The idea of doppelgängers appearing has been around for centuries and has been present in many cultures. Although mostly based on folklore and mythology. Doppelgängers (German for “double walker”) is a duplicate of a real person. It is someone who looks the same as another person yet is not a twin. Mystics throughout the ages have believed Doppelgängers and spirit doubles are supernatural creatures. Ancient Egyptians believed in the existence of a “ka”. The “ka” was considered a spiritual double born with every man. It lived on after a person died as long as it had a place to live.
The conversation that follows was recorded and described to me by a friend of mine (for this article I'll refer to her as "A") here in the U.S. yet her experience fits closest with Norse mythology and the doppelgänger they call a "vardøger." It was believed this was a ghostly double that preceded a living person performing their actions in advance. Many stories of vardøger include instances that are nearly déjà vu in substance, but in reverse, where a spirit with the subject’s footsteps, voice, scent, or appearance, and overall demeanor precedes them in a location or activity, resulting in witnesses believing they’ve seen or heard the actual person before the person physically arrives.
Here she describes her experience:
I was in middle school. My mom worked three jobs to support us. Whenever she came home, she was too tired to do anything but put on her pajamas and go to bed. She never got dressed up. One day I was downstairs, and I was in the kitchen and my mom walks in. I said, Oh, where are you going? It was about 5pm and she was dressed in really nice office clothes. My mom replied, "I'm just going to run to the store. Do you want anything?" I answered, "yeah, can you get me a pack of gum?" She said, "of course, I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" I answered, "ok." I walked her to the door and closed it behind her as she left. As I turn, I look up and there's my mom in her pajamas coming out of her bedroom. She said, "what are you doing?" I said, "that was you who just walked out the door!" My mom said, "knock it off!"
MoonJoey: Was it a solid form that walked out the door?
A: Yes, she literally looked like she was dressed up going to the office.
MoonJoey: Were you thinking of your mom getting dressed right before this happened?
A: No, I was in the kitchen, minding my own business after school.
MoonJoey: You weren't asleep and woke up?
A: No, I was in the kitchen. I already had really weird feelings about the house. Weird stuff would happen like I would hear footsteps on the stairs at night when everyone was asleep. Another time, I was in the 7th grade I think, and we lived in a house where I always had a fight or flight feeling. I would never come out of my bedroom at night. One day I came home from school early because I was sick. In the washroom, the washer and dryer weren't on, but it sounded like something was moving around in there. The door was actually shaking. I didn't know what the heck it was.
MoonJoey: You said you had a cat. Did it ever act weird about the house?
A: Yes. She never liked to be outside of my room.
MoonJoey: Animals are much more sensitive that we are. My cat one day is just sitting right at the front door facing it and just looking up and staring at it. Not meowing or otherwise doing anything out of the ordinary. I'm thinking to myself, what's bugging the cat? After approximately 30 seconds I get an alert on my cell phone that motion was detected, and someone was at the front door. I went to the door and opened it but no one was there. Strangely, as I opened the front door, an image flashed in my mind of an elderly woman just standing there. I checked my front door camera and it had not registered anyone standing there!
SUMMARY: There are things that happen to rational people that just cannot be explained. I know this person, and I believe she believes what she experienced actually happened. Not only the spirit double experience but other events such as the washroom and footsteps on the stairs, all fit closely with a hypothesis that she was experiencing her mom's "vardøger."
- MoonJoey