It was written by Greg Hill (Malaclypse the Younger) with Kerry Wendell Thornley (Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst) and others.

It features typewritten and handwritten text intermixed with clip art, stamps, and seals appropriated from other sources.

[7]The Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost was first published in a limited edition of five copies and released into the public domain in 1965.

In 1978, a copy of a work from Kerry Thornley titled "THE PRINCIPIA Discordia or HOW THE WEST WAS LOST" was placed in the HSCA JFK collections as document 010857.

[12] In 2015 Gorightly stated that he now believed that the copy in the JFK collection was an earlier draft of the Principia Discordia predating the first edition.

[13] The Principia includes a notice which purports to disclaim any copyright in relation to the work: "Ⓚ All Rites Reversed – reprint what you like."

Regardless of the legal effect of this notice, the Principia has been widely disseminated in the public domain via the Internet and more traditional print publishers.

[15]The sterile Aneris becomes jealous of Eris (who was born pregnant), and starts making existent things non-existent.

This explains why life begins, and later ends in death: And to this day, things appear and disappear in this very manner.

[16] Cusack points out that this is "distilled into a teaching about the ultimate fate of humans: 'so it shall be that non-existence shall take us back from existence and that nameless spirituality shall return to the Void, like a tired child home from a very wild circus'.[17]".

[18] The book's philosophical system of Eristic, Spiritual, and Aneristic principles borrows from Zen Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Existentialism.

[2] David G. Robertson discusses Discordian theology in the 2012 book Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production, writing that despite Discordian claims that its 'catmas' are soft, optional beliefs, Nevertheless, the Principia Discordia contains a complex and subtle religious system, although this is often obscured by its chaotic structure.

[19] The Discordian movement encompasses a diverse array of works, both real and fictitious, that explore themes of chaos, satire, and alternative spirituality.

Chasing Eris by Brenton Clutterbuck provides an in-depth examination of Discordianism's impact on various aspects of culture and society, offering interviews and insights into the movement's global reach and influence.

[21][22] It also includes an interpretation of the Principia Discordia chapter "The Parable of The Bitter Tea" by its original author.