Déjà vu is the feeling that the situation currently being experienced has already been experienced in the past. I recently read where a 2004 review claims that two-thirds of the population have had déjà vu experiences. The phrase comes from the French meaning "already seen." When it comes to past lives and past experiences, I kind of sit on the fence. Honestly, I don't know what I believe because like so many, I have had these past experiences that seemed so real that maybe they I did experience them in a previous life. But my scientific mind says that can't be true.
The idea that people are born and reborn - that we've all had past lives - dates back at least 3,000 years.The subject is discussed in ancient texts and tradition from India, Greece, and the Celtic Druids. Reincarnation is also common in New Age philosophies. Psychologist Arthur Funkhouser, of the C. G. Jung Institute, has broken down that Deja feeling into three separate categories: Deja vu - an event already experienced or lived through; Deja senti - already felt, perhaps triggered by a voice or music; Deja visite - a place so familiar that we feel we've been there before.
Psychiatrists and scientists alike insist that there are neurological explanations for these phenomena, others believe that these vague feelings are evidence of past lives. Here are a few explanations.
1. Unusual memories. We all know that human memory (and the frogs too) is filled will error and incongruities. The question then becomes, is it a faulty memory or is it a memory from a past life? The next time you have an unusual memory look for details like addresses or landmarks that you can research in your waking hours. Such real-world clues can lead to past-life enlightenment.
2. Dreams and Nightmares. Sometimes past lives can manifest themselves as reoccurring dreams and nightmares, say advocates of reincarnation. If you have reoccurring dreams of ordinary places and things, this may suggest a specific place that you inhabited in a past life. Likewise, if you dream about the same people over and over again, it could be a sign that these folks were important to you in a long-ago life. Likewise, nightmares may be reflections of past-life traumas that have clung to our spirits and haunt our sleep.
3. Fears and phobias. Some phobias seem to be built into us (both frogs and humans)as part of our evolutionary instinct for survival; snakes, spiders, fear of heights, etc. But other fears, like birds, water, mirrors, plants, etc, can seem irrational and believers of reincarnation think that these phobias are carried over from a past life. From that point of view, a fear of water could mean that in a past life you met your demise by drowning. In this life, that trauma is played out a fear.
4. Affinity for unfamiliar cultures. People who are born and raised in one country but have an unexplained passion for another culture might be explained as an extreme interest in history while other times it can suggest a past life that was lived there. One of my best frog friends is a Francophile and has been since she was very young. There is no logical explanation for her strong attraction to a place she hasn't visited, that I do tend to think that she might have actually lived there in a previous life.
There are other explanations, too. Things like passions (extreme hobbies or interests), uncontrollable habits, inexplicable pain, and birthmarks. Believers in reincarnation think these can all be clues as to whether or not you've lived a past life...or many past lives.
I still don't know if I believe in reincarnation and deja vu but it is certainly food for thought. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go put on my detective's cloak and hat, grab my magnifying glass, and head out to play Sherlock Frog for the weekend. It's a calling that I have no plausible explanation for.....
Have a wonderful weekend and I wish you peace. (Oh, and please come back and visit me again on Monday!)
The idea that people are born and reborn - that we've all had past lives - dates back at least 3,000 years.The subject is discussed in ancient texts and tradition from India, Greece, and the Celtic Druids. Reincarnation is also common in New Age philosophies. Psychologist Arthur Funkhouser, of the C. G. Jung Institute, has broken down that Deja feeling into three separate categories: Deja vu - an event already experienced or lived through; Deja senti - already felt, perhaps triggered by a voice or music; Deja visite - a place so familiar that we feel we've been there before.
Psychiatrists and scientists alike insist that there are neurological explanations for these phenomena, others believe that these vague feelings are evidence of past lives. Here are a few explanations.
1. Unusual memories. We all know that human memory (and the frogs too) is filled will error and incongruities. The question then becomes, is it a faulty memory or is it a memory from a past life? The next time you have an unusual memory look for details like addresses or landmarks that you can research in your waking hours. Such real-world clues can lead to past-life enlightenment.
2. Dreams and Nightmares. Sometimes past lives can manifest themselves as reoccurring dreams and nightmares, say advocates of reincarnation. If you have reoccurring dreams of ordinary places and things, this may suggest a specific place that you inhabited in a past life. Likewise, if you dream about the same people over and over again, it could be a sign that these folks were important to you in a long-ago life. Likewise, nightmares may be reflections of past-life traumas that have clung to our spirits and haunt our sleep.
3. Fears and phobias. Some phobias seem to be built into us (both frogs and humans)as part of our evolutionary instinct for survival; snakes, spiders, fear of heights, etc. But other fears, like birds, water, mirrors, plants, etc, can seem irrational and believers of reincarnation think that these phobias are carried over from a past life. From that point of view, a fear of water could mean that in a past life you met your demise by drowning. In this life, that trauma is played out a fear.
4. Affinity for unfamiliar cultures. People who are born and raised in one country but have an unexplained passion for another culture might be explained as an extreme interest in history while other times it can suggest a past life that was lived there. One of my best frog friends is a Francophile and has been since she was very young. There is no logical explanation for her strong attraction to a place she hasn't visited, that I do tend to think that she might have actually lived there in a previous life.
There are other explanations, too. Things like passions (extreme hobbies or interests), uncontrollable habits, inexplicable pain, and birthmarks. Believers in reincarnation think these can all be clues as to whether or not you've lived a past life...or many past lives.
I still don't know if I believe in reincarnation and deja vu but it is certainly food for thought. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go put on my detective's cloak and hat, grab my magnifying glass, and head out to play Sherlock Frog for the weekend. It's a calling that I have no plausible explanation for.....
Have a wonderful weekend and I wish you peace. (Oh, and please come back and visit me again on Monday!)
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