#fetches

On this day in 1885, the following letter was written to the authors of Phantasms of the Living:

About September, 1873…I was sitting one evening, about 8.30 p.m., in the large dining-room. At the table, facing me, with their backs to the door, were seated my mother, sister, and a friend, Mrs. W. Suddenly I seemed to see my wife bustling in through the door of the back dining-room, which was in view from my position. She was in a mauve dress. I got up to meet her, though much astonished, as I believed her to be at Tenby. As I rose, my mother said, “Who is that?” not (I think) seeing anyone herself, but seeing that I did. I exclaimed, “Why, it’s Carry,” and advanced to meet her. As I advanced, figure disappeared. On inquiry, I found that my wife was spending that evening at a friend’s house, in a mauve dress, which I had most certainly never seen. I had never seen her dressed in that colour. My wife recollected that at that time she was talking with some friends about me, much regretting my absence, as there was going to be dancing, and I had promised to play for them. I had been unexpectedly detained in London. Addendum: She often appears to people; her servants have seen her several times.

Alex S Beaumont

—Phantasms of the Living, Vol. 2

Edmund Gurney, Frank Podmore, and Frederic William Henry Myers argue in their two-book series Phantasms of the Living  that apparitions of the living (sometimes called fetches) are a form of telepathic communication, made by someone in an emotional state, projecting their own image to one or more people. Most often, they are sent by someone who is near death. (When connected with death or near-death, the visions are typically called crisis apparitions: you can read a Weird Wednesday post on those here.)

Check out the blog post for the whole story and some fetching writing prompts, such as:

Witness for the prosecution. What if you could witness a crime via apparition? Say a character’s sister was in a bank, and saw a robbery take place. She was so upset she projected her fetch to her sibling at home. And let’s posit a world where fetches are not just the apparition of a person, but their surroundings as well, so the one at home is able to watch the robbery themselves, and crucially, notice some important detail that the sister missed, like a glimpse of a face behind a robber’s mask. If, in this world, witnessing via apparition is common, then the story would be accepted by the police and courts. But what if it was not— how could the witness convince the police they could recognize a face they shouldn’t have been able to see?

Well here we are another Thor’s Day and another 20 min sketch of a Norse (and Germanic) mythological characters.  This week it’s a couple more quick sketches of Fylgjur / Fylgja / Fylgia / Fylgjuz, mentioned in the Sagas, and in folklore. This time appearing as human like spirits.

Their name translates to “fetches” or "follows" from the words 'fulga' and 'fylgja'. Meaning 'a following spirit or wraith'. Or sometimes interpreted as a "Skincover", or "Afterbirth" spirit.

They can be seen as all manner of ghosts and spirits. With some common notable occurrences being. The spirits of deceased family. Or spirits without family that appear as them. Sometimes invisible excepting in dreams and with powers. And sometimes being seen as apparitions or smoke like people, sometimes appearing as the person seeing them, or as an animal. And sometimes being the spirits of a baby.

While normally seen in dreaming in sleep. They can be seen while day dreaming.

When one that is a family member is seen outside of sleep it if often mean it is close to the end of that persons living fate, and they are about to be reunited in death.

The appearance of fetches—a supernatural double or apparition of a living person—on Christmas Eve carries rich folklore associations, blending themes of fate, mortality, and the thinning of the veil between worlds during sacred times. In many traditions, Christmas Eve is considered a liminal period, a time when the spiritual and physical worlds intersect, allowing for unusual sightings and omens.

Christmas Eve is considered a threshold moment, much like Halloween or All Hallows' Eve. The combination of ancient solstice rituals and Christian traditions marked it as a potent night for supernatural occurrences.

Christmas, with its focus on family gatherings, remembrance, and the birth of Christ (a moment of divine-human connection), reinforced the idea that spirits—both benevolent and ominous—could cross into the mortal realm.