You’re on a trip to a place you’ve never been before when suddenly you have a flash of recognition as if you know what will be around the next corner.
Or maybe you are chatting with a friend when, in a fleeting moment, what you are looking at, hearing, feeling, and thinking seems to spark a vague familiarity in your mind for no apparent reason.
Each of these depicts the inexplicable phenomenon known as déjà vu.
Déjà vu 
Déjà vu is a term that describes the odd feeling one gets when a fresh experience somehow feels familiar. It puts the observer in a state of cognitive dissonance as they simultaneously experience something new and old.
But what causes déjà vu, and why does it occur? Is there some hidden meaning in these experiences, or are they nothing more than a blip of the brain, a temporary hiccup in the mental synapses that power our minds?
This is a question people have been trying to answer for centuries; our fascination never ceases due to the mystical quality of the experience.
It’s challenging to study, as the incident is usually fleeting and occurs randomly and only to one person, leaving no tangible evidence or witnesses to examine.
Yet déjà vu, French for “already seen,” has people from all walks of life attempting to explain what it is and what causes it. From scientists to psychics, from psychologists to philosophers, there seem to be as many theories about what déjà vu is as there are people to experience them.
To shed some light on the déjà vu mystery, here are eight popular theories to explain the phenomenon known as déjà vu:
8 Theories to Explain Déjà Vu
Precognition
This theory is based on the idea that your subconscious mind is not confined by time or space. Deja vu is then explained as something your mind psychically foresaw before you physically experience it. It’s as if you saw into the future. So, when you have the moment of déjà vu, your mind treats it as a memory, hence the familiar feeling you get.
Spiritual Significance
This explanation sees déjà vu as a message from the universe, granting a hidden meaning to the moment meant for only you.
Precognitive Dream
In this theory, déjà vu is a replay of a dream you’ve already had. Therefore, it is familiar to you.
Mental Illness
Déjà vu is attributed by some as an indication of mental illness, such as schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder. However, given that studies have shown that most of the population experiences Deja vu at one time or another, this theory would indicate that most of us are mentally ill. Hopefully, this is not the case.
Cryptomnesia
An odd word with an even odder connotation, cryptomnesia refers to a memory bias – a forgotten experience recorded in the subconscious as memory. The déjà vu experience is a forgotten memory that seems like a new and original thought to the observer. In other words, you already had the same or similar experience but forgot.
Brain synapses
Based on the occurrence of déjà vu in some epileptic patients right before a seizure, this theory attributes déjà vu to an overload of electrical activity of the neurons in the brain. It’s as though the brain experiences a small shock wave that evokes the odd sensations associated with déjà vu.
Past life
This theory sees déjà vu as an experience you had before in a past lifetime. Perhaps you are now visiting somewhere you have been in another life or are having a similar experience to one you had as someone else. This explains the feeling of – been there, done that – that defines déjà vu.
Parallel life
While the concept of parallel universes and lives may seem like a science-fiction concoction, it is based on our current understanding of theoretical physics, such as quantum mechanics and string theory.
In this view, there are infinite possibilities for life experience, and each possibility plays out a separate life apart from the one you know. This means there are multiple versions of you, living out all the different choices you did not make in this life. The reason you believe yourself to be living only one of these possibilities as your current life is due to the focus of your awareness or what the human consciousness is currently capable of perceiving at one time.
In keeping with this concept, déjà vu is an experience your subconscious has or is currently experiencing in a parallel life. So, the moment when déjà vu occurs feels familiar to you because your subconscious, the part of you that is infinite, has already experienced this moment – possibly more times than you can count.
What is Déjà vu to you? 
The fact that there are multiple theories about déjà vu is a testament to the commonality and the intrigue of the experience, yet this makes it even more challenging to explain.
The trouble is that each theory was formed through its creator’s biased knowledge and belief system.
To a medical scientist, the theory of brain synapses probably makes the most sense, while to a Buddhist, the theory of past lives may be the choice of explanation.
Meaning, like Déjà vu, is in the eye of the observer. Since it’s difficult to prove any of these theories, it’s up to the individual to decide how to explain them. Which one do you choose?
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