Orgone what is what it is not

 Reich's tragedy lies in the fact that the main practical confirmation of his ideas was precisely the constant persecution he had to suffer in all the countries where he lived – from Europe to the United States – and which he was forced to leave, since his discoveries highlighted the roots of domination, submission and social suffering. harshly attacking the foundations of power mechanisms that are still current. According to Reich, orgone energy differed from all other known energies, which derive from matter (electric, nuclear, magnetic...) and which are, for this reason, defined as secondary energies. Thanks to his studies, Reich realized that orgone is fundamental in all life processes: from the formation of galaxies to cell formation.

In the twenties of the last century Wilhelm Reich worked alongside Freud, destined to become a brilliant psychoanalyst. The Ukrainian-born psychiatrist focused in particular on the neuroses and stagnation of psychic energy found in these clinical pictures. In the mid-1930s, he experimented with airborne infections and noticed that microorganisms are formed from non-organic material, causing organic substances to disintegrate. Observing the inorganic substance under the microscope, he realized that they had in common vesicles of matter, which assumed a pulsatile movement of a green-blue color. He called this pulsatile motion bion.

One day, by mistake, one of his assistants heated a test tube containing some bions until it became incandescent. This, rather than being eliminated, was able to produce a powerful radiant energy phenomenon. He gave the name orgone to this energy, in honor of Freud's studies on sexuality that had influenced him a lot. Reich was convinced that he had finally found what men have always been looking for: the primordial cosmic energy from which everything derives. This concept is not entirely new: Eastern traditions are based on the conception of a universal life force, which for Hindus is called prana, for Buddhists it is known as Chi. In the West, the ancient Greeks were the first to refer to this energy as ether. And these are, more generally, concepts known to cultures that consider illness as an energy distortion.

The peculiarity of orgone is that it tends to accumulate, and organize itself into complex structures, called orgonomas, which create a real mechanical tension. All living organisms, therefore, contain a certain amount of orgone within them, which manifests itself in biological and mechanical functions. Energy is constantly entering and exiting different pathways and through various processes: breathing, nutrition, emotions, etc. The flow is permanent and its fundamental characteristic is pulsation, the process of charging and discharging. Usually the charge is greater than the discharge, so that the accumulated excess energy is discharged in single-celled organisms through division and in the human animal through a self-regulated safety mechanism, namely orgasm.

This reflection was partly influenced by the ideas of Freud in psychoanalysis, who had developed a first theory whose fundamental pillar was the pleasure principle, which hypothesizes that the human being acts under the pressure of a "positive" instinct that always moves him towards what induces pleasure. Neuroses would originate from the clash between this primary need and the frustrating external world. Freud had no idea what it was or where it came from that clashed with the outside world, with the fear of punishment, although he had sensed that it was some kind of energy that he called libido.

From the moment a conflict between the individual and society arose, two paths opened up that would mark opposite fates: on the one hand, maintaining social order at the expense of the individual, and on the other, defending the individual and fighting for social change. Freud chose the former, Reich opted for the latter. The break between the two was inevitable. The merit of Wihlelm Reich's discoveries on orgone energy is that he was able to make this energy visible, which constituted the solution to the problems he had posed for years and the link between the first doubts about the Freudian conception of neurosis, the concept of health and disease and the crucial importance of self-regulation in the growth of children.

Following the discoveries made, Reich believed that the formula of orgasm, whose energetic key was obviously orgone, constituted the formula of life since it was traceable in all living matter and in all the functions of the biological system: in breathing, in blood circulation, in the functioning of the intestine and bladder, in the movement of amoebas. A permanent flow of pulsation in which contraction represents anguish and expansion represents pleasure.

By precisely establishing the relationship between the sexual energy economy and neurotic disorders, Reich had taken a transcendental step towards the possibility of cure and, more importantly, of prevention of human suffering. The key lay in the interrelationship between conflicts, of a psychic nature, and sexual blockage, of a physical nature, in which the former constitute the content and the latter the energetic level. From here it was easy to understand that, working only on a psychic level, it was impossible to solve the problem. The operation had to break the border, then sacred, constituted by contact with the patient's body or, rather, with the wall behind which he entrenched himself.

Reich's tragedy lies in the fact that the main practical confirmation of his ideas was precisely the constant persecution he had to suffer in all the countries where he lived – from Europe to the United States – and which he was forced to leave, since his discoveries highlighted the roots of domination, submission and social suffering. harshly attacking the foundations of power mechanisms that are still current.

Jesus Garcia Blanca writes in this regard: "If Reich was persecuted to the death, it is because his ideas endangered the status quo of the powerful, whoever they were. It is admirable how, despite the pressures to which he was subjected throughout his life, including the multiple attempts to be made to pass for paranoid or schizophrenic, he managed to maintain such energy as to allow him to complete transcendental discoveries that proposed, and still propose, a new scientific and medical paradigm. If the acceptance of insults, suffering and injustice is an indication of insanity and mental health is found in the ability to rebel, there is no doubt that Reich enjoyed excellent health and for this reason he is an example of rebellion".

The term, which originates from the English word orgasm, was coined by Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychoanalyst (1897-1957) and founder of orgonomy, or the science of orgone. "Orgone" is the name given by Reich to the alleged vital energy, or preatomic energy, with which the universe would be pervaded and which in man would manifest itself as sexual energy and libido. Reich's name is linked to the theme of liberation and sexual revolution. In fact, he argued that if the free flow of orgone through the body is prevented by a repressive society or by traumatic experiences of life, blocks arise that give rise to character alterations and neuroses. Undergoing what Reich calls "psychoanalytic character analysis" would allow one to eliminate resistance, releasing inhibited sexual energy. His research contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms of authoritarianism. Examples of orgone, well made and hand-drawn

La misura dell'energia cosmica. Reich arrivò ad affermare che l’orgone, energia cosmica primordiale, può essere misurata grazie a particolari apparecchi chiamati accumulatori orgonici, che lui stesso costruì. Lo studio delle varie manifestazioni dell’orgone portò lo scienziato a occuparsi degli argomenti più disparati, tra cui perfino l’utilizzo dell’orgone come fonte di energia da parte degli Ufo.