Imagine driving down a beautiful road in a new city, or walking along a street of a place you’re randomly visiting for the very first time and you have this sudden strange nostalgic feeling that you’ve experienced all this before. You feel like you had been there before. It all seems so familiar and it leaves you all confused and distracted. Meanwhile, your mind knows that it never happened but the feeling is so strong that you can’t help but think about it.
This is a very mysterious and fascinating experience. “The phenomenon of Deja Vu” is very common. Almost two third of the common population can experience deja vu at least one time in their life span. There are various beliefs on what causes deja vu. People keep coming up with new theories regarding this phenomenon and it’s always been a fascinating topic among scientists and researchers and no matter what conclusion they come up with, there’s always more to it.
What is Deja Vu?
Deja vu is basically a French term meaning “already seen”. It’s a feeling of familiarity where a person might have a deep and strong feeling of reliving a moment or situation they have clearly never experienced before. There are different types people might experience. Some experiences are good, some can be bad and traumatic. But the types are specified as
Deja Visite (Already Visited)
A person might visit a place for the very first time and feel its relevance. The feeling leads them to think that they had visited the place before and it seems oddly familiar.
Deja Vecu (Already Lived)
Many movies have been made on this type where a person finds themselves in a situation that seems very familiar and they feel like they know what will happen in the very next moment. Reliving a situation and knowing the future is exactly how it can be described. It’s not possible to know the future but there could be the slightest chance of things going just as the person had visioned while experiencing deja vu.
Deja vu and Dreams
This is the type where a person gets to see some things they dreamed of in real life. A person might wake up from a dream and live it. It of course is a surreal experience. Living a dream is actually possible.
Auditory Deja Vu
In this type of deja vu, a person might feel familiarity while listening to music, a specific type of sound, or a conversation.
Olfactory deja vu
It is related to the sense of smell. For example, smelling perfume or a certain type of odor and feeling related to it in a nostalgic way.
“A déjà vu is your future self doing a past life regression.”
― David Mellen-Thomas
Causes of Deja Vu
Pathological Deja Vu: the cause of this type is directly related to medical issues. It is more common in people having epilepsy or other neurological conditions. Pathological Deja vu can be harmful as it is not naturally occurring.
Specialists believe that pathological Deja vu can occur when the frontal lobe of the brain undergoes some abnormality. This type of Deja vu is often unpleasant and is followed by an episode of anxiety or panic. In most cases, seeking medical and psychological help is advised.
Non-Pathological Deja Vu: this type is considered to be harmless, it is not related to any Neurological condition. People might experience it casually. Research says it depends on how the brain stores different memories. And how your brain deals with certain information.
According to science, everything comes with glitches. So Deja vu happens when the brain experiences a glitch. It could be a confused thought or a false signal from the brain. For some people, it can be a very pleasant experience but some might find it very displeasing as it triggers their curiosity to find out more about it.
Deja vu is a process that has left many researchers, medical experts, and scientists confused. They could not find the exact cause of it till the time. Although there are many different theories they came up with the search for the exact accurate cause is still ongoing. It of course is a very mysterious phenomenon.
Even the slightest deja vu are supernatural incidents.
The Spiritual Beliefs about Deja Vu
Depending upon different cultures and beliefs. People have very interesting views about this phenomenon, they don’t have any scientific value, but in spiritual beliefs, Deja Vu opens a whole other world and has a different meaning and value.
In some traditions, people believe in having more than one life ie reincarnation, they have a strong belief that Deja vu is not neurological rather it is a real experience connected with a person’s past life. They believe If a person feels like he is reliving a moment, there’s a possibility that this person has lived the exact same moment in his past life. He is basically recalling his past life experiences in his present life. There is no scientific evidence to it. But they have a firm faith in this theory.
Similarly in other traditions, they connect Deja vu with signs from the universe. They are influenced by it to the limit where they even make their life decisions accordingly.
In some traditions, it is believed that Deja Vu is a vision or a message from another world i.e. a spiritual world. This could be a message from their ancestors, good spirits or bad ones. They believe that every message (Deja vu) is connected to something important or there must be a hidden message somewhere and they have to find it out.
While science limits their knowledge to the working of the brain, people out there are living with some mind-blowing theories and facts and they’re willing to prove them to the world if given a chance.
I feel like I’ve dreamed half of my life that hasn’t happened yet, so a lot of times I’m going along, and I do stuff, and I know that I’ve done it. I have deja vus more than I have regular experiences. If half of your day is a deja vu, then you start to wonder, ‘What is real and what isn’t?’
— Marilyn Manson