Orgone () is a
pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
concept variously described as an
esoteric energy or hypothetical universal
life force. Originally proposed in the 1930s by
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich ( , ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian Doctor of Medicine, doctor of medicine and a psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst, along with being a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author ...
,
and developed by Reich's student Charles Kelley after Reich's death in 1957, orgone was conceived as the
anti-entropic principle of the universe, a
creative substratum in all of nature comparable to
Mesmer
Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called "anim ...
's
animal magnetism
Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...
(1779), to the
Odic force
The Odic force (also called Od d Odyle, Önd, Odes, Odylic, Odyllic, or Odems) is the name given in the mid-19th century to a hypothetical vital energy or life force by Baron Carl von Reichenbach. Von Reichenbach coined the name from that of ...
(1845) of
Carl Reichenbach
Carl Ludwig von Reichenbach (full name: Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Reichenbach; February 12, 1788January 1869) was a German chemist, geologist, metallurgist, naturalist, industrialist and philosopher, and a member of the Prussian Academy of Scienc ...
and to
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson 's ''
élan vital
''Élan vital'' () is a term coined by French philosopher Henri Bergson in his 1907 book '' Creative Evolution'', in which he addresses the question of self-organisation and spontaneous morphogenesis of things in an increasingly complex manner ...
'' (1907).
[Charles R. Kelley Ph.D., "What is Orgone Energy?" 1962] Orgone was seen as a massless, omnipresent substance, similar to
luminiferous aether
Luminiferous aether or ether ("luminiferous", meaning "light-bearing") was the postulated medium for the propagation of light. It was invoked to explain the ability of the apparently wave-based light to propagate through empty space (a vacuum), so ...
, but more closely associated with living energy than with inert matter. It could allegedly coalesce to
create organization on all scales, from the smallest microscopic units—called "bions" in orgone theory—to macroscopic structures like organisms, clouds, or even galaxies.
Reich argued that deficits or constrictions in bodily orgone were at the root of many diseases, most prominently
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
, much as deficits or constrictions in the libido could produce
neuroses
Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...
in
Freudian theory
Sigmund Freud (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) is considered to be the founder of the psychodynamic approach to psychology, which looks to unconscious drives to explain human behavior. Freud believed that the mind is responsible for both cons ...
. Reich founded the Orgone Institute ca. 1942
to pursue research into orgone energy after he immigrated to the US in 1939, and used it to publish literature and distribute material relating to the topic for more than a decade. Reich designed special "orgone energy accumulators"—devices ostensibly collecting orgone energy from the environment—to enable the study of orgone energy and to be applied medically to improve general health and vitality.
Ultimately, the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
(FDA) obtained a federal injunction barring the interstate distribution of orgone-related materials, on the grounds that Reich and his associates were making false and misleading claims. A judge later ruled to jail Reich and ordered the banning and destruction of all orgone-related materials at the institute after an associate of Reich violated the injunction.
Reich denied the assertion that orgone accumulators could improve sexual health by providing
orgastic potency
Within the work of the Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957), orgastic potency is a human's natural ability to experience an orgasm with certain psychosomatic characteristics
. "Reich's model takes a unisex, 'integrated biopsychologi ...
.
The
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is a United States government agency which explores complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). It was initially created in 1991 as the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM), ...
lists orgone as a type of "putative energy". After Reich's death, research into the concept of orgone passed to some of his students such as Kelley and later to a new generation of scientists in Germany keen to discover an empirical basis for the orgone hypothesis (the first positive results of which were provided in 1989 by Stefan Muschenich).
There is no empirical support for the concept of orgone in
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
or the physical sciences,
[ and research into the concept concluded with the end of the Institute. Founded in 1982, the ''Institute for Orgonomic Science'' in New York is dedicated to the continuation of Reich's work; it both publishes a digital journal on it and collects corresponding works.
]
History
The concept of orgone belongs to Reich's later work, after he immigrated to the US. Reich's early work was based on the Freudian
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
concept of the libido
Libido (; colloquial: sex drive) is a person's overall sexual drive or desire for sexual activity. Libido is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors. Biologically, the sex hormones and associated neurotransmitters that act up ...
, though influenced by sociological understandings with which Freud disagreed but which were to some degree followed by other prominent theorists such as Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...
and Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
. While Freud had focused on a solipsistic
Solipsism (; ) is the philosophical idea that only one's mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known an ...
conception of mind in which unconscious and inherently selfish primal drives (primarily the sexual drive, or libido) were suppressed or sublimated by internal representations ( cathexes) of parental figures (the superego
The id, ego, and super-ego are a set of three concepts in psychoanalytic theory describing distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus (defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche). The three agents are theoretical const ...
