Earlier this year, I was asked to provide a lecture about the theory of orgone therapy. Because of the importance of this topic, however, I decided to create this presentation.

In his book Character Analysis, Dr. Wilheim Reich, the founder of orgonomy, stated that orgone therapy:

. . . comprises all medical and pedagogical techniques which make use of biological energy, the orgone. The cosmic orgone energy, from which the concept of “orgone therapy” drives, was not discovered until 1939. Yet, long before this discovery, the goal of character analysis was conceived as the liberation of “psychic energy” as it was called at that time, from the character armor and muscular armor and establishment of orgastic potency. (1)

Wilhelm Reich

Based on Reich’s definition, the principal entity for orgone therapy is biological energy, the “orgone.” Therefore, the first step in describing orgone therapy is to become acquainted with its concept and natural function in the body. It is important to understand the source from which this energy originates, to which it returns, and how it propagates in the body.

Sigmund Freud

The knowledge of orgonomy has grown out of the body of knowledge of psychoanalysis founded by Sigmund Freud.

      Freud realized that in order to explain certain psychological phenomena, one must first assume the existence of psychosexual energy. He referred to this hypothetical energy as “libido energy,” which he considered the driving force behind instincts and all human actions. Freud’s students, however, perhaps because of social and cultural pressures, spoke less frequently about, and ultimately abandoned, the notion of libido theory. Instead, they elaborated endlessly on other theories of Freud, such as his theory of the Id, Ego, and Superego or his topographic theory of the conscious and unconscious. Reich, however, realized the central importance of libido theory, from which he developed his theory of orgonomy. Reich says:

Basically, Freud discovered the principal of energy functioning of psychic apparatus. The energy functioning principal. This was what distinguished him from all other psychologists. Not so much the discovery of unconscious. The unconscious, the theory of unconscious, was to my mind, a consequence of a principal he introduced into psychology. That was the principal, the natural scientific principal, of energy the “libido theory” you know that very little is left of it today. (2)

Reich in the book “Cancer Biopathy” says:

…the spurting of every plant, the development of every embryo, the spontaneous movement of muscles, and productivity of every biological organism demonstrate the existence of incalculable energies governing the work of living substance. Energy is the capacity to work. (3)

This was prelude to establish that foundation of orgone therapy is the use of biological energy “orgone”.

      
However, in order to discuss the theory of orgone therapy, one must follow the pedagogical approach customary in medical schools when teaching treatment approaches to medical students. Prior to learning these treatment approaches, students must first be educated about the anatomy and physiology of the healthy body. Thereafter, these students are instructed in illnesses, referred to as pathology. It is only then that students are instructed about the treatment of these illnesses. During this time, students are then educated about prevention of the illnesses to protect people from becoming sick in first place.

      
To introduce the theory of orgone therapy, this same method is used: To understand orgone therapy, we must first learn about the normal functioning of the organism from an orgonomic point of view. Then we must learn about the distortions that occur which hinder normal functioning and eventually cause illness. Next, we learn how to treat this illness and ultimately learn how to prevent it in first place.

Normal Orgonomic Functioning

      In describing the normal orgonomic functioning of the human organism, we must examine orgonomic functioning in primitive organisms with whom we share basic functional principles. The basic function of life in the most primitive organisms is the rhythmic alternation of contraction and expansion, in other words, pulsation. Pulsation is nothing but the rhythmic propagation of energy. Reich stated:

The animal body at the very lowest stage of development possesses an apparatus that generates electricity from the center. These are the so-called vegetative ganglia, a conglomeration of nerve cells which, arranged at regular intervals and connected with all organs and their parts by means of very fine strands, govern the involuntary life functions. They are the organs of vegetative feelings and sensations. They constitute a coherent unity, a so- called “syncytium” which is divided into two antithetical functioning group: sympathetic and parasympathetic. (4)

      This structure and function persist in developed stages. The autonomic nervous system, also referred to as the vegetative nervous system, is well-known in medical physiology and neurology. Also well-known are the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems and their functions of inducing contraction and expansion as well as their regular and rhythmic impulses. Feelings of pleasure are associated with the parasympathetic function of expansion while non-pleasure and anxiety are associated with the sympathetic function of contraction. These basic physiological facts are recognized in medicine and medical physiology and are basic concepts on which the orgonomic theory of health and sickness is based. The capacity of the human organism to expand and contract fully without inhibition and to regulate the pulsating energy by the proper discharge of surplus energy by orgastic convulsions is the foundation upon which the concepts of health and sickness are determined in orgonomy.

