Table Of ContentWilhelm Reich and Orgonomy
by Ola Raknes, Ph.D.
American College of Orgonomy Press
Princeton, NJ
American College of Orgonomy Press
P.O. Box 490
Princeton, NJ 08542 USA
First Published by St. Martins Press 1970
Copyright © ACO Press Princeton, NJ 2004
Printed in the United States
Cover photograph: courtesy of Space Telescope Science
Institute (NASA)
CONTENTS
Foreword to 2004 Edition by Richard Schwartzman, D.O. 3
Foreword by Elsworth F. Baker, M.D. 4
Preface 6
Part I. Development of Wilhelm Reich’s Ideas
1. Main Facts of Reich’s Life 11
2. Psychoanalytic Period 16
3. Bions and Biogenesis 28
4. Discovery of the Life Energy (Orgone) 30
5. Reich’s Campaigns 43
6. Wilhelm Reich as I Knew Him 51
Part II. Orgonomy
1. Introduction 61
2. Some General Considerations 78
3. Orgonomy and Physics 81
4. DOR 86
5. Orgonomy and Evolution 92
6. Orgonomy and Psychiatry 101
7. Orgonomy and Medicine 108
8. Orgonomy and Religion 111
9. Orgonomy, Psychology and Education 115
10. Orgonomy and Biology 118
11. Some Special Applications of Orgone Energy 123
12. Some General Conclusion 125
Part III.The Orgonomic Concept of Health and its
Social Consequences 131
Foreword
to the 2004 Edition
Reich wrote that he only discovered the energy and also that he
discovered too much. Both statements are true. The science of
orgonomy is really only about orgone energy but, because energy
forms the basis for everything in nature, its investigation takes one far
and wide into every field of study. All aspects of science and human
functioning can be viewed from an energetic perspective. For this
reason it is a challenge to present the subject comprehensibly. How
does one put into plain words concepts about an unseen force that
exists everywhere and exerts its influence throughout the universe?
Many have written about Reich and orgonomy but Dr. Ola Raknes
has managed to do it unlike any other. In this one slim volume Raknes
gives the reader clear and accurate information on a vast amount of
material. His long and close association with Reich during the time of
his most important work provided Raknes with a firsthand
appreciation of the man and his discoveries.
Dr. Elsworth Baker, founder of the American College of
Orgonomy, was asked by Reich to carry training and education into
the future. The College is particularly pleased to bring this new
edition, long out of print and in demand, to the next generation of
interested readers.
Richard Schwartzman, D.O.
March, 2004
Foreword
The science of orgonomy is concerned with the functional laws of
nature. It is therefore an extremely broad science covering all things
in nature, the non-living or physical sciences, and the living or
biological sciences. It further offers a scientific basis of
understanding for such non-scientific subjects as religion and the
liberal arts.
To present a concise but lucid picture of orgonomy is thus a most
difficult task. No one is better qualified to do so than Dr. Ola Raknes.
He worked closely with Reich in Norway before Reich came to America
and has continued intensive work in orgonomy to the present. He
made several trips to America to visit Reich and keep up to date with
the latest developments and has continued his trips even since Reich’s
death in 1957.
Dr. Raknes’ wide background and familiarity with science,
philosophy, religion and psychoanalysis enable him to look at
orgonomy in broad perspective, with an objective and critical
approach. He is himself a brilliant therapist, investigator, writer and
lecturer. His keen mind, natural curiosity and diligent
experimentation in orgonomy give him recognized authority in this
field.
The first part of the book shows Reich’s gradual development of
orgonomy through the logical steps of his discoveries. The second part
deals with orgonomy as it applies to the various sciences and
humanities. The third part concerns itself with one special aspect, the
orgonomic concept of health.
This book deserves to be widely read. Simply written, easily
understood, it stands as an ideal introduction to the extensive writings
of Wilhelm Reich. These include a score of books, a hundred papers,
and almost a hundred thousand pages of manuscript still unpublished.
This volume, written by so eminent a scholar, is a welcome and useful
addition to the literature on orgonomy.
Elsworth F. Baker, M.D.
1970
Preface
The present book comprises three different parts, each composed at a
different time and with a different purpose and that is why there are
some inevitable overlappings and repetitions. But as they all present
different sides and aspects of the work of Wilhelm Reich, M.D. (1897-
1957), I thought they might suitably be published together in one
volume.
The first to be written was ‘The Orgonomic Concept of Health,’
part of a symposium on therapeutic aims at the Institute for Social
Research in Oslo, and later translated into English and published in
Orgonomic Medicine (Vol. I, 2 Nov. 1955). It tries to formulate the ideas
that are the basis of my daily work as a psychotherapist. It is here
placed at the end of the volume.
The second part was written in the years after Reich’s death, and
was intended to be part of a memorial volume, the other parts of
which, however, were never written. It is not a biography of Reich; it
only tries to present the development of his main ideas.
The last part to be written was the little treatise on orgonomy. It is
an attempt to present to readers interested in basic scientific research
and in basic concepts some of the facts—observational and
experimental—that gave rise to the new science of orgonomy as
constituted by Wilhelm Reich, the discoverer of the orgone energy. It
does not pretend to adduce proofs of the basic tenets of orgonomy—
such proofs can only be had from observations and experiments,
conducted along the lines laid down by Wilhelm Reich in his writings.
Beyond presenting some basic facts, it tries to point out—taking for
probable, if not for proven, the basic tenets of the new science—some
of the problems raised in different fields of research by the orgonomic
point of view. It also tries, rather speculatively, to show some of the
consequences which orgonomic research is likely to lead up to.
Main Facts of Reich’s Life n■n7
The sources of what is written here are mostly to be found in
Wilhelm Reich’s writings. Much is also the outcome of numerous
conversations and discussions with him. Some developments of Reich’s
ideas are due to myself and I am unable to tell, in some cases, which
ideas were first mentioned by me and which ones by Reich. In any
case, I feel that what is presented here is little but Wilhelm Reich’s
ideas and some developments of them, though I must take the full
responsibility for all the contents.
A few friends and colleagues have read the manuscript of this
book in an earlier, slightly different version, and made helpful remarks
and suggestions. I want to mention here Elsworth F. Baker, M.D., of
Fair Haven, New Jersey, the late Simeon J. Tropp, M.D., of Babylon,
New York, Dr. John McEwan, of London, Dr. Bernard Grad, of
Montreal, Karl Fossum, M.D., of New York, and especially Professor
John M. Bell of New York University.
Ola Raknes, Ph.D.
Oslo (Norway)
