Orgone, Reich and Eros: Wilhelm Reich's Theory of Life Energy

Orgone energy is an idea proposed & promoted in the 1930s by psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich, who originated the term to describe a universal life force. Reich, originally part of the Vienna circle, believed that Freud's concept of libido had an actual biological basis. He developed a therapeutic practice ostensibly designed to open up this bodily energy in the belief, following Freud, that a healthy psyche derived from uninhibited libidinal flow. This biophysical theory eventually developed into the concept of orgone (coined from the same root as "organism" & "orgasm"): seen as a massless, omnipresent substance, similar to luminiferous aether, but more closely associated with vital, living energy than inert matter. Orgone would coalesce & create organization on all scales, from the smallest microscopic units-bions in orgone theory-to macroscopic structures like organisms, clouds, even galaxies. He believed that many diseases, like cancer, were caused by deficits or constrictions in the flow of orgone in the body, & developed specially designed "orgone accumulators" which supposedly charged the body with orgone collected from the atmosphere. He created the Orgone Institute after immigrating to the USA, & pursued research into orgone energy for over a decade, publishing his own work thru the institute & producing orgone accumulators & related devices for distribution. The Food & Drug Administration eventually obtained a federal injunction barring the interstate distribution of orgone-related materials, on the charge that Reich & associates were making false & misleading claims. When he violated the injunction he was jailed. All orgone-related equipment & literature owned by him & his associates were destroyed.