Reich stated:

As we have already pointed out, all biological impulses and organ sensations can be reduced to expansion (elongation, dilatation), and contraction (shrinking, constriction). How are these two basic functions related to the autonomic nervous system? Investigation of the very complicated vegetative innervations of the organs show that the parasympathetic (Vagus) always functions where there is expansion, dilation, hyperemia, turgor, and pleasure. Conversely, the sympathetic nerves function whenever the organism contracts, blood is withdrawn from the periphery, and pallor, anxiety, and pain appear. If we go one step further, we grasp that the parasympathetic nervous system operates in the direction of expansion, “out of self toward the world,” pleasure and joy; whereas the sympathetic nervous system operates in the direction of contraction, “away from the world– into the self,” resulting in sadness and displeasure. The life process consists of continuous alternations between expansion and contraction. On the highest psychic level, biological expansion is experienced as pleasure; contraction is experienced as displeasure. In the realm of instinctual phenomena, expansion functions as sexual excitation, and contraction functions as anxiety.” (5)

In addition, there should be centers where this biological energy originates and returns. In orgonomy, the centers that produce this pulsatory energy are identified as “vegetative ganglions.” Reich stated:

In the abdominal region the so-called seat of the emotions, we find the generators of biophysical energy. They are the large centers of the autonomic nervous system, essentially the solar plexus, hypogastric plexus, and lumbosacral plexus. (6)

           Figure 1: The diagram depicting the function of vegetative centers (7)

      In orgonomy, we also recognize the functional existence of the segmental structure, conspicuous in lower animals like worm. The wavy movement of the worm from head to tail maintains the direction of orgonomic movement in the human organism as well. In a healthy body, the orgone energy flows unimpeded from inner ganglions toward the outside, undulating from the head to pelvis. The surplus energy is fully discharged by orgastic convulsions like all other living organisms. In such a normal and natural orgonomic state, the organism will be physically and psychologically healthy. This discharge of surplus energy regulates the energy of the organism. Human beings share the orgastic function with all other living organisms including protozoa to regulate energy and maintain equilibrium. Therefore, the orgastic function is common among all living organisms, and anyone who studies the function of living organisms has no choice but to acknowledge the essential importance of this function including its fundamental importance in the human organism. The division of cells is based on orgastic principles which reflect the essentiality of this function in all living organisms. This is why Reich has written detailed explanations and stressed the significance of this function. The followings are quotations from Reich in relation to significance of orgastic potency in the health of the human organism:

The theory of sex economy and its investigation of living phenomena can be stated in a few sentences.

Psychic health depends upon orgastic potency, i.e., upon the degree to which one can surrender to and experience the climax of excitation in the natural sexual act. It is founded upon the healthy character attitude of individuals capacity for love. Psychic illnesses are the result of a disturbance of the natural ability to love. Psychic illnesses are the results of disturbance of natural ability to love. In the case of the orgastic impotence, from which the overwhelming majority of people suffer, the damming up of biological energy occurs and becomes the source of irrational actions. The essential requirement to cure psychic disturbances is the reestablishment of the natural capacity for love. It is dependent upon social as well as psychic conditions. (8)

Reich also states:

Orgastic impotence has always been in the forefront of sex economic research, and all of its details are still not known. Its role in sex economy is similar to the role of the Oedipus complex in psychoanalysis. Whoever does not have a precise understanding of it cannot be considered a sex economist. He will never really grasp its ramifications. He will not understand the difference between health and sickness, nor will he comprehend human pleasure, anxiety, or the pathological nature of the parent-child conflict and the misery of marriage. . . . He will never understand the identity between sexual process and life process. Nor will he be able to grasp the sex economic theory of cancer. He will mistake sickness for health and health for sickness. He will end up misinterpreting man’s fear of happiness. In short, he might be anything, but he will never be a sex economist, who knows that man is the sole biological species that has destroyed its own natural sexual function and is sick as a consequence of this. (p. 9)

The theory of orgasm is based on the four-beat formula:

Tension-charge-discharge-relaxation.

