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The appearance of a double of a living person, thought to be a death omen, or bilocation - the astral body of someone having an out-of-body experience. ‘Dop-pelgänger’ comes from the German, meaning ‘double walker’.

The belief in the spirit or soul existing in a double is ancient and widespread. The ancient Egyptians said the soul had a double or Ka, and a special kind of tomb, called the house of Ka, was reserved for the double. Doubles are said to be exact copies of the living person and are usually seen at a location distant from them.

As a death omen there are reports of seeing doubles just as the individual in question is about to die. The double usually appears real but has a ghostly, filmy look about them and can sometimes act mechanically. In some rare cases, such as that of the poet Shelley who saw his own double before drowning, the double appears to the dying individual him or herself. As well as being a death omen, many psychical researchers who have examined cases of doppelgängers believe they are projections of consciousness that somehow take on a form resembling reality. This can happen involuntarily or it can be accomplished at will. English medium Eileen Garrett suggested that the double is a clairvoyant projection that can be manipulated to develop supernatural powers.