AUGUST 2005 UPDATE
FROM
THE WILHELM REICH MUSEUM

Table of Contents

Summer Highlights at Orgonon
Milestone Celebration in New York City
The Orgone Room
New Book: Healing With Orgone Energy 

Hello.

The Wilhelm Reich Museum and The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust thank you for your interest and support. For those of you new to this list, we assure you that none of the names on this e-mail list— nor the names of Museum visitors, conference attendees, or bookstore customers—are shared with any other individuals or organizations. If at any time you wish to be removed from this list, please let us know.

All of our previous Updates, dating from March 2004, are archived on our website at www.wilhelmreichmuseum.org. 

A FEW SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS AT ORGONON

We're still in the midst of what has been a very busy and successful summer. Our second annual Evening of Music (Saturday, July 16th) was a sell-out once again, and raised close to $1000. It featured four lively musical performances, each emphasizing different musical instruments: jazz piano, fiddle, flute, and acoustic guitar.

Our Natural Science Program, held on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer, continues to attract dozens of people to our 175-acre property. Interestingly, the program devoted to “Mushrooms” continues to be the most consistently popular program from year to year.

As always, our annual Summer Conference (July 18 – 22) is one of our most exciting summer offerings, since it is devoted exclusively to Reich’s work and always brings together an eclectic group of presenters and attendees. This year approximately forty people gathered for our week-long conference entitled: “Wilhelm Reich & Orgone Energy: Looking Back, Moving Forward” (see May and June 2005 Updates for conference details). We hope to have a report of this Conference posted later this year on our website.

2005 also marked the Sesquicentennial Celebration of Rangeley, Maine, with an impressive summer-long roster of events to commemorate the 150th Birthday of this wonderful lakeside community. This included a grand parade down Main Street, featuring numerous floats representing local history, attractions and businesses. Among the floats was one depicting the Orgone Energy Observatory, designed and built by our next-door neighbor, artist and teacher Sonja Johnson, and her enthusiastic and creative volunteers.

On August 1st , a more dramatic slice of local history was highlighted at our Conference Building in a sold-out lecture entitled Flagstaff: The Drowning of a Village. Local author Ruey Baldwin and Eleanor Flint Currier presented the story of Flagstaff, Maine (20 miles north of Orgonon) which was dismantled and destroyed in 1950 by Central Maine Power Company when they erected a hydropower dam on the Dead River. The lecture raised close to $1000 for The Wilhelm Reich Museum.

And over $1000 was raised at an auction on Saturday, August 13th, thanks to dozens of local businesses who generously contributed products and services for this fundraising event. 

JOIN US ON OCTOBER 21, 2005 FOR A
MILESTONE CELEBRATION IN NEW YORK CITY

      HONORING A LIFETIME OF SERVICE TO
      THE WILHELM REICH INFANT TRUST:

      MARY BOYD HIGGINS
      on the occasion of her 80th Birthday

As we move optimistically forward into the future—pursuing opportunities in America involving Reich’s medical and scientific work, and preparing the Reich Archives for access to scholars and researchers—friends and supporters would like to pause for an evening of reflection and gratitude.

From 1959 until 1994, Mary served as the sole Trustee of the Trust. In 1960 she founded the Wilhelm Reich Museum in accordance with instructions in Reich’s Last Will and Testament, and continues to serve as the Museum Director.

It was through Mary’s steadfast devotion to Reich’s Last Will and Testament that the Reich Archives—stolen from the Orgone Energy Observatory in 1958—were recovered, and are now at the Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard University; and that Orgonon—abandoned and vandalized following Reich’s death—now survives as The Wilhelm Reich Museum; and that starting in 1960, one of the top publishing companies in New York— Farrar Straus & Giroux—began re-publishing Reich’s books which had been banned and burned by the United States government.

Chances are that you have benefited in some way from the goods works of The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust and the Wilhelm Reich Museum, that the efforts of Mary Boyd Higgins on behalf of the Trust and Museum have touched you in some way.

We hope you’ll join us in New York City to celebrate Mary's 80th birthday, and express your appreciation for a lifetime of dedication to Reich’s legacy.

The evening will include a champagne fete and refreshments, with music provided by jazz pianist Andy Kahn.

When: Friday - October 21, 2005 - 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Where: The Williams Club, 24 East 39th St., New York City
Contribution Requested: $75.00 per person to benefit The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust Endowment Fund.

For more information, please contact the Wilhelm Reich Museum at (207) 864-3443 or email: wreich@rangeley.org 

THE ORGONE ROOM

The metal-lined Orgone Room in the Conference Building allows Museum visitors to sit in orgone energy accumulators, and—if they have sufficient time—to observe the visual manifestations of orgone energy in a completely dark, enclosed environment.

For several years, the room contained two accumulators belonging to biologist Sol Kramer who studied with Reich. As well as a small accumulator for children.

Thanks to the generosity of our friend and supporter Andy Kahn, and Theirrie Cook—owner and sole proprietor of Orgonics in Petaluma, California—we have now added a fourth accumulator. Andy contracted with Theirrie to build this five-ply accumulator the week after the Summer Conference where Theirrie had been one of the presenters. Theirrie subsequently devoted all of her time to expediting the order. Over a dozen Museum visitors, including two physicians, have already used this accumulator, all of them expressing admiration for its design and look.

Our deepest thanks to Andy and Theirrie for the considerable time and effort they expended in what is a welcome addition to the Museum. 

HEILEN MIT ORGONENERGIE
(HEALING WITH ORGONE ENERGY)

Jorgos Kavouras, M.D., who was one of the instructors at the 2004 Summer Conference, has recently published Heilen Mit Orgonenergie. For over twenty-five years Dr. Kavouras has maintained a general practice in Germany and Greece in which the orgone accumulator is his principal therapeutic tool. In this book, Dr. Kavouras documents over 40 case studies of his practical experience with the orgone accumulator and DOR-buster. Dr. Kavouras reports that the book is selling well in Germany, and that he is currently looking for a publisher for an English version of Heilen Mit Orgonenergie. The book can be purchased by contacting Turm Verlag (info@turm-verlag.de) 

UNTIL NEXT MONTH

Your feedback and involvement are important to us, and we eagerly solicit your response to our news and your participation in our activities and initiatives.

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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