F is for Fetch....

I used this word during my first round of A-Z blog two years ago, so this is a bit of a cheat...but, I love the obscure meaning of the word so much that I feel it bears repeating.... not to mention, my post on Doppelgangers was a bit lacking, so I thought I could do another "doubles" post, giving this one some of the attention my "D" post lacked.

A Fetch is a disembodied spirit of a living person. It usually appears to neighbors or friends at the moment of, or right before the person passes away. The Fetch is thought to be the impression a person has of a loved one, right before their death--- when someone says, "it was the strangest thing, I hadn't thought about her in years, until last night and this morning I get word that she's passed" ---this anomaly, in the past, has been attributed to a Fetch.

The purpose of a Fetch has given rise to the more modern meaning of the word, fetch--- to retrieve or gather something--- as it was a Fetch's job to gather the living soul of their double... they came to 'fetch' the soul to the after-life. The actual etymology of the word is unknown--though, there is reference to a 'fetch-life' in a 1583 translation of the Aeneid, that is clearly referring to a psychopomp (from the Greek, psuchopompos, guide of souls), who "fetches" the souls of the dying. There has also been mention of "fetch-candles" or "fetch-lights"-- somewhat like the fairy lights or the Will O' the Wisp on moors that lead unsuspecting travelers astray. The "fetch-candles", though were seen at night and were meant to portend death. They were like corpse candles, believed to travel from the home to the grave of the person who beheld the light--- a sort of, follow the light from your earthly home to your everlasting home.... In other words, if you see a strange ghostly light at night, DON'T FOLLOW IT....

Most stories connected with a Fetch are ominous, especially if the individual comes across their own Fetch. Though, there is a bit of mythology that says if you stumble across your Fetch in the light of morning, it is supposed to mean you will have a long life--- it's only at night when your Fetch is present that your death is supposedly imminent. 

Follow Softly the Candles at Night

Like mirror-light,

in darkness walking,

the silent spectre

treads.

Speak naught to hear,

the meek and voiceless,

the ghastly herald of

death.

In gossamer sheathed,

with mist-footed steps, 

the shadow's path is 

laid.

You have but to follow,

the guide that you meet,

dismay not, your soul's path is 

paid.

                                                                                                            ---e.a.s. demers