APRIL 2005 UPDATE FROM WILHELM REICH MUSEUM

[Guest guest]

APRIL 2005 UPDATE FROM THE WILHELM REICH MUSEUM

 

It’s springtime at Orgonon. And while ice-out in the lakes is still

a couple of weeks away, we’re already busy planning our summer

activities, including the 2005 Summer Conference.

 

The original title of the conference (which we first announced in our

November 2004 Update) was “The Orgone Energy Accumulator

and Alternative Medicine Trials.” We’ve revised our program

a bit and changed the title, but are still maintaining our focus on

the future of Reich’s medical and scientific work. With a program

featuring an eclectic roster of presenters and topics. We look

forward to seeing you this summer.

 

SUMMER CONFERENCE: JULY 18 – 22, 2005

 

WILHELM REICH & ORGONE ENERGY:

LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD

 

As we look ahead to the future of Reich’s work in science and

medicine, this conference will bring together voices and faces of

the past and present to investigate the possibilities and challenges

of the future. Those who knew and worked with Reich will share

their experiences, and current opportunities for medical trials of

orgone blankets and accumulators in America will be explored.

 

We hope you will join us for what promises to be a stimulating week

of discussion and debate as we move forward into the future.

 

Monday - 9:00 a.m. (July 18)

“The Historic Context of Reich’s Laboratory Work:

From Biomedical Research of the 1930s to the Present Day”

James E. Strick, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Strick is a science historian specializing in the history of ideas

about the origins of life. He is the author of: Sparks of Life -

Darwinism and the Victorian Debates Over Spontaneous Generation;

and co-author of: The Living Universe - NASA and the Development

of Astrobiology.

 

Monday - 2:00 p.m. (July 18)

“Memories of Working With Reich”

“Opportunities & Obstacles for the Future of Reich’s Biological Work”

Bernard Grad, Ph.D

 

Dr. Grad is a biologist, a former student of Wilhelm Reich, and author of:

“Wilhelm Reich’s Experiment XX” and “The Effects of the Orgone

Accumulator on the Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia of AKR Mice.”

 

Tuesday - 9:00 a.m. (July 19)

“Memories of Reich”

Morton Herskowitz, D.O.

 

Dr. Herskowitz is a practicing orgone therapist, President of the

Institute for Orgonomic Science, and the author of the book:

Emotional Armoring - An Introduction to Psychiatric Orgone Therapy.

 

Tuesday afternoon is free - enjoy the Rangeley Lakes Region

 

Tuesday - 5:00 p.m. (July 19)

Reception at the Orgone Energy Observatory (including a tour)

 

Wednesday - 9:00 a.m. (July 20)

“A Proposed Clinical Study to Test the Effectiveness

of Orgone Blankets in the Treatment of Burns”

Ron Maio, D.O. and Conny Huthsteiner, M.D.

 

Dr. Maio is Professor and Associate Chair of Research in the

Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan

Medical School, Director of the University’s Injury Research Center,

and Assistant Dean for Research Regulatory Affairs for the Medical

School.

 

Dr. Huthsteiner is a psychiatrist and orgone therapist in private

practice, and a member of the Institute for Orgonomic Science.

 

Wednesday - 2:00 p.m. (July 20)

Recreation – Bald Mountain hike (weather permitting)

 

Those who are interested can take a guided 3-hour hike up Bald Mountain

which offers spectacular views of Mooselookmeguntic Lake where Reich

first observed atmospheric orgone energy in the summer of 1940 while

staying in a cabin there. Kevin Hinchey, Associate Director of the

Wilhelm Reich Museum, will lead the hike.

 

Thursday - 9:00 a.m. (July 21)

“Building and Selling Orgone Accumulators and Orgone Blankets”

“Practical and Research Considerations & Anecdotal Customer Data”

Theirrie Cook

 

Theirrie Cook founded and is the sole proprietor of Orgonics, a business

that develops and sells orgone energy accumulators to the public.

 

Thursday - 2:00 p.m. (July 21)

“Wilhelm Reich & Orgone Energy: Survey of the FBI & FDA Files”

Kevin Hinchey – Associate Director, Wilhelm Reich Museum

 

Thursday – 7:00 p.m. (July 21)

Recollections of Reich and Orgonon in the 1950s

 

Friday – 9:00 a.m. (July 22)

Roundtable Discussion

 

MEETING PLACE. The summer program will be held in the

Conference Building (formerly Reich’s Student Laboratory).

