Why “nethermind” is a great word
NETHERMIND — [Noun] The subconscious or lower strata of the mind, a repository of latent instincts, suppressed memories, and unarticulated drives. From nether- (meaning "lower, under") + mind. Unlike "overmind" (which suggests a governing, elevated intellect) or "consciousness" (which denotes the lit, inhabited rooms of awareness), the nethermind is the silent architect, the basement workshop where the real work is done. It is the forgotten scent of a childhood home that surfaces unbidden, the phantom ache in a long-amputated limb, and the well from which your dreams are drawn—the mind's own shadow, vast, inscrutable, and fundamentally in charge.