Orgone energy, the creative force in nature, is not a form of electromagnetism nor of matter but is fundamental to both. It is the specific life energy, but life is only one particular manifestation of it.

Our knowledge about it is partial and fragmentary in major respects, and is no doubt in some measure erroneous. Nevertheless, a clear and consistent picture of what orgone energy is and how it functions arises from Reich's work.

The following ten properties of orgone energy were deduced by Reich.

1. It is mass free. Orgone energy itself has no inertia or weight; i. e., it is mass free. This is one of the reasons it is difficult to measure using conventional techniques. Mass is, however, intimately dependent on the characteristics of the mass-free orgone energy field with which all matter is surrounded. Measurements of weight or inertia reflect the characteristics of this field as well as of the object contained in it.

2. It is present everywhere. Orgone energy fills all space. It is present in differing degrees or concentrations (or "charges") but is nowhere absent. It is present in vacua, whether within the atmosphere or in outer space. It is in this respect like the ether of pre-20th century physics.


3. It is the medium for electromagnetic and gravitational phenomena. Again, like the ether., orgone energy is the substratum of the most fundamental natural phenomena. It is the medium in which light moves and electromagnetic and gravitational fields exert force. One of the major tasks of orgonomy is to integrate our knowledge of orgone energy with the facts about those phenomena known to orthodox physics.


4. It is in constant motion. The continual motion of orgone energy can be observed under appropriate conditions. There are at least two characteristic types of motion, a pulsation or alternating expansion and contraction, and a flow, normally along a curving path.


5. It "contradicts" the law of entropy. Orgone energy is attracted to concentrations of orgone energy. Unlike heat or electricity, which always show a direction from higher to lower potential, orgone energy flows from lower orgonotic potential to higher.


In a thermal system in which outside energy is neither added nor subtracted, heat is lost by hot objects or materials and absorbed by cool until everything within the system is the same temperature. "Entropy increases" as the heat is distributed more and more uniformly. Heat, after all, leaves the sun and goes out into space; it does not collect from space and flow into the sun. In the same way, a heater radiates heat into the room; heat does not flow from the room into the heater. These processes are in accordance with the law of entropy.


Orgonotic processes work in the opposite direction. High concentrations of orgone energy attract orgone energy from their less-concentrated surroundings. "Entropy decreases" as orgone energy is distributed more and more unevenly.


It would be a mistake to think that the flow of orgone energy from lower to higher potential is only the reverse of the law of entropy or to try to represent these processes by thermodynamic equations by reversing the sign of the time parameter.


Non-entropic orgonotic processes do not run their course mechanically; they are qualitatively entirely different from entropic processes. They are, in fact, the processes responsible for the growth of living things, for the process of learning, and for the evolution from simple to complex species. In non-living nature they are responsible for the growth of clouds and storms within the atmosphere, and on a cosmic scale, for the growth of galaxies and the stars within them.



This leads into the next property of orgone energy.6. It forms units which are the foci of creative activity, Orgone energy units may be living or non-living; e. g. bion cloudcell stormplant planetanimal stargalaxy. All of these orgone energy units have features in common. All are "negatively entropic" in the sense discussed above, so that they acquire energy from their environment.



All have a "life cycle" as well, passing through birth, growth, maturity, and decline.7. Matter is created from it. Under appropriate conditions, matter arises from mass-free orgone energy. These conditions are not rare or unusual, and Reich believed that new matter is continuously being created on this planet.8. It is responsible for life.



Orgone energy is the life energy, and as such is responsible for the special characteristics which differentiate living from non-living. This can be expressed in this way: Some orgone energy units develop the special qualities associated with life, which is a kind of chain reaction of the creative process. The qualities which seem to me to typify living as opposed to non-living orgonotic units are: a. Reproduction of similar units from one or two parentsb. Evolution of the units in the direction of higher development C.




Presence of consciousness, the ability to experience feeling,at least to some extent, and to perceive the environmentd. Presence of volition, the ability of an individual to control its own movementThe first two properties appear to apply to all living things. The last, as far as we know, apply only to animal life.




Much more could be said about orgone energy and life since this subject has been studied most fully. For purposes of this synoptic view the above will suffice, however, with the note that Reich has greatly elaborated the role of orgone energy in the phenomena of life.9. Separate streams of orgone energy may be attracted to each other and superimpose.