A continental breakfast is served each morning at 8:30 a.m.

Presentations begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. Evening events take

place at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Participants are encouraged to

explore and utilize the Wilhelm Reich Museum’s 175-property and its

numerous facilities, including the Reading Room and Orgone Room.

 

REGISTRATION FEE is $375.00. This includes tuition, an

information packet, continental breakfast, refreshments, reception

and tour of the Orgone Energy Observatory. A 25% discount is

available for full-time students who can document their status.

 

TAX DEDUCTION. IRS regulations permit income tax deductions

for educational expenses undertaken to maintain or improve professional

skills.

 

ACCOMMODATIONS. All types of accommodations are available

in and around Rangeley, and you are encouraged to make reservations

early since this is the summer season. Contact the Rangeley Chamber

of Commerce: 1-800-685-2537 or e-mail: mtlakes.

 

SCHOLARSHIPS. To apply for the Thomas E. Ross and the

Chester M. Raphael Memorial Scholarships, please e-mail us at

wreich. Or send a letter to: Wilhelm Reich Museum,

P.O. Box 687, Rangeley Maine 04970. All applications must be

received by June 15, 2005.

 

FOR MORE REGISTRATION INFORMATION call us at:

(207) 864-3443, or e-mail: wreich.

 

 

COMBINE THE CONFERENCE WITH LEISURE TIME

 

When planning the summer conferences, we try to set aside sufficient

free time so that attendees can enjoy the Rangeley Lakes Region.

We also encourage those who are coming to try—if possible—

to make a short vacation out of their visit, by arriving the weekend

before the Conference or staying the weekend after it ends.

 

Reich fell in love with the area when he first visited in the summer

of 1940. And so will you. The Rangeley Lakes Region has so

much to offer. The lakes themselves—Rangeley, Cupsuptic,

Mooselookmeguntic, Upper Richardson, Lower Richardson,

Umbagog, Aziscoos, Kennebago. Canoeing, kayaking and boating.

Wilderness camping on the islands and shores. Flyfishing on the

lakes, ponds, and rivers. Hiking and backpacking in the mountains

(the Appalachian Trail is just a few miles south of both Rangeley

and Oquossoc). Exploring the backroads of Maine. And visiting

historic sites and museums.

 

If you need any assistance in planning your leisure time during

your visit, let us know what your interests are and we’ll be

happy to offer you some suggestions.

 

FESTIVAL OF MUSIC - SATURDAY NIGHT – JULY 16

 

One suggestion is to arrive the weekend before the conference begins,

spend the days exploring the lakes, mountains and forests, then come

to Orgonon on Saturday evening for our annual Festival of Music.

Four separate performances featuring four different musical styles:

jazz piano, flute, bluegrass fiddle, and acoustic guitar. Seating is limited;

last year’s performance sold-out, and will undoubtedly sell-out again

this year.

 

WILHELM REICH INFANT TRUST

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

 

On our website (www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org) we’ve recently

posted our new Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust Organizational Chart.

It succinctly and visually illustrates the Trust’s principal activities

and responsibilities. If you haven’t seen it yet, please visit our

website and have a look. On the Home Page, click ABOUT US

for the link to the Chart.

 

NEW BOOK:

FREUD’S FREE CLINICS by Elizabeth Ann Danto, Ph.D.

 

In October 2004, a lecture and fundraiser for The Wilhelm Reich

Infant Trust Endowment Fund was held at The Williams Club in

New York City, featuring Elizabeth Ann Danto, Ph.D, Associate

Professor of Social Policy at the Hunter College School of Social Work.

 

Dr. Danto spoke on “Sex, Class and Social Work: Wilhelm Reich’s

Free Clinics and the Activist History of Psychoanalysis.” Her lecture—

which included ten letters from Freud to Reich that she discovered in the

Freud Archives—was derived largely from research for her new book:

Freud’s Free Clinics - Psychoanalysis and Social Justice, 1918-1938,

which is now available from Columbia University Press.

 

From the Columbia University Press:

 

“Danto's narrative begins in the years following the end

of World War I and the fall of the Habsburg Empire.

