Deja Vu... Have You Experienced This Mysterious Phenomenon?

As much as 70 percent of the population reports having experienced some form of déjà vu. A higher number of incidents occurs in people 15 to 25 years old than in any other age group.

The phenomenon is rather complex, and there are many different theories as to why déjà vu happens. Swiss scholar Arthur Funkhouser suggests that there are several "déjà experiences" and asserts that in order to better study the phenomenon, the nuances between the experiences need to be noted. In the examples mentioned above, Funkhouser would describe the first incidence as déjà visite ("already visited") and the second as déjà vecu ("already experienced or lived through"). As much as 70 percent of the population reports having experienced some form of déjà vu. A higher number of incidents occurs in people 15 to 25 years old than in any other age group. Déjà vu has been firmly associated with temporal-lobe epilepsy. Reportedly, déjà vu can occur just prior to a temporal-lobe seizure. People suffering a seizure of this kind can experience déjà vu during the actual seizure activity or in the moments between convulsions. Since déjà vu occurs in individuals with and without a medical condition, there is much speculation as to how and why this phenomenon happens. Several psychoanalysts attribute déjà vu to simple fantasy or wish fulfillment, while some psychiatrists ascribe it to a mismatching in the brain that causes the brain to mistake the present for the past. Many parapsychologists believe it is related to a past-life experience. Obviously, there is more investigation to be done.

Early researchers tried to establish a link between déjà vu and serious psychopathology such as schizophrenia, anxiety, and dissociative identity disorder, but failed to find the experience of some diagnostic value. There does not seem to be a special association between déjà vu and schizophrenia or other psychiatric conditions.[6] The strongest pathological association of déjà vu is with temporal lobe epilepsy.[7][8] This correlation has led some researchers to speculate that the experience of déjà vu is possibly a neurological anomaly related to improper electrical discharge in the brain. As most people suffer a mild (i.e. non-pathological) epileptic episode regularly (e.g. a hypnagogic jerk, the sudden "jolt" that frequently, but not always, occurs just prior to falling asleep), it is conjectured that a similar (mild) neurological aberration occurs in the experience of déjà vu, resulting in an erroneous sensation of memory. Scientists have even looked into genetics when considering déjà vu. Now they may never find a gene for déjà vu, but one particular gene and its inheritance patterns do intrigue scientists. The gene's name is LGII. It lies on chromosome 10. Certain forms of the gene are associated with a mild form of epilepsy. Though by no means a certainty, déjà vu occurs often enough during seizures that researchers have reason to suspect a link.[9]

During my research on this topic I've come across some who think deja vu is a sign from our spirit guide(s) showing us we are on the "right path" on our life's journey. These memories are recalled from when we chose our path before being born.

Others say this is a past-life memory of a place or experience we are recalling.

And then, we have the scientists who say it is caused by a brain disorder.

What are your thoughts? What do you think deja vu is? Have you ever experienced it?

I have had some pretty strong episodes of DejaVu.
Been doing something and just stopped . Perplexed because I know. I KNOW! I've experienced that moment before.
It's pretty uncanny sometimes.

I do have a propensity for seizures when badly wounded/injured. Shock reaction.
My niece has these issues as well.
The strong DV may be related as your attached info suggests..

Uh-oh.
It's that silly cat again.
Glitch in the Matrix.

I've definitely experienced it. Generally a couple times a year in a mild sense. Although a couple times this year it's been powerful enough to stop what I was doing and actually note or comment about the experience at the time. That's been downright disturbing. It hasn't been a sense of familiar, but a sense of watching events happen just a second or second and a half behind where I knew they were about to be and for just a brief moment each time.

Probably sounds crazy... but it's not something I'll forget and frankly, hope doesn't repeat. it wasn't at all pleasant.

Im sure i have read this thread before
DEJA VU again

Originally posted by maryhinge
Im sure i have read this thread before
DEJA VU again

Wow!!!!!! I was going to say that..........

Weird....................

Time is a spiral actually..it passes over itself and repeats and repeats. That is, until Messiah ends the broken record and brings in the New Creation.

To those who have replied... out of the three reasons I gave listed at the bottom in the OP, which would you believe is the reason for deja vu? Or do you have a theory of your own?

reply to post by sled735


Deja Vu is a pretty commonplace thing.

But I keep experiancing, "VejaDu...the feeling that I have never experianced this before"

It's quite exciting!!

The milder forms I've experienced before this year with a sense of familiar, I believe have been the sense of past life and repeating something that many others also experience frequently enough.

The ones this year...they're something else I've got my own theory on. Heck, I already sound like a kook saying as much as I have, I might as well say the rest. I think the startling sense of actually feeling a 1 second off for a moment is something I've come to call a time shift or slip. It's part of a larger theory and I'd doubt the events even happened....but that first, I have made a point of saying something or writing it down. ...and damnedest thing, but I have run into a couple others who just about went white when I explained the details above?

Oh well... Strange times.

I've had a deja-vu that resulted from a dream.
In the dream I played poker in a house that I saw by accident a few weeks later while going for a walk to check out a shooting scene by my house. Up a little hill just hidden off the highway i've driven on for years..

I don't know how that type of thing could even be possible without bypassing a bunch of seemingly natural laws.

