Double the trouble

I have to make a correction for my column last week. At that time, in the past, what I didn’t realize is that Synesthesia exists and it comes in a variety of ways. One of many different ways where a human being can see colors for notes of music, taste different letters, and those that can see color from words. “Synesthesia is an anomalous blending of the senses in which the stimulation of one modality simultaneously produces sensation in a different modality. Synesthetes hear colors, feel sounds and taste shapes,” reported from Scientific America.

So, when I spoke of wanting to see energy as different shades of light glinting in the sun, or following the colors of the different energy feelings someone could actually see and/or feel if their brains wiring is just that way to make it possible. With that being said I shall do some more digging and reading and possibly will present you with a column dedicated to Synesthesia. It is quite fascinating. Maybe there is an explanation as to why I can feel different colors, or smell different seasons and why I can empathically feel other people’s pain in a physcial form.

Anywho, the reasoning behind my correction is that I came across an individual online who has striking resemblances and similarities to someone that I hold very dear and close to my heart. She spoke of her type of Synesthesia and I knew I needed to correct myself. She is a prime example of what I spoke of in my last column. Besides that, the doppelgänger effect washed over me as I had to blink a few times to realize that she was not in fact who at first glance, I thought she was.

So what’s the thing with doppelgängers? The German term ‘doppelgänger’ was coined back in the late 18th century and translates to “double-goer.” It was introduced by German author Jean Paul in his 1796 novel Siebenkäs. In ancient Egypt, the soul was divided amongst many aspects and one was known as the ka, depicted as a spirit identical to the body. In English and German folklore, seeing “yourself” in another three times meant that death could follow soon. In Irish literature, around the 18th and 19th centuries, literaries talk of fetch, an ethereal double whose appearance, like the doppelgänger, signaled death.

In many different cultures the ‘doppelgänger’ mean slightly different things, but from my experience - seeing someone who looks like another is astonishing in the like. When the situation arises and you see a doppelgänger of a friend, acquaintance, family, coworker, etc. take a moment to reflect as to why they were presented to us instead of the one we know or know of. What about them, or what about you, do you see similarities in? Maybe the things that stand out are qualities you admire, or vice versa.

It’s up to you to decide. Remember, be curious.

SEEKING

W

ONDER

BY

SAMANTHA Y OCIUS CREATIVE MEDIA