), for Reich libido was a life-affirming force repressed by society directly. For example, in one of his better known analyses Reich observes a workers' political rally, noting that participants were careful not to violate signs that prohibited walking on the grass; Reich saw this as the state co-opting unconscious responses to parental authority as a means of controlling behavior. He was expelled from the Institute of Psycho-analysis because of these disagreements over the nature of the libido and his increasingly political stance. He was forced to leave Germany very soon after Hitler came to power.
Reich took an increasingly bioenergetic view of libido, perhaps influenced by his tutor Paul Kammerer
Paul Kammerer (17 August 1880, in Vienna – 23 September 1926, in Puchberg am Schneeberg) was an Austrian biologist who studied and advocated Lamarckism, the theory that organisms may pass to their offspring characteristics acquired in their lif ...
and another biologist, Otto Heinrich Warburg
Otto Heinrich Warburg (, ; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970), son of physicist Emil Warburg, was a German physiologist, medical doctor, and Nobel laureate. He served as an officer in the elite Uhlan (cavalry regiment) during the First World War ...
. In the early 20th century, when molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...
was in its infancy, developmental biology
Developmental biology is the study of the process by which animals and plants grow and develop. Developmental biology also encompasses the biology of Regeneration (biology), regeneration, asexual reproduction, metamorphosis, and the growth and di ...
in particular still presented mysteries that made the idea of a specific life energy respectable, as was articulated by theorists such as Hans Driesch
Hans Adolf Eduard Driesch (28 October 1867 – 17 April 1941) was a German biologist and philosopher from Bad Kreuznach. He is most noted for his early experimental work in embryology and for his neo-vitalist philosophy of entelechy. He has also ...
. As a psycho-analyst Reich aligned such theories with the Freudian libido, while as a materialist he believed such a life-force must be susceptible to physical experiment.
He wrote in his best known book, '' The Function of the Orgasm'': "Between 1919 and 1921, I became familiar with Driesch's 'Philosophie des Organischen' and his 'Ordnungslehre'... Driesch's contention seemed incontestable to me. He argued that, in the sphere of the life function, the whole could be developed from a part, whereas a machine could not be made from a screw..... However, I couldn't quite accept the transcendentalism of the life principle. Seventeen years later I was able to resolve the contradiction on the basis of a formula pertaining to the function of energy. Driesch's theory was always present in my mind when I thought about vitalism. The vague feeling I had about the irrational nature of his assumption turned out to be justified in the end. He landed among the spiritualists
Spiritualism is the metaphysics, metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and Mind-body dualism, dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spir ...
."
The concept of orgone was the result of this work in the psycho-physiology of libido. After his migration to the US, Reich began to speculate about biological development and evolution, and then branched out into much broader speculations about the nature of the universe. This led him to the conception of "bions," self-luminescent
Luminescence is spontaneous emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; or "cold light".
It is thus a form of cold-body radiation. It can be caused by chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions or stress on a cryst ...
sub-cellular vesicles
Vesicle may refer to:
; In cellular biology or chemistry
* Vesicle (biology and chemistry), a supramolecular assembly of lipid molecules, like a cell membrane
* Synaptic vesicle
; In human embryology
* Vesicle (embryology), bulge-like features o ...
that he believed were observable in decaying materials, and presumably present universally. Initially he thought of bions as electrodynamic
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...
or radioactive entities, as had the Ukrainian biologist Alexander Gurwitsch
Alexander Gavrilovich Gurwitsch (also Gurvich, Gurvitch; russian: Алекса́ндр Гаври́лович Гу́рвич; 1874–1954) was a Russian and Soviet biologist and medical scientist who originated the morphogenetic field theory and di ...
, but later came to the conclusion that he had discovered an entirely unknown but measurable force, which he then named "orgone", a pseudo-Greek formation probably from ''org-'' "impulse, excitement" as in '' org-asm'', plus ''-one'' as in ''ozone
Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...
'' (the Greek neutral participle, virtually , ''gen''.: ).
For Reich, neurosis became a physical manifestation he called "body armor"—deeply seated tensions and inhibitions in the physical body that were not separated from any mental effects that might be observed. He developed a therapeutic approach he called vegetotherapy
Vegetotherapy is a form of Reichian psychotherapy that involves the physical manifestations of emotions.
Development
The fundamental text of vegetotherapy is Wilhelm Reich's ''Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Strömung'' (1935), later included ...
that was aimed at opening and releasing this body armor so that free instinctive reflex
In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a Stimulus (physiology), stimulus.
Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous s ...
es—which he considered a token of psychic well-being—could take over.
Evaluation
Orgone was closely associated with sexuality: Reich, following Freud, saw nascent sexuality as the primary energetic force of life. The term itself was chosen to share a root with the word ''orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region charac ...
'', which both Reich and Freud took to be a fundamental expression of psychological health. This focus on sexuality, while acceptable in the clinical perspective of Viennese psychoanalytic circles, scandalized the conservative American public even as it appealed to countercultural
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...
figures like William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
and Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
.
In at least some cases, Reich's experimental techniques do not appear to have been very careful, or to have taken precautions to remove experimental bias. Reich was concerned with experimental verification from other scientists. Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
agreed to participate, but thought Reich's research lacked scientific detachment and experimental rigor; and concluded that the effect was simply due to the temperature gradient inside the room. "Through these experiments I regard the matter as completely solved," he wrote to Reich on 7 February 1941. Upon further correspondence from Reich, Einstein replied that he could not devote any further time to the matter and asked that his name not be misused for advertising purposes.
Orgone and its related concepts were quickly denounced in the post-World War II
The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (US ...
American press. Reich and his students were seen as a "cult of sex and anarchy," at least in part because orgone was linked with the title of his book ''The Function of the Orgasm'', and this led to numerous investigations as a communist and denunciation under a wide variety of other pretexts. The psychoanalytical community of the time saw his approach to healing diseases as quackery of the worst sort. In 1954, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
obtained an injunction to prevent Reich from making medical claims relating to orgone, which prevented him from shipping "orgone devices" across state lines, among other stipulations. Reich resisted the order to cease interstate distribution of orgone and was jailed, and the FDA destroyed Reich's books, research materials, and devices at his institute relating to orgone.
Some psychotherapists
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
and psychologists
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...
practicing various kinds of Body Psychotherapy
Body psychotherapy, also called body-oriented psychotherapy, is an approach to psychotherapy which applies basic principles of somatic psychology. It originated in the work of Pierre Janet, Sigmund Freud and particularly Wilhelm Reich who develope ...
and Somatic Psychology
Somatic psychology is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on somatic experience, including therapeutic and holistic approaches to the body. Body psychotherapy is a general branch of this subject, while somatherapy, eco-somatics and dance therapy, ...
have continued to use Reich's proposed emotional-release methods and character-analysis ideas.[Müschenich, S. & Gebauer, R.: "''Die (Psycho-)Physiologischen Wirkungen des Reich'schen Orgonakkumulators auf den Menschlichen Organismus''" ("The sycho-hysiological Effects of the Reich Orgone Accumulator on the Human Organism,") ]University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
(Germany), Department of Psychology, Master's Degree Dissertation, 1986. Published as: "''Der Reichsche Orgonakkumulator. Naturwissenschaftliche Diskussion - Praktische Anwendung - Experimentelle Untersuchung''" ("The Reichian Orgone-Accumulator. Scientific Discussion - Practical Use - Experimental Testing"), 1987, published by Nexus Verlag, Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
(Also see the published work: Müschenich, Stefan: ''Der Gesundheitsbegriff im Werk des Arztes Wilhelm Reich'' (''The Concept of Health in the Works of the physician Wilhelm Reich''), Doktorarbeit am Fachbereich Humanmedizin der Philipps-Universität Marburg (M.D. thesis, 1995, University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
(published by Verlag Gorich & Weiershauser, Marburg) 1995.[Kavouras, J.: "''HEILEN MIT ORGONENERGIE: Die Medizinische Orgonomie'' (''HEALING BY ORGONE ENERGY: Medical Orgonomy'')," Turm Verlag (publisher), Beitigheim, Germany, 2005; Lassek, Heiko: "''Orgon-Therapie: Heilen mit der Reinen Lebensenergie'' (''Orgone Therapy: Healing by hepure Life/Vital energy'')," Scherz Verlag (publisher), 1997, Munchen, Germany; Medeiros, Geraldo: "''Bioenergologia: A ciencia das energias de vida''" (portuguese: ''Bioenergology: The science of life's energies''), Editora Universalista, Brazil][DeMeo, J.: "''The Orgone Accumulator Handbook''," Natural Energy, 1989]
In popular culture
Orgone was used in the writings of several prominent beat generation
The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...
authors, who were fascinated by both its purported curative and sexual aspects. To that extent, it is heavily associated with the 1950s counterculture movement, though it did not carry over into the more extensive movements of the 1960s.
