You have probably noticed that many psychologists and institutions related to the world of Psychology They use the same symbol: “Ψ”.
What exactly does this rare symbol mean and what is its relationship to mental health? Who decided that this should be the emblem of behavioral science?
Psi (Ψ ψ) is a letter of the Greek alphabet. Specific, we are talking about the twenty-third (23rd) letter and as a result of this phoneme, words were built not only from Greek but also from Latin.
In the capital of the Roman Empire, several words contained the letter psi: for example psalmus either psyche (psalm and psyche). The meaning of the word Psyche It is explained by the association between the letter Psi and the word of Greek origin “Psyche”. The latter, although it had previously been used to designate the butterflies evolved over time and came to mean “breath”, “mood”, “breath of wind” and, later, “soul” and “mind”.
Psychology: a term formed by two roots
Thus, the origin of the term “Psychology” seems clear. The Psychologyetymologically “science of the soul” or “science of the mind”, is composed of the prefix Psycho- (psyche, mind) and the suffix -logy (science, study) By extension, the symbol “Ψ” also became popular as a way to designate the science of the mind.
Curiously, the Greeks had the ancient belief that when a person died and exhaled their last breath of air, their soul flew out of the body, like a butterfly. At that time, the butterfly was considered a symbol of life and hope. In fact, in Greek mythology the goddess Psyche is usually represented with the figure and appearance of a young woman with butterfly wings, and she is the youngest daughter of the king of Anatolia Mythological writings often refer to Psyche as a goddess of great beauty, representing human goodness and soul.
The myth of Eros and Psyche recounted in the writings of Apuleius in his work Metamorphosis, Psyche was the youngest daughter of the king of Anatolia, as well as the most beautiful and envied young woman in the kingdom In a fit of jealousy due to Psyche’s beauty, the goddess Aphrodite ordered her son Eros (Cupid) to make Psyche fall madly in love with the ugliest, most unpleasant and meanest man in the kingdom.
Although the mission was clear, Eros could not resist Psyche’s charms and fell madly in love with her, and threw the arrow into the sea. The moment she saw Psyche falling asleep, Eros hugged her and flew her to her castle.
Once he had arrived at the palace, and to ensure that his mother did not discover that Psyche lived in the palace, he kept the beautiful young woman in a bedroom. Night after night, Eros came to Psyche’s room and, in the dark, they made love This ensured that Eros remained a mystery, since Psyche never saw his facial features or any other details of his physiognomy. Eros never revealed his true identity to the young woman, but the love affair was total. However, in one of her nighttime encounters, Psyche explained to her lover that she missed her sisters and that he wanted to return to her kingdom so he could see them. Eros agreed to Psyche’s request, but warned her that her sisters would want to separate her from him. During the next day, Psyche met again with her sisters, who, dying of envy, asked her who her lover was.
Psyche, who had never been able to see Eros, She was unable to tell her sisters what her lover was like After much hesitation and some excuses, she finally broke down and told them the truth: that she did not know the face or identity of her husband. At that moment, the sisters were surprised and convinced Psyche to, in one of the encounters with the boy, light a candelabra to be able to glimpse the face of the mysterious man, arguing that only an ogre or a monster would hide his true physical appearance.
Said and done: back at the palace, in one of their subsequent meetings, Psyche took advantage of a moment when Eros was asleep next to her to light a lamp so she could see his face A drop of incandescent oil from the lamp, by misfortune, fell on the body of Eros, who woke up and, very disappointed with Psyche, left the bedroom where they were both.
When Psyche realized the situation, she left the room in search of Aphrodite, to beg her to return Eros’ love to her. However, the vengeful goddess ordered her to carry out four tasks of extreme difficulty if she wanted to make Eros fall in love again. Psyche, among other tasks, had to go in search of Hades and claim from Persephone, the queen of the underworld, a part of her beauty, which Psyche would deposit in a box that the goddess Aphrodite had given her.
Psyche decided to climb to the top of a tower, since she was convinced that the shortest route to the underworld would be death Just when he was about to jump into the void, a nervous voice stopped him. He psyche heard the words of the person who had come to his aid. According to his instructions, there was an easier way to enter the underworld and return alive. He showed her a precise route on a map to get it; a route not exempt from dangers and difficulties, such as the presence of the dog Cerberus or Charon, the ferryman of Hades.
Psyche knew how to appease Cerberus when he was in front of him, giving him a delicious cake. Later, having to deal with Charon, she knew how to gain her trust, based on a good financial tip for the boatman to take her to Hades. Once she was able to reach the underworld, Persephone had no impediment to help Aphrodite, and she gave up part of her beauty, depositing it in the box that Psyche brought with her.
Psyche left the underworld and decided to open the box and take a little of the beauty for herself, thinking that if she increased her beauty, Eros would surely love her. Eros, who had already forgiven her, flew to her, and implored Zeus and Aphrodite for her consent to marry Psyche. The gods finally approved of the union, and Zeus turned Psyche into an immortal being
Aphrodite forgot her envy and celebrated the marriage of the young people. The daughter of Psyche and Eros was named Pleasure or, in Roman mythology, Voluptas. Thus ends this interesting mythological story that tells us about the origins of the symbol of Psychology.
You have probably noticed that many psychologists and institutions related to the world of Psychology They use the same symbol: “Ψ”.
