Fylgia

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

The fylgia or fylgja is the Norse name for the fetch, and was closely associated with the soul. It was believed that every man had his fylgja, or follower, and that this spectral double would die with its host. Tradition holds that the fylgjar come into the world in the caul of a newborn child, and that should the caul be burnt or thrown away, the man would lose his guardian spirit for the duration of his life.

Although the fylgja is bound to the physical body, which it haunts, it is capable of roaming from away it. In Norway a departing guest is always attended to the door, to make sure that it is kept open long enough to allow the spirit to pass out after the man. The fetch is also capable of preceding a person, so enabling it to look into the future and see what was to come; indeed it is recounted that people have even tripped over a person's roaming fetch. Others still have seen a persons ghostly double performing actions that its owner would subsequently repeat, especially if such persons have the Sight.

The fylgia, although a ghostly double, was also able to take on the shape of an animal, normally in the temperament of the person. This self-same notion accounts for the stories of witches travelling forth in the shape of hares and so forth, and when such creatures are shot or injured, the witch is later found with a corresponding injury (see familiar).