The superimposition function is the fundamental form of the creative process. In free space, superimposing orgone energy streams typically show the form of two streams of energy converging in a spiral. This form is most clearly seen in spiral galaxies, and also in the form of hurricanes and other cyclonic storms. At the opposite end of the scale of sizes, mass particles are created by superimposition of two tiny streams of energy.



The same process occurs in living organisms, the form then being constrained, of course, by the structure of the individual involved. Mating is a principal expression of the superimposition function in living nature; two separate streams of energy flow together and superimpose during the orgasm. The power and depth of feeling in mating reflects the intensity of the orgone energy flow that takes place.10. It can be manipulated and controlled by orgone energy devices.



Perhaps the first orgone energy device was the "bacquet" of Mesmer, a crude but apparently effective form of orgone energy accumulator. Reich developed several devices for the control of orgone energy. The best known of these is the orgone energy accumulator. The accumulator is an enclosure formed by a layered arrangement of metallic and non-metallic materials which result in a concentration of energy within the enclosure.


Of equal significance is Reich's weather control apparatus, a type of directional antenna that makes it possible to withdraw large amounts of orgone energy from a region of the atmosphere. Used properly, this apparatus can trigger large changes in the weather.To the above ten properties of orgone energy which Reich described, I would add two others.11. Orgone energy units "use" stored energy of various kinds in the creative process. Units of orgone energy utilize energy which is stored in various ways in building themselves up and in maintaining or increasing their size or strength.



This is most clearly true of animals utilizing chemical energy of foods in metabolism and growth. Storms, which are also orgone energy systems, utilize the latent heat of condensation of water vapor as a source of stored energy.Stars may employ the heat of thermonuclear fusion in maintaining their high temperatures, although I have reservations as to whether the fusion reaction plays the key role in stellar processes that today's astronomers believe. Fifty years ago an entirely different explanation was given by astronomers for the source of stellar heat, and fifty years from now still another may be in vogue.



In any case, it is evident that orgone energy processe's typically involve stored energy which is used in various ways in the service of the creative process.12. "Spontaneous generation" and other orgonotic processes may require unimpeded contact with cosmic orgone energy streams.


"Spontaneous generation" of living organisms seldom occurs under the laboratory conditions biological scientists impose, but these conditions are completely abnormal and foreign to nature. Life can and does continuously arise out of non-living matter under more natural conditions. This process has been described in detail by Reich.


I believe an essential feature of these natural conditions may be the direct contact of the matter in which life is to develop with cosmic orgone streams. Protozoa seldom appear spontaneously in infusions which are both sterilized and enclosed in sealed containers, for example. They do appear regularly in these same solutions, sterilized and kept uncontaminated but unsealed.

Evidence


The evidence for orgone energy, that is to say, the evidence that there is a special energy in nature with properties such as Reich described, is too extensive to be reviewed adequately in an article such as this. Weather Experiments. Additional evidence for orgone energy is the effect of the Reich weather control apparatus, the "cloudbuster" as he called it. This apparatus is a kind of antenna, which, upon being grounded into water, is said to be capable of withdrawing orgone energy from the sky in the direction it is pointed.



It was claimed by Reich that it could dissipate clouds by withdrawing energy from them. It was also claimed that the device could be used to trigger rainfall when none was expected and even to break droughts.The results of my experiments are perfectly clear; the Reich weather control apparatus does exactly what Reich claims it does.


Clouds at which the antenna is pointed shrink and disappear from the sky, while comparable clouds selected as controls do not. Man is sick en masse, and the sickness is rooted in his structure, a structure which, for some reason, has become biologically rigid. This rigidity is shown primarily by a chronic muscular tension which Reich called armor. Armor affects most of the human race throughout all the continents.



The variations in type and degree of armoring are legion, but almost every human being is armored to some extent. The effect of armor is to block or restrict the flow of orgone energy in the body, and in consequence, to block or limit the emotion rooted in this energy flow. Armor limits the capacity to experience and express deep feeling. It destroys the capacity for a natural sexuality, the most intense pleasurable emotion. The armor shapes the character and mentality; it affects how people think, including how scientists think.



Armor is the cause of psychosis, of crime, of fascism and of other political irrationality. It is the root of contradiction between mechanism and mysticism, which is so important to understanding resistance to the orgone energy concept.Our civilization is rooted in mystical religion and mechanistic science. These together comprise the principal intellectual forces in the world we live in. Both of these forces are products of armored man.



