Bokononism is the fictional religion practiced by many of the characters in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... Cats Cradle Cats cradle is a well known string game or series of string figures. ...

It is based on living by the untruths that make one happy, called foma. Many of the sacred texts of Bokononism were written in the form of calypsos. The foundation of Bokonism is that the religion, including its texts, is formed entirely of lies; however, if you believe and adhere to these lies, you will live a happy life. Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ...

Bokonon, a character in the novel, is the founder of the religion. He was born Lionel Boyd Johnson. "Bokonon" was the way the natives of San Lorenzo, the fictional Caribbean island where the shipwrecked Johnson started his religion, pronounced his family name. The Republic of San Lorenzo is a fictional country from the Kurt Vonnegut satire Cats Cradle (1963), where much of the books second half takes place. ...

Bokonon has also been quoted in Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins. Another Roadside Attraction is Tom Robbins first novel, published in 1971 by Bantam Books, which initiated what has grown to be considered his cult following. ... Thomas Eugene Robbins (born July 22, 1936 in Blowing Rock, North Carolina) is an American author. ...

Bokonon is also a Brigadier Saint of the POEE. This article or section should be merged withDiscordianism Paratheo-Anametamystikhood Of Eris Esoteric or POEE is a manifestation of the Discordian society. ...

Bokononism is also referenced in Whirligig by Paul Fleischman. A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls. ... Paul Fleischman is an American childrens author, and is the son of Newbery Medal winner Sid Fleischman. ...

Sayings of Bokonon

• "All of the true things that I am about to tell you are shameless lies."
• "Busy, busy, busy."
• "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."

I wanted all things
To seem to make some sense,
So we all could be happy, yes,
Instead of tense.
And I made up lies
So that they all fit nice,
And I made this sad world
A Par-a-dise.

Oh, a lion hunter in the jungle dark,
and a sleeping drunkard up in Central Park,
and a Chinese dentist and a British queen,
all fit together in the same machine.
Nice, nice, very nice,
nice, nice, very nice,
nice, nice, very nice
such very different people in the same device.

The preceding lyrics were set to music by the band Ambrosia in 1975, in their hit song "Nice, Nice, Very Nice." The popular music group Ambrosia was formed in the early 1970s, and have ventured into a variety of styles during their history. ...

Vocabulary

Vonnegut created various concepts, and intentionally "silly" words to describe them, in order to outline the Bokonist faith as a background for his story.

boko-maru 

A union of two souls achieved by placing the soles of two people's feet together. It is a Bokononist ritual that is taboo and forbidden on the island of San Lorenzo, referred to as "footplay".

Borasisi 

The sun.

Pabu 

The moon.

duprass

A karass made of two persons. "A true duprass can't be invaded, not even by children born of such a union." Members of a duprass die within one week of each other, as shown in the book Cat's Cradle.

foma 

"Harmless lies" (e.g., "Prosperity is just around the corner"). Bokonon describes his own religion as foma, created for the purpose of bringing comfort to the people of Bokonon's island. The people of San Lorenzo live under a poverty-stricken Third World dictatorship, but thanks to the comforting untruths of Bokonon's foma, they are better equipped to face reality (following Vonnegut's early theories about the true usefulness of religion).

granfalloon

A false karass. People who identify themselves by state or country of origin or in other various ways to form a group. There is much granfalloonery in the world. To quote the book, "If you wish to study a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon."

kan-kan 

The instrument which brings you to your karass.

karass 

A group of people who, unbeknownst to them, are collectively doing God's will in carrying out a specific, common, task. A karass is driven forward in time and space by tension within the karass.

sin-wat 

A person who wants all of somebody's love. Bokononists believe love should be freely shared.

vin-dit 

The force that first pushes a person in the direction of accepting Bokononism

wampeter 

An object which is the focus of a karass; that is, the lives of many otherwise unrelated people are centered on a wampeter (e.g., a piece of ice-nine in Cat's Cradle). A karass will always have exactly two wampeters: one waxing, one waning. The term first appears on p. 52 of Cat's Cradle (in the 1998 printing by Dell Publishing). It is analogous to a MacGuffin.

wrang-wrang 

"A person who steers people away from a line of speculation by reducing that line, with the example of the wrang-wrang's own life, to an absurdity."

A duprass, in the fictional religion of Bokononism (invented by Kurt Vonnegut in his 1963 novel Cats Cradle), is defined as a karass that consists of only two people. ... --Bokonon A granfalloon, in the religion of Bokononism invented by Kurt Vonnegut in his 1963 novel Cats Cradle, is defined as a false karass. That is, it is a group of people who outwardly choose or claim to have a shared identity or purpose, but whose mutual association is... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Cats Cradle (ISBN 038533348X) is a 1963 science fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ... This article or section seems to contain too many examples (or examples of poor quality) for an encyclopedia entry. ...

External links

• Bokononism All of the text from Cat's Cradle which refers to Bokononism (including the Books of Bokonon).
• The Books of Bokonon - a collection of all excerpts from the Books of Bokonon from Cat's Cradle