The Odic force (also called Od [õd], Odyle, Önd, Odes or Odems) is the name given in the mid-19th century to a hypothetical vital energy or life force by Baron Carl von Reichenbach (1788-1869), an accomplished chemist (known for his analysis of creosote, waxy paraffin, and phenol). Von Reichenbach coined the name from that of the Norse god Odin in 1845.^{[citation needed]} Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vitalism is the doctrine that vital forces are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained solely by mechanism. ... The term life force or lifeforce can refer to: The soul, spirit, or other vitalistic energy. ... Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ... Carl Ludwig von Reichenbach Baron Dr. Carl (Karl) Ludwig von Reichenbach (full name: Baron Karl Ludwig Freiherr von Reichenbach) (February 12, 1788 - January 19, 1869) was a recognized chemist, metallurgist, naturalist and philosopher, a member of the prestigious Prussian Academy of Sciences. ... Creosote is the name used for a variety of products: wood creosote, coal tar creosote, coal tar, coal tar pitch, and coal tar pitch volatiles. ... Paraffin is a common name for a group of alkane hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH2n+2, where n is greater than about 20, discovered by Carl Reichenbach. ... Phenol, also known under an older name of carbolic acid, is a colourless crystalline solid with a typical sweet tarry odor. ... Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

History

Siegfried Adolf Kummer, in his 1932 book Heilige Runenmacht referred to Odin as the 'Odbringer', or 'bringer of Od': Odin der Odbringer, Odebar (der Storch), der die Kinder bringt" [Odin the Odbringer, Odebar (the stork), who brings children] so Odin was seen as the bringer of life itself.^{[citation needed]} This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As von Reichenbach was investigating the manner in which the human nervous system could be affected by various substances, he was led to conceive the existence of a new force allied to electricity, magnetism, and heat, a force which he thought was radiated by most substances, and to the influence of which different persons are variously sensitive. He named this vitalist concept Odic force. Proponents say that Odic force permeates all plants, animals, and humans. It took its place in the later half of the 19th century as one of many proto-scientific ideas contributing towards a unified conception of vitalism.^{[citation needed]} The Human Nervous System The nervous system of a human coordinates the activity of the muscles, monitors the organs, constructs and also stops input from the senses, and initiates actions. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with magnet. ... In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is defined as a form of energy whose absorption raises the temperature of a body, not existing in the transition state, and abstraction of which from the same body lowers its temperature. ... See: Sensitivity (electronics) Sensitivity (human) Sensitivity (tests) For sensitivity in finance, see beta coefficient This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Vitalism is the doctrine that vital forces are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained solely by mechanism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Vitalism is the doctrine that vital forces are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained solely by mechanism. ...

Believers in Odic force said that it is visible in total darkness as colored auras surrounding living things, crystals, and magnets, but that viewing it requires hours first spent in total darkness, and that not everyone has the ability to see it. They also said that it resembles the eastern concepts ch'i and prana. However, they regarded the Od, not as associated with breath (like India's Prana and the Ki or "Qi" of Eastern martial arts), but rather mainly with claimed pseudo-electromagnetic fields.^{[citation needed]} Look up aura in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Qi, also commonly spelled chi (in Wade-Giles romanization) or ki (in romanized Japanese), is a fundamental concept of traditional Chinese culture. ... Prana (, IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word meaning breath and refers to a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy in natural processes of the universe. ... Prana (, IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word meaning breath and refers to a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy in natural processes of the universe. ... Look up ki in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Qi, also commonly spelled chi (in Wade-Giles romanization) or ki (in romanized Japanese), is a fundamental concept of traditional Chinese culture. ... Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field: a field which exerts a force on particles that possess the property of electric charge, and is in turn affected by the presence and motion of those particles. ...

von Reichenbach did not tie Odic force into other vitalist theories. Baron von Reichenbach expounded the concept of Odic force in detail in a book-length article, Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat and Light in their Relations to Vital Forces, which anomalously appeared in a special issue of a respected scientific journal, Annalen der Chemie und Physik. He said that (1) the Odic force had a positive and negative flux, and a light and dark side. (2) Individuals could forcefully "emanate" it, particularly from the hands, mouth, and forehead. (3) Odic force had many possible applications.^{[citation needed]} flux in science and mathematics. ...

The Odic force was conjectured to explain the phenomenon of hypnotism. In Britain an impetus was given to this view of the subject, following the translation of Reichenbach's Researches, by a professor of chemistry at the University of Edinburgh. These later researches tried to show many of the Odic phenomena to be of the same nature as those described previously by Franz Mesmer, and even long before Mesmer's time by Swedenborg.^{[citation needed]} Hypnosis, as defined by the American Psychological Association Division of Psychological Hypnosis, is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a client, patient, or experimental participant experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. ... It has been suggested that the central science be merged into this article or section. ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Franz Anton Mesmer His Grave Franz Anton Mesmer (May 23, 1734 – March 5, 1815) discovered what he called animal magnetism and others often called mesmerism. ... Emanuel Swedenborg, 75, holding the manuscript of Apocalypsis Revelata (1766). ...

