Deja-Vu? Again?

Haven’t I been here before? I’ve seen this before! I know what is going to happen!

In my life I have experienced two types of deja-vu that I’d like to explore today: the traditional Dreaming deja-vu, and the non-traditional Energetic or Spiritual deja-vu. This second form of deja-vu is experienced when you either meet someone for the first time or hear something for the first time. You somehow know or feel on a deeper level that you’ve met them before (or heard and held that belief), though where and how you could not say. There is a familiarity that goes beyond the description of language and transcends our very understanding of ourselves and who we are.

Dreaming Deja-Vu

Have you ever experienced deja-vu? What does it mean?

I have had many experiences with deja-vu in my life. From the moment where, while I was a boy in South Dakota, I tossed a ball tied to a string up into a tree and got it stuck, to the moment where, as a missionary in Quebec, I was teaching individuals and suddenly realized that exactly how our conversation would go. I’ve had unimportant moments relived and life-altering moments that are strangely familiar. I remember sitting on a rooftop in Nepal, eating dinner with my travel group, when suddenly I was back in a dream, watching this exact scenario unfold before me. I felt I’d been there before–I remembered seeing that exact moment and hearing that exact conversation at another time. Another time, I was in Quebec as a missionary for my church. I was sitting in a room with a couple who we were teaching, and instantly I recalled a distant dream from years before. For the next few minutes of the conversation, I knew as if it were from memory who was going to speak next and what they were going to say.

In moments like these, a sudden realization will dawn upon me, and I will realize in an instance that I’ve seen it before. It all comes back to me in a flood of imagery. In my experience, dreaming deja-vu has always been specific. It has always been something I remember vividly after dreaming it, but something that I don’t imagine could ever happen or have any basis in reality. I go on about my life, thinking it is only another dream, and forget about it. In the moment that the dream becomes reality, however, I always recall the dream precisely, and watch the next few moments of my life play out exactly as they did in the dream. It is both odd and comforting, though some may call it unsettling.

So what does it mean to have a ‘deja-vu’ moment?

First off, let me say that there is very little research on exactly what deja-vu is or how it works. None of what I have seen even remotely connects to my experiences. Researchers seem to be looking for a biological or ‘scientific’ stimulus behind deja-vu, while I feel positive the stimulus is a spiritual one. The thoughts that follow are the conclusions I have drawn from my own experience. I do not put them forward as scientific fact, though they are more real to me than any scientific fact ever will be.

Deja-vu happens suddenly and briefly (though supposedly only in certain people), and is very hard to study. To those who have experienced it–especially those who have experienced it regularly–the reality of the situation can’t be explained away. The person who experiences deja-vu knows what he saw and experienced, but does not understand how to explain the experience in a way that others can fully understand. Only those of us who have experienced this type of experience can truly relate. So today, I write to all of you who have had such moments, but feel alone in them. You are not alone, and I feel that there is much which can be learned from such episodes.

From my own experiences with deja-vu, I have come to believe that having these moments is an indication that we are exactly where we are supposed to be in our lives–or that we are at least on the right path. I believe deja-vu is confirmation of the fact that this life is a journey that began long ago –a journey that has been engineered for our growth and learning. It is confirmation that where we find ourselves today was foreseen, and that a power greater than ourselves is operating within our lives as, giving us glimpses of the future to assure us along the way.

These glimpses of the future are only realized as such when they actually occur, and can thus be extremely helpful in our lives as we move forward. If we were to recognize them as glimpses of the future before they occurred, they would lose their intrinsic value and likely alter our choices which lead to that future. It is precisely because we don’t recognize these ‘visions’ for what they are that they hold value. They confirm to our hearts and minds, in the moment we experience them in reality, that the path we walk is not unknown to He who sees all things. Our Creator does walk with us. These special moments of deja-vu, I believe, are confirmation that He is aware of us and that we are on the path we are supposed to be on–even if that path is not one we ever expected to find ourselves upon, or even feel that we want to be on.

The purpose of our lives here is to learn. Should we wonder then, that the lessons of this life do not always result in the exact lifestyle we want to lead? From this moment of realization, we need only to have faith and continue on our journey.

A moment of deja-vu is an invitation to something. Perhaps it invites you to learn a lesson that you stand in need of, conceive of a journey you must take, or light upon realization that must connect within your mind. Whatever it is that you find inside of your own experience, take courage and know that you are not alone. There are powers, energies, and beings who are there to support, aid, and comfort you on your way. Dreaming deja-vu is, in my experience, a gift from our Creator. Honor it, and say thank you for each and every one of these moments as it comes.

