Malaclypse the Younger
Encyclopedia
Gregory Hill better known by the pen name
Malaclypse the Younger (short Mal-2), was one of the two writers of the Principia Discordia
, along with Kerry Wendell Thornley (aka Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst). He was also adapted as a character in The Illuminatus! Trilogy
. During the early years of circulation of the Principia Discordia, rumors claimed that the author of the book was Richard Nixon
, Timothy Leary
, or Robert Anton Wilson
; or that the book and Malaclypse the Younger were both fictional inventions of Robert Anton Wilson, as with Abdul Alhazred
's Necronomicon
.
Greg Hill described Mal-2 as a spirit sent into him by Eris
that helped him write the Principia Discordia over the course of ten years in his early adulthood. An interview included in the fourth edition of the Principia Discordia by Loompanics
Press reveals that Mal-2 left once the book was finished. He claims Mal-2 returned to leave a fifth and final edition consisting solely of a Western Union telegraph form filled with the letter "M". Greg Hill also reveals that he had access to Western Union forms when he worked at Western Union.
in the National Archives, proving Malaclypse the Younger to be Gregory Hill.
Possessing many titles, including "Omnibenevolent Polyfather of Virginity in Gold", Malaclypse's true identity or position within the Erisian religion is completely unknown. He is frequently mentioned in the Principia Discordia. Credited with wiring telegrams to God from the Celestial Hotel and decrying the usefulness of prayer, these claims are in the nature of the Principia Discordia.
Very little is known about Malaclypse the Elder, the namesake of Mal-2. The Principia Discordia merely mentions him as a "non-prophet" and that he was mistaken for a doomsayer when carrying a sign that read "DUMB."
and Robert Anton Wilson. According to Iluminatus!, he founded the Norton Cabal, and then left the cabal to join the very esoteric Erisian Liberation Front. The character Dr. Ignotum P. Ignotius says the last thing Mal-2 wrote before he left for the ELF was, "Everybody understands Mickey Mouse
. Few understand Hermann Hesse
. Hardly anyone understands Albert Einstein
. And nobody understands Emperor Norton." This is the slogan of the Joshua Norton Cabal of San Francisco.
Malaclypse the Elder has an even larger role in The Illuminatus! Trilogy. In fact, he is an important shape-shifting character in the book, posing as Jean-Paul Sartre
, Billy Graham
, and the Devil. According to Malaclypse the Elder himself, he is a 4th century B.C. Erisian priest (who was also prepared to perform services to Hermes
, Dionysus
, Heracles
, Aphrodite
, Athena
, and Hera
) who achieved "transcendental illumination" in the course of the massacre at Melos
in 415 BC. The Illuminati
believe that death releases a certain form of energy. Given enough death and a person intent on capturing said energy, a person may be transformed into an immortal, immaterial being, or so the plot element goes. Malaclypse the Elder also posed as Jesus
after Jesus was crucified. In the form of Jesus, he introduced Bingo
, but asked Luke to not record it.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Malaclypse the Younger (short Mal-2), was one of the two writers of the Principia Discordia
Principia Discordia
Principia Discordia is a Discordian religious text written by Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley . It was originally published under the title "Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost" in a limited edition of 5 copies in 1965...
, along with Kerry Wendell Thornley (aka Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst). He was also adapted as a character in The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy
The Illuminatus! Trilogy is a series of three novels written by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson first published in 1975. The trilogy is a satirical, postmodern, science fiction-influenced adventure story; a drug-, sex-, and magick-laden trek through a number of conspiracy theories, both...
. During the early years of circulation of the Principia Discordia, rumors claimed that the author of the book was Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
, or Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson
Robert Anton Wilson , known to friends as "Bob", was an American author and polymath who became at various times a novelist, philosopher, psychologist, essayist, editor, playwright, poet, futurist, civil libertarian and self-described agnostic mystic...
; or that the book and Malaclypse the Younger were both fictional inventions of Robert Anton Wilson, as with Abdul Alhazred
Abdul Alhazred
Abdul Alhazred is a fictional character created by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. He is the so-called "Mad Arab" credited with authoring the imaginary book Kitab al-Azif , and as such an integral part of Cthulhu Mythos lore....
's Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...
.
Biography
Robert Anton Wilson stated, in the lecture "The I in the Triangle" from 1990, that Greg Hill was at the time the head of a large computer facility owned by one of the largest banks in the United States.Greg Hill described Mal-2 as a spirit sent into him by Eris
Eris (mythology)
Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord, her name being translated into Latin as Discordia. Her Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Latin counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with the war-goddess Enyo, whose Roman counterpart is Bellona...
that helped him write the Principia Discordia over the course of ten years in his early adulthood. An interview included in the fourth edition of the Principia Discordia by Loompanics
Loompanics
Loompanics Unlimited was an American book seller and publisher specializing in nonfiction on generally unconventional or controversial topics, with a philosophy considered tending to a mixture of libertarian and left wing ideals, although Loompanics carried books expressing other political...
Press reveals that Mal-2 left once the book was finished. He claims Mal-2 returned to leave a fifth and final edition consisting solely of a Western Union telegraph form filled with the letter "M". Greg Hill also reveals that he had access to Western Union forms when he worked at Western Union.
Principia Discordia
In 2006 a copy of the first edition of the Principia Discordia was claimed to have been discovered in the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records CollectionPresident John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, or the JFK Records Act, is a public law passed by the United States Congress, effective October 26, 1992. It directed the National Archives and Records Administration to establish a collection of records to be known as the...
in the National Archives, proving Malaclypse the Younger to be Gregory Hill.
Possessing many titles, including "Omnibenevolent Polyfather of Virginity in Gold", Malaclypse's true identity or position within the Erisian religion is completely unknown. He is frequently mentioned in the Principia Discordia. Credited with wiring telegrams to God from the Celestial Hotel and decrying the usefulness of prayer, these claims are in the nature of the Principia Discordia.
Very little is known about Malaclypse the Elder, the namesake of Mal-2. The Principia Discordia merely mentions him as a "non-prophet" and that he was mistaken for a doomsayer when carrying a sign that read "DUMB."
Illuminatus!
Malaclypse the Younger also appears in The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert SheaRobert Shea
Robert Joseph Shea was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy Illuminatus!. It became a cult success and was later turned into a marathon-length stage show put on at the British National Theatre and elsewhere. In...
and Robert Anton Wilson. According to Iluminatus!, he founded the Norton Cabal, and then left the cabal to join the very esoteric Erisian Liberation Front. The character Dr. Ignotum P. Ignotius says the last thing Mal-2 wrote before he left for the ELF was, "Everybody understands Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
. Few understand Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
. Hardly anyone understands Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. And nobody understands Emperor Norton." This is the slogan of the Joshua Norton Cabal of San Francisco.
Malaclypse the Elder has an even larger role in The Illuminatus! Trilogy. In fact, he is an important shape-shifting character in the book, posing as Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
, Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
, and the Devil. According to Malaclypse the Elder himself, he is a 4th century B.C. Erisian priest (who was also prepared to perform services to Hermes
Hermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
, Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
, Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
, Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, and Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
) who achieved "transcendental illumination" in the course of the massacre at Melos
Milos
Milos , is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete...
in 415 BC. The Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
believe that death releases a certain form of energy. Given enough death and a person intent on capturing said energy, a person may be transformed into an immortal, immaterial being, or so the plot element goes. Malaclypse the Elder also posed as Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
after Jesus was crucified. In the form of Jesus, he introduced Bingo
Bingo (US)
Bingo is a game of chance played with randomly drawn numbers which players match against numbers that have been pre-printed on 5x5 matrices. The matrices may be printed on paper, card stock or electronically represented and are referred to as cards. Many versions conclude the game when the first...
, but asked Luke to not record it.
Further reading
- Gorightly, Adam; The Prankster and the Conspiracy: The Story of Kerry Thornley and How He Met Oswald and Inspired the Counterculture, Paraview Press, November 2003. Foreword by Robert Anton Wilson.