From the book The Orgone Energy Accumulator: Its Scientific and Medical Use, by Wilhelm Reich, M.D.,  Orgone Institute Press, Rangeley Me, 1951.

The Medical Use of the Orgone Energy Accumulator

Through General Orgonotic Irradiation of the Organism

The medical use of the orgone energy accumulator is accomplished by daily, regular sittings within the radiating enclosure. Ventilation of the enclosed space is secured through openings above and beneath the door, large enough to guarantee air circulation. The atmospheric orgone energy does not “seep” through openings, but penetrates the solid walls. In relation to the accumulator, the organism is the stronger energy system. Accordingly, a potential is created from the outside toward the inside by the enclosed body. Biophysically speaking, the living organism constitutes the first, and the enclosing accumulator the second, enveloping, orgonotic radiating system. The energy fields of the two systems make contact and after some time, dependent on the bio-energetic strength of the organism within, both the living organism and the energy field of the accumulator begin to “luminate,” i.e., they become excited and, making contact, drive each other to higher levels of excitation. This fact becomes perceptible to the user of the orgone energy accumulator through feelings of stronger prickling, warmth, relaxation, reddening of the face, and, objectively, through increased body temperature (0.5 to 1.50 F.). The body temperature should be measured before and during the irradiation (not after the sitting).

There is no mechanical rule as to how long one should sit in the accumulator. Bio-energeticaily stronger people need shorter irradiation than weaker persons. This is obvious since the stronger energy system will establish the energy field contact and the lumination more quickly, whereas the weaker organism will require a longer time to react.

The expression “lumination” is justified by the sensation of a “soft glow’’ which is felt by many users of the accumulator. One should continue with the orgonotic irradiation as long as one feels comfort­able and “glowing.” The sensitive person will, after a while, have “had enough.” This manifests itself in the feeling of “nothing happening any longer.” It is explained by the fact that, in a truly self-regulatory manner, the organism will absorb only as much orgone energy as it requires. One should not compare the orgone irradiation with a mechanical filling of a barrel with, water; the idea is wrong that the more energy one “pours” into the organism the better. After a certain level has been reached, the sensations become unpleasant. Pressure in the head, slight nausea, ill feelings all over, and dizziness are the most common signs indicating that over-irradiation has begun. One simply leaves the accumulator and, if one has had too much, one takes some fresh air and the symptoms of overcharge quickly, vanish. Under no circumstances should one sit in the accumulator for hours, or, as some people do, go to sleep in it. This can cause serious damage (severe vomiting, etc.). It is better, if necessary, to use the accumulator several rimes a day at shorter intervals than to prolong one sitting unneces­sarily. At this stage of research, no accumulator over 3-layers should be used without medical supervision.

The size of the accumulator should fit the size of the person who uses it. The inner metal walls should not be further away from the surface of the body than approximately 2 to 4 inches. A small child in a large size accumulator would not attract enough energy. The routine average size will he suitable for most people. People taller than 6 feet need larger accumulators.

Bedridden people can replace the regular accumulator by using the special irradiation equipment constructed for use in beds. One set of layers (flat) is put under the mattress, and the curved part is put on top of the patient, the bed cover serving as an additional organic layer on top of the curved half of the accumulator. The dosage of orgone irradiation with the orgone energy accumulator blanket again depends entirely on the type of case and sickness.

  ORAC photos 008

An orgone energy blanket for use in bed.

It is not necessary to undress completely in the accumulator since orgone energy penetrates everything. However, one should not wear too heavy or woolen clothes since this will prevent quick contact and lumination.

ORAC photos 009

An orgone energy accumulator with chestboard and shooter in use.

The effect of the irradiation upon the special disease is rarely a direct one. Thus, a cancerous tumor will not be affected directly or immediately. A cold will not budge on the first few sittings. A mi­graine or a rheumatic pain may well persist over a certain period of time. This is so because the orgone energy first must affect the total organism, the total background from which the single symptoms emerge. Only when the total organism and especially the blood system are sufficiently charged, will symptoms such as colds, headaches, etc., begin to yield. Accordingly, it is not the outer energy but the higher level of inner bio-energy which is responsible for the improvement in the symptomatic realm. A cancer tumor of the breast which did not budge for many weeks will then, within a few days, diminish and con­stantly decrease in size, once the total organism has reached a satis­factory level of bio-energetic charge. The accumulator helps nature in the organism to help itself. The same type of bacteria which will not be killed in the test tube by orgone energy, will be killed within the highly-charged organism under orgone irradiation.

