Wishing Machine

When author G. Harry Stine chose to include the Wishing Machine as one of the subjects in his On the Frontiers of Science (NYC: Simon & Schuster, 1985), he claimed to be hesitant—owing to the machine's inexplicable effectiveness. In order to properly use a Wishing Machine, one must place a wish (in the form of a text, a representative image, or a diarama consisting of smallish objects) between its copper plates, flip the switch, and wait. That's it—no complicated dial settings. The copper-plated chamber serves as a capaciter, ultimately charging the outer ether with the contents that inform its amplified signal. With the addition of fur, Stine's electronic invention becomes orgonomically active as well, per Wilhelm Reich's theory that alternating layers of inorganic and organic material (e.g., copper and fur) will effectively yield Orgone energy. Like electricity, Orgone pervades the etheric realm in which we live. Unlike electricity, it is not electromagnetically measurable. A wish placed within the fur-lined copper chamber now transmits two distinct types of subtle organic signal—amplified together, in tandem. When Woodard asked Stine, shortly before his passing, to inscribe a copy of the 2nd edition of Frontiers (retitled Mind Machines You Can Build) for William S. Burroughs, Stine asked Woodard to clarify the spelling of Burroughs' name—and whether the middle initial were really necessary. He then confirmed his unawareness of the poignant short story about the machine which appears in the closing pages (PDF) of Burroughs' Midwestern/Egyptian masterpiece, Western Lands (NYC: Viking, 1987), an enduring tribute to Stine's pioneering, granted obscurantist, spirit. 220/110 VAC.