What Is an Accumulator?
Dr. Reich's work in psychiatry was always a combination of theoretical work and laboratory experimentation. In Norway in 1935, he made the first attempt to measure changes in the bioelectric makeup of the human body during pleasurable sensations. Told at first that it was impossible to measure such small electrical currents, he developed a new technique for measurement. Thus, he initiated the area of research now known as biofeedback. His original work on changes in the skin’s electric potential initiated the development of today’s lie detector machines.
In late 1939 Dr. Wilhelm Reich came to the United States. One of Reich's first experiments in his new laboratory in the United States was to try to isolate and explore energy fields unique to living systems. He discovered a device that concentrated this life energy that pervades the environment of an unpolluted biosphere. This life force he named orgone energy.
The device that Reich put together to isolate and intensify this force is called an accumulator. It is made up of alternating layers of organic and non-organic material. Reich explained that the dominant direction of energy flow is always to the inside of the device. There is a continual intensification of this life force on the inside of the accumulator. When someone sits in it, the living energy field of the person interacts with the augmented energy field of the accumulator, and can have measurable effects on the person sitting inside the accumulator.
In the 1940's Reich used the accumulator in a number of clinical ways. He conducted extensive experiments with mice bred for spontaneous tumor growth. Daily irradiations with the accumulator eliminated these tumors or significantly increased the life span of mice over untreated control groups. Reich also worked with human cancer patients achieving some spectacular results (1). The most serious problem that Reich had was that the tumor mass would break down so quickly that the debris would clog the patient's kidneys causing renal failure. Today it seems appropriate that the detoxification and elimination diet defined by Dr. Max Gerson could resolve this problem (2).
Reich moved on to explore the use of this concentrated energy in other areas of research. In 1954 the Food and Drug Administration issued an injunction asking Reich to not ship accumulators across state lines until he proved in court the effects he had demonstrated. Proud and independent as he was, Reich did not present himself to the judge, since he stated in a letter to the court that scientific research should not be brought into a political courtroom. The judge imposed the maximum sentence for his failure to comply and Reich died in a federal penitentiary in November of 1957. His books were burned along with all the accumulators the FDA could confiscate. It was a shameful moment in the history of the United States.
In the years following this act of censorship, it was impossible for interested people to obtain an accumulator for their own use short of making one themselves. The information on how to do this is readily available but it is hard to do without access to a woodworking shop (3,4). Although there is one manufacturer of accumulators in the United States, the cost is high once shiping is factored in. It is about the materials that go into construction that makes them expensive, as no one is making much of a profit here. Steel is very expensive right now.
We at Orgone.org believe that if one wanted to use an accumulator on a daily basis, the best thing to do is to make it oneself. Therefore, complete plans are given on this site, along with detailed instructions for assembly. Some sources of materials that we have used are also provided. Wool and cotton are used for the organic layers and steel is used for the non-organic layers, although Dr. Reich used fiberglass for the organic material in his accumulators.
References:
(1) Reich, Wilhelm The Cancer Biopathy (The Discovery of Orgone, Vol. 2)
(2) Gerson, MaxA Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases and the Cure of Advanced Cancer by Diet Therapy
(3) Greenfield, Jerome Wilhelm Reich vs. the U.S.A
(4) Mann, W. Edward and Hoffman, Edward The Man Who Dreamed of Tomorrow: A Conceptual Biography of Wilhelm Reich
For an excellent biography of Reich:
Sharaf , Myron Fury On Earth: A Biography Of Wilhelm Reich
Plans for construction of an accumulator:
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