In summary, from the orgonomic perspective, a human being’s health depends on adequate production of pulsatory orgone energy from the vegetative ganglions seated inside the human, emitting undulating energy from the head to the pelvis, unimpeded, and regulating the surplus energy through healthy orgastic convulsions. From an orgonomic point of view, a person with such functioning is considered healthy. Such a person will psychologically manifest only good qualities in accordance to the laws of nature. Such a person will not be prone to biopathies and, as Dr. Reich has described, will have Christ-like qualities. He will be unable to lie, will have compassion toward others, be incapable of sadistic acts, will have rational thinking, be receptive to discussions, and shun destructive social activities. His goals and motives will be socially oriented and he will strive to improve his own condition as well as the conditions and lives of others. Physically, such a person will have strong, fluid, integrated, and coordinated body functions with healthy tissues and high immunity to illnesses.

After his patients were treated successfully and achieved orgastic potency, Reich described them as follows:

With the ability to experience complete genital surrender, the patient’s personality underwent such a thorough and rapid change that, initially, I was baffled by it. I did not understand how the tenacious neurotic process could give away so rapidly. It was not only that neurotic anxiety symptoms disappeared—the patient’s entire personality changed. I was at loss to explain this theoretically. I interpreted the disappearance of symptoms as withdrawal of the sexual energy which had previously nourished them. But the character change itself eluded clinical understanding. The genital character appeared to function according to different hitherto unknown laws. I want to cite a few examples by way of illustration.
Quite spontaneously, the patients began to experience a moralistic attitude of the world around them as something alien and peculiar. No matter how tenaciously they might have defended pre-marital chastity beforehand, they now experienced this demand as grotesque. Such demands no longer had any relevance for them; they became indifferent to them. Their attitude toward their work changed. If they had previously worked mechanically, had not demonstrated any real interest, and had considered their work a necessary evil which one takes upon oneself without giving it much thought, they now became discriminating. . . . The change in the sexual sphere was just as pronounced. Patients who had felt no qualms in going to prostitutes became incapable of going to them once they were orgastically potent. Wives who had patiently endured living with unloving husbands and had sexually submitted to them out of “marital obligation” could no longer do so. They simply refused; they had enough. What could I say against such behavior? It was at variance with all socially dictated views…. I no longer had a clear conception of the relation of the psychic structure to the existing social system. The change in the patients’ attitude with respect to this moralistic code was neither clearly negative nor clearly positive. The new psychic structure appeared to follow laws which had nothing in common with the conventional demands and views of morality. It followed laws that were new to me, of which I had no inkling prior to this. The picture, which these laws offered when taken together corresponded to a different form of sociality. They embraced the best principals of official morality, e.g., that women must not be raped and children must not be seduced. At the same time, they contain moral modes of behavior which though flatly at variance with conventional conceptions were socially unimpeachable. (10)

      Up to this point, we have described normal and healthy functioning of the human organism from the orgonomic view point which entails full pulsation and propagation of orgone energy in the body as well as proper discharge of it by orgastic convulsions. We will now discuss how and why this healthy functioning with which humans are ordained becomes distorted and sick. In medical terms, we will discuss the pathology that distorts natural functioning of the human orgonomic structure.

Pathology

The most important pathology that interferes and disturbs the normal orgonomic functioning in the body is emotional and physical armoring. Armoring is defined as the organism’s defense structure consisting of emotional and physical rigidities, expressed by chronic muscle spasms and characterological incrustations which function as a defense against emotional expression, primarily love, anxiety, rage, and sexual excitement. Armoring develops during a child’s interaction with his or her environment which harshly represses the child’s expression of those primary impulses. Children initially protest these inhibitions by crying or throwing a temper tantrum but eventually they submit to the pressure for their own survival and part of these primary drives disassociates and turns against itself and by means of physical and psychological contraction they repressed their natural primary feelings. These muscular and emotional rigidities over time becomes chronic and permanent and even when the environmental conditions changes and environmental suppression is lifted the mechanism of suppression continues by child’s own volition from within by the established armor.

