Loose Ends


“A non-prophet, ir-religious, dis-organization”:

There are probably hundreds of Pagan groups that can be described this way, most of which have some Discordian connections or at least that tendency. The Reformed Druids of Gaia certainly fits this description, as does OMS, and for that matter, most of the Reform.


 

“Church of All Worlds Tradition”
“CAW Tradition”
“Heinleinian Tradition”
“Martian Spirituality”

These and a few other terms describe groups that have adopted / adapted the water sharing rites of Valentine Michael Smith, as presented in the science fiction novel written by Robert A. Heinlein: Stranger In A Strange Land (SIASL).

Most prominent of these is the Church of All Worlds, Inc. (CAW), which was founded in the early 60’s by Tim Zell (AKA “Otter” Zell, AKA Oberon Zell-Ravenheart). Order of the Mithril Star is the next most prominent group, and there are several smaller groups, known and unknown who also practice parts of the tradition.

 

 


“We’re doing religion the old fashioned way — we’re making it up as we go!”

This phrase was coined by an old friend of Sybok’s, Jim Fox-Davis, who lives in Tujunga California and is a member (or maybe the head) of a group called The Ancient Keltic Church, also known as the Roebuck Tradition.


“autonomous collective”

From Monty Python and the Holy Grail: Scene Three: “Bloody Peasant”

ARTHUR:Well, we all are. We are all Britons, and I am your king.
WOMAN: I didn’t know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.
DENNIS: You’re fooling yourself. We’re living in a dictatorship: a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes–
WOMAN: Oh, there you go bringing class into it again.
DENNIS: That’s what it’s all about. If only people would hear of–
ARTHUR: Please! Please, good people. I am in haste. Who lives in that castle?
WOMAN: No one lives there.
ARTHUR: Then who is your lord?
WOMAN: We don’t have a lord.
ARTHUR: What?
DENNIS: I told you. We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week,…