* Devo
Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
, a new wave '80s band, claimed that their iconic energy dome design was used to recycle the wasted orgone energy that flows from a person's head. Devo cofounder Mark Mothersbaugh
Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...
has said:
* Dušan Makavejev
Dušan Makavejev ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Макавејев, ; 13 October 1932 – 25 January 2019) was a Serbian film director and screenwriter, famous for his groundbreaking films of Yugoslav cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s—many of wh ...
opened his 1971 satirical film '' W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism'' with documentary coverage of Reich and his development of orgone accumulators, combining this with other imagery and a fictional sub-plot in a collage mocking sexual and political authorities. Scenes include one of only "ten or fifteen orgone boxes left in the country" at that time.
* Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
wrote the novel ''The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold
''The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold'' is a novel by the British writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in July 1957. It is Waugh's penultimate full-length work of fiction, which the author called his "mad book"—a largely autobiographical account ...
'' where an orgone accumulator plays an important role. A neighbour to Mr. Pinfold owns a box, and with it he experiments on Mr Pinfold's wife. Later, in a hallucinatory state, Mr Pinfold imagines that his problems have originated from that box.
* Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, ...
bassist Murdoc Niccals
Murdoc Faust Niccals (born Murdoc Alphonce Niccals) is the fictional British bassist for the virtual band Gorillaz. He is voiced by Phil Cornwell and was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.
In the Gorillaz universe, Murdoc was respon ...
is seen using an Orgone Accumulator during the video for their song, Pac-Man. As part of their online release Song Machine.
* Hal Duncan
Hal Duncan (born 21 October 1971, real name Alasdair) is a Scottish science fiction and fantasy writer.
His works have been listed in the New Weird genre, but he prefers not to ascribe his writings to any genre.
Life
Hal Duncan was born in Ki ...
wrote the book ''Ink
Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...
'' (''The Book of All Hours 2''), where one of several alternative realities is orgone-based, and in it orgone ("sexual energy") is used as primary energy source.
* Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...
, a British space rock
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...
band, released the song "Orgone Accumulator" as the first track on side three of their 1972 live album, ''Space Ritual
''The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London'' (commonly known as ''Space Ritual'') is a 1973 live double album recorded in 1972 by UK rock band Hawkwind. It is their fourth album, reached #9 in the UK album charts and briefly dented the ...
''.
* Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
wrote in his popular novel ''On the Road
''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonis ...
'' of an orgone accumulator that was treated more as a type of drug than as a medical device: primarily a stimulant, with strong sexual overtones. The 2012 film of Kerouac's novel includes a scene with the device, but adds a small window in the accumulator and a funnel to breathe through.
* J.D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in ''S ...
would sometimes use an orgone accumulator, according to his daughter.
* Kate Bush
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
describes in her song "Cloudbusting
"Cloudbusting" is a song written, produced and performed by English singer Kate Bush. It was the second single released from her number-one album '' Hounds of Love'' (1985). "Cloudbusting" peaked at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
Taking insp ...
" the arrest of Reich through the eyes of his son, Peter.
* Orson Bean
Orson Bean (born Dallas Frederick Burrows; July 22, 1928 – February 7, 2020) was an American film, television, and stage actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He was a game show and talk show host and a "mainstay of Los Angeles’ small ...
, American actor and raconteur, was once a proponent of orgone therapy and published a book about it entitled '' Me and the Orgone.''
* ''Peep Show
A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot.
Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...
'', a Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
comedy series, features in the episode "Mark's Women" a cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
which defines Orgones as "the invisible molecules of universal life energy which govern our moods and our actions", with negative Orgones being the sources of all the problems in the world.
* Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, a ...
, an Australian racing driver, publicly supported orgone and fitted all Holden Dealer Team specials with a device called the "Energy Polariser", which was said to improve the performance and handling of vehicles through "aligning the molecules" using orgone energy.
* Warren Leight
Warren Donald Leight (; born January 17, 1957) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and television producer. He is best known for his work on ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and '' Lights Out'' and as the showrunner for ''In ...
wrote in his play ''Side Man
''Side Man'' is a memory play by Warren Leight. His inspiration was his father Donald, who worked as a sideman, in jazz parlance a musician for hire who can blend in with the band or star as a solo performer, according to what is required by the g ...
'' a scene where Gene and Terry receive an orgone box that Gene's friend's wife made him get rid of.
* William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
was a major proponent of orgone research, who often included it as part of the surreal imagery in his novels. Orgone interested Burroughs particularly because he believed that it could be used to ease or alleviate "junk sickness"—a popular term for heroin withdrawal
Withdrawal means "an act of taking out" and may refer to:
* Anchoresis (withdrawal from the world for religious or ethical reasons)
* ''Coitus interruptus'' (the withdrawal method)
* Drug withdrawal
* Social withdrawal
* Taking of money from a ban ...
