To mention a doppelgänger to someone, it often strikes fear, brings up images of soon coming death. Let’s begin with, what is a doppelganger? In German, doppelgänger means ‘double goer’. In today’s English it is defined as a double of someone. An exact copy, if you will. Some people may notice, out of the corner of their eye, a reflection of themselves where a reflection should not be. When they turn to look, it is gone. This is often referred to as that persons doppelganger. A Doppelganger is also referred to as our twin, another human living on the planet that is an exact match to you.
Let’s explore all the fear that is behind the doppelganger. Myths and legends have abounded about the doppelganger being a bad omen of things to come. It is said that if you see your own doppelganger, that you are about to die. In fact, my own parents told me when I was young, 'If you see your twin, ou're going to die'. If one of your friends or family members sees it, it means bad times are about to fall on you. That you may become extremely ill, or life is going to have you in utter ruin. There is story after story on the internet, and movies that have been made that incorporate this fear of the doppelganger.
Another theory of the doppelganger is that it is our ‘evil twin’. That it shows up just to cause mischief and harm. One of my friends from years back was tormented by a doppelganger. When he would leave areas of his house and go to others, it would appear once he left. It would take threatening postures with his wife, make scary faces to his children, and would disappear before he would come back in the room. I believe that the doppelganger that was tormenting his family was nothing more than a demon taking on a likeness of him. The were steps taken and this demon has been cast out of his life and his household.
Another form of the doppelganger, is the one that precedes the arrival of the actual person. Let me see if I can explain this better. It is an image of you that appears and does the exact same things you are about to do. It is usually seen by friends and family. I have been told a couple examples of things like this happening. A gentleman performs the same routine when he gets home from work. Walks in the door, takes off his shoes, hangs his coat and heads to the restroom to wash up. On this one occasion, the man came home, went through the routine, then as the man entered the restroom, he came home and went through the same routine. His family was flabbergasted. They did not have a clue what had happened. In Norse Mythology, this is referred to as a Vardoger. The Vardoger is a spirit predecessor that does not have the evil stigmatism that the doppelganger has.
I have spoken with numerous people that claim to have seen their doppelganger or a doppelganger of a friend of loved one. From the people I have spoken with, many carried the worries that something terrible was about to happen. I believe that many carry this fear for no reason other than it is what they have heard growing up. Then again, maybe there is truth in it. Even Abraham Lincoln has been recorded as seeing his doppelganger 3 times standing next to him in a mirror. The first two times he see it were on the evening of his first presidential election, when he found out that he had one. I will let you research the rest of Lincoln's story on your own.
As for the Doppelganger, from my research I have come to the conclusion that there needs to be some greater explanation, or even more categories of the doppelganger. Not all instances that a doppelganger is seen are bad. Sometimes it is a warning of things happening that need to be changed, other times it may be nothing more then the reflection of things that happen daily, still it may be the foreshadowing of suffering or death. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.....
