Not much is known of Emilie Sagée´s early life. In fact, not much is known of her life at all. The reason being is that Emilie was quite a closed book. This is not surprising, because having to change towns frequently in search of a new job, taught Emilie to be reticent in discussing her past.
Emilie had a constant companion with her, and this friend was not beneficial to her career. When people started to see this companion, Emilie usually had to start looking for a new job in a different town.
Emilies companion was not a cousin or childhood friend. It was her own spirit double. Today we might call it an astral projection. Unfortunately for Emilie, she had no control over it. And worst of all, she did not need to be asleep for the Doppelgänger to made it´s appearance.
A lovely child - or two of them?
Emilie was born in France, and from an early age her dream was to become a teacher. She was an easy going if somewhat withdrawn child. Her playmates in the village where she lived, reported that she never played often with them. Most assumed she had a twin sister, as the two could often be seen walking araound the streets together. The other children did not think that strange. After all, twins were not uncommon.
What perplexed them though was the fact the Sagée sisters seemed totally unaware of each other, but would eerily mimic one another´s actions. Emilie´s family were aware of the strange phenomena centering around her youngest daughter, but kept very quiet about it. People in those parts were very superstitious, and murmurs of unholy goings on in the Sagée household could quickly ruin their prosperous bakery. They kept her at home and brought in a tutor from another town to teach her. Her siblings were now quite used to seeing the two Emilie´s around the house. Her double could be seen going through the motions of doing housework, while the “real” Emilie would be at the time lying down in a kind of daze, but not quite asleep. When questioned about what she had been thinking about during those moments of torpor she had no recollection.
New job, new paranormal activities...
We are now in the year 1845. Emilie is 32 and is very happy to have won a post at an exclusive girl´s school called “Pensionat von Neuwelcke”, situated in Wolmar in present day Latvia. In the 16 years previously, she had to seek 19 new positions as a teacher; which is peculiar because her résumé was impeccable. She was described as kind, patient and much loved by the children and other staff.
The first time her spectral double was witnessed, was when she was teaching a class of 13 students. To her pupils complete amazement, as Emilie was writing on the blackboard, her exact double appeared beside her, copying her actions. The only difference the eyewitnesses could concern was that the double had no chalk in her hand.
On another occasion while Emilie was seated at the dinner table, her Doppelgänger was seen to manifest behind her, mimicking her actions of eating. Again the apparition was identical apart from not holding a knife and a fork. The other teachers were starting to observe Emilie, but it appeared the children were not displaying any fear of this phenomena.
The phantom gets out of control!
Emilie´s double had begun seemingly to have a life of it´s own. It was now appearing around the school apparently independent from Emilie, who could be situated quite some distance from it. Still, as in her childhood, she would appear listless while her phantom wandered around the building. Although now when questioned as to what she was thinking about during these manifestations, she recalled imagining performing certain actions. And these were the exact actions her ghostly double was acting out. So it would appear she had control of her astral body, but without being aware of it´s separation from her physical form.
On another occasion as a class was receiving a sewing and embroidering lesson, the teacher leading the class left her seat which was positioned at the head of the room, to help one of the 42 students present. At that moment, Emilie wandered in and sat in the vacated chair. Suddenly a few of the children exclaimed in wonder that Emilie could also be seen outside picking flowers in the school garden!
How does a spirit feel?
The students observed that the form in the chair sat absolutely motionless, while Emilie outside wandered around in a strange and lethargic fashion. Two girls who were the most courageous of the classmates, got up and approached the apparition in the chair…
They said afterwards, that it resembled Emilie in every aspect. One of them reached out to touch the double of Emilie, and her hand went straight through the bodice, through into the body. When questioned what she had experienced, the girl said “It felt empty, like the stuff cobwebs are made of.”
It´s interesting to note that Emilie herself never ever saw her Doppelgänger, even though it had been visible to many over the years.
As time went by Emilie´s astral form was seen on many occasions throughout the school. Sometimes it was very definite and resembling a real person, at other times it appeared ghostly and shimmering. One teacher who shared a room with Emilie, said she witnessed some nights a kind of “moving phosphorescence” arising from her roomate´s sleeping form or hovering near it. Emilie would say at these times she had been dreaming of seeing herself staring at her own image in a dream landscape.
You are fired!
Eventually reports of the strange phenomena started reaching to the children´s parents. Alarmed at what they conceived to be supernatural they complained to the headmistress. Although no immediate action was taken because of Emilie´s exemplary character and her faultless teaching, parents began removing their children from the school. Fearing ruin, the headmistress felt she had no choice but to terminate Emilie´s position.
Emilie once again packed her belongings onto a northbound stagecoach and dejectedly left the town of Wolmar. This is the last report I have of Emilie Sagée. I have no record of her death, and it is possible she changed her name afterwards for obvious reasons.