Energetic or Spiritual Deja-Vu

Now let’s look at Energetic or Spiritual deja-vu. This type may or may not be accompanied by the traditional form of dreaming deja-vu. To understand if you’ve experienced this type of phenomenon in your own life, let me ask you a few questions:

Have you ever just met someone, but feel strongly that somehow you’ve met them before? Have you ever met someone around whom you feel so comfortable and at ease that the energy barriers that usually exist between people just don’t apply to you– like you grew up with them or somehow you know them better than you know yourself? Have you ever felt a strange familiarity that you just can’t explain, but surely feel? Have you ever heard something and had it resonate so deeply within your soul that you know you’ve heard it–and accepted it as truth–in some former life or pre-existence?

At rare moments in my life I have met people who I feel I have known before–people who I can’t help but wonder who they really are or how we might have been connected in past lives or pre-existant states. When such moments come upon me, it is interesting that I feel no anxiety or stress as I speak with these people–I feel only comfort, confidence, and an assurance that this person and I will both somehow understand and accept whatever happens. A feeling of total understanding, love, and acceptance permeates every one of these encounters, and the anxiety of the moment simply seems to dissipate. Such moments remind me of the calming touch of a mother, the comforting embrace of a lover, or the feeling of coming home after a long journey. Being near these people soothes the soul and allows the spirit to expand into the mind and heart, and fill the soul with peace. It is sublime.

It is a feeling that is hard to describe beyond that, but I pray that you explore your own experience and see if these words ring true for anyone you know. If they do, then please cherish these people in your lives–for what if, one day, the veil drawn across our minds is parted, and we remember in full the quality and reality of our relationship with these people. What will we remember? How will we reflect upon it, given the way we honored–or dishonored–them in this life? I pray that we act upon those feelings–realizing that they are good because of the fruits they bring into our lives–and involve these people in our lives as we reconnect and continue whatever journey we may have been a part of, together.

These people are an embodied invitation to step onto a path and begin–or continue–a journey of learning in which one or both of you has something to learn or teach the other. Or–perhaps even greater still–it is a journey of destiny, of something greater than you can see or know at this time. Perhaps it is the fulfillment and the confirmation of promises made before this life. Perhaps one of these people is your long-lost soul-mate, but perhaps not. Chances are good that if they are, it will work out in time. If not, remember that many were the relationships of light in the world from which we have come. Is it so odd then, to expect that, over the course of this life, we will bump into someone who we knew from a former time, life, or existence? What do they represent in our lives at this time, in this moment, in this age, in this lifetime? Each person we meet is as unique and different as our relationship to them. Explore these moments as they come. Delve into them and explore the depths of what you feel, experience, and learn. Open yourself up to the possibilities, and see what evolves in time.

These feelings, these moments of Energetic or Spiritual deja-vu, are but invitations to act. It is up to us what we do with them. 

Will you allow this person or people into your life in order to learn, to progress, or to possibly fulfill the promises of a previous life? Will you allow them into your life in order to accomplish their purposes for being placed there? You always have the gift of choice. You may choose what you do and what you allow in your life. The question you must ask yourself is this: If you pass on the opportunity presented in this person–by virtue of the feelings between you that you can’t explain–would you regret it? Would you pass on the possibilities without ever figuring out what that feeling is or who this person really is or was to you?

As we were conversing about Energetic deja-vu this week, a dear friend of mine said something that I would like to share with you. These are her thoughts on the feelings associated with meeting people who it has seemed from the first moment that she’s known her whole life–or longer:

“So many times I have met people that I swear I know–energetically speaking. It feels like I have known them my whole life. It always seems to end up that those people have a dramatic influence on my life, or vice-versa. Or I will visit a place that I feel I have been before. The only way I could think to describe it, is that I knew that place in another life-time or in another form. This is where things get tricky to describe. In my prayer and meditation time, I have felt as if my spirit has seen far more than I have in this lifetime. I don’t know that there is something like reincarnation, but rather, I sort of see it as the eternal nature of the soul–or perhaps the collective conscious, that well of experience and knowledge. I believe that these particular experiences of deja-vu are meant to bring our attention to what is happening in that moment, as there is a lesson or a gateway that is opening in our life. It could be the smallest of shifts, and we could miss it if we aren’t paying attention… I believe that we are all connected outside of time and space. I believe that moments like these are sort of like a lifting of the veil of separateness that allows us to catch a glimpse–of what, well, I’m not exactly sure, but I suppose the deeper nature of things… catching a glimpse of what it is we need to see, feel, hear, and experience for our personal path in this life.” ~ Jenna Peterson

So how connected are we, really? Does this phenomenon prove that we existed before? Does it give evidence that this life is but another step on the eternal journey and the progression of our soul? Is deja-vu a glimpse into the future, or a confirmation that some Higher Power knows the path we walk and has engineered it for our good? Are these moments tender mercies given us to reassure us that He does see us and know us? What are your thoughts? What experiences would you willingly share to aid in the exploration of this gift?