Joining with the social democratic and artistic movements

that were sweeping across Central and Western Europe,

analysts such as Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Erik Erikson,

Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, and Helene Deutsch envisioned

a new role for psychoanalysis. These psychoanalysts saw

themselves as brokers of social change and viewed

psychoanalysis as a challenge to conventional political

and social traditions…Drawing on oral histories and new

archival material, Danto offers vivid portraits of the

movement's central figures and their beliefs. She explores

the successes, failures, and challenges faced by free institutes

such as the Berlin Poliklinik, the Vienna Ambulatorium,

and Alfred Adler's child-guidance clinics. She also describes

the efforts of Wilhelm Reich's Sex-Pol, a fusion of psychoanalysis

and left-wing politics, which provided free counseling and

sex education and aimed to end public repression of private

sexuality…”

 

REICH AT THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH

 

Dr. Danto’s lecture on behalf of The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust

Endowment Fund attracted over a dozen “new faces” to this annual

fundraiser: college students, university faculty members, and social

workers from the New York City area. Among them was the

co-editor of a publication from New School University entitled:

The Id – Graduate Faculty Psychology Bulletin (GFPB).

 

The Bulletin is described as a “peer-reviewed publication created by

members of the Graduate Faculty Psychology Society as a way of

highlighting the current research, presentations, proposals, and editorials

by MA and PhD students, postdoctoral candidates, and alumni affiliated

with the GF, the Department of Psychology, and New School University.

The Id is published semiannually and represents a wide range of subjects

in an attempt to incorporate all areas of psychology.”

 

The co-editor was interested in publishing a piece about Reich’s brief

affiliation with the New School for Social Research (the original name

for what is now New School University.) The result is in their latest

edition of The Id (GFPB: 2004 – Vol. 2, No. 2) which explains that:

 

“In this volume we continue the New School University

History Series. We have re-printed from the 1940-41

New School for Social Research course catalogs descriptions

of courses taught by Wilhelm Reich.”

 

The Id includes a brief biographical profile of Reich, followed by

original course descriptions for:

 

• “Character Formation: Biological and Social Aspects”

• “Theoretical Seminar: Psychological Approach

to Psychological Research”

• “Clinical Problems in Psycho-somatic Medicine.”

 

The Id also notes that in 1940 and 1941, enrolling in one of Reich’s

courses cost only $12.50 a semester. To read these reprinted

course descriptions, visit the website for the Graduate Faculty

Psychology Bulletin at New School University.

 

NEW IN THE MUSEUM BOOKSTORE:

“WILHELM REICH MUSEUM COOKBOOK”

 

No, we’re not talking about old Bukovina recipes, Austrian strudels,

or German bund cakes. This is a collection of recipes from our

friends, supporters and volunteers in the Rangeley community,

in different states and different countries. We rely on these

good people for supporting our activities throughout the year.

Their efforts and friendship are indispensable. And best of all,

they’re terrific cooks.

 

This volume—which sells for $8.50—compiles some of their

favorite dishes, ranging from old-fashioned New England traditions

to international fare. Cookbooks have increasingly become a fun way

for many small organizations (such as museums, schools, churches

and civic groups)—to bring in additional income. Which was

certainly the principal motivation for this cookbook. More than

that, however, it is a wonderful reminder of how valuable our

friends and supporters are.

 

A REICH QUOTE FOR SPRINGTIME

 

Ask ten different people about their favorite lines or passages from

Reich’s books, and you’ll get at least ten different answers. His

writing is eminently quotable, containing hundreds of memorable

excerpts. Which is why we always emphasize the importance of

reading Reich’s books as a way of understanding his life, his work,

and his character—rather than simply relying on second-hand

sources, opinion pieces, hearsay, and countless Internet websites.

 

And as springtime finally comes to Orgonon here in Rangeley, Maine,

one passage from Reich’s Cosmic Superimposition immediately

comes to mind.

 

“Outside, you feel your blood surging, and you do not

doubt that something is moving in you, a thing you call

your emotion, with its location undoubtedly in the middle

of your body and close to your heart. Inside, you do not

live with your total organism, but only with your brain,

and not only is it forbidden to study emotions, more,

you are accused of being an adherent of phrenology

and mysticism. Outside, there is such a thing as the

movement and quivering of everything, from the

atmosphere to your nerves…”

 

UNTIL NEXT MONTH

 

Please share this Update with any friends, families, or colleagues who may be

interested in the life and legacy of Wilhelm Reich and the good works of the

Museum and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust. Thank you again for your friendship

and support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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