On the average, orgone irradiation for humans requires from five to thirty minutes daily. With regular use, the necessary time shortens. A patient beginning with half-hour sessions may end up with only ten-minute sessions. It also depends on the number of layers in the accumulator. The greater the number of layers the shorter will be the necessary irradiation time. But there is never anything mechanical about the timing of sittings.

In cases of cancer, anemia, general bio-energetic weakness (“fatigue”), etc., Reich blood tests should be performed at regular intervals until the normal level of bio-energy in the organism has been reached (cf. “Orgone-biophyysical Blod Tests”, pp. 144-145. First published: IJSO 1, 1942 and IJSO 3, 1943.). Once in one or two months will suffice.

It should be emphasized that only prolonged and regular use of the accumulator will do the job, if it is at all possible. No result can be ex­pected when the accumulator is used irregularly, with long intervals in between irradiations. In chronic illnesses no results can be expected in a week or two. Severe chronic colds and sinusitis will require total organismic irradiation over a period of one to two years to show the good results which it is possible to obtain. Hay fever will rarely yield during the first year, but it will most probably be at least diminished during the second or third year of regular use. This again is due to the fact that the total organism has first to function properly bio- energetically before local symptoms can yield to orgone treatment. This proves satisfactorily that the orgone energy attacks the back­ground of disease, the total biosystem, and not merely the local symptom.

In the orgone energy accumulator we finally have at our disposal an appropriate medical and prophylactic tool to cope efficiently with what is usually and helplessly called disposition to disease. This “dis­position” is something very concrete: it is the low bio-energy level and metabolism in the organism. A highly-charged organism will not develop a cold in bad weather easily; a weakly charged organism will contract a cold in a slight drizzle. A strongly-charged organism will not permit the development of local decay in the lung or in the skin; a weak one will.

THE BASIC ATTENTION SHOULD, THEREFORE, BE CENTERED UPON THE TOTAL BODY FUNCTIONING. THE REICH BLOOD TESTS ARE THE APPRO­PRIATE TOOLS WITH WHICH TO JUDGE THE ENERGY LEVEL OF THE OR­GANISM. (Cf. “Orgone-biophysical Blοod Tests”, pp. 144-145. First published: IJSO 1, 1942 and IJSO 3, 1943.)

The “Shooter”

Whereas the orgone energy accumulator becomes medically effi­cient through charging of the bio-energy system as a whole, the “shooter” affects only a local area, e.g., a cut or burn. The shooter is built according to the same principle as the big accumulator. It, too, consists of several layers of alternating organic and metallic material, and thus is efficient in drawing and concentrating atmospheric orgone energy. This accumulated energy within the shooter is now directed through flexible iron hollow cables (most efficiently through BX cables) from which the inner wires have been removed, toward the local region to be irradiated. On small areas, e.g., about i sq. cm., it suffices to keep the outer end of the BX cable at the burn or cut at a distance of approximately one-eighth of an inch. On larger areas a funnel should be inserted, corresponding in size approximately to the afflicted area to be irradiated (cf. photo below). Only metal (iron) funnels can be used; funnels made of plastic are ineffective. The intensity of the irradiation does not diminish with a larger area. In a truly self-regulatory manner more orgone energy is drawn and de­flected toward the inflicted area the larger the funnel which is inserted into the outer end of the BX cable. The mechanism of the irradiation effect consists in that the particular local area draws energy from the shooter box through the BX cable. The latter should be insulated with tape or plastic, organic material on the outside, in order to form in itself a radiating structure with metal inside and organic material out­side.

ORAC photos 007

The first type of orgone energy “shooter” ever built.

