What is "psyche"

Psyche \Psy"che\, n. [L., fr. Gr. PSychh` Psyche, fr. psychh` the soul.]

1. (Class Myth.) A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.

2. The soul; the vital principle; the mind.

3. [F. psych['e].] A cheval glass.

1640s, "animating spirit," from Latin psyche, from Greek psykhe "the soul, mind, spirit; breath; life, one's life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body; understanding" (personified as Psykhe, the beloved of Eros), akin to psykhein "to blow, cool," from PIE root *bhes- "to blow, to breathe" (source also of Sanskrit bhas-), "Probably imitative" [Watkins].\n

\nAlso in ancient Greek, "departed soul, spirit, ghost," and often represented symbolically as a butterfly or moth. The word had extensive sense development in Platonic philosophy and Jewish-influenced theological writing of St. Paul (compare spirit (n.)). Meaning "human soul" is from 1650s. In English, psychological sense "mind," is attested by 1910.

Etymology 1 n. 1 The human soul, mind, or spirit. 2 (context chiefly psychology English) The human mind as the central force in thought, emotion, and behavior of an individual. Etymology 2

abbr. psychology alt. psychology interj. (non-gloss definition: Used abruptly after a sentence to indicate that the speaker is only joking.) vb. 1 (context transitive English) To put (someone) into a required psychological frame of mind. 2 (context transitive English) To intimidate (someone) emotionally using psychology. 3 (context transitive informal English) To treat (someone) using psychoanalysis.

1. n. that which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason; "his mind wandered"; "I couldn't get his words out of my head" [syn: mind, head, brain, nous]

2. the immaterial part of a person; the actuating cause of an individual life [syn: soul]

3. (Greek mythology) a beautiful princess loved by Cupid who visited her at night and told her she must not try to see him; became the personification of the soul

Psyche (Psyché in French) is the Greek term for " soul" or " spirit (ψυχή).

It may also refer to:

Psyche are a Canadian dark synthpop band, now based in Germany. They are centered on singer Darrin Huss, who has been the only constant member, with various line-ups including his brother Stephen Huss, later followed by David Kristian, Per-Anders Kurenbach, and Remi Szyszka, all recording albums with Darrin under the name Psyche.

In psychology, the psyche is the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious. Psychology is the scientific or objective study of the psyche. The word has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and represents one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older texts.

Psyché is an opera (tragédie lyrique) in a prologue and five acts composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Thomas Corneille ( adapted from Molière's original play for which Lully had composed the intermèdes. Based on the love story of Cupid and Psyche, Psyché was premiered on April 19, 1678 by the Académie Royale de Musique at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.

Psyche was an online peer-reviewed academic journal covering studies on consciousness and its relation to the brain from perspectives provided by the disciplines of cognitive science, philosophy, psychology, physics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and anthropology. It was established in 1994 by Patrick Wilken as one of the earliest attempts at an online academic journal. In 2008 it became the official journal of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. The editors-in-chief of the journal during this phase were Gabriel Kreiman and Robert van Gulick. As of 2011, Psyche is no longer accepting articles, but the archive remains accessible.

Psyche is a scientific journal of entomology which was established in 1874 by the Cambridge Entomological Club as a "journal for the publication of biological contributions upon Arthropoda from any competent person". The name of the journal is derived from the Ancient Greek word for butterfly.

The journal has been published since 1874 (with gaps from 1886 to 1887, 1995 to 1999, and 2000 to 2007). In 2007 the Club transferred the journal to the Hindawi Publishing Corporation, and it became an open-access journal in 2008, with articles distributed online under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Almost all back issues were scanned and are available online as PDF files.

Psyché is a five-act, free verse tragicomédie et ballet, originally written as a prose text by Molière and versified in collaboration with Pierre Corneille and Philippe Quinault, with music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The plot is based on the story of Cupid and Psyche in The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century by Apuleius. It was first performed on 17 January 1671 before the royal court of Louis XIV at the Théâtre des Tuileries, with ballets by Pierre Beauchamps, Anthoine des Brosses, and Nicolas Delorge, and spectacular scenery and special effects designed by Carlo Vigarani.

Psyche is a semi-opera in five acts with music by Matthew Locke to a libretto by Thomas Shadwell with dances by Giovanni Battista Draghi. It was first performed at Dorset Garden Theatre, London on 27 February 1675 by the Duke's Company with choreography the French dancing-master Saint-André. Stage machinery was by Thomas Betterton and the scenery by Stephenson. The work is loosely based on Jean-Baptiste Lully's 1671 tragédie-ballet Psyché.

Psyche is the debut studio album released by British recording duo PJ & Duncan, now better known as Ant & Dec. Recording on the album began in 1993, following the release of a track the duo performed during their time on Byker Grove, "Rip it Up". The song was then re-worked into their debut single, "Tonight I'm Free", which was released in December 1993 on Telstar Records. The album includes the duo's best known track, " Let's Get Ready to Rhumble", which peaked at no. 9 on the UK Singles Chart.

