Doppelgänger

The person sees another person whom he can identify as being himself. Folk-lore and fairy stories abound with such images, and the phenomenon is part of a number of religious beliefs. A shaman or a witch may actually cultivate a double who make take his or her place in some task. The appearance of one's double is associated with disaster, tragedy or death and indeed the experience is related to cases of brain damage or dangerous diseases, although it is experienced by others in cases of stress, fatigue or preceding an epileptic attack. The apparition is usually a mirror image of the self, just out of arm's reach; and the person experiencing it may 'know' how it feels as though it were truly himself. Sometimes the double may be heard or felt. The experience usually lasts for only a few seconds.