You have probably noticed that many psychologists and institutions related to the world of Psychology 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, a letter of the Greek alphabet

Psi (Ψ ψ) is a letter of the Greek alphabet. Specifically, is the twenty-third (23rd) letter , and from this phoneme words were constructed not only from Greek but also from Latin.

In the capital of the Roman Empire, several words contained the letter psi : such as psalmus or psyche (psalm and psyche). The meaning of the word psyche is explained by the association between the letter Psi and the word of Greek origin “Psyche”. The latter, although previously used to designate the butterflies , evolved over time to mean “breath”, “spirit”, “breath of wind” and, later, “soul” and “mind”.

Psychology: a term formed by two roots

Thus, the origin of the term “Psychology” seems clear. Psychology , etymologically “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 of designating the science of the mind.

Interestingly, the Greeks had the ancient belief that when a person died and exhaled his last breath of air, his soul would fly 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 girl with butterfly wings, and 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.

Eros, Psyche and a forbidden love

The myth of Eros and Psyche that relates 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 over the beauty of Psyche, the goddess Aphrodite sent 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 the charms of Psyche and fell madly in love with her , and shot the arrow into the sea. The moment he saw Psyche falling asleep, Eros embraced her and flew her to his castle.

Once she had arrived at the palace, and in order to prevent her mother from discovering that Psyche was living in the palace, she kept the beautiful young woman in a room. Night after night, Eros went to Psyche’s room and, in the dark, they made love . This assured Eros that he would remain in 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 idyll was total. However, in one of their nocturnal encounters, Psyche explained to her lover that she missed her sisters and wanted to return to her kingdom to see them. Eros agreed to Psyche’s claim, but warned her that her sisters would want to separate her from him. The next day, Psyche met her sisters again and they were so jealous that they asked her who her lover was.

Psyche, who had never been able to see Eros, was unable to tell her sisters what her lover was like . After many hesitations and some excuses, she finally broke down and told them the truth: that she did not know her husband’s face or identity. At that moment, the sisters were surprised and convinced Psyche to light a candlestick in one of her meetings with the boy in order to get a glimpse of the mysterious man’s face, arguing that only an ogre or a monster would hide his true physical appearance.

Said and done: already back in the palace, in one of their later meetings, Psyche took advantage of a moment when Eros was asleep next to her to light a lamp so that she could contemplate 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 room where they both were.

When Psyche became aware of the situation, she left the room in search of Aphrodite, to beg her to restore Eros’ love for her. The vengeful goddess, however, ordered him to perform four extremely difficult tasks if he wanted to win Eros back. Psyche, among other tasks, was 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 given to her by the goddess Aphrodite.

Psyche decided to climb to the top of a tower, as she was convinced that the shortest route to the underworld would be death . Just as she was about to plunge into the void, a nervous voice stopped her. Psyche heard the words of the person who had come to her aid. According to her instructions, there was an easier way to enter the underworld and return alive. She pointed out to him on a map a precise route to get there; a route not without its dangers and difficulties, such as the presence of the dog Cerberus or Charon, the ferryman of Hades.

Psyche was able to appease Cerberus when she had him in front of her, giving him a nice cake. Later, having to deal with Charon, she managed to gain his trust, by giving him a good financial tip so that the ferryman would take her to Hades. Once she was able to reach the underworld, Persephone was not prevented from helping Aphrodite, and she gave up some 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 some 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 their consent to marry Psyche. The gods finally approved the union, and Zeus turned Psyche into an immortal being .

Aphrodite forgot her jealousy and celebrated the marriage of the young men. The daughter of Psyche and Eros was called Pleasure or, in Roman mythology, Voluptas. Thus ends this interesting mythological story that tells us about the origins of the symbol of Psychology.