Dr. Morton Herskowich stated:

“Emotional armoring is one of the most important discoveries in the history of psychiatry” (11)

He then described the effects of armoring:

Armoring converts free laughter into a cackle or twitter; it may cause a woman to speak in a little girl’s voice; it does not merely change a function by degree but by a kind. It renders behavior more predictable and more stereotypical. Armoring constrains life. Armoring is most often revealed in muscle tension but it is also revealed in the eyes in that they are glazed, in excessive body fat, etc.… Armoring is a dynamic event and entails the consumption of energy. It constrains us physically, emotionally, and ideationally. It is a cocoon to which we gradually become accustomed. (12)

In orgonomy, armored and unarmored organism is schematically depicted as follows:

Figure 2. Unarmored Orgonotic System(13)

Figure 3. Depiction of the Armored Organism(14)

 

Once the armor is established, free and orderly flow of pulsating orgone energy in the body becomes blocked or distorted. This pathological phenomenon itself causes a wide variety of sicknesses which in orgonomy are referred to as “biopathies “.

Reich defines these biopathies:

The term biopathies refers to all disease processes caused by a basic dysfunction in the autonomic life apparatus. Once started, this dysfunction can manifest itself in variety of symptomatic disease patterns. The biopathy can result in carcinoma (carcinomatous biopathy), but it can just as easily lead to angina pectoris, asthma, cardiovascular hypertension, epilepsy, catatonic or paranoid schizophrenia, anxiety neurosis, multiple sclerosis, chorea, chronic alcoholism, etc. . . . We are still ignorant of the factors that determine the direction in which biopathy will develop. Of prime importance to us, however, is the common denominator of all these diseases: a disturbance in the natural function of pulsation in the total organism. Fractures, local abbesses, pneumonia, yellow fever, rheumatic pericarditis, acute alcohol poisoning, infectious peritonitis, syphilis, etc. . . are accordingly not biopathies. They do not develop from disturbances in autonomic pulsation of the total life apparatus, they are circumscribed and can only secondarily bring about disturbance of the biological pulsation.” (15)

Pulsation, of course, requires energy, and no pulsation will exist without the propagation of energy. The armor, the pathological base of biopathies, changes natural primary impulses such as love, rational anger, rational hate, to secondary and distorted impulses with different tendencies such as sadistic or distorted sexual impulses, kleptomania, fake altruism, and irrational hate as well as irrational anger
Dr. Reich, developed a blood test which reflects the red blood cells energetic status and is helpful for determination of the orgonotic status of the body. This test is called “Reich blood test” and is described in the book “Cancer Biopathy” (16) as well as it is described by Dr. Vicchetti’s articles, published in this journal (17) (18).

In orgonomy the model of human psychological and physical structure based on which the treatment proceeds are described as core, middle layer and periphery. Reich says:

Extensive and painstaking therapeutic work on human character has led me to the conclusion that, as rule, we are dealing with three different layers of the biopsychic structure in the evaluation of human reactions. As I demonstrated in my book Character-Analysis, these layers of the character structure are deposits of social development, which function autonomously. On the surface layer of his personality the average man is reserved, polite, compassionate, responsible, conscientious. There would be not social tragedy of the human animal if this surface layer of the personality were in direct contact with the deep natural core. This, unfortunately, is not the case. The surface layer of the social cooperation is not in contact with the deep biologic core of one’s selfhood; it is borne by a second, an intermediate character layer, which consists exclusively of cruel, sadistic, lascivious, rapacious, and envious impulses. It represents the Freudian “unconscious” or “what is repressed”; to put it in the language of sex-economy, it represents the sum total of all so-called “secondary drives”.
Orgone biophysics made it possible to comprehend the Freudian unconscious, that which is antisocial in man, as a secondary result of the repression of primary biologic urges. If one penetrates through this destructive second layer, deeper into the biologic substratum of the human animal, one always discovers the third, deepest layer, which we call the biologic core. In this core, under favorable social conditions, man is an essentially honest, industrious, cooperative, loving, and, if motivated, rationally hating animal. Yet it is not at all possible to bring about a loosening of the character structure of present-day man by penetrating to this deepest and so promising layer without first eliminating the nongenuine, spuriously social surface. (19)

Treatment

Now that we have established the pathology of the natural orgonomic functioning of the body as armoring, which causes various biopathies, we will now discuss the treatment of this pathology for restoring the natural orgonomic function of the body.

