The World of Wilhelm Reich
[Original headline: Orgone but not forgotten]
There's nothing we like better at Surf's Up than a good genius-or-fool story, and we've got a real whopper this week in the person of Wilhelm Reich.
Reich, born in Austria in 1897, boasted serious credentials in the field of psychology. He was a colleague and friend of Sigmund Freud in Vienna, even serving as vice-director of Freud's psychology clinic for two years.
To many, though, Reich's name is permanently linked to a bizarre theory he called "orgone energy" - a mysterious, possibly therapeutic "life energy" emitted by humans during orgasm. Reich's pursuit and promotion of orgone theory led to FBI investigations, burning of his research by the U.S. government and a term in federal prison, where he died 45 years ago today.
Most consider Reich's theories pseudoscience, but believers claim the government destroyed crucial research. Surf these sites and decide for yourself:
www.arches.uga.edu/(tilde)speck/home.html - In between his orgone research, theories on sexual psychology, and attempts at rain-making and UFO contact, the world of Wilhelm Reich can be a baffling place to newcomers. This site offers an excellent introduction: It's simple without being dumbed down, and unlike some other sites, it doesn't take sides. Try the biography, the glossary and the link called "Scientist or Scoundrel?" for a good start.
foia.fbi.gov/reich.htm - So what made the FBI so interested in Reich? Well, if you don't mind some legwork, here's where you find out. This site offers 789 pages of FBI files on Reich, from the early '40s to his death. Highlights include Reich devotees asking for permission to set up a "space gun" in a national park, ostensibly for smog research, and a Reich assistant threatening to unleash orgone-powered storms over the eastern United States in retaliation for Reich's conviction. (Reich was sent to prison for contempt of court and violating the Food and Drug Act.)
pw1.netcom.com/(tilde)rogermw/reich/oranur.html - Reich believed orgone energy could have been used to fight off radiation. From December 1950 to May 1951, he tested that idea with homemade equipment, hundreds of lab mice and a small quantity of radium. The experiment, which included mass death of mice and the evacuation of lab staff, is debunked here by one Roger M. Wilcox. The story bogs down in science jargon from time to time, but is worth reading for Wilcox's straightforward tone - and the way he describes the unscientific sloppiness and unbelievability of the experiment.
www.orgonelab.org - Having presented a skeptic's view, it's only fair to offer the site of a believer. This site is the online home of the Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory Inc. in Ashland ... Ashland, Oregon, that is. Lab director James DeMeo offers details of research he says supports Reich's theories, though some other post-Reichists don't agree with him. (For more on that, click the link to "skeptics and irrational critics," whom DeMeo seems to spend a lot of time answering.)
wilhelmreichmuseum.org - Another hidden benefit of MetroWest: If you're really piqued by the theories of Wilhelm Reich, you're just a long car trip away from the place where he spent his last years of research. Reich's former compound in Rangeley, Maine, is now the site of his tomb and a museum that presents what remains of his equipment and study results. Visitors can even rent two cottages on the property, one of which served as Reich's home.
www.oceanstar.com/patti/bio/reich.htm - The writings of Reich and his associates have attracted interest from some unusual quarters, including author William S. Burroughs and singer-songwriters Patti Smith and Kate Bush. This site explains those artists' links to Reich and offers the lyrics of Smith's "Birdland," a long, knotty fantasy based partially on the biography of Reich's son, Peter.
• Story originally published by:
Milford Daily News / MA | Kurt Blumenau - Nov 3.02
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