In 1876, E. Letter Boirac coined the phrase "déjà vu." Meaning "already seen," déjà vu is the feeling that a new situation has been previously experienced. There are several theories regarding the causes and meaning of déjà vu.
Who Gets Déjà Vu?
Déjà Vu occurs all over the world to people from all walks of life. However, it's been found that the experience is more common in women and younger people. A possible explanation for this? Women and younger people are more prone to intuition.
Déjà Vu and Psychic Experiences
One proposed theory regarding déjà vu is that it involves some type of psychic experience. Let's say a person goes somewhere for the first time and it seems oddly familiar. The explanation is that the individual had previously visited the location while having an out-of-body experience, (or what some refer to astral traveling,) while asleep.
Déjà Vu and Brain Functions
One of the earliest theories regarding the cause of déjà vu is that one brain hemisphere catalogued a piece of information quicker than the other brain hemisphere. Over time, other researchers have explored this theory and have hypothesized that the subconscious mind takes in information quicker than the conscious mind.
Carl Jung and Déjà Vu
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung believed is what as known as collective unconsciousness, which he considered to be a universal experience of the human race. Another explanation for déjà vu is that an individual has tapped into this collective unconsciousness and is actually recalling the memory of another individual.
Jung, himself, experienced a déjà vu. On his first trip to Africa, while onboard a train, he looked up at the landscape and felt he had lived there five thousand years earlier. According to Jung, he experienced "the recognition of the immemorially."
Déjà Vu and Reincarnation
Still another hypothesis is that déjà vu has something to do with reincarnation. Reincarnation is the belief that the soul lives many lifetimes. A possible explanation for déjà vu is that a person is having some kind of past life recall. For example, a person arrives in London for the first time and just "knows" he's been there before. This would be due to a memory from a past life.
Déjà Vu and Prophetic Dreams
It is very common to dream during the night, only to awaken and not remember the dream. A possible explanation for déjà vu is that a person has a prophetic dream, which means a dream about a future event, only to awaken with no recollection of the dream. At a later time, the scenario unfolds just as it did in the dream and is recognized by the subconscious mind.
Sylvia Browne and Déjà Vu
According to psychic Sylvia Browne, a believer in reincarnation, each person plans out certain life lessons to be learned before incarnating. Think of it as a kind of blueprint for life. A déjà vu is an indicator the a person is on the correct path to be followed within the current lifetime.
Most people experience déjà vu at least once in their lifetimes. Although many different and interesting theories are circulating about the cause and meaning of déjà vu, at this time, there is no definite explanation for why this phenomena occurs.
Readers may also enjoy Psychic Tests – Test to Identify Psychic Ability, along with Books On Reincarnation, and What is Past Life Regression?
Source:
Encyclopedia of Death and the Afterlife, James R. Lewis, (Visible Ink Press™,) 1995.
Janis Masyk-Jackson - I'm here to seek out the truth about some of life's mysteries. There is nothing new about New Age beliefs. These are beliefs that have ...
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