My friend's father is a very emotional person. When he is angry, he becomes red, very loud, short temper (emotional?)... But never will he rise a hand to hit his family.
I was once with my friend and her family in the middle of a conversation. Her father was asking her mother if she can hand him some salt, her mother just asked if the food was bland, and he became a little emotional and left the table...
Well, information from her mother and my friend is that he is the type of person which will let the emotion out first then will come and apologize... I kind of noticed that, because that night I saw him going back to the silent dinning table and finished up what he had left over... I was like, calm down daddy... Calm down... Oh, there he is. (hahaha)
Why did I bring this normal life thing up? It is because this normal life thing is going to be a process of the production of what I think is called a living spirit.
We went to Hakodate for a week for a break, me, Aya and her parents. So Aya's father is an emotional person, he was complaining for a few times inside the cheap plane that Aya booked for all of us. I was able to stop 1 or 2 of his complaints but he was unstoppable, he did not like the kids behind us because he was kicking his seat all the time. He went cranky and got a warning from the pilot. Poor kids, they had to watch a cranky old man being warned by the pilot.
Well, we arrived in time to the hot spring hotel, I see a smile on the cranky man's face. I feel that all of us were relieved... I tried to open up a positive conversation about this trip but Aya's father keeps going back to the things that happened on the plane. "Alright, if that bothered you that much I will send them a complaint report, how about that?" I finally could not take all the negging of the old man.
Aya's father became quiet, her mother whispered to him and he tried to calm himself down. "Let's check-in first OK? It's a tiring trip. Aya, can you kindly take your parents to sit over there while I check-in?" I asked my friend politely.
It took a while since the queue was long, about... 30 minutes I think? Oh, yes, I could see the red face of Aya's father. Aya was right beside him trying to explain but tell you what? Aya's father never would shout at me, maybe because I am not a Japanese? I do not know, but we never argued.
We had to go to the dinner hall for our dinner since we arrived quite late, Aya's father did not feel well and so he had to skip his dinner. 1 man and 2 women sat together, did not really talk but ate quietly. Maybe, everyone was tired.
After the slow dinner, I went to the Onsen space, I saw Aya's father from the far end of my sight, I thought he went to bath first because of tiredness. I did not really want to talk to him and so I remained quiet. The next moment I lost sight of him but I thought he went back to his room and did not care much.
After the bath, me and Aya went to the lobby bar and talked for a while her mother came over too and joined the conversation, hoping to ask me some more questions about how is life with Aya... (Well, we are living together now but, we both needed time...so, oh, too much info, sorry...).
I asked if Aya's father had a good bath, her mother replied "No, we took the shower in our room. He is asleep now and I guess he will bathe during morning."
I thought I saw him at the Onsen space but it seems that it was not him? OK...
Then my friend told me about the living spirit theory... Which they call ikiryo in Japanese. Does any one know about it? Like, if a person is too worried about another person or have strong will (or too emotional) against something that they really want to do, their spirit will get out of their body and go to that location to do their "job", but the negative part of this is, the person themselves will not notice it but will be very tired.
It sounded like what she told me had just happened, but from some extra researches that I did the living spirits will not be able to go in to places that the person themselves did not go before. From my information this hot spring hotel is new and there is no way that her father would go there alone before hand.
Did I see a doppelgänger of her father or did I just see someone else or... What did I see?
The story continues; the next day I went to the Onsen space again and Aya's father was on his way there alone. Normally he will rely on a simple map that he can pick for free in the lobby, but he did not have any of that, so I asked "Hi, I thought you will be looking at the map on the way."
"Well, tell you what? This hotel is new, but it seems like I have been here before long ago or is the concept just right for an old man like me? Well, I can guide the 3 of you if there is chance," he replied jokingly.
He showed me where the lockers are and he showed me where the resting spot is which I did not see the night before. It seems that he knew the place well... Hmm... Did he sneak out alone?
So, do you think that there are possibilities that Aya's father let his spirit out because of the emotions and the very stressful day? Or did I just simply see a person whom looked like him or a doppelgänger?
Also, does anyone know about the living spirit thingy or something similar?
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Interestingly many cultures believe in this spirit 'twin'. It is prevalent in folklore and mythology worldwide.
The ancient Egyptians called it Ka, the Norse called it vardøger, and
The Fins etiäinen. Many of the Muslim countries have a qarin or karin. Of course, these are just the ones I've run crossed in my readings. I'm sure there's many more names for it.
Personally. I've often wondered if there was a connection with astral projection.