The Kiva, Pueblo Bonito

[Malaclypse 666]

Mal was familiar with "mid-Pineal crisis", having undergone the phenomena many times himself.

After collecting his thoughts, the Episkopos collected a silver case from a pocket of his shorts, and proceeded to light a Canaria cheroot. He peered thru the aromatic smoke at the two men, of contempary age to his own, and extended the case and lighter. The two men hesitated, but eventually added to the haze in the Kiva.

"First of all, my Polykinter, welcome home.

"Let me preface by saying that for over a year, I myself lost contact with the Goddess. Whether I abandoned Her, or She abandonded me is not important.

"Such 'losses of Faith' are common, and I've come to realize that these instances are indeed natural and necessary at times. They allow us to evaluate and process information and events without the help of 'Divine Intervention'. They serve to remind us 'who makes the grass green'."

Mal paused for a moment to assess what impact his comments had made. While Van and Josh seemed somewhat more relieved, he sensed that a small measure of guilt still lingered in their minds. He sought another avenue of explanation.

"Your Body is a Temple!" shouted Mal. The two Popes cringed at that, glancing surreptitiously at each other and Mal. Mal smiled and winked.

"Or, it can be an Amusement Park. Which do you think our Quirky Goddess would prefer, hmm?

"I am reminded of the mid-to-late 20th Century AD on Terra. During that period, a major paradigm shift occurred. Terrans began to seek 'God' using unconventional methods.. some ancient in origin, and some newly discovered.

"These methods included 'Eastern' meditation and breathing techniques, the use of entheogens and psychedelics, sensory deprivation, biofeedback, 'vision quests', and a number of others.

"Eventually, a crafty primate psychologist theorized that these methods were not in fact aimed at 'finding God'; but were instead aimed at the marvelous and complex bio-computer we are each given at birth.

"This computer 'comes' with a basic set of instructions.. how to breathe, how to walk, etc. As we progress through life, our experiences imprint further programs necessary to function inside a given set of circumstances.

"The pyschologist believed that all these 'new age' practices and techniques were capable of placing the bio-computer in a state wherein new programs, new 'ways of thinking', could be imprinted.

"He called this 'Metaprogramming'. Others called it "Hedonist Engineering and Development'.

"Organized religions called it 'cheating', or even 'sacrilege'. (Even though some of those religions could guiltily trace their own beginnings to the self-same ancient methods..)"

"Here is the clincher: Discordianism is simply another metaprogramming tool. It uses chaos, conundrums, contradictions, and a large measure of tomfoolery to 'jog' the brain into a state which is receptive to new programs and ideas. You see, Eris doesn't care how you 'get there'.. simply that you do. Meditate on that."

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