At the beginning of local irradiation one feels nothing. Then slowly one begins to feel heat and prickling; if there is pain, it begins to diminish and finally to vanish, at times after a very brief period of greater intensity. Painful burns, cuts, bruises will stop smarting after a few minutes. In cases where the epidermis has been abrased and the deeper layers of the skin have been exposed, serum will appear quickly and dry out. One can follow the healing process as it runs its course. In wounds one can see within 15 minutes a hyperemia developing from the margins, the wound flattening at the bottom with the initial redness due to blood injection in the vicinity disappearing as the heal­ing process proceeds. One should not irradiate too long. According to the size of the injury, five to twenty minutes will suffice to set the healing process into rapid motion. Once one can observe the change in the wound (color, depth, drying out, flattening) one should stop and apply the usual antiseptic remedies, and should irradiate again after a few hours or in accordance with the severity of the injury. Even severe pain will be stopped soon after the accident if orgone energy is applied locally through the shooter. In severe cases of bums, experience has revealed the amazing fact that no blisters appear, and that the initial redness slowly disappears. The wounds heal in a matter of a few hours; severe ones need a day or two. Only chronic, advanced degenerating processes require weeks and months of daily irradiation. But here, too, severe lesions, as for instance ulcus varicosus, will yield to orgone energy irradiation.

One should be careful with irradiating the eyes. The cornea should not be exposed to close irradiation longer than one minute. It is always better to irradiate several times than to over-irradiate in one sitting. Orgone energy is not poured like water into a barrel. The organism absorbs healthily only the amount it can use; it regulates itself.

Eyes (with closed lids), the region of the sella turcica between the eyes, the heart region at the apex and at the base, the mouth, and the region of the plexus Solaris should be irradiated daily while one sits in the accumulator, just long enough to feel the heat penetrating.

For larger areas, e.g.,. the scalp, one should use a large metal funnel which is insulated on the outside with cotton and tape.

ORAC photos 11

Left: An orgone energy funnel for local application.
Right: An orgone energy blanket for local application.

One should not expect miracles. A severe wound cannot be healed in a few minutes. Patient, repeated orgone energy irradiation will most likely do the job.

Orgone energy also sterilizes the wound. Microscopic observation shows that, for example, bacteria in the vagina will be immobilized after only one minute of irradiation through an inserted glass pipe filled with steel wool. Only the close vicinity of a wound should be treated with iodine or a similar disinfectant. After orgone energy irra­diation a dressing with boric acid vaseline or simply vaseline jelly should be applied.

DO NOT MIX ORGONE IRRADIATION WITH OTHER, CHEMICAL APPLICA­TIONS. ORGONE ENERGY IS A VERY STRONG ENERGY. We do not know as yet what such a mixture can do.

Vitamins, iron colloids taken internally, penicillin, and other bio­logically derived drugs are in agreement with orgone energy. On the other hand, the merely inorganic compounds such as the sulfa drugs, should under no circumstances be applied, either externally or inter­nally, since they hamper the regenerative processes induced by orgone energy. Morphine should be avoided if possible, and if total orgone energy irradiation can alleviate the pain.

The local 3- to 5-fold shooter can easily be carried around and taken to any place wherever necessary. A 3- to 4-foot pipe will suffice to reach any region of the organism.

Open, inner wounds should be irradiated with the shooter after the operation, for disinfection and application of healing energy.

Each home should have a shooter. It can easily be built by the future user. One should strive to collect practical experience in the use of the shooter at home on every occasion that offers itself.

Basic Indications of Orgone Energy Application

It has been ascertained that in the average case the charging process will regulate itself. It should be stressed again that orgone energy cannot be applied mechanistically, by timing or rigid measurement. The orgone energy to be applied is just as fluid functionally as is the organism which absorbs it. There are not two organisms equal in charge or capacity for orgone absorption. In most cases an uncom­fortable feeling, a sensation of dislike, a pressure in the head or nausea will indicate that the optimum dose has been surpassed. It is very similar to the intake of food. Nobody weighs exactly the piece of meat or the amount of vegetables to be eaten in advance. The healthy or­ganism knows when to stop eating because of feelings of discomfort or a distinct feeling of having “had enough.”

However, there are cases where we do not rely on these subjective sensations, where we are careful in advising the patient not to eat more than a certain amount in spite of persistent hunger, or to drink only a small amount of water. The same rule applies in certain biopathies with respect to application of orgone energy.

