Déjà vu: Is it a Past or a Future Thing and How to Interpret

Has this ever happened to you that in a certain situation you felt that you have been there before or this has happened already? Yes, it has happened to so many of us and this feeling has a proper name; déjà vu. Déjà vu comes from a French word which literally means “already seen”. It is not an ordinary feeling rather it’s an overwhelming familiarity feeling about something that you have never seen or heard before. Déjà vu is considered a paranormal activity by some as it does not satisfy the principles of science. It is neither a pre-recognition nor a prophecy rather it is something that one just feels when it actually has never been experienced by the person.  

The feeling can be fascinating and frightening at the same time. If the déjà vu is about a pleasant encounter, you might feel amazed and happy but if it is about a shocking, sad, or horrific encounter, it can be really terrifying.  
 
Déjà vu is considered irregular or inconsistent memory. In scientific terms, it is an anomaly. Déjà vu can be of two kinds; pathological déjà vu where the person experiences familiarity due to a certain medical condition and non-pathological déjà vu experienced by physically and mentally healthy people. People mostly experience déjà vu when either they are working under great mental and physical pressure or if they are fragile or vulnerable.

Déjà vu is not an ordinary feeling. Whether it is a pre-recognition; recalling or remembering something that happened in the past or prophecy; predicting the future, déjà vu has remained and is still a mystery. Its connection with science is vague so is its relationship with paranormal. Déjà vu is a sort of mash-up of sensory input memory-recall output. You keep wondering whether it is your mind playing games with you or you actually are re-living the situation. Where the meaning of the word déjà vu suggests “already seen”; it is more about past than future but those who call it “wishful thinking” relate it to the future. It is believed that anything you wish for or fear of, will manifest itself as déjà vu.

This wishful thinking is so strong that the real situation looks like you have lived it before. Scientists believe that déjà vu is a person’s try to recall an actual memory which is very vague and hence he fails to recall it completely but it is somewhere there in his memory bank. 

Cleary, a professor in CSU's Department of Psychology says about déjà vu “We cannot consciously remember the prior scene, but our brains recognize the similarity”. The information about the memory is there but it gets difficult to pinpoint it.  

Déjà vu as described above is a feeling that cannot be explained. The spiritual significance of déjà vu can be understood by the work of Dr. Michael Newton, a hypnotherapist who has written books about the life of humans when they were spirits; way before their birth. According to him, before our birth, our spirits live in a spirit world where they roam with the group of souls that will meet them in the real world. He believes that during our life in the spirit world, we place “gold nuggets” or markers at various points which are reminded to us in our life after birth in unexplained ways. Since these markers are placed by our soul, we have a memory of it but it is very vague.

These markers tell us that we are on the right spiritual path and with the right people. Déjà vu is one of the ways our spirit reminds us of our mission in this real world. You may experience a déjà vu moment when you are facing a challenge in life and your spirit tries to guide you through memory flashbacks. The déjà vu moments shouldn’t be taken lightly; often these are the most significant moments or highlights of one’s life.    

The déjà vu may also happen when the spiritual frequency of two persons matches. The concept of soul mates may take a real form and you may feel that you have lived this moment before when you actually never did. Since our spirits lived in a spirit world with other spirits and meeting one of the spirits in the real world can be a life-altering phenomenon. This isn’t some random spirit but the one you were destined to spend your life within this world of flesh and bones. Once you find your soul mate, the moment is so powerful that you experience déjà vu: “already seen”. 

Déjà vu can also be taken as sincere messages from the divine self. If you are going through a tough period in your life or you are emotionally disturbed; these messages can help you heal. The divine self sends messages to the conscious mind as “already seen” memories and how to handle those difficult life situations. If we consider these messages as mere coincidences, the messages will lose their spiritual significance. 

Having an odd feeling about a certain experience as being repeated is déjà vu. “I’ve been here before”, “hasn’t this happened before?”, “you’ve said this before, right?” these and many other questions come to our mind at one point or another in our life. Every one of us experiences déjà vu and it gives goosebumps sometimes. This weird and shocking experience can happen at a time when you least expect it. 

Some people experience déjà vu more than others. There can be several reasons behind having frequent episodes of déjà vu and it may mean quite a lot of things. 

1.    Having a lot of déjà vu may mean you are stressed or fatigued and your mind and body need rest. People who are emotionally disturbed can experience it more often than others. Déjà vu can also be triggered if you are extremely tired. 

2.    Experiencing déjà vu more than a couple of times means you are more knowledgeable. Highly educated people experience déjà vu more than less educated people. 

3.    Frequent episodes of déjà vu may be triggered if you are on certain medications. Drugs containing serotonin have been found to have a connection with déjà vu. 

4.    Having déjà vu moments frequently may mean you are developing dementia. Vascular dementia has been associated with déjà vu and people with frontotemporal dementia report “already seen” episodes besides illusions. 

5.    If the déjà vu happens a few times a month it may mean you have a neurological disorder. Epilepsy, for example, can trigger déjà vu in patients. 

How you react to a déjà vu or what meaning it holds for you is unique to every person. Although the phenomenon is the same for everyone what does it mean differs from person to person. Based on the information shared in this article, if the déjà vu results from your higher-self trying to communicate with you, it is significant only for YOU. No one else can reap the benefits of another person’s déjà vu. It is distinctive and has meaning only for the person who is experiencing it. 

Déjà vu may mean your higher self is trying to send an important message about a particular phase in life. You are being reminded to stay on the path you have opted and it will lead you to your destination. Considering this déjà vu moment a coincidence will reduce the chances of spiritual intervention in later life. If given attention to the received cue, you may get more of déjà vu moments and more chances to explore your spiritual journey. 

If you are in the middle of starting a new relationship and you experience déjà vu, it may mean that either you have or are about to meet your soul mate. The soul mate is the one you are destined to be with as your souls lived together in the “spirit world”. Finding your mate from the spirit world is a powerful phenomenon and you may get a déjà vu moment because it is going to be a reunion after coming to the real world.

Déjà vu is a phenomenon that can happen to anyone at any time. While some consider it a recall or recognition of past experience, some others believe it to be a prophecy. Whether it is something from the past, life before birth, or future prediction; this feeling has remained a mystery. The experience has its significance as it is the brain’s ability to spot similarities in places and things that should not feel familiar at all. Till science finds a reasonable explanation, let’s keep enjoying it as an interesting experience of our life.