Has anyone ever told you they've met your "twin"...but they happen to live states away...or maybe countries away? Or maybe you're at the grocery store and someone sees an exact replica of you standing a few feet away? Perhaps they saw your actual doppelganger. In my post about the Allen House, I talked a little bit about the current owners seeing their own family member's doppelgangers. So...let's learn a bit more about what exactly is a doppelganger.
The word doppelganger is a loanword from the German noun Doppelgänger, literally meaning double-walker. A doppleganger is a look-alike/double of a living person, no biological relation. A lot of times a doppelganger is said to be something paranormal and is said to be a harbinger of bad luck. Some sources consider the doppelganger being an evil twin or a twin stranger.
Way back when, the English used the term fetch instead of doppelganger - their definition meaning "apparition of a person living". In Ancient Egyptian mythology, a ka was a tangible "spirit double" having the same memories and feelings as the person to whom the counterpart belongs. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who is seen performing the person's actions in advance. In Finnish mythology, this pattern is described as having an etiäinen, "a firstcomer".
Back in 1612, it's said that John Donne, an English metaphysical poet, saw his wife's doppelganger in Paris on the same night as the stillbirth of their daughter.
Another story involves the husband of famous author, Mary Shelley...she wrote Frankenstein, if that helps ring a bell of the name. Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned in the Bay of Spezia on July 8, 1822. Prior to his death, Percy told his wife that he had met his own doppelganger.
Another story is from the late 1800s and the possible appearance of Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon. It's said that he was seen walking through the drawing room of his family home in Eaton Square, London. He was looking straight ahead, did not talk to anyone. Many people said that they saw him walk through the drawing room as they were at his wife's party, but George was actually supposed to be on a ship off the coast of Syria. It's also said that the night George was seen walking through his home, the ship he was on, the HMS Victoria, collided with another ship and it went down, George having died on that ship. So...how was George seen at two different places at the same time? Did he astral project...consciously or subconsciously? Was it a mass hysteria among all the party goers at the house? Was it his doppelganger knowing that George would be dying soon on that ship and took a walk amongst family and friends one last time?
A very popular doppelganger you may have heard about is Emilie Sagee. She was a French teacher who was working at a boarding school in what is now Latvia back in 1845. Many students and staff said that they would see Emilie Sagee at her desk teaching the students, but at the same time, she would also be seen out in the school garden picking flowers. A few times, the doppelganger would be seen mimicking Emilie's exact motions while she was writing on the chalkboard - one Emilie was holding chalk and the other Emilie was not. After about a year, Emilie was asked to resign her position as the school had too many complaints from the students and the parents. Sounds like by the end of the school year, the student count dropped from 42 to 12 - can't say I blame them. How do you concentrate on learning when you're seeing two of the same person, but the "real" person has no idea the "other" person is there...especially if they are standing at the same chalkboard??? Supposedly that was the 19th job Emilie had lost due to her doppelganger.
Legends state that if you see your doppelganger, it's actually an interaction with your ghostly double. Some say it could mean your days are numbered. A famous example of this would be Abraham Lincoln. It's reported that told his wife that he saw two versions of his face in a mirror and one was ghastly pale. Mary Todd Lincoln claimed to believe that this was a sign that Abraham Lincoln would be re-elected, but would not survive. President Lincoln was assassinated 42 days into his second term. Coincidence? Doppelganger messenger of death? I will let you decide what you believe on that one.
Could seeing your doppelganger be a sign of some sort of neurological disorder? I have no idea. Maybe take the safe route and check with your doctor if you're able to, to help rule anything in or out.
I will just leave all of this with my own opinion about doppelgangers...I've personally never heard too many good things about them. I guess I think of them more on the ghostly side of things/bad omens and really don't want to come "face to face" with mine.
Good luck to you if you ever run into yours!
-- Audre
Photo by: Naomi Stevens, left, and Vera Miles in the “Twilight Zone” episode “Mirror Image.” Miles’s character, Millicent Barnes, crosses paths with a doppelgänger.Credit...CBS
Sources:
bustle.com
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