The Sacred Chao and Order vs. Disorder

This is the Sacred Chao, Holy Symbol of Erisianism (as opposed to the Holy Symbol of Eris Herself, which is the Five-Fingered Hand of Eris.) It was devised by the Apostle Hung Mung, and represents the constant counterpushpull of the Hodge (the Aneristic Principle, which is sometimes called "order," at least when small children are about) and the Podge (the Eristic Principle, which is sometimes called "disorder" or chaos) which together make up the Universe of Stuff. The Golden Apple, symbol of the Podge, is related to an old myth about the Goddess. The Pentagon, which represents the Hodge, is just sort of a general demonstration of the Law of Fives, Geometry, and how Greyface makes his presence known even in the face of what looks like Primal Chaos Itself Incarnate, namely the United States Military Establishment.

Like the Oriental "Yin - Yang" symbol, of which all Cool Persons are aware, the Sacred Chao represents the idea that opposites are equal. However, the Discordian spin (try spinning it... it's pretty cool) is that no two equals are exactly the same. In this case, the Aneristic Principle is larger than the Eristic Principle, although they're both the same. This gets complicated, at least if you're used to thinking rationally, so follow along:

1. Mythologically, Eris, the Goddess of Chaos, had a sister, Aneris, the Goddess of Order. If you're one of those straitlaced types who thinks that Gods and Goddesses just represent things that Primitive Man (who could at least toke up whenever he felt like it and park wherever he wanted, so watch it with the patronizing remarks, smart guy) needed to symbolize, then take them as the "symbols" of their individual spheres, Chaos and Order. And if you're one of those really straitlaced types who's going to bring up the fact that in all your extensive reading of mythology, I mean you really studied it, you've never heard of Aneris, then take the next train to Dullsville and let the rest of us get on with things.

2. Okay, so we've got Order, and Chaos. However, any mathematician who can be bothered looking up from the swimsuit issue of "Scientific American" or whatever it is they read nowadays (and their music: it's just noise!) will tell you that all systems which can be described are Chaotic, because they cannot be predicted with infinite precision. The larger the system, and the more variables, the faster it breaks down. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle tells us that even if we could grok all the variables, the components of the system would just find some other way to play hooky anyway. Therefore, we can say with confidence that Order is an illusion: it does not exist.

3. We have now determined (Yes, we did. Pay attention!) that Aneris, the Goddess of Order, represents things that do not exist. Momentary reflection will tell you that there are WAY more things that do not exist than things that do exist. For every thing you can point out, I can just say, "Yes, but does it come in purple?" Given that most things don't , and many that do probably just need a shot of some kind, we can see that "things that don't exist" is a vastly larger set than "things that do."

4. We have now determined that Order, the nonexistent set, is much larger than Chaos, the existent set. Aneris, therefore, is much larger than Eris. However, all things are Chaotic, even Ordered Things. (It's up there. Go back and look. I'll wait.) Therefore therefore, since Ordered Things are Chaotic, Chaos and Order are really just different names for, or perhaps different aspects of, the same thing.

Since Aneris is bigger than Eris, the Universe seems to be orderly at first glance. However, anything past that first glance will tell you that if this Universe is supposed to be orderly, somebody needs to call Technical Support and I mean now.

While enlightened Discordians know that Order and Chaos are the same thing, our society (due to the Curse of Greyface) encourages Order at the expense of Disorder. This is bad. Enforcing Order simply causes more Disorder to manifest somewhere else. Look at the Former Soviet Union. A more orderly society in principle the world has never known. A more disorderly society in practice is hard to imagine. It used to take three hours just to go out for lunch. You had to wait in line for hours to buy shoes that most people would wait in line to get rid of. All that Disorder being denied at the Big Important Level simply fell on the heads of the people at the Little Unimportant Level. Eris isn't cruel, but She will have Her say, and trying to deny Her is like trying to swat a fly on the end of your own nose.

Because of this, many Erisians actively foment Chaos, to balance the scales and prevent catastrophic manifestations of Disorder. While we like a good party as much as the next person (which is why we never, ever stand next to Oral Roberts) Eris can get a little overplayful when She's really feeling creative. (E.G. Her-icanes, Tornadoes, and Presidential elections.) We love Confusion: we are a little less enthusiastic about cows falling on our heads or Pat Buchanan running for office. Think of Erisians as the Safety Valve on the Boiler of Society. Yes, that whistling can be annoying, at least if you're not the one who gets to pull the cord, but wire the valve shut and you'll soon be contemplating the Balance of the Universe whilst flying through the air on top of what's left of a steam engine.

Ouch.

Return to the Home Page - Contact the Temple of Eris - View/Sign Guestbook

Ever wish more people would come up to you and say, "What the heck is that on your t-shirt/sweatshirt/mug/mousepad?" Ever wonder what was really in the Principia/Illuminatus! books? And ever wonder how "/" is actually pronounced? Then visit our online store! Books and other neat stuff galore!