JASPER Etymology
The inside story behind the name J.A.S.P.E.R.
What we name something is not an inconsequential matter. Naming a baby, for example, is endowed with considerable gravitas and should not be chosen or taken lightly. According to Lacan (1998), “l’inconscient est structure’ comme un langage” (the unconscious is structured like a language). Each word (l’ecrit) is overdetermined with meaning. Therefore, a name must be selected with great care. This is particularly true for our baby, J.A.S.P.E.R., the name that was purposefully chosen for this journal.
Literally, the name means “spotted or speckled stone,” and can be traced back to the ancient Hebrew word, y’ooshpah, It is a mineral whose color ranges from red, yellow, brown, or green, but which rarely occurs as blue, depending on what original sediments it may contain, such as iron, ash, or minerals like silica; as well as the location in which it is found, such as, in canyons, lakes, rivers, and certain mountains, or countries. It is an aggregate of microquartz, which can be found all over the world, in places like Bruneau, India, Madagascar, and Spain.
JASPER is an uncommon name that also comes from the Persian word, which stands for “keeper” or “bringer of treasure.” JASPER has been variously translated as Gaspar, Kaspar, or Caspar, and is said to be the name of one of the MAGI, or one who is the bearer of gifts.
The gift we have to offer is that this will not be your grandparents’ kind of journal. JASPER will be a lively, creative, as well as scholarly journal whose special bequest will be to provide solid and much needed psychoanalytic qualitative and quantitative research.
Reference
Lacan, J. (1998). Les formations de l’inconscient, 1957-1958 (Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller]. Paris: Editions du Seuil.
What we name something is not an inconsequential matter. Naming a baby, for example, is endowed with considerable gravitas and should not be chosen or taken lightly. According to Lacan (1998), “l’inconscient est structure’ comme un langage” (the unconscious is structured like a language). Each word (l’ecrit) is overdetermined with meaning. Therefore, a name must be selected with great care. This is particularly true for our baby, J.A.S.P.E.R., the name that was purposefully chosen for this journal.
Literally, the name means “spotted or speckled stone,” and can be traced back to the ancient Hebrew word, y’ooshpah, It is a mineral whose color ranges from red, yellow, brown, or green, but which rarely occurs as blue, depending on what original sediments it may contain, such as iron, ash, or minerals like silica; as well as the location in which it is found, such as, in canyons, lakes, rivers, and certain mountains, or countries. It is an aggregate of microquartz, which can be found all over the world, in places like Bruneau, India, Madagascar, and Spain.
JASPER is an uncommon name that also comes from the Persian word, which stands for “keeper” or “bringer of treasure.” JASPER has been variously translated as Gaspar, Kaspar, or Caspar, and is said to be the name of one of the MAGI, or one who is the bearer of gifts.
The gift we have to offer is that this will not be your grandparents’ kind of journal. JASPER will be a lively, creative, as well as scholarly journal whose special bequest will be to provide solid and much needed psychoanalytic qualitative and quantitative research.
Reference
Lacan, J. (1998). Les formations de l’inconscient, 1957-1958 (Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller]. Paris: Editions du Seuil.