I believe I've experienced deja vu before, possibly plenty of times. One incident in particular, I remember having an argument with my sister( I guess this took place in a dream or something similar... I'm still not certain), and as it was heating up, I ended up calling her a nasty name.

After typing this and thinking, this sounds more like a premonition( again, I'm not entirely sure of it's definition). Regardless, I'll continue my experience.

I remember telling my sister about this dream/premonition exactly how it I saw it, and she just laughed it off. I've had similar episodes, but this is the most vivid. I kept feeling terrible about what I said to her in my dream/premonition, and I already convinced myself that I would do anything and everything in my power to prevent this vulgarity exiting my mouth aimed at my sister. I was attentive and on guard waiting for this predetermined action to show itself.

One day, my guard, due to complacency, was down and I wasn't expecting it. The argument came out of nowhere, and about halfway through it, I realized that I've experienced this exact moment before( Deja Vu?) I tried not thinking mean, nasty thoughts, and I focused on not saying that rude word to her, and I was successful once or twice during our talk. After I was feeling confident that I defused the situation and the event wouldn't occur, I began feeling relived that the misdeed was negated. But, as I was about to walk away, something kicked the argument back into gear and the disrespectful word came out of my mouth.

I'm not sure exactly what I went through, but that incident makes me think of the word fate... Could this all be connected?

Originally posted by Rapha
Time is a spiral actually..it passes over itself and repeats and repeats. That is, until Messiah ends the broken record and brings in the New Creation.

so how long you gona wait for your Messiah ?

I've experienced it a few times and tend to go with the idea that it's some freaky brain-moment. In fact, I had it yesterday when someone I know was saying to others what day her birthday was. As she said the day, it was like a sort of slow-motion and I knew what date she was about to say split-seconds before she said it. The date is the same as mine. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, it was all back to normal.

In some ways, deja vu leaves an odd sense that the momentum of life's passage is somehow inevitable or perhaps has intent. Hard to explain. It's a suggestion that there is something maybe more meaningful at play that we don't tend to be aware of. Although the moment is as brief as a snowflake in the air, it leaves a small ? behind that can never be entirely answered.

Originally posted by yourmaker
I've had a deja-vu that resulted from a dream.
In the dream I played poker in a house that I saw by accident a few weeks later while going for a walk to check out a shooting scene by my house. Up a little hill just hidden off the highway i've driven on for years..

I don't know how that type of thing could even be possible without bypassing a bunch of seemingly natural laws.

I also saw a place in a dream once. It had the most beautiful view! There was an A-frame house down in a valley just below where I was living on a hill in this dream.
One day when I went to visit my brother who lives in another county over from me, I decided to go through some of the back roads just to look at the beautiful country there. I had never been to this area before.
I pulled into a sub-division that was under construction, and came to a plot for sale. I got out of my car and walked to the top of the hill, and there was that awesome view I saw in my dream.... and down below was the A-frame house! Everything exactly as I dreamed it! Except my house. The plot was empty.
I went back several years later, and a house had been built there. I've often wondered if I might be living there someday? I hope so!

I sometimes get deja vu where I actually predict what’s about to happen for the following 20 to 30 second period. It’s the strangest feeling. Had it at work a couple of days ago. I’ve had it where it repeated the same event four or five times. It’s the weirdest feeling.

I must get a very strange look on my face when I experience deja vu because I notice people looking strangely at me. I probably look like this----->

It IS a strange feeling indeed!

Originally posted by Gizawski


One day, my guard, due to complacency, was down and I wasn't expecting it. The argument came out of nowhere, and about halfway through it, I realized that I've experienced this exact moment before( Deja Vu?) I tried not thinking mean, nasty thoughts, and I focused on not saying that rude word to her, and I was successful once or twice during our talk. After I was feeling confident that I defused the situation and the event wouldn't occur, I began feeling relived that the misdeed was negated. But, as I was about to walk away, something kicked the argument back into gear and the disrespectful word came out of my mouth.

I'm not sure exactly what I went through, but that incident makes me think of the word fate... Could this all be connected?

Fate would go along with one of the things I listed in the OP. It is a predetermined life path we choose before birth.
So, you are going with this option as to what deja vu is? Thanks for sharing your choice of the options I listed.

Originally posted by badgerprints
I have had some pretty strong episodes of DejaVu.
Been doing something and just stopped . Perplexed because I know. I KNOW! I've experienced that moment before.
It's pretty uncanny sometimes.

I do have a propensity for seizures when badly wounded/injured. Shock reaction.
My niece has these issues as well.
The strong DV may be related as your attached info suggests..

Uh-oh.
It's that silly cat again.
Glitch in the Matrix.

edit on 27-10-2012 by badgerprints because: (no reason given)

You are choosing the brain seizures as the scientists suggests.
I'm sure we all have our own opinions as to what causes deja vu. Thanks for your opinion.

Originally posted by Kandinsky
I've experienced it a few times and tend to go with the idea that it's some freaky brain-moment.

So, you are going with the scientists view-point.
Thank you. You stated your post very nice, by the way.

Originally posted by hdonn

Originally posted by Rapha
Time is a spiral actually..it passes over itself and repeats and repeats. That is, until Messiah ends the broken record and brings in the New Creation.

so how long you gona wait for your Messiah ?

Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs... even you. Please show respect for others. No bashing allowed.