Psyche & butterfly
The Oxford dictionary of Psychology gives the following explaination for psyche:-
The human mind or soul. In Greek mythology, the sould was personified by Psyche, a young woman who was loved by Eros, the god of love who married Psyche but visited her only at night and insisted that she should never see his face. One night Psyche lit an oil lamp while Eros was asleep, fell in love with hime at first sight, and was so startled by his beauty that she spilt a drop of hot oil on his shoulder and awakened him, whereupon he immediately abandoned her. To win him back, Pscyche had to endure many trials and dangers, but eventually she was transformed into a goddess and joined him in heavenly bliss. Psyche is often depicted in works of art with butterfly wings or as a butterfly, because she symbolizes the human soul, suffering hardsip and struggle in life but re-emerging after death in a new and better existence, like a caterpillar reborn as a butterfly.
This is a beautiful explaination. But what amazes me is, if psychology has as its aim, the study of the human psyche, why there is no reflection of the second phase of soul's journey 'a new and better existence' as a 'goddess' or 'butterfly' which is the outcome of all the anguish and suffering? It seems to me that all psychology and sychoanalysis concerns itself is dividing the human mind or psyche into various stratum and components before trying to establish logical connection between each of these components to the individual experiences of life. For example, a certain incident happened in the individual's childhood under such and such circumstances and as a result the person is behaving in this way or that. I might be rather ignorant in the subject of eithher psychology or psychoanalysis, but I am struggling to see any reflection of the overview of human soul as evolving into something better. Put it this way, if the caterpillar only concerns itself with analysing what's happening to himself within the cocoon and trying to get as comfortable as he possibly can, will he ever want to get rid of his cocoon to emerge as a beautiful butterfly?
The human mind or soul. In Greek mythology, the sould was personified by Psyche, a young woman who was loved by Eros, the god of love who married Psyche but visited her only at night and insisted that she should never see his face. One night Psyche lit an oil lamp while Eros was asleep, fell in love with hime at first sight, and was so startled by his beauty that she spilt a drop of hot oil on his shoulder and awakened him, whereupon he immediately abandoned her. To win him back, Pscyche had to endure many trials and dangers, but eventually she was transformed into a goddess and joined him in heavenly bliss. Psyche is often depicted in works of art with butterfly wings or as a butterfly, because she symbolizes the human soul, suffering hardsip and struggle in life but re-emerging after death in a new and better existence, like a caterpillar reborn as a butterfly.
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