Reverend Loveshade is one of the most important and controversial 21st century Discordians and Personists. HIs work and links to his work appear on many Discordian sites, and he is mentioned several times in Wikipedia and Wikiquote, and is even in Wikisource. He contributed to Apocrypha Discordia, The Book of Eris, Principia Harmonia, The Smagmoid Kids Club Handbook, West End Trash and several other collections, and is the editor and chief writer of one of the most important of the new generation of Discordian/Personist works, Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht. This book is a rarity as it's the subject of several commentaries, including one by United States Senate candidate Al Barger [1], and is highly controversial even though it hasn't been yet been published. He was also investigated by a variety of agencies in the United States and other countries, and went into hiding for three years.
Early Years
His mother Bonnie gave birth to Bruce, his real name, when she was only 14 and unmarried. This was in 1975. A Californian, she had been sent while pregnant to her aunt's house in Texas. But she ran away to return to her son's father Barney, who was 18. She was also friends with Luna Wilson, daughter of Robert Anton Wilson and Arlen Riley Wilson.
After his mother lost custody of him to her parents, Bruce was raised very strictly, but did have a good time during summer vacation at his aunt's house. He later had a younger sister named Brie "Susie" and a brother named Brian. All the children had names that started with "B" like their parents, and were named after references in Monty Python sketches.
At age 12, Bruce found his first love in a 15-year-old church choir member he nicknamed Malch. He volunteered as a janitor to clean up after practice so he could be near her. He also amused her with his antics, including sneaking up behind the choir director during a rehearsal and pretending to direct with a toilet plunger. One day at her home, she gave him his first French kiss.
But she refused to listen to him after he ceremoniously handed her a roll of toilet paper on which he had written "An Ode to M's Commode." She was convinced he had spied on her while she was sitting on the toilet, and refused to believe his denials.
He became withdrawn. He challenged his teachers and grandparents, and when asked to quote Bible verses, would recite ones that were violently or sexually explicit. He was perhaps the only student in a Christian school who was forbidden by a teacher to read from the Bible. Later, he willingly gave his virginity to a school worker when he was age 13. He became more social and started doing better in school.
In 1981, his mother Bonnie became a founding member of the Ek-sen-triks CluborGuild, a Mt. Santa Juanita College club that was later to inspire him. She adopted the member name "Moondancer" in honor of her friend Luna, who had been murdered at age 15.
His parents won custody of him as he was ready to enter high school in 1989. Tragically, his father died the next year, and the family was left destitute.
College and Career
He worked as a news carrier as a teenager and hung around the reporters, including one later known as Alden Loveshade. It was then that he heard Kerry Thornley rant about conspiracies and having a warehouse full of information. As Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst, Thornley had been a founder of Discordianism.
After high school, Bruce went to college until he was kicked out. He and two others were found posting spurious flyers about a college board of trustees candidate that they had printed by breaking into a college office.
He worked for several small publications in America and Britain, where he studied tantric sex. He appeared in three short pornographic movies, including one which allegedly featured the erotic spanking of a 16-year-old girl.
He later earned an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.
Discordian Connections
In addition to hearing Kerry Thornley rant, he knew Greg Hill (i.e. Principia Discordia author Malaclypse the Younger). He corresponded frequently with Robert Anton Wilson, who was his spiritual grandfather he called "Grandbob." It was Wilson who first used the Reverend Loveshade name in correspondence, although he never published anything under that name.
Ek-sen-trik Discordians
In 1994, Loveshade founded the Discordian Division of the Ek-sen-triks CluborGuild. He wrote several pices which appeared in various places online and in several Discordian publications including Apocrypha Discordia, The Book of Eris, Principia Harmonia, and the play West End Trash.
In late 2001, after the September 11 terrorist attack on the United States, Reverend Loveshade and other members and friends of the Discordian Division of the Ek-sen-triks CluborGuild were quietly investigated. This was done by agencies of the United States Government and by several law enforcement agencies, some in other countries.
The Ek-sen-trik Discordians were for various suspected crimes including promotion of child pornography (the 16-year-old's film appearance was legal in England but not in America where the film was also sold, she may actually have been 15, and the group promoted consensual sex for all ages), possession of controlled substances (illegal drugs) and being an organized crime ring/religious cult. Strangely enough, they were also investigated for consorting with terrorists, and even with terrorism. They had called themselves "Terrorists for Truth," and posted various pieces online, including one called "How to Raise a Terrorist." This appeared on a few websites, but was mysteriously gone from the Internet before the end of 2001.
One of these investigated members, known as Dorian Jack, was found mysteriously dead at home, having died of "cardiac arrest." A former assistant coroner said the term, which simply means the heart stopped, is used when the cause of death is unknown. In December of 2001, member BloodStar [2] went into hiding, followed by Reverend Loveshade in February of 2002. The writings, images, correspondence, art work, movies and property of several people were seized, including materials belonging to or about Reverend Loveshade, BloodStar, Danacasso, Dr. Sinister Craven, Dorian Jack, the journalist later known as Alden Loveshade, a teenaged girl known as The Mary, and another teenager who later became known both as Lorien Loveshade [3] and Princess Unicornia.
Reverend Loveshade disappeared for three years, not reappearing until the middle of 2005, after the FBI determined the group had done nothing illegal.
Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht
On July 2, 2005, shortly after the investigations concluded, Reverend Loveshade claimed to have a "dream-vision" where the goddesses Eris/Discordian and Aneris/Harmonia, and the cherub Princess Shamlicht, told him to write Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht, with others. He "came out of hiding," although he actually is living under a different name than his original one, which is reportedly banned from flying on a commercial airline. BloodStar is still missing.
As of mid 2007, the book, some of which has been posted online, is apparently nearly completed, and the group will soon be looking for a publisher. It includes articles on animal and human sex, humorous and explicit illustrations, ek-sen-trik discordian holy days, essays, humorous stories, rants, poetry, and even the Smagmoid Kids Club. It promotes Personism, the concept that each person should be accepted and respected as individual, and also contains references to the group's activities, including some veiled clues about the members and information on the original Ek-sen-triks and Discordians.