Scientific basis

Von Reichenbach hoped to develop a scientific proof for a universal life force, however his experiments relied not on scientific instruments but on perceptions reported by individuals claimed to be psychically sensitive or psycho-kinetically adept. The "sensitives," young women recruited from the lower social classes, worked in total or near-total darkness, and were forerunners of the Spirit Mediums who apeared all over Europe 10 years later, in the 1850s.^{[citation needed]} Clairvoyance, from 17th century French Clair meaning clear and voyant meaning seeing, is a term used to describe the transference of information about an object, location or physical event through means other than the 5 traditional senses (See Psi). ... Psychokinesis (Greek ψυχή + κίνησις, literally spirit-movement)[1][2] or PK, also known as telekinesis[3] (Greek + , literally distant-movement referring to telekinesis) or TK, is the proposed paranormal ability of the mind to influence matter or energy without the use of any currently known type of physical means. ... Mediumship is a term used mostly in spiritualism to denote the ability to produce psi phenomena of a mental or physical nature. ...

The Odic force found no favor among mainstream scientists, and belief in it survives today as one among many concepts of spiritual energies associated with living things. The Odic force has been mentioned frequently in European books on dowsing, such as Reveal the Power of the Pendulum, by Karl Spiesberger. More recently, it has been adopted by some New Age groups.^{[citation needed]} A dowser, from an 18th century French book about superstitions. ... Reveal the Power of the Pendulum: Secrets of the Sidereal Pendulum, A Complete Survey of Pendulum Dowsing (ISBN 0-572-01419-8) is a book by Karl Spiesberger. ... Karl Spiesberger (Spiesßerger), also known as Frater Eratus or Fra Eratus, because of his involvement with the Fraternitas Saturni (Brotherhood of Saturn), is a German mysticist, occultist and Germanic revivalist. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ...

References

Jastrow, Joseph, Error and Eccentricity in Human Belief, NY, Dover Publications, 1962; NY, Appleton Century Crofts, 1935, under the title Wish and Wisdom, Episodes in the Vagaries of Belief; see pp. 341-349. No ISBN.

See also

• Aether (classical element)
• Aether theories
• Energy (spiritual)
• Etheric body (Spirituality)
• Etheric plane (Spirituality)
• Kirlian photography
• Life-Force
• Magic
• Mana
• Manna
• Orgone
• Phlogiston
• Prana
• Qi
• Seid
• The Force, in the Star Wars fiction
• Vitalism

Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) | Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (水) Hinduism and Buddhism The Pancha Mahabhuta (The Five Great Elements) Vayu/Pavan (Air/Wind) Agni/Tejas (Fire) Akasha (Aether) Prithvi/Bhumi (Earth) Ap/Jala (Water) Aether (also spelled ether) is a concept used in ancient and medieval science as a substance. ... Alchemy, natural philosophy, and early modern physics proposed the existance of aether (also spelled ether, from the Latin word aether, meaning upper air [1]), a space-filling substance or field, thought to be necessary as a transmission medium. ... Energy in spirituality, refers to a widespread belief in an inter- or intra-personal forces, for which no evidence has yet been found by the physical sciences. ... The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, or vital body is one of the subtle bodies in esoteric philosophies, in some religious teachings and in New Age thought. ... The etheric plane or etheric region is one of the planes of existence, or more specifically a subplane or planes, in Theosophy and New Age thought. ... Kirlian photography refers to a form of contact print photography, theoretically associated with high-voltage. ... Look up magic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Mana is a traditional term that refers to a concept among the speakers of Oceanic languages, including Melanesians, Polynesians, and Micronesians. ... For other uses, see Mana (disambiguation). ... Orgone energy is a concept of a universal life energy that physician and psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich said he had discovered in the late 1930s. ... The phlogiston theory is a now discredited 17th century hypothesis regarding combustion. ... Prana (, IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word meaning breath and refers to a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy in natural processes of the universe. ... Qi, also commonly spelled chi (in Wade-Giles romanization) or ki (in romanized Japanese), is a fundamental concept of traditional Chinese culture. ... Seid (Old Norse: seiðr, sometimes anglicized as seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr or seith) was a form of shamanism practised by pre-Christian Norse and arguably other Germanic cultures and continued in modern times by people who practice the reconstructionist beliefs of Ásatrú or heathenry. ... The Force is a binding, ubiquitous power that is the object of the Jedi and Sith monastic orders in the Star Wars universe. ... Vitalism is the doctrine that vital forces are active in living organisms, so that life cannot be explained solely by mechanism. ...

External links

• Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat and Light in their relations to Vital Forces
• Luminous World
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.