In May 1941, Reich began using the accumulator in the treatment of cancer
patients. The physical orgone therapy involved larger, man-sized accumulators that Reich
had constructed in December 1940. They were about two feet six inches square in floor area
and about five feet high, so that when a person sat down inside he or she was surrounded
closely by the metal walls, without actually touching them. An aperture in the door, about
one foot square, provided ventilation. According to the construction, the intensity of the
energy accumulation effect could be varied. Thus, walls made of alternating layers of celo-
tex and sheet iron (later, layers of glass wool and steel wool were used for additional con-
centration) increased the accumulation strength. The early accumulators were built of only
a few layers, up to five-fold. *
When Reich’s first cancer patient sat inside for her thirty-minute treatments, she
experienced the typical subjective reactions already described. She began to perspire, her
skin reddened, and the blood pressure decreased. Cancer was a disease ofcontraction; the
orgone accumulator provided an expansive therapy that stimulated parasympathetic inner-
vation.
However one seeks to explain the action of the accumulator, Reich found evidence
for its positive effect on the cancer patient. The hemoglobin content of her blood increased
markedly in three weeks. Her pains receded and she was able to sleep well without morphine.
She was no longer bedridden and could resume her normal housework. Her breast tumor
could not now be palpated, after eight therapy sessions, although the entire treatment includ-
ed many more irradiations.
In spite of the patient’s vast symptomatic relief, the full danger of the cancer biopa-
thy made its appearance only after elimination of the tumor. About four weeks after the start
of orgone therapy, the patient became quite anxious and depressed. Though physically bet-
ter, she
now found herself in the tragic situation of waking up to new life, only to
be confronted by a nothingness. As long as she was ill, the tumor and resulting suf-
fering had absorbed all interest.Indeed,her organism had used up great amounts
ofbiological energy in the fight against the cancer. These energies were now free,
and in addition were amplified by the orgonotic charge. In a phase of particularly
intense depression the patient confessed that she felt herself ruined as a woman,
that she felt herself to be ugly, and that she did not see how she could suffer this
life.She asked me whether the orgone energy could cure her neurosis also. This, of284 Myron SharafFury On Earth
*Not long after he designed these accumulators for total body irradiation, Reich devised two kinds of smaller,
special purpose accumulators: the so-called shooter and the blanket. The “shooter” was a box about one cubic foot
in size, built with the same alternation of organic and metallic layers as the large accumulator. It was equipped with
a hollow cable, one end of which was inserted through a hole into the box with the other end attached to a funnel.
The funnel was then placed close to but not touching an injured part of the body for local irradiation. The flexible
blanket was constructed ofwire mesh with several layers of rock wool (organic) and steel wool (metallic) covered
on the outside with plastic. It was used for bedridden patients and for local application.