The track would however go on to top the singles chart in 2013, nearly nineteen years after its release, after an impromptu performance of it by the duo on their show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

The singles "Why Me" and "If I Give You My Number" were also released prior to the album, which was made available on 4 November 1994. Seven singles were released from the album over the course of eighteen months.

The album peaked at no. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, and was certified Platinum in the UK by the BPI. The album was reissued in Singapore in 1995, under the title Eternal Love, containing bonus remixes of "Eternal Love" itself and "Our Radio Rocks". The album was also reissued in Japan in 1995, under the title Our Radio Rocks, with the additional of remixes of "Our Radio Rocks" itself, "If I Give You My Number" and "Let's Get Ready to Rhumble". Aside from a heavy number of remixes, alternate versions, and continuations of the spoken-word eulogy "The PJ and Duncan Show", three new songs were issued as B-sides: "Style with a Smile", "So Many Questions" and "I'm a Loser", which were all written by album composers Nicky Graham, Deni Lew and Mike Olton.

Psyche (journal) refers to an academic journal, either:

• Psyche (consciousness journal), a periodical on the study of consciousness
• Psyche (entomology journal), a periodical on entomology

Psyche is a proposed orbiter mission concept by NASA to explore the origin of planetary cores by studying the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche. This asteroid may be the exposed iron core of a protoplanet, likely the remnant of a violent collision with another object that stripped off the outer crust.

16 Psyche is the heaviest known M-type asteroid, and heaviest known Themistian asteroid. Radar observations of the asteroid from Earth indicate an iron–nickel composition.

Psyche is a genus of moths in the family Psychidae (bagworm moths).

Psyche is an 1846 book by Carl Gustav Carus, a physician and painter noted for his work on animal psychology and physiognomy. In his The Discovery of the Unconscious (1970), Henri Ellenberger calls Psyche "the life-work of a physician and keen observer of the human mind" and "the first attempt to give a complete and objective theory on unconscious psychological life", adding that "It shows the shape reached by the theory of the unconscious at the end of the Romantic period, before the positivistic trend became dominant." He notes that Carus influenced Eduard von Hartmann and later Carl Jung. According to him, Carus defines psychology as "the science of the soul's development from the unconscious to the conscious" and believes that "human life is divided into three periods: (1) A pre-embryonic period in which the individual merely exists as a tiny cell within the mother's ovary. (2) the embryonic period; through fecundation, in which the individual is suddenly wakened from his long sleep, and the formative unconscious develops. (3) After birth, in which the formative unconscious continues to direct the individual's growth and the function of his organs. Consciousness arises gradually, but it always remains under the influence of the unconscious and the individual periodically returns to it in his sleep."

Carus distinguishes between three layers of the unconscious: "(1) The general absolute unconscious, which is totally and permanently inaccessible to our consciousness. (2) The partial absolute unconscious to which belong the processes of formation, growth, and activity of the organs. This part of the unconscious exerts an indirect influence on our emotional life. Carus describes the 'districts of the soul' such as respiration, blood circulation, liver activity; each of these districts has an emotional tonality of its own and contributes to the constitution of the vital feeling underlying emotional life. Conscious thoughts and feelings also exert a slow and mediate action on the partial absolute unconscious; this explains why a person's physiognomy can reflect his conscious personality. (3) The relative or secondary unconscious comprehending the totality of feelings, perceptions, and representations, which were ours at one time or other and which have become unconscious."

Carus ascribes the following characteristics to the unconscious: "(1) The unconscious has 'prometheic' and 'epimetheic' aspects, it is turned toward the future and toward the past but does not know of the present. (2) The unconscious is in constant movement and transformation; conscious thoughts or feelings, when becoming unconscious, undergo continuous modification and maturation. (3) The unconscious is indefatigable; it does not need periodic rest, whereas our conscious life needs rest and mental restoration which it finds by plunging into the unconscious. (4) The unconscious is basically sound and does not know disease; one of its functions is 'the healing power of Nature.' (5) The unconscious works along its own ineluctable laws and has no freedom. (6) The unconscious possesses its own inborn wisdom; in it, there is no trial and error, no learning. (7) Without being consciously aware of it, we remain in connection through the unconscious with the rest of the world, particularly with our fellow-beings."

Lancelot Law Whyte calls Psyche "a great work" and "a landmark". He comments that while Carus, whose "penetrating interpretation of the unconscious mind was prejudiced by a somewhat sentimental idealistic and religious optimism", neglected the conflicts that were Sigmund Freud's main concern, he had "a vivid sense of the importance of the sexual functions, unconscious as instinct and conscious as voluptuousness, in relation to the mind as a whole."