Bezabor: (posting from Sugarloaf on 9/20)
Sunday, September 18--
After staying the night at Rangeley State Park, we went shopping at the local IGA and gassed up (gas is $2.79 a gallon at the IGA), we went over to the town library where I posted the previous log entries. We toured around the area, checking out the boat launches and gear shops, then went to the Wilhelm Reich Museum. Reich was an interesting and tragic figure. He had the misfortune to grow up in eastern Europe when World War I was breaking out. His mother -- to whom he was devoted-- had committed suicide and his father died a few years later of disease (tuberculosis?). He spent four years in the Army (a picture in his house shows soldiers dancing in a circle and someone -- probably Reich has labelled it "dancing before dying"). He developed a theory that there's a very strong, universal force which is in and through all things. He called the force 'orgone energy' and conducted scientific experiments which he claimed to prove it's existence. He designed and built an 'orgone energy accumulator' which is a box built of multiple materials--- metal, fiberglass (stranded fiberglass- like your house insulation), and celotex (a pressboard building material) in layers. His theory of how the energy passes through or is reflected by the different materials led to the development of the accumulator. And he proved it worked by comparing the temperature of an empty, single material box with that of the orgone energy accumulator: the temperature was always slightly higher in the accumulator.
With time, orgone energy became paired with claims of healing. And with more time, it came to the attention of the FDA, which is claimed to have pursued Reich relentlessly, leading to his being jailed and many of his writings destroyed. He died in jail from a heart attack just a few months before his 60th birthday.
Reich also invented the 'cloudbuster', an array of pipes mounted on what looks like an anti-aircraft-style gun mount. One end of the pipes point skyward and the other end is grounded and submerged in water. The unit was mounted on a truck bed and would be driven to an area needing rain or suffering from too much rain. The unit could be pointed at a cloud and cause it to dissipate or at an empty area of sky and would cause a cloud -- an a raincloud at that-- to appear (and rain!).
The desciptions are fantastic but one thing I can't deny: when I put my hand in a small accumulator, I felt a definite tingle-- and a pretty strong one at that. Same for Labashi.
It's easy to see how the accumulator's claim of capturing an abnormally high level of the 'universal energy' could turn into claims of healing power.
Fascinating!
Entrance to the Wilhelm Reich Museum. The building in the background is the conference center.
Sunday, September 18--
After staying the night at Rangeley State Park, we went shopping at the local IGA and gassed up (gas is $2.79 a gallon at the IGA), we went over to the town library where I posted the previous log entries. We toured around the area, checking out the boat launches and gear shops, then went to the Wilhelm Reich Museum. Reich was an interesting and tragic figure. He had the misfortune to grow up in eastern Europe when World War I was breaking out. His mother -- to whom he was devoted-- had committed suicide and his father died a few years later of disease (tuberculosis?). He spent four years in the Army (a picture in his house shows soldiers dancing in a circle and someone -- probably Reich has labelled it "dancing before dying"). He developed a theory that there's a very strong, universal force which is in and through all things. He called the force 'orgone energy' and conducted scientific experiments which he claimed to prove it's existence. He designed and built an 'orgone energy accumulator' which is a box built of multiple materials--- metal, fiberglass (stranded fiberglass- like your house insulation), and celotex (a pressboard building material) in layers. His theory of how the energy passes through or is reflected by the different materials led to the development of the accumulator. And he proved it worked by comparing the temperature of an empty, single material box with that of the orgone energy accumulator: the temperature was always slightly higher in the accumulator.
With time, orgone energy became paired with claims of healing. And with more time, it came to the attention of the FDA, which is claimed to have pursued Reich relentlessly, leading to his being jailed and many of his writings destroyed. He died in jail from a heart attack just a few months before his 60th birthday.
Reich also invented the 'cloudbuster', an array of pipes mounted on what looks like an anti-aircraft-style gun mount. One end of the pipes point skyward and the other end is grounded and submerged in water. The unit was mounted on a truck bed and would be driven to an area needing rain or suffering from too much rain. The unit could be pointed at a cloud and cause it to dissipate or at an empty area of sky and would cause a cloud -- an a raincloud at that-- to appear (and rain!).
The desciptions are fantastic but one thing I can't deny: when I put my hand in a small accumulator, I felt a definite tingle-- and a pretty strong one at that. Same for Labashi.
It's easy to see how the accumulator's claim of capturing an abnormally high level of the 'universal energy' could turn into claims of healing power.
Fascinating!
Entrance to the Wilhelm Reich Museum. The building in the background is the conference center.
posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 12:00
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