Daniel Devatman Hromada
daniel@udk-berlin.de

presented at

Studium Generale / Theorie / Wissenschaften

Introduction

Formalities

who am I

who are You

is this a course for You ?

credits (2 ECTS for >75% attendance, +1 for referat/experiment)

Hausarbeit possible

need help ? (tutor: a.terzieva@udk-berlin.de)

Leistungsnachweis

signature-related issues

Smartphone & Feedback box

Matrix room

All those who have a UdK account, log in here *:

https://medienhaus.udk-berlin.de/classroom

and subsequently join the course (#edu-psyche) room:

https://medienhaus.udk-berlin.de/classroom/#/room/#edu-psyche:medienhaus.udk-berlin.de

(or install matrix client apps like Element or Fluffychat and put "medienhaus.udk-berlin.de" as homeserver)

Context

Introduction to Psychology is concluding seminar of "Art, Cognition, Education" (AEC) seminar series. The objective of AEC has been to introduce art students to six canonic (linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, computer science / artificial intelligence, anthropology, philosophy ) cognitive sciences.

Goal

Only if the Artist understands the Soul can the Art heal her.

Question

Take a pen and piece of paper (or ask Your neighbor if You can borrow it)

Ask Yourself a question: "Does soul exist ?"

Wait a while (cca 3-5 inhale-exhale cycles)

Write the answer - either YES or NO - on the paper

Put the answer into feedback box

Glossary

Some words which will be repeated over and over and over again ...

Soul

Homework: Answer the question "What is soul ?"

Possible modalities: List of synonyms / associations; Definition; Picture; Formula; Sound

[Dictionary and Etymology]

"A substantial entity believed to be that in each person which lives, feels, thinks, and wills" [Century Dictionary], Middle English soule, from Old English sawol "spiritual and emotional part of a person, animate existence; life, living being," from Proto-Germanic *saiwalō (source also of Old Saxon seola, Old Norse sala, Old Frisian sele, Middle Dutch siele, Dutch ziel, Old High German seula, German Seele, Gothic saiwala), a word of uncertain origin.

It has been suspected to have meant originally "coming from or belonging to the sea," the supposed stopping place of the soul before birth or after death [Barnhart]; if so, it would be from Proto-Germanic *saiwaz (see sea).

ψυχή = PSYCHE

Antonio%20Canova%3A%20Amor%20und%20Psyche%2C%20Paris%2C%20Louvre%20(1793)

Antonio Canova: Amor und Psyche, Paris, Louvre (1793)

Greek word meaning:

life

departed spirit, ghost

conscious self, personality

butterfly

main character of epos Eros & Psyche

Anima

Borrowed from Latin anima (“a current of air, wind, air, breath, the vital principle, life, soul”), sometimes equivalent to animus (“mind”), both from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe, blow”); see animus. Cognate with Ancient Greek ἄνεμος (ánemos, “wind”), Old English anda (“anger, envy, zeal”).

Latin translation of the greek word PSYCHE.

The soul or animating principle of a living thing.

In Jungian psychology: Unconscious feminine aspect of the person.

Libido

The%20Birth%20of%20Venus%20%2F%20Venus%20Pudica%20by%20Sandro%20Botticelli%20(1486)

The Birth of Venus / Venus Pudica by Sandro Botticelli (1486)

In Jungian psychology, libido—from Latin libīdō, meaning “desire” or “longing”—refers to the flow of psychic energy that fuels all forms of human motivation, not just sexuality. Unlike Freud, Jung broadened the term to encompass creativity, spiritual striving, and the drive toward individuation. Libido manifests in dreams, symbols, and behavior, expressing the psyche’s push toward wholeness and self-realization.

Archetype

depiction of Pan / Trickster Archetype

An archetype is a universal, inherited pattern or image that resides in the collective unconscious and shapes human experience, thought, and behavior. Archetypes are not learned but innate (i.e. DNA-encoded, prenatal-emergent) psychic structures—such as the Mother, the Hero, the Shadow, or the Self—that manifest through symbols, myths, dreams, and cultural expressions. Archetypes guide psychological development and often appear during crises, transitions, or spiritual awakenings, serving as deep, organizing forces within the psyche.

das Selbst

Liber%20Divinorum%20Operum%20by%20Hildegarde%20von%20Bingen%20(early%2013th%20century)

Liber Divinorum Operum by Hildegarde von Bingen (early 13th century)

Das Selbst (the Self) is the central archetype and the totality of the psyche, uniting conscious and unconscious elements. It represents the blueprint of wholeness and the guiding force behind individuation—the process of becoming who one truly is. Unlike the ego, which is limited and conscious, the Self is both deeper and broader, encompassing opposites (light and shadow, masculine and feminine, etc.). It often appears in dreams or symbols (mandalas, wise old figures, divine child) as a numinous presence pointing toward integration, balance, and inner unity. The Self is the true center of psychological life.

das Unbewusste

Die%20Nacht%20(1890)%20by%20Ferdinand%20Hodler

Die Nacht (1890) by Ferdinand Hodler

Das Unbewusste (the unconscious) refers to the vast, hidden realm of the psyche that lies beyond conscious awareness. It includes not only repressed personal experiences (personal unconscious) but also inherited, universal patterns and images known as archetypes (collective unconscious). The unconscious shapes thoughts, emotions, dreams, and behaviors, often revealing itself through symbols and fantasies.

