Discordianism (mainstream)
Joke-religion and parody movement founded by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley (1957). 'Principia Discordia' is the foundational text.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — joke-religion / parody movement; very low-control reference point.
Profile facts
In context
Discordianism is one of the most influential 'joke religions' (Pastafarianism, Subgenius, etc.). Parody of organised religion. Among the lowest-control religious-derived traditions.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Evidence by BITE axis
- very low-control reference point
Timeline
- 1957Discordianism founded
- 1965Principia Discordia published
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
| Title | Type | Reliability | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anarchist literature and the development of anarchist counter-archaeologies — World Archaeology (2017) | Academic | Secondary | — |
| ‘Impartial Sources’ and the Registration of Religious Communities in Finland* — Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (2018) | Academic | Secondary | — |
| Ha ha, only serious: A preliminary study of joke religions · archive | Academic | Secondary | — |
| lire en ligne · archive | Journalism | Secondary | — |
| THE PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or, How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her · archive | Academic | Secondary | — |
Sources
- Greg Hill, 'Principia Discordia' (1965) search ↗
- Anarchist literature and the development of anarchist counter-archaeologies — World Archaeology (2017) — https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00438243.2017.1333921 open ↗
- ‘Impartial Sources’ and the Registration of Religious Communities in Finland* — Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (2018) — https://doi.org/10.1558%2Fjasr.35224 open ↗
- Ha ha, only serious: A preliminary study of joke religions — https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/9336?show=full open ↗
- lire en ligne — https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-des-religions/article/2020/12/05/qu-est-ce-que-le-discordianisme-ou-la-religion-de-l-absurde_6062277_6038514.html open ↗
- THE PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or, How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her — http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~tilt/principia/ open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
You may also want to explore
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.