AS ABOVE, SO BELOW: Supernatural Dualism in Cultural Context
The concept of the supernatural double is seen across cultures and geographical locations, from the Germanic doppelganger, the ancient Egyptian spirit ka, Norse vardøger, etiäinen or “firstcomer” of Finnish folklore, to the Irish-English fetch (not to be confused with the Visitor classification, see below). Generally considered ill-omens, supernatural doubles appear as spectral copies of a living person, signaling the imminent death of that which was copied. Doubles often overlap with other supernatural beings such as hags (see: Celtic carlin), wraiths, mimics and various folkloric omens.
The most prominent modern example is the Type Two Visitor classification of Fetch, which manifests through a telepathic reading of the victim’s mind, thus transforming its visage into a person of emotional significance to them. While not identical, the lineage of the Fetch’s nomenclature is easily sourced to legend and folk-fiction, most notably John Banim’s 1896 short story “The Fetches,” which was apparently inspired, as described in the forward by Banim in a letter to his brother Michael, by his own experience with the superstition in Kilkenny:
“Amid all this light and silence, a very aged woman, wildly habited, appeared, I know not how, before me. Her approach had not been heralded by any accompanying noise, by any rustle among the bushes, or by the sound of a footstep…Her look had no meaning in it; no passion, no object. It communicated nothing with which my heart or thought held any sympathy; yet it was long, and deep, and unwincing.” (Banim, 1896, p. 200)
Upon relaying the strange apparition to the Irish family with whom he was boarding, Banim wrote the following:
“With respect to the ancient lady herself, the first opinion seemed to be–‘the Lord only knows what she was;’ but a neighbour coming in, and reporting on the sudden illness of old Grace Morrissy who inhabited a lone cabin on the edge of the hill…they concluded I had seen her ‘Fetch;’ and determined amongst themselves that she was to die before morning.” (Banim, 1896, p. 203)
Prior to the emergence of The Problem and the subsequent advancements in the psychic-scientific field of study, attempts to explain the unexplainable ranged from mere acceptance of a supernatural world enmeshed in our own to the philosophy of the human soul, life, death, and afterlife.
“You are convinced that, after death, the soul parts the mind and body, and enjoys perfect freedom; you are further certain that, because sleep is a temporary death of mind, the soul has, during sleep also, opportunity for some hours of enfranchisement…Severe bodily pain, or exhaustion, will produce this benumbing effect on the mind; and thus, under a visitation of either, the soul may for an instant separate itself from the mind and body, and give the appearance called a fetch.” (Banim, 1896, p. 266)
Here Banim illustrates many dualities: waking/sleeping, life/death, mind/body, and presents the argument that rather than being an entity entirely separate to the person being copied, the fetch is instead that person’s soul, detached by sleep or extreme distress, free to wander.
Works Cited
John Banim. “The Fetches.” Peter of the Castle: And The Fetches. New York, Excelsior Publishing House, 1896, pp. 200-205; 266.