Treating biopathies focuses on dissolving the armor. Because the armor itself inhibits the proper flow of biological energy throughout the body and inhibits its proper metabolism by incapacitating the orgastic potency, the treatment should focus on dissolving the armor. Consequently, this treatment will reestablish the natural production and flow of biological energy and restore the body’s orgastic potency. Although in rare circumstances, the armor could be dissolved by chance, the systematic approach for dissolving the armor and restoring orgastic potency thus restoring physical and psychological health is only possible through psychiatric and physical orgone therapy. Reich describes psychiatric orgone therapy as a combination of character analysis and vegetotherapy:

In character analytic work, we begin by trying, in a constant and systematic way, to isolate the interlaced character attitudes and to unmask them one by one as a defense function in terms of their contemporary meaning and effectiveness. Our purpose is to release the affects which at one time were subject to severe inhibition and fixation. This is accomplished by loosening the incrustations of the character. Every successful dissolution of a character incrustation first liberates the emotions of anger or anxiety. By also treating these liberated emotions as a psychic defense mechanism, we eventually succeed in restoring to the patient his sexual motility and biological sensitivity. Thus, by dissolving chronic character attitudes, we bring about reactions in the vegetative nervous system. The breakthrough into the biological realm is that much more complete and energy-charged, the more thoroughly we treat not only the character attitudes, but also, muscular attitude corresponding to them. This causes a part of the work to be shifted from the psychological and characterological realm to the immediate dissolution of the muscular armor . . . . In the final analysis, I could not rid myself of the impression that somatic rigidity represents the most essential part in the process of repression . . . . It can be said that every muscular rigidity contains the history and the meaning of its origin. It is not as if we had to drive from dreams or associations how the muscular armor developed; the armor is the form in which the infantile experience is preserved as an impairment of functioning. For instance, the neurosis is not solely the expression of a disturbance of psychic equilibrium; it is, rather, in a far justified and deeper sense, the expression of a chronic disturbance of the vegetative equilibrium and of natural motility. . . .The dissolving of muscular armor generally begins with those parts of the body, usually the head, which are furthest away from the genitals. It is the facial attitude that is most conspicuous. (20)

In this article, I do not intend nor am I able to explain the intricacies of character analysis and vegetotherapy. Reich described them in detail as did Herskowich. Reich also described the psychiatric orgone treatment of a 27-year-old male in his book, “The Function of Orgasm”(21-22)

      In addition to psychiatric orgone therapy to dissolve the main pathology in the body, the armor, Reich attempted to harvest atmospheric orgone energy by designing a certain therapeutic instrument which he called the “orgone accumulator”. This instrument was constructed after many years of experiments, and several anecdotal reports have corroborated its effectiveness. The accumulator is composed of certain arrangements of organic and inorganic material that absorb and reflect atmospheric orgone energy. This approach is most effective for preventing and treating the early stages of biopathies.

Preventive Measures

After learning physiology, anatomy, pathology, and then treatment approaches, medical students then learn about the prevention of illnesses. This sequence is also true in organomy. If the armoring of the human organism is the pathological base of a wide variety of biopathies that affect the human race physically and emotionally and causes an epidemic of neurosis, can it be prevented?

      From an orgonomic point of view, social, cultural and economic conditions that cause armoring in children and adolescents must be identified and changed. The main causes of armoring in children and adolescents are authoritarian, anti-sexual, and anti-pleasure upbringings. It is important that orgonomic theories, concepts, and principles of health and sickness be understood and used as a guide for child rearing.

      From an orgonomic perspective, social institutions should raise children and adolescents based on children’s physical and emotional needs. The social, cultural and economic institutions should not raise children based upon their institution’s agendas and goals and mold them to serve their nationalist, religious, or economic ideologies.

      Preventive measures are explained more thoroughly by Reich in Children of Future. (23) Basically, to prevent armoring and raise healthy children, it is imperative that children’s autonomic life function be understood and measures be taken to nurture it as nature has ordained. As Reich stated, “As long as children will be harmed and hurt with all kinds of ugly things, with the knife right after the birth (circumcision), nothing will change . . . you cannot impose freedom on the ruined bioenergetic system of children” (24).

History attests to above Reich’s statement.