Individuation

Albrecht%20D%C3%BCrer%E2%80%99s%20%22Melencolia%20I%22%20(1514)

Albrecht Dürer’s "Melencolia I" (1514)

In Jungian psychology, individuation is the lifelong process of becoming one’s true self by integrating the conscious and unconscious aspects of the psyche. It involves confronting inner conflicts, embracing shadow elements, and recognizing archetypal patterns to move toward psychological wholeness.

Note: Individuation is not isolation but differentiation—developing a unique identity while remaining connected to and with the collective.

Student Intervention

15 - 30 minutes

Referats

Soul in judaic and islamic traditions

Emma Jung - On the Nature of the Animus and the Anima & The Anima as an Elemental Being

Sabina Spielrein - Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being - TAKEN

Eros and Tanathos in Era of Artificial Intelligence - TAKEN

Dark Triad

contribution to Atlas of Archetypes and Animal Spirits

Psychotherapeutic method / approach of Your choice

The Red Book - TAKEN

Experiments

Mythology

Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.

Sir Karl Raimund Popper CH FRS FBA

Warmup Exercise

Create groups of five. Discuss & present to each other Your personal answers to the question "What is soul / (How) can/do You define it ?

Group 5

matryoshka

not material ? how to materialize it ? is it soft / does it break ?

soul can be (not be) influenced by experience

where is the soul ? (in whole body ? in head ? in heart?)

Group 4

supposed to represent the Core

as a metaphysical existence, something very crucial

what the person "really" / "objectively" IS

person's way to go beyond

Group 3

bridge between the one that sees and what is being seen

the whole is the ocean, the individual is the droplet

more abstract, not something You can fit into logical pattern, it's about experience of yourself and the world

when words soul comes up there is the ghost of something even higher

Group 2

housed by the body

there's physicality to it (the soul)

soul only exists when we believe it and feel it

Group 1

split - some people believe, some not, some unsure

lot of questions, no answer

can one have soul if You are not conscious ?

the essence of something, that's what makes something uniquely that - sorbian fable about the frog

don't believe in soul as something individual, tends to define it as something collective / floating

something given to animals to define feelings

doesn't exist

??? mind / consciousness ??? ant or bee HOPEFULLY has soul

Proto-psychological terms of ancient India

Vṛtti (वृत्ति) – Fluctuations of the mind (thoughts, emotions, perceptions); most dynamic and gross.

Saṁskāra (संस्कार) – Latent impressions or mental habits left by past vṛttis.

Manas (मनस्) – The sensory mind, coordinating input and response; "inner instrument" of perception.

Citta (चित्त) – The storehouse of impressions, conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind.

Buddhi (बुद्धि) – Intellect, faculty of discernment, reason, and decision-making.

Ahaṁkāra (आहंकार) – Ego-identity, the sense of "I am this body/mind/personality" & "I do this".

Aham (अहम्) – The primordial I-sense, pure self-reference, "the strange loop" symbol.

Jīva (जीव) – The embodied self, individual, distinct soul undergoing experience, transformation and change.

Ātman (आत्मन्) – The true Self, pure consciousness, transcendental soul, unchanging, infinite, witness of all.

Vrittis - Manas - Chitta

Vṛttis are mental waves — thoughts, emotions, memories, and perceptions constantly rising and falling. Cognitive events (thoughts, perceptions, emotions) / contents of working memory.

Manas is the part of the mind that collects sensory data and handles attention — like a gatekeeper deciding what to focus on. Working memory / attention / sensory integration.

Citta is the overall field of mind-stuff: it stores memories, habits, and deeper patterns. Long-term memory / unconscious processing.

If the mind were a lake, vṛttis are the ripples, manas is the surface movement reacting to wind, and citta is the deep water reflecting everything.

Buddhi (बुद्धि)

The capacity to discriminate, reason, judge, and make decisions. It evaluates inputs from manas and chooses a response.

Cognitive Science Correlates: Executive function / decision-making / Analytical reasoning /Cognitive control & inhibition

Ahamkara (आहंकार)

The function that identifies the pure “I” (aham) with thoughts, roles, body, emotions — forming the personal identity and ego. It says “I am this.” and "I do".

Cognitive Science Correlates: Narrative self / autobiographical identity, Self-concept and ego structure, Ego-identification / default mode network (DMN) activity

Aham (अहम्)

Definition: The bare, pre-reflective sense of being a subject — “I am.” Not yet identifying with roles or narratives .

Cognitive Science Correlates: Minimal self / self-referential consciousness, First-person perspective, Sense of agency

Atman (आत्मन्)

The deepest layer of identity — pure awareness, witness of all experiences, beyond mental content and roles. In some philosophical traditions equivalent to substrate of the universe.

