serious/all-too-serious look on things. While I hope what I add can be of some value, I also tend to rant a bit and typing seems to be one of the filters where I can hammer out coherent thought... the blogosphere adding the benefit of random people willing to poke holes in one's argument and to add interesting bits. It seems that we write within a sort of campus, where all is open and free to discussion and criticism. The power of the Blogosphere is inherent in the two-way COMMUNICATION, as opposed to one-way INFORMATION. Here in the Sphere, you can check it out for yourself, with links to information others have posted. We are in the process of forming a net of knowledge, a sphere of understanding for those who will grasp it and make it theirs. The power inherent is huge.

"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only true guardian of liberty." - James Madison

I'm a big fan of Ken Wilber's integral books and Howard Bloom's "Lucifer Principle" and "Global Brain". I'm also a big fan of Chrono Trigger and Conker Live and Reloaded, so don't take my interests TOO seriously! *grinz* Religiously, I am baptised Catholic, and I practice Discordian... though not religiously. Some say I'm a pneumatic; others just think I'm nuts. But I'm intuitive as hell, I love a big picture, and my intuition says this about "reality": it's all a joke... played on itself, and always on each of us. The key is to "get" the joke, to understand it and work with it, and to have patience and humor when you're it's butt. The key to existence is: every time life drops you on your butt, you learn from it, get up, dust yourself off, and keep walking the path. Master your existence or it will master you. Nobody rides for free, and nobody said it was easy; the world's a crazy place... and no wonder!

After all, we're all just "inmates in the asylum", since about 90% of the population is now diagnosably, (medicatably) insane... funny how that 1% of the population own more than the bottom 90% combined, and that the next 9% also own more than the bottom 90% combined...

Just a coincidence of statistics, right? The rich? They're not insane. They're eccentric.

The Gnostics like to talk about the Black Iron Prison and the Archons that run it. The Black Iron Prison is in the Minds of Men... in the gender-neutral sense, ladies. That means that the Keys are within you... and accessible if you're willing to open your mind. I've known plenty of closed ones in my time, including my own sometimes. You can lead a mind to knowledge, but you cannot make it think. But sometimes reality kicks your ass enough times that you're forced to learn lessons to survive. Knowledge of a future hurdle makes one get ready to jump.

Contrary to what Zombietologists like Tom Cruise and John Travolta will tell you, stress can be good for you. Frustrated stress, bottled stress, stress without recourse (ie, torture)... these are negative and self destructive. But stress itself is not bad. It is, on the contrary, necessary. A being under absolutely no stress would by definition fall apart into quivering goo. Bodybuilders have a saying: "no pain, no gain". We need adverstity to strengthen us for the hard times ahead. Bless your adversaries, ladies and gentlemen. They make us stronger, and we they.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base. - General George S. Patton

Actual warfare might not be advisable for the couch potato crowd... or anyone else, for that matter. But competition drives evolution. And evolution is progress. The Discordian take is here:

It is called the Sacred Chao. I appoint you Keepers of It. Therein you will find anything you like. Speak of Me as Discord, to show contrast to the pentagon. Tell constricted mankind that there are no rules, unless they choose to invent rules. Keep close the words of Syadasti: 'TIS AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NO MINDS. And remember that there is no tyranny in the State of Confusion. For further information, consult your pineal gland.

This is the core of the Sacred Chao (as in, "cow", not "chow"). Yin and Yang within a circle, with a pentagon and a golden apple, representing the Erisian and Anerisian poles of Not-Serious and Serious. Neither side is more or less destructive or creative than the other inherently; it's all in how it's used. But in the dynamic interplay of the Golden Apple and the Pentagon is much of society and psychological development. I believe that the single most useful asset in rebounding from the School of Hard Knocks is a good sense of humor. And part of a good sense of humor is knowing when to put the jokes aside and get real.

"I have come to tell you that you are free. Many ages ago, My consciousness left man, that he might develop himself. I return to find this development approaching completion, but hindered by fear and by misunderstanding.

You have built for yourselves psychic suits of armor, and clad in them, your vision is restricted, your movements are clumsy and painful, your skin is bruised, and your spirit is broiled in the sun.

I am chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientists build rhythms. I am the spirit with which your children and clowns laugh in happy anarchy. I am chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are free."

The Words of the Goddess to Malcalypse the Younger and Omar Ravenhurst


So, with this post, I hereby christen Eristocracy! What, did you think I was going to smash a bottle of champagne over my monitor? Well, that would be entertaining... for all of five seconds. I think we'll stick to the long-game for now.

More later when I get back to it... here's a really neat distraction til then!

http://www.dreamspell.net/LKS/eris-frame.html