We can generally divide the biopathies into two groups. One is generally characterized by a chronically too low level of energy: undercharged biopathies. The second is generally characterized by a chronic surplus of bio-energy charge: overcharged biopathies. It is obvious that the first will require different rules of orgone applica­tion than the second group.

  1. Undercharged Biopathies

Here the sensation of “having had enough” bio-energy will most likely be totally absent. The tolerance of charge will be high. Under­charged patients are capable of sitting in even a io-fold accumulator for hours without any sensations at all. Only after many weeks of continuous daily irradiation does some degree of subjective sensitivity return, strong enough to tell the patient that he has had enough. There are definite diseases and symptomatic syndromes which correspond to the first group:

  1. Chronic depressives and melancholics;
  2. chronically fatigued people;
  3. undernourished patients;
  4. cancer, shrinking biopathies, especially the fully shrinking type (see “The Carcinomatous Shrinking Biopathy”, pp. 128-168, First published IJSO q, 1942 and IJSO 2, 1943; and “”Anorgonia in the Carcinomatous Shrinking Biopathy”, pp. 291-344. First published IJSO 4, 1945.).
  5. And all cases where the peripheral energy field is low and weak.

In these cases the danger of over-irradiation is absent or not acute

until after the normal energy level has been reached.

  1. Overcharged Biopathies

The second group, of overcharged patients, consists of

  1. all kinds of vascular hypertensives;
  2. high blood pressure;
  3. hysterical characters;
  4. cases with severe acute sexual stasis.

In these cases the energy level in the organism is very high and the tolerance of orgone intake low. After a few minutes severe discomfort may set in. Particular caution and attention should be applied in orgone irradiation of the following diseases:

  1. Decompensated heart diseases;
  2. blood pressure over 150 systolic pressure;
  3. brain tumors;
  4. arteriosclerosis;
  5. cases with a history of apoplectic attacks;
  6. skin inflammation, conjunctivitis.

In these cases the first irradiations should be given in short sittings, with the pulse action under constant control. We emphasize again that one should not use cm orgone energy accumulator with more than 3 layers without specialized medical supervision, particularly in cases of overcharge. The length of the sittings can be slowly increased from time to time, until one is sure that no collapse or sudden total contrac­tion due to sudden expansion will occur. Bursting of blood vessels, vegetative shock, stoppage of heartbeat, are entirely possible if in such cases over-irradiation by application of, say, a 20-fold accumu­lator takes place. No death due to over-irradiation has yet occurred in ten years of orgone energy application, but its possibility cannot be en­tirely excluded. One should especially watch out for high blood pres­sure cases which could react to the expansive vagatonic influence of orgone energy with a sharp rise instead of decrease of pressure.

Specialized medical supervision is absolutely required in the follow­ing cases:

  1. In all diseases subsumed under Group B;
  2. whenever orgone energy is applied to diseases hitherto not studied with respect to orgone energy effects;
  3. in all cases where overcharge through inappropriate use of the accumulator has occurred;
  4. in all cases which require an accumulator of more than 3-fold.

These main lines of caution may suffice. In the average case, the irradiation with orgone energy is harmless. It is a body-own energy, and not a foreign kind of radiant energy which is applied. However, experiments on over-irradiation are being conducted at Orgonon to determine possible reactions of the blood cell system to chronic over­charge.

Orgone irradiation can be applied with great benefit and without any danger, even with over-irradiation, in the following diseases: Fatigue, anemia, cancer biopathy, with the exception of tumors of the brain and liver, acute and chronic colds, hay fever, rheumatism, arthritis, chronic ulcers, any kind of lesion, abrasion/wounds, burns, sinusitis, and some types of migraine.

NEUROSES CANNOT BE CURED WITH PHYSICAL ORGONE ENERGY. Only the biopathic somatic background and certain somatic consequences of severe neuroses can be alleviated or diminished.

Further intensive research is indispensable for the establishment of die indications of orgone energy treatment in diseases heretofore not treated with orgone energy. Research is already underway or planned on such diseases—to mention a few—as poliomyelitis, multiple sclero­sis, and leukemia.