Cognitive Science Correlates: Pure consciousness / background awareness, the ultimate substrate

Jiva (जीव)

"That which lives" or "the living being"

Jīva is the individualized expression of consciousness that experiences and engages with the world as a distinct center of awareness. Localized, embodied soul undergoing experience and change.

Bhagavadgita

The Bhagavad Gita (cca. 500 BC) is a philosophical dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and his mythical charioteer Krishna, set on a battlefield symbolizing the inner struggle of human life. It presents a deep psychological model of the self, describing layers of mind—manas (sense-mind), buddhi (intellect), ahamkara (ego), and the true self, atman.

Its Core psychological teaching: freedom arises when one acts without attachment, transcending ego-identification and aligning with the deeper, unchanging Self.

soul cannot be destroyed

Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita 2.23):

nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi

nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ

na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo

na śoṣayati mārutaḥ

Translation:

“Weapons cannot cut it, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, and the wind cannot dry it.”

soul changes bodies like garments

Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita 2.22):

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya

navāni gṛhṇāti naro ’parāṇi

tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāni

anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

Translation:

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”

soul is eternal

Sanskrit (Bhagavad Gita 2.20):

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin

nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

ajo nityaḥ śāśvato ’yaṁ purāṇo

na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

Translation:

“For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain

Myth of the Androgyne

And the reason is that human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love. There was a time, I say, when we were one, but now because of the wickedness of mankind the gods have dispersed us ....

(Plato, Symposium)

Myth of the Androgyne

Does this Platonic myth appear in current art, culture ?

Is it somehow relevant to You ?

With which psychological concepts which were already introduced could be this myth associated ?

Eros and Psyche

%20Psyche%20Receiving%20Cupid's%20First%20Kiss%20(1798)%20by%20Fran%C3%A7ois%20G%C3%A9rard

Psyche Receiving Cupid's First Kiss (1798) by François Gérard

Maydays assignment: Listen to the audiobook "Eros and Psyche"

https://cloud.medienhaus.udk-berlin.de/library/27ec39fd-d4ce-4250-b4db-ff6eab19ee1f/Apuleuis_Amor_Psyche/

Philosophy

Platonism:::Aristotelianism:::Neoplatonism:::Christian Philosophy:::Islamic Philosophy::: Scholasticism:::Renaissance Neoplatonism:::Cartesian Dualism:::Associationism:::Empiricism & Materialism:::German Idealism & Romanticism:::Panpsychism

Platonism

Aristotelianism

Neoplatonism

Christian Philosophy

Islamic Philosophy

Scholasticism

Renaissance Neoplatonism

Cartesian Dualism

Associationism

Empiricism and Materialism

Empiricism & Materialism

German Idealism & Romanticism

Panpsychism

Psychology

Behaviorism:::Psychoanalysis:::Analytical Psychology:::Humanistic Psychology:::Cognitive Psychology:::Gestalt Psychology:::Biological Psychology:::Evolutionary Psychology:::Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology:::Developmental Psychology:::Social Psychology:::Cultural Psychology:::Constructivist Psychology:::Transpersonal Psychology:::Neuropsychology:::Experimental Psychology

Behaviorism

Cognitive Psychology

Gestalt Psychology

Biological Psychology

Evolutionary Psychology

Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Social Psychology

Cultural Psychology

Constructivist Psychology

Transpersonal Psychology

Neuropsychology

Experimental Psychology

Inidividual Psychology

Adler's psychology differs from the Freudian standpoint, which bases a person's psychology on sex and libido. Instead, Adler's psychology focuses on the individual's evaluation of the world with special attention to societal factors. According to Adler, a person must confront three forces: the societal, the love-related, and the vocational.These confrontations shape the final nature of a personality. Adler based his theories on a person's pre-adulthood development, emphasizing factors such as unwanted children, physical deformities at birth, and birth order.

Humorism & Four-temperament theory

The four temperament theory is a proto-psychological theory which suggests that there are four fundamental personality types: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments. Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) described the four temperaments as part of the ancient medical concept of humourism, that four bodily fluids affect human personality traits and behaviours. Modern medical science does not define a fixed relationship between internal secretions and personality, although some psychological personality type systems use categories similar to the Greek temperaments.

The four temperament theory was abandoned after the 1850s.

Psychoanalysis

Analytical Psychology

Humanistic Psychology

Archetypes

Hero:::Shadow:::Mother:::Father:::Anima:::Animus:::Wise Old Man:::Wise Old Woman::: Trickster:::Child:::Self:::Death

Hero

Shadow

Mother

Father

Anima

Animus

Wise Old Man

Wise Old Woman

Trickster

Child

Self

Death

Psychotherapy

Psychoanalysis ::: Analytical Psychology ::: Psychodynamic Therapy ::: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) ::: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) ::: Humanistic Therapy ::: Gestalt Therapy ::: Person-Centered Therapy ::: Existential Therapy ::: Logotherapy ::: Narrative Therapy ::: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) ::: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) ::: Systemic Therapy ::: Family Therapy ::: Transactional Analysis ::: Art Therapy ::: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) ::: Somatic Experiencing ::: Internal Family Systems (IFS) ::: Schema Therapy ::: Interpersonal Therapy (IPT)