Reich has said that mankind is ruled by a contradictory and murderous mixture of machines and gods, by which he meant the mystical forces of religion and the mechanistic forces of science.The mechanist armors himself in such a way that he cuts off his perception of and his contact with his own deepest nature. He becomes rigid and limited in his thought processes. He develops a mechanical concept of nature and becomes deterministic in his view of causality.



He tends to think compulsively and has a deep-seated fear of the alive, the free, the spontaneously moving, the unpredictable, the deeply emotional. The mechanistic scientist reacts against orgone energy functions because they correspond to exactly that portion of nature that he has armored against. For this reason, the mechanist forms a mechanical view of creation and of life. The mystic, by contrast, is not completely cut off from his nature, from orgone energy phenomena within himself, but has distorted this contact because of his armor. The mystic is capable of achieving some great insights because he is in partial contact with his deepest nature; still his contact, especially his contact with his own body, is distorted, and in most cases, deeply distorted.


The mystic tends to split off bodily love from the mental, the "spiritual, " and often to become ascetic and anti-sexual. This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all, because it contributes the most to reproducing armor in the young. The many who might not be threatened by the orgone energy concept per se are threatened by the attitude others take towards it, by the scorn, the abuse, the contempt which invariably stem from pathological individuals, but unfortunately, easily infect others. It is a sad fact that the desire to be respectable is a primary motivation among scientists.

Individuals threatened by the orgone energy concept attack it by making it disreputable. "Respectable" scientists then will not consider the concept or the evidence for it.Finally, a factor which hurts acceptance of the orgone energy concept which must not be ignored lies in the effects of the armor on the very individuals who support the concept.


Those who work in orgonomy are also members of the sick human race; they too are armored, with tendencies toward mechanism and/or mysticism. Even highly-qualified scientists professing interest in orgonomy (and there are many) are usually incapable of productive work in the field. Many brave plans for research in orgonomy are made, but few materialize.every article in the 29 volumes of evidence for orgone energy that have been cited, there were 20 or 30 planned by supporters of orgonomy but never carried out.


And it is a sad fact that the quality of those which have appeared has sometimes suffered in comparison with what could be reasonably expected of the individuals involved. Research in orgonomy is extremely difficult; the process of actually working with orgone energy exposes the worker fully and directly to its threatening qualities.


Other scientific work is easier to do because it is more peripheral, further removed from the core of life itself, and for this reason, less threatening to the scientist.This should not be construed as an apology for what has been accomplished in orgonomy. Much of this work, particularly that of Reich himself. At present the need for additional work to confirm experiments previously done and to carry out new research is not being met, however.


This is only partly because of the lack of funds, facilities and time, a lack, incidentally, due to the activities of the frightened and hateful souls who have so maligned orgonomy that they have destroyed the possibility for it to obtain research funds through normal channels. Of equal importance with the lack of funds and facilities are the characterological problems of those of us who would carry out the research.


In summary, the fact that the orgone energy concept is not generally accepted is not due to the absence of evidence but to a widespread pathology of the human animal. This pathology consists of a rigidity of body and character that cuts the individual off from life energy functions within himself, and makes him either blind to or threatened by the functioning of this same energy in nature.

The mass pathology works against acceptance of the orgone energy concept in many ways:

It brings about the mechanistic -and mystical character structures which prevail in ourworld. It causes pathological fear and hatred in a minority of individuals, who attempt to destroyorgonomy by gross distortions of fact, defamation, and ridicule, and sometimes by direct violence. This minority is effective because of the characterological soil in which it works. The "characterological soil" consists not only of the prevailing mechanistic andmystical characters of the majority, but also the fearfulness of scientists and intellectuals to be associated with "disreputable" ideas.


Finally, the work done in orgonomy itself suffers from the fact that the mass disorder ofthe human animal afflicts the proponents and investigators of the orgone energy conceptas well as their opponents, and affects the amount and quality of their work. Despite these severe problems blocking acceptance of the orgone energy concept, I believe we are on the threshold of a change.The evidence for orgone energy is now too great to bury successfully and too strong to continue to ignore.

More scientists will take the claims of orgonomy seriously, will repeat experiments and try to understand the orgone energy concept. This too will result in severe confusions, widespread denials of the evidence by threatened individuals, and other difficulties with which we are now familiar, and may be able to meet successfully.

If so, the new direction in science implicit in the discovery of orgone energy will at last emerge into its own.