. This fitted well in the context of his novels, which were usually narrative recreations of his own experiences with narcotic
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
s and the Beat
Beat, beats or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area
** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols
** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men
* Battery (c ...
life. Burroughs explicitly compares "kicking the habit" to cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in the novel '' Junky'', and ties it to the use of orgone accumulators. At the time that Burroughs was writing, orgone accumulators were only available from Reich's Orgone Institute in New York, offered for a ten dollar per month donation. Burroughs built his own instead, substituting rock wool
Mineral wool is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics.
Applications of mineral wool include thermal insulation (as both structural insulation and pipe insulation), filt ...
for the sheet iron, but believed it still achieved the desired effect.
* Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
's 1973 comedy science fiction movie '' Sleeper'' features an orgasmatron—a cylinder big enough to hold one or two people, containing some future technology that rapidly induces orgasms. This is required as almost all people in the movie's universe are impotent or frigid, although males of Italian descent are considered the least impotent of all groups. It has been suggested that the orgasmatron was a parody of Reich's orgone accumulator.
*Science fiction author Damien Benoit-Ledoux fictionalized orgone energy as the mysterious and accidental source of superhuman abilities in his Guardians superhero novel series. Key moments in the story take place inside the fictional underground base beneath Orgonon
Orgonon was the home, laboratory and research center of the Austrian-born psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957). Located in Rangeley, Maine, it is Reich's burial place, and is now open to the public as the Wilhelm Reich Museum. Its main bui ...
in Rangeley, ME.
See also
* Alexander Gurwitsch
Alexander Gavrilovich Gurwitsch (also Gurvich, Gurvitch; russian: Алекса́ндр Гаври́лович Гу́рвич; 1874–1954) was a Russian and Soviet biologist and medical scientist who originated the morphogenetic field theory and di ...
* Animal magnetism
Animal magnetism, also known as mesmerism, was a protoscientific theory developed by German doctor Franz Mesmer in the 18th century in relation to what he claimed to be an invisible natural force (''Lebensmagnetismus'') possessed by all livi ...
of Franz Anton Mesmer
Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called " ani ...
* Energy (spiritual)
* Energy medicine
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into a patient and effect positive results. Practitioners use a number of names including various synonyms for ...
* Fringe science
Fringe science refers to ideas whose attributes include being highly speculative or relying on premises already refuted. Fringe science theories are often advanced by persons who have no traditional academic science background, or by researchers ...
* Integratron
The Integratron is a tall cupola structure with a diameter of designed by ufologist and contactee George Van Tassel. Van Tassel claimed the Integratron was capable of rejuvenation, anti-gravity and time travel. He built the structure in La ...
* List of ineffective cancer treatments
This is a non-exhaustive list of alternative treatments that have been promoted to treat or prevent cancer in humans but which lack scientific and medical evidence of effectiveness. In many cases, there is scientific evidence that the alleged tr ...
* Odic force
The Odic force (also called Od d Odyle, Önd, Odes, Odylic, Odyllic, or Odems) is the name given in the mid-19th century to a hypothetical vital energy or life force by Baron Carl von Reichenbach. Von Reichenbach coined the name from that of ...
of Carl Reichenbach
Carl Ludwig von Reichenbach (full name: Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Reichenbach; February 12, 1788January 1869) was a German chemist, geologist, metallurgist, naturalist, industrialist and philosopher, and a member of the Prussian Academy of Scienc ...
* Rupert Sheldrake
Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born 28 June 1942) is an English author and parapsychology researcher who proposed the concept of morphic resonance, a conjecture which lacks mainstream acceptance and has been criticized as pseudoscience. He has worke ...
* Scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refe ...
* Thetan
In Scientology, the concept of the thetan () is similar to the concept of self, or the spirit or soul as found in several belief systems. The term is derived from the Greek letter Θ, theta, which in Scientology beliefs represents "the source of l ...
* Vitalism
Vitalism is a belief that starts from the premise that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things." Wher ...
* Vril
''The Coming Race'' is a novel by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, published anonymously in 1871. It has also been published as ''Vril, the Power of the Coming Race''.
Some readers have believed the account of a superior subterranean master race and th ...
References
External links
Quackwatch article
{{Pseudoscience
Body psychotherapy
Energy (esotericism)
Orgonomy
